Category: Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

JJ Johnston

Reminder: The Eastside Get Together meets this coming Thursday, November 15, 7:30 PM, Bellevue Four Square Church. An exciting evening is planned with a presentation from one our most popular clinicians, Jim Sabol. Jim will present his new clinic on “Plaster-Less Cloth-Shell Scenery” and as always his information, humor and displays are always entertaining.

We always ask this time of year for you to bring a small donation for our annual Christmas Donation Fund to assist in modest financial assistance for a member or two of the Church where we meet. This is in consideration for the Church providing us rent-free space for our meetings, room set-up and the free use of their coffee supplies. Over the past years we have been able to positively impact the lives of several less fortunate people who attend the Church and who have been recommended to us by the Church Pastor. We appreciate your consideration and gifts.

Bobj tells me he will be bringing some built European buildings for sale at the Mart. I have seen these structures and they are extremely well done. As always, video library, model of the month, free coffee, donuts and good times.

Ed Liesse / Photos by Ed Liesse

Click to enlarge

JJ Johnston welcomed a smaller than usual group of attendees this month (Presidential debate? Seahawks game?). Announcements included the Ravensdale Train Show, October 20–21, the 33rd Boeing Club Swap Meet in Kent, November 10, and the next 4th Division Board of Directors meeting, November 17 at Mitzel’s Restaurant in Kent.

There was no video library or Mart this month. There were three Model of the Month entries. David Yadock won (again) with his scratchbuilt King Truss trestle.

After a short break, Russ Segner gave a presentation on the DuPont Museum and the restoration work being done there. He said Fred Foreman, head of Public Works for DuPont, is leading the rehabilitation effort at the museum. The townspeople are also getting behind the effort and have provided a covered shelter and electricity for the on-going work. The current work is the rebuilding of a 3-foot, narrow gauge flatcar. There is a sibling car at Ft. Lewis that provides an overview of the finished product. Pictures of the DuPont car before reconstruction started revealed the extent of work to be done! The work crew is usually 4–5 people but more are welcome. It’s full scale, 12″ to the foot modeling! If you’re interested in helping out and getting experience rebuilding full-size railroad cars, give Russ a call at 425-228-7327 for more information.

The next meeting will be Thursday, November 15. This will also be our chance to make donations for our annual gift to the church for the support of those in need.

Ken Liesse

It would probably be a good idea to get the report of last month’s meeting out before this month’s takes place.

JJ Johnston welcomed everyone back from summer break and gave us a recap of the Narrow Gauge Convention that was just ended. There were about 1,700 folks who attended, representing 17 different countries and 41 states. Dave Woodrell did a tribute to Brian Ellerby, which JJ will try to get for one of our clinics. Thanks to the core group of about 20 people who came together to put the convention on.

In our gathering were brothers Walt and Allan Scotson, who were in the area visiting. Allan is from Finland and was having a grand time touring railroad attractions in the area. Both brothers are also ministers, so they felt right at home sitting in front of Pastor Bob Rorabaugh.

Roger Ferris and Bobj Berger presented the Mart and Stu Rogers provided the video library. Di Voss won Model of the Month by default, since he was the only one who brought anything. Guess folks were having too much fun in all the sun we had over the summer to do any modeling. For the tip of the month, Mike Murray showed us the Pricom Dreamplayer, a sound playing device that works off an ordinary SD memory card.

After the break, Eastside favorite Dave Hikel gave us a wonderful clinic on making water using Envirotex. Envirotex is a commercial product that can be found at Ace Hardware, TruValue or on the Internet. The product is a two-part epoxy that cures clear in about three days with zero shrinkage. It is a sensitizer, so gloves, a respirator and a well-ventilated area are a must when working with Envirotex. Dave showed us how to mix the parts together and how they self-level once poured. Special effects can be done by agitating the mixture at various times during the curing process, including forming waves or ripples on the water. The water can also be colored by adding plastic coloring during mixing. Another option is to paint the river (or lake) bed before hand as the water does dry clear. All in all a very neat product for making realistic water for your layout.

Eastside’s next meeting will be held October 18th.

JJ Johnston

The Eastside Get-Together will be this Thursday, October 18 at 7:30 p.m., at the Bellevue Four Square Church. Don’t miss this meeting featuring our very own Russ Segner with a slideshow presentation about the work he and others are doing on the DuPont Railroad. As Russ says, “We’re model building at 12 inches to the foot, restoring a narrow gauge flatcar from rotten boards and rusty steel to brand new.”

Also lots of stuff for sale, the video library, the Model of the Month, free coffee & donuts (donations accepted) and our great array of door prizes donated from The Inside Gateway, plus lots to talk about and new friends to make.

See you down the track!

JJ Johnston

Remember: Tonight, September 20, 7:30 p.m., in Bellevue, is our regularly scheduled meeting and this is one program you will want to attend.

Noted modeler Dave Hikel, who is in charge of Peter Hambling’s amazing layout we all visited in May, will present a clinic on modeling water in many forms using the two part product EnviroTex. Dave is always informative and we all can use some great ideas on how to add water effects to our layouts.

All the usual good stuff, too.

By Ken Liesse

On May 17th, members and guests of the Eastside Clinic had the privilege of visiting Peter Hambling’s layout, the Northwest Trunk Line, in Medina, WA. This tour was facilitated by 4D clinician and long-time worker-bee on Peter’s layout, Dave Hikel. 60 or so folks visited the layout, an awe-inspiring affair that covers the entire basement of Peter’s house. The 3200 sq. ft. layout is based on a John Allen design and encompasses both three-rail O and On30. Dave and his team have made extensive use of computers in designing and running the layout, making it possible for the computer to run trains for open houses without need of operator interference.

The basis for the layout are individual scenes taken around North America that have caught Peter’s attention. Detail is paramount and each scene is even completed with dirt garnered from the places the scenes represent. Sound is also a big component of the layout, right down to the station announcements made when our demonstration train pulled into a station. Even the earthquake braces on the basement support posts were painted to match the posts themselves.

We thank Peter & Laurie Hambling for allowing us to invade their home as well as Dave Hikel for setting up the visit.  A most enjoyable get-together.

For more photos from the visit, click here.

Ken Liesse

On Thursday, March 15th, JJ Johnston got the train out of the station on time at 7:30 with his words of welcome and introduction of guests. One of our guests was Sharon Ricketts, who models in 1:32 scale and holds two open houses a year at her layout. The next open house will be the 4th Saturday of April, so JJ may have more information on this at the April meeting. We also welcomed back Don & Beth McClaren, long-time Eastside members who have returned after a lengthy absence.

During the announcements, Charles Jackson stated that H&J (the tree making people) are having a roll out party at a hobby shop in Port Moody, BC and to see their brochure. There is no information about the roll out on their website, but you could probably email Charles to get the information.

Other announcements included reminders by Ed Liesse and Russ Segner about upcoming conventions (joint PNR/PCR and the Narrow Gauge Convention respectively), an open house on April 29th at John White’s layout (extreme north end), and a word about the upcoming elections by Superintendent Ken Liesse. Roger Ferris was present with the Mart and CJ Riley also had some items for sale from his vast collection.

Model of the Month consisted of two Milwaukee Road cabooses by Ron Cole; a collage of paperwork from Bob Rorabaugh’s mother showing a connection between her life and the trains and logging in this region; and a Campbell Products station built by David Yadock, who once again went home with the prize.

After the break, Ron Cole presented a clinic on how to cast resin parts for modeling. Ron makes 1:32 scale models. He walked us through the steps of transforming an idea into a passenger coach complete with seats. Some of the tricks Ron employs are using baby powder as a mold release and heating molds in a microwave oven before using them. Ron also mentioned that you can rebend a slightly warped resin kit by running it under hot water and gently bending it back into shape. He makes mold boxes out of PVC sheet, which is relatively inexpensive and can be glued together with the PVC pipe glue you can find in any hardware store. For a final tip, Ron told us that molds will last longer if you get the resin out of them as soon as possible. Ron demonstrated the mixing of the resin and actually cast a part for us to see. All in all, a very interesting presentation.

See you on April 19 in Bellevue.

By Ken Liesse

On Thursday, February 16th, attendees of the Eastside Get-Together were treated to a two-for-one clinic at the Bellevue Four Square Church.  Dave Hikel gave two great presentations, one on lighting the interiors of passenger cars with LEDs, the other with an update on the building of Peter Hambling’s layout in Medina.  More on those in a minute.

JJ Johnston opened the meeting at 7:30 with his usual introductions.  In the announcements portion of the program, JJ mentioned that Railroad Model Craftsman has a nice write-up of area layouts that will be open during the upcoming Narrow Gauge Convention in September.  He then read a couple of thank you notes written by women of the church.  Eastside members take a collection every year before Christmas to help needy families in the church where we hold our meetings.  This is our way of “paying” for the space that the church allows us to use every month for our clinics.  These women were the recipients of this year’s collection and were very grateful for the outpouring of support we provided.  JJ thanked everyone for their contributions to the fund.

In other announcements:

Bob Biese said the 4D HO modular group would be appearing at the World’s Greatest Hobby show in Portland.

Elections for Region offices are coming up; both President and Vice-President are open.  Contact Dave Faussett (PNR Nominations Chair) if you are interested in running.

4D elections are also coming up and we need someone to spearhead both finding folks interested in running and actually putting the election materials out.  If you’re interested in doing either (or both) of these, contact Supt. Ken Liesse.

Ken also stated that the Northwest Railway Museum had used a gift from 4D to place interpretive signs on three pieces of equipment that will be staying at the depot in Snoqualmie.

Frank Dekker gave a preliminary report on the Pacific Science Center show, which did not turn out as well as we had hoped, mainly because of the weather in the region that weekend.  About 12,000 people showed up, most of them on Saturday.  PSC helped out significantly this year by reserving parking space on the street outside the Center for our use.

Roger Ferris had a new collection in the Mart, mostly of Athearn blue box equipment.  Roger also stated that he has acquired all of the old, wood baggage carts from Amtrak at King Street Station and is making them available to anyone who would like to purchase one.  Cost depends on condition, but generally runs between $200-300.  Roger will provide delivery in the greater Seattle area.

Ed Liesse gave an update on the PNR convention in Medford and said the tour of Train Mountain was on.  Tickets are available from the website.  Ed also showed a map of the track at Train Mountain.

Finally, Ron Cole attended a kick-off meeting in Kent of a group hoping to save the former Northern Pacific depot along the BNSF right-of-way.  BNSF wants to tear down the structure in preparation for laying the third mainline through town.  Anyone with knowledge of preserving old railroad buildings is encouraged to contact Ron, so he may put you in touch with the folks who are trying to make this happen.

We had five entries in the Model of the Month competition, including Ed Ives’ Hornby pre-war O scale 2009 Convention car; David Yadock’s packet of UP baggage car pictures from ACF; Jim Easley’s snow pictures of his outdoor layout; and Michael Posner’s railroad pocket watch, which belonged to his grandfather, a Seattle Streetcar Conductor.  Jim Bainbridge won the contest with a Signals Department Repair Shed, which will be a commercially available kit starting next month.

After the break, Dave Hikel gave a wonderful PowerPoint presentation on lighting the interior of passenger cars using LEDs.  Dave pointed out how far LEDs have come over the years and it is now possible to purchase them with various light outputs to simulate different kinds of lighting used throughout the years in passenger cars.  Part of the presentation included a comparison of the different types of lights used, starting with candle power back when lights were first added to equipment, up to modern day cars with their very blue fluorescent lights.  There are many advantages to using LEDs, especially in this day of DCC-controlled layouts, the most important being their low power consumption.  Dave also showed how adding a capacitor to the circuit will prevent cars from flickering when crossing bad sections of track.  This can all be avoided by the use of batteries for the lights, another topic Dave touched on.  He brought two examples of lighted cars for everyone to see, and they did look great with the room lights turned down.

Dave concluded the presentation with an update on the layout he and his team are building for Peter Hambling, founder and owner of Digital Control Incorporated.  The O Scale layout is located in a 3,200 sq. ft. space excavated from under Peter’s home in Medina, WA.  The theme of the layout is basically the Western United States, with an emphasis placed on modeling specific scenes.  Dave told us about several “field trips” taken during construction to make sure the scenes were recognizable and dirt samples were even brought back to make sure the ground cover was correct.  The layout has over 4,000′ of track and runs from the Spiral Tunnels of British Columbia to Abo Canyon in New Mexico.  This ambitious project has been underway for several years and has resulted in several new techniques in modeling.  One such advancement is in the use of computers to actually run the layout, so it can be shown without the need for a big crew.  It was very interesting to see the use of computer panels (iPads) for yard control and other operations functions.  Although the layout can be run by computer, it also has the ability to be operated by a full crew and preliminary operating sessions have been held at the layout.  As a surprise to the group, Dave and JJ announced that our end of year field trip may be to Peter’s layout for a show and tell.  More information about this will be forthcoming.

That’s it for this month.  See you all in March, third Thursday in Bellevue.  (Sorry, no pictures this month – operator error.)

By JJ Johnston

Our meeting scheduled for tomorrow, January 19th of the Eastside Get Together has been cancelled due to weather reports of more storms and potentially unsafe driving conditions. The Inside Gateway is also closed so I am unable to get door prizes and I know that’s a big reason you all come. Just kidding.

Mark your calendars now for February 16 as we will have a clinic presented by someone no one has seen before and it’s one of those
“can’t miss clinics” so watch for our announcements. We will re-schedule Ron Cole for a future clinic too. Be safe. JJ