Category: Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

By Alex Brikoff

Due to the health risks associated with the current COVID-19 Coronavirus epidemic, the City of Redmond is acting on King County Public Health’s latest recommendations to close the Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village until, at least, the end of March.  All events and meetings have been cancelled until such time that the Center reopens.

Consequently, the Eastside Get Together Clinic on March 18, 2020 has been CANCELLED due to the Redmond Community Center being closed for health concerns associated with COVID-19.  The Eastside Get Together Clinic will return as soon as possible when these health risks have passed and the Redmond Community Center reopens!  We will stay current on all developments regarding this and forward them on to you through the Grab Iron.

Meanwhile, stay healthy and, hopefully, all this will soon be behind us!

Thanks for understanding!

Alex 

Article & Photos by Syd Schofield

Don’t Forget: Starting in February 2020, the Eastside Clinic will be held on the 3^rd WEDNESDAY of every month at least through June. (Time and location remain the same.)

The NMRA/PNR Fourth Division Redmond Clinic for February was held Wednesday evening at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding.  The gathering was brought to order at 7:05 PM.  Notable and new attendees were introduced followed by upcoming events of interest being announced.  Refer to the Grab-Iron calendar for details.

There were numerous Show and Tell (Bring and Brag) items.  Several outstanding dioramas were presented.  A Sn3 caboose and a 2×5 foot blank/starter module were among those shown.  A showpiece for kids at the regional train shows, made up from foot square CNC milled “rails” panels in their own carrying case, was offered to get the young folks interested and occupied.  This was possibly the most relevant attraction for the future of the hobby to be seen at our shows.

The program for the evening were two modelling clinics presented by our counter parts at the Mt. Vernon Clinic.

The first was presented by Ted Becker as part of our Mini Clinic Event scheduled for March.  Ted showed us how he installs and utilizes small, inexpensive RC model servos to operate as switch machines for turnouts. Ted brought several items to show the details in adapting servos as switch machines.

The second clinic was a joint presentation by Nick Muff and Al Carter about creating and applying model railroad decals and graphics.  Nick first showed us how to create custom decals by researching the graphics online on Google.  He then showed how to import the graphics into a popular graphics program on your computer such as Auto Sketch and scale the graphic to the correct size along with how to edit the graphic to enhance the visual quality.  He then showed us how print the decal onto decal paper using an ALPS printer.  Al Carter then showed us the techniques and tools he used to apply the decal to the model after preparing the surface.  He also discussed the pros and cons of the various tools that he uses to apply the decals.

Please note that the Model/Photo of the Month Contests and Door Prize Give Aways have been suspended due to lack of donations for prizes.

Refreshments (coffee and cookies) were provided by C. J. Turner.

Syd Schofield

By Alex Brikoff

The Eastside Get Together Clinic on January 15, 2020 has been CANCELLED due to the inclement weather conditions. The Eastside Get Together Clinic will return next month on February 19. Please watch the Grab Iron for an announcement about next month’s Clinic.
Stay warm and drive safe!

Alex

By Alex Brikoff

The January 2020 Eastside Get Together Clinic will have its monthly meeting on January 15, 2020. Please note: that the third Wednesday is our new meeting day going forward until the June 2020 clinic.

The Clinic will meet at the:
Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village
6505 176TH AVE NE, Rm. 202
REDMOND WA 98052-4930

Doors open at 7:00 PM and meeting starts promptly at 7:15 PM

We will begin by mentioning any noteworthy, upcoming model railroad and railfan events in the area.  Let’s start off the New Year by bringing our best models and photos to the clinic for our Model of the Month and Rail Photo of the Month contest and show off what we’ve been up to in our train rooms so far this winter!  The results from our voting last month have been tabulated for the “Mini Clinic Event” topics.  The top four most voted for topics are:

• Wiring for DCC, Bus and feeder wires, Accessories
• Servo switch machines
• Fine-tuning and maintaining locos
• Weathering rolling stock and/or engines

I already have a volunteer for the DCC clinic but, at this point, I still need three more volunteers to step forward for the other three topics.  Here is your chance to share with your fellow modelers your knowledge in a particular topic.  So, please, let me know if you are interested in presenting a short, 15-minute, high level clinic on one of the above topics.

This month’s program will be presented by John Morrison.  John will present three short programs about the rack railways in Switzerland.  The three presentations will be titled:

• Brienz Rothorn Bahn (Railway): A rack railway in central Switzerland that climbs 7500 feet through some spectacular scenery.
• The Locomotives and System ABT Rack
• Riggi Rack Railways: Vitznau-Rigi Bahn and Arth-Rigi Bahn

We will have refreshments and snacks available as always. 

See you there!!

Alex Brikoff

Article & Photos by Syd Schofield

The NMRA/PNR Fourth Division Redmond Clinic for December was held Thursday evening at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding.  The gathering was brought to order at 7:17 PM.  Notable and new attendees were introduced followed by upcoming events of interest being announced.  Refer to the Grab-Iron calendar for details.

***PLEASE NOTE:

An important announcement was regarding the day change of the Eastside Clinic.  Beginning in JANUARY 2020, the Eastside Clinic will be held on the 3^rd WEDNESDAY of every month at least through June.  The meeting room and start time will remain the same.

There was no Model or Photo of the Month contest this month as there were no entries. 

This evening was the annual Dirty Santa gift exchange.  The usual door prize random pick format was used with modifications for the Dirty Santa twist.  Everyone in attendance brought a holiday wrapped model railroad-themed gift with only the model scale marked, if applicable.  Only the size, shape and weight of the package disclosed the contents.  Upon the gift pick, it is unwrapped and revealed to the group, an important part of the process.

The first drawing, perhaps the least beneficial, started the process and continued until the last item is picked.  Starting with the second drawing, “stealing” previously picked items is allowed.  Any gift may only be “stolen” twice before the holder retains permanent possession.  To even the process the original picker can then “steal” any item, resulting in a fresh pick from the gift supply or a trade with the “thief.”  During and after the drawing and “stealing”, side negotiations for redistribution occurred. 

Seasonally appropriate (although non-alcoholic) refreshments (coffee and cookies) were provided by C. J. Turner and Di Voss.  Stronger beverages were rumored to be available at undisclosed, offsite locations.

 Syd Schofield

By Alex Brikoff

The December 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will have its monthly meeting on December 19, 2019.

The Clinic will meet at the:
Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village
6505 176TH AVE NE, Rm. 202
REDMOND WA 98052-4930

Doors open at 7:00 PM and meeting starts promptly at 7:15 PM

We will begin by mentioning any noteworthy, upcoming model railroad and railfan events in the area.  We will also have our Model of the Month and Rail Photo of the Month contest.  This year, our “Mini Clinic Event” in March 2020, will be done a bit differently.  This month, we will be voting as a group to select four Mini-Clinic topics from the list of topics we put together last month. The winners will be announced at the end of this month’s clinic. 

We will be having our annual Christmas “Dirty Santa Gift Exchange” this month.  Everyone is asked to bring a small gift to participate.  It is requested that the gift be inexpensive (less than $10 – $15 value) and gift wrapped with ONLY the scale marked on it if necessary (no names).

We will have refreshments and snacks available as always.  The winners of the contests will have first choice of gifts from the “Dirty Santa Gift Table”.

See you there!!

**Clinic Change Next Month**

Also, please note that starting in January, the Redmond Eastside Get Together Clinic will be moving to the third WEDNESDAY instead the third THURSDAY.  This will be our new meeting day until the end of the clinic year in June.  I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but we didn’t have much say in the matter.

Alex Brikoff

Article & Photos By Syd Schofield

The NMRA/PNR Fourth Division Redmond Clinic for November was held Thursday evening at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding.  The gathering was brought to order at 7:15 PM.  Notable attendees were introduced and upcoming events of interest were announced.  The Grab-Iron newsletter will furnish schedule and content particulars.

***PLEASE NOTE:

One important announcement was regarding the day change of the Eastside Clinic.  Beginning in JANUARY 2020, the Eastside Clinic will be held on the 3^rd WEDNESDAY of every month at least until June.  The meeting room and start time will remain the same.

Model of the Month was by Dan Kellog.  He showed an HO scale diorama of the Chittiden Locks railroad bridge that will be used on his layout.  John Paschal showed three photos of steam locomotives at the East Broad Top Railroad repository/storage facility for Photo(s) of the Month. 

The evening’s clinic was by Russ Segner.  He presented an excellent clinic on the basics of model railroad scenery.  He discussed scenery design and considerations of technique based on his Sn3 home layout.

The winners of the Model of the Month and Photo of the Month were the first to select from many great door prizes that were available that evening.  The remainder were dispersed with the usual blind jar drawings, manned by Anton Faulk.

C. J. Turner was kind enough to once again provide our refreshments.

The December gathering will be the yearly tradition “Dirty Santa” gift exchange.  Everyone is encouraged to bring a railroad-related, identified by scale (if applicable) and unidentified on the wrapper.  The random pick drawing is for these items of approximately $10 in value.  The somewhat complicated and resultant, occasionally gentle chiding process will be explained at the meeting.  Side negotiations for redistribution are permitted.  

The meeting concluded by 9:15.

Syd Schofield

By Alex Brikoff

The November 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will have its monthly meeting on November 21, 2019.

The Clinic will meet at the:
Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village
6505 176TH AVE NE, Rm. 202
REDMOND WA 98052-4930

Doors open at 7:00 PM and meeting starts promptly at 7:15 PM

Besides bringing everyone up to date on the noteworthy model railroad and railfan events coming up, we’ll also be announcing some major changes coming to our clinic after the first of the year. You’ll definitely want to make note of those changes! We’ll also have our Model of the Month contest and Rail Photo of the Month contest. So, please bring your models and photos for the contests! Winners will have first choice of many fine items from our Door Prize table.

This month’s clinic will be presented by Russ Segner and will be the first of our new “Back to Basics Clinic Series”. Russ’ clinic will be entitled “Basic Scenery Techniques: Theory and Practice”. Russ will present his thoughts and ideas about basic scenery techniques which will include “geo-forming” hills, rock cliffs, creeks and other water features followed by how he installs ground cover, ballasting, shrubs and trees. He will then actually demonstrate these ideas and techniques on a small module that he has been working on.

We will have refreshments and snacks available as always. We’ll also have a great selection of Door Prizes to give away at the end of the clinic.

See you there!!

Alex Brikoff