Category: Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

Article & Photos By Syd Schofield

The National Model Railroad Association Fourth Division of the Pacific Northwest Region (4d PNR NMRA) Eastside Get Together Clinic for October was held Thursday evening at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding.  The gathering was brought to order and the program began at 7:15 PM.  At that time, notable attendees were introduced and upcoming events of interest were announced.  The Grab-Iron newsletter will furnish event times, schedules and other event details.

For the model of the month, Chris Cooney showed several HO scale buildings to be used on his HOn3 layout. 

Syd Schofield had a photo of #478, the narrow-gauge steam locomotive, one of three ALCO K-28 type on the Durango and Silverton railroad, the prototype of an On3 model he showed earlier this year.  Bob Rorabaugh showed a model tree typical of the massive trees brought down in the early lumber harvest in the Sierras and Cascades.

George Chambers presented pictures and stories of his summer trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad, and the Alaska Railroad.

Bob Stafford showed pictures of his recent Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive excursion from Cheyenne, where it was restored, to Ogden for the 150^th Trans-Continental railroad Golden Spike anniversary.  There was a huge gathering along the entire way and massive attendance at the Promontory Point Historical Site. 

First choice door prize selection model of the month and photo of the month.  The remainder were dispersed by the usual drawing method, manned by Anton Faulk.

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

Syd Schofield

By Alex Brikoff

The October 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will have its monthly meeting on October 17, 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 bring everyone up to date on the noteworthy model railroad and railfan events coming up in the area for the fall months ahead. 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 a “twofer”. The first portion will be devoted to George Chambers and the conclusion of his presentation about his trip on the “White Pass and Yukon Railway” this past summer. The next portion of the clinic, titled “U. P. Memories”, will be a personal retrospective of somewhat recent Union Pacific history and operations presented by Bob Stafford. It will be a combination of slides and digital photos of UP operations in the western United States. This special presentation will be highlighted by photos of Bob’s chase of the UP 4014 across Wyoming to Ogden, UT this past spring.

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

By Syd Schofield

The National Model Rail Road Association Fourth Division of the Pacific Northwest Region (NMRA 4dPNR) Redmond Clinic for September was held Thursday evening at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding.  After a brief social interlude, the gathering was brought to focus around 7:15 PM.  Notable attendees were introduced and upcoming events of interest were announced.  The 4D Grab-Iron newsletter and Events Calendar are a great resource to keep you abreast of activities.

As we reminisced our train-themed vacation trip activities over the summer, several of the group gave short presentations about new layouts being designed, planned and built.  Due to the great interest we ran over the allotted meeting time.  It’ll be very interesting to hear the progress reports on these new layouts as time goes on.

For the model of the month and photo if the month,  Russ Segner showed two brass locomotive purchases, an Sn3 consolidation and an HOn3 consolidation.  Bob Rorabaugh showed an article on massive northwest tree stumps and the stories they hold.  Syd Schofield showed a picture of the Bear River bridge and trestle on the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad in northern California obtained at their museum in Grass Valley, CA. 

Bob Rorabaugh brought his usual “For Sale” items as an opportunity available to all attendees.  Due to the clinic running late, the door prize portion of the clinic was very abbreviated with a promise to return to the regular door prize give away next month.  The meeting concluded at 9:15 PM.

Syd

By Alex Brikoff

The September 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will resume its monthly meetings for the 2019/2020 Clinic Season on September 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 kick off this year’s Eastside Get Together Clinic season by bringing everyone up to date on the noteworthy model railroad and railfan events coming up in the area for the fall months ahead. 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 “What I did on my Summer Vacation, Railroad-wise” and moderated by Alex. This will be a round robin where everyone in the room will have a few minutes to tell the rest of the group what they did over the summer months in terms of model building, railfanning, conventions or any combination of the above that has to do with railroading. I encourage everyone to bring a flash drive with photos to go along with your talk since we will have a projector there. Also, please try to limit your talks to 5-10 minutes to allow as many folks as possible to share their summer vacations with us. Participation is optional but encouraged!

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

By Syd Schofield

NMRA, 4^th Division, Pacific Northwest Region, East Side Get-Together on 6/20/2019

The Thursday gathering officially started around 7:15, Alex Brikoff, presiding.  Notable attendees were introduced and upcoming events of interest were announced.

The presentation for the evening was by Dan Kellogg based on his experience with the BNSF Northwest Division.  He had a slide show of his N-scale three-tier shelf layout.  The spare(d) 10×10 home bedroom was configured for minimal disruption in consideration of future restoration.  The layout was built on a lightweight modular design with that in mind.  Dan showed the work-in-progress of the layout with one level, the downtown Seattle area, almost complete.     

The model-of-the-month was awarded to J. J. Johnston for his multi-story apartment building.  Photo(s)-of-the-month was given to Syd Schofield for his pictures of the restored and operating Virginia and Truckee Railroad McKeen motor car in Carson City.

The meeting concluded with the door prize drawings with the MOTM and the POTM winners getting first choices.

The regular 4^th Thursday of the month meetings will resume in September after the usual summer break of July and August.  The summer railroad-related pictures and stories will then be presented and discussed.

Syd

By Alex Brikoff

The June 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on June 20, 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 be making announcements about rail events that will be occurring in the next month and during the summer months.   We will also have our Model of the Month and Rail Photo of the Month contest.  Don’t pass up this opportunity to show off your modeling and photography skills!  Bring your latest scratchbuilts, kit bashes or plain cool looking models to compete with your fellow modelers for the coveted Model of the Month award.  Also, be sure and bring photos from your latest railfan trip!  Anyone go to Wyoming or Utah for the inaugural run of the UP 4014 to Transcon 150?  Remember, if it’s on rail and you have a photo of it, you’re good to go!!

This month’s Clinic will be: “Modeling the BNSF Northwest Division in N-Scale”.  Dan Kellogg will be here to present his clinic that shows how he is building an N-scale layout based upon the modern operations of the BNSF from Seattle to Bellingham and up to the Cascade Tunnel on Stevens Pass.  The layout will be a three level shelf layout connected by a helix.  The clinic will provide an orientation to the layout plan and update on progress to date.  The clinic will also feature the actual three-level fabricated aluminum swing-gate that will soon be installed in the layout room to allow access to the room, while still affording continuous model train operation on all three levels of the layout. 

We will have door prizes, refreshments and snacks available as always.  Alex Brikoff

By Alex Brikoff

The May 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on May 16, 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 be making announcements about rail events that will be occurring in the next month and during the summer months.   We will also have our Model of the Month and Rail Photo of the Month contest.  Don’t pass up this opportunity to show off your modeling and photography skills!  Bring your latest scratchbuilts, kit bashes or plain cool looking models to compete with your fellow modelers for the coveted Model of the Month award.  Also, be sure and bring photos from your latest railfan trip!  Anyone go to Wyoming or Utah for the inaugural run of the UP 4014 to Transcon 150?  Remember, if it’s on rail and you have a photo of it, you’re good to go!!

Bob Rorabaugh will also have the “Buy ‘n Sell” table available during the evening.   So if you’ve got anything model railroad related you’d like to find a new home for, contact Bob and he’ll help you do that.

This month’s Clinic Topic will be: “Building Super Elevation into Trackwork”.  Robin Peel will be here to present his clinic that shows the techniques and methods that Robin uses to build super elevation into his track work to improve appearance and performance.

We will have door prizes, refreshments and snacks available as always. 

Alex Brikoff

By Alex Brikoff

The April gathering of the Eastside Get Together Clinic at the Redmond Community Center was started promptly at 7:15 PM Thursday evening by Alex Brikoff.  VIPs in attendance (4D PNR Officers and Master Model Railroaders and new attendees) were introduced.   

Some of the significant gatherings and conventions coming up this spring and summer are:

Kootenay Express, PNR Regional Convention, May 29 – June 2, 2019 in Cranbrook, BC

4^th Division Annual Spring Meet, June 22 at TCC Science Building (Tacoma Community College) from 9 AM to 4 PM

NMRA National Convention, July 7 – 13, 2019 in Salt Lake City, UT

National Narrow Gauge Convention, September 4-7, 2019 in Sacramento, CA

Bob Rorabaugh brought several estate sale model railroad items for adoption at the “Mart Table”.  He also mentioned that the “Mart Table” will be open at every Eastside Clinic going forward.  If you have something you’d like to sell or, possibly trade to contact Bob at the clinic for more information.

The evening’s clinic was a given by local model railroad craftsman, John Paschal, on “Building and Detailing Specific Scenes”.  John presented some of his acquired knowledge of researching and modeling specific scenes from prototype information.  He presented slides to demonstrate the more critical aspects of gleaning information from historical documents, photos and maps to accurately reproduce railroad-related scenes as is practically possible. 

• 

Mitch Schoonejans and John Owens each displayed several railroad photos.  Photographer and author, Alex Brikoff, brought in a copy of his published book on photographs of Kansas.

Model of the Month was awarded to John Paschal for his HO scale early 20th-century wood frame store. 

The next Eastside Get Together Clinic will be on May 16, 2019.  Don’t forget to check the 4^th Division Grab Iron at https://www.4dpnr.com for more details!  

Alex

By Alex Brikoff

The March 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on March 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

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.    

Bob Rorabaugh will also have the “Buy ‘n Sell” table available during the evening.   So if you’ve got anything model railroad related you’d like to find a new home for, contact Bob and he’ll help you do that.

This month’s Clinic topic will be our much anticipated: “Eastside Get Together Mini Clinic Event”.  There will be four of us presenting six mini clinics on various model railroading topics.  These mini clinics are designed to give you a glimpse into some of our favorite modeling techniques.  Although they may be just quick techniques, it is still something that is useful to share with our fellow modelers.

Syd Schofield	Wheels and Rails at the Interface	A close-up explanation of how rail and wheels interact with each other at point of contact.
Syd Schofield	Rock Casting Tools and Materials	Tools and materials needed for creating rock castings.
Syd Schofield	Track Guard Rails	Turnouts and Crossings Bridges, Tunnels and Trestles
Russ Segner	Layout Design	Designing layouts for operation
JJ Johnston	Easy Roof Shingling	Overview, tools and technique
CJ Turner	Using Acrylic Paint	Overview, preparation and use

We will have door prizes, refreshments and snacks available as always. 

Alex Brikoff

By Syd Schofield

East Side Get Together Clinic Report, February 21, 2019

The February gathering of the East Side Get Together Clinic at the Redmond Community Center was started promptly at 7:10 PM Thursday evening by Alex Brikoff.  VIPs in attendance (4D PNR Officers and Master Model Railroaders and new attendees) were introduced.   

Some of the significant gatherings and conventions coming up this spring and summer are:

28th Annual United Northwest Washington State Train Show (Monroe Show) – February 23 & 24, 2019

Sn3 Symposium, April 4 – 6, 2019 at Bellevue Sheraton, Bellevue, WA

Kootenay Express, PNR Regional Convention, May 29 – June 2, 2019 in Cranbrook, BC

4^th Division Annual Spring Meet, June 22 at TCC Science Building (Tacoma Community College) from 9 AM to 4 PM

NMRA National Convention, July 7 – 13, 2019 in Salt Lake City, UT

National Narrow Gauge Convention, September 4-7, 2019 in Sacramento, CA

Russ Segner brought several copies of a local early railroad publication assembled by the Northwest Railroad Archives staff.  Copies of the very professionally done book was for sale at $20 and contained very detailed descriptions and illustrations of the Seattle and southeast King County area’s formative years of railroad activity.  Bob Rorabaugh brought several estate sale model railroad items for adoption.  He also noted the application of desktop computer keyboard boxes as storage containers for HO-size rolling stock.  He passed out some free samples of these as well.

The evening’s clinic was a given by local model railroad craftsman, Paul Vaughn, on scratch building a Gauntlet Track.  Paul bestowed his acquired knowledge of scratch building these very unique turnouts without using Fast Track jigs.  He presented slides as well as several colorful large teaching aids to demonstrate the more critical aspects of the necessary turnout construction accuracy based on NMRA Standards.

Model of the Month was awarded to William Alexander for his two “A” F-unit Spokane, Portland and Seattle HO scale diesel locomotives.   

The next meeting will be on March 21, 2019.  Don’t forget that our next clinic will be the much publicized Mini Clinic Event!  Stay tuned for more details!  

Syd