Skip to main content

Grab Iron Email Changes

Written by Anton Faulk
2 Comments

By Anton Faulk

This week some changes to the Grab Iron emails are being rolled out.

Blog Post Emails (Grab Iron Emails)

  • Blog Post emails (also known as grab iron emails) will be sent once per day provided something was posted that day. If multiple posts are added on the same day there will be one email listing all the posts for the day.
    • Post authors: Please note that if you want your post email to go out on the same day you need to complete your post by 6PM otherwise the email will be sent on the following day.

4D Upcoming Events

  • Do you miss the “WAZZ UP?” emails? Then I have good news for you! A new automated email with subject “4D Upcoming Events” will be sent out every Sunday listing the events for the next 10 days.
    • Clinics organizers: Please find a volunteer from your clinic to keep the 4D calendar up to date with the correct clinic dates and descriptions. Have your volunteer contact gi_editor@4dpnr.com to get the necessary permissions to edit the calendar.

Email Provider Change

  • The underlying system that the 4D website uses to send emails will be changing. This should be a transparent change. But if you notice the emails start going to you junk folder please contact gi_editor@4dpnr.com.
    • The underlying email system is changing to MailChimp so you may notice their logo at the bottom of the emails.

Anton

Grab-Iron, News

Ted Becker, 1943-2024

Written by Alan Carter
15 Comments

It is with sadness that I am reporting that Ted Becker passed away on the morning of January 20, 2024, at the age of 80.  Ted was admitted to Bellevue Overlake Hospital on August 19, 2022, after he experienced extreme fatigue and difficulty breathing, and ultimately was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis.  After several weeks, some in the ICU, he recovered enough to be transferred to a care hospital in Seattle, and then on to a care hospital in Everett, where he has been for most of the time since.

He was making slow progress towards recovery and working with PT and OT personnel to build up strength, looking forward to the time he could return to his home.  Unfortunately, while at the care hospital, he contracted a MRSA infection, then contracted Covid.  Somewhat recovered from those infections, he then came down with pneumonia, which resulted in another trip to the ICU, this time at Providence Hospital in Everett.  He recovered enough to leave Providence and go back to the care hospital a couple of weeks ago, although once again he was intubated.  It is suspected that a blood clot caused his death.

Ted was a long-time member of the NMRA and the Fourth Division.  Both he and I go back far enough in the NMRA that we were able to take out life memberships, which category no longer exists.  For several years, Ted ran the Snohomish Railfans Clinic, and would often attend 4D clinics in Kirkland and Seattle (back in the Beacon Hill Clinic days).  He also attended numerous NMRA national and regional conventions.  In 2015 he and I started the Mount Vernon Clinic, at the urging of fellow model railroaders Tom Buckingham and Nick Muff (the four of us had been driving each month over to the Oak Harbor Clinic).

After retiring from Boeing, he and his companion, Janie, built a house outside of Granite Falls.  The house included a railroad room, of course, and he spent many happy hours designing (and redesigning) his layout and building (and rebuilding) it.

While hospitalized, Ted made use of his laptop computer and spent many hours working out a new layout design for his layout room.  He, like most model railroaders, was always dreaming and imagining his next layout.  He also, at my request, drafted up some CAD plans for a snowshed for my layout, which I have just about completed.  He was quite adept at CAD drafting.

Ted was also an avid radio control airplane enthusiast and was a member of a couple of flying clubs in the Monroe area.

His wealth of knowledge and years of experience in our hobby, and his willingness to help others, will be sorely missed in the Fourth Division.

Respectfully, Al Carter, Mount Vernon Clinic

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic, Grab-Iron, Mt Vernon Clinic, Seattle-North Clinic, Skagit Valley and Whidbey Island Clinic,

LGB CHRISTMAS TRAIN FOR SALE

Written by Alan Carter
Leave a Comment

Just in time for Christmas… an original LGB Christmas Train set, complete, about 15 years old, but unused the last 13 years, and hardly run in the first 2 years. Includes 4 additional LGB Christmas cars plus lots, and I mean lots, of extra track. Also available separately is an Aristocraft Howe Truss bridge (G scale, assembled), and also available separately are 7 G scale turnouts, two of which are “wide radius”. $300 for the train set and extra cars – that is a great deal (check eBay prices). Package deal for the set, cars, track, bridge, and turnouts is possible. Contact Al Carter at: tabooma10@gmail.com or leave a message at: 425-577-1570. I’m in Mount Vernon; prefer pickup in person or I’ll go a short distance to meet the buyer. I can’t figure out how to post photos, so if interested, I can email photos.

Grab-Iron, Member Ads, News

4DPNR Layout Tours this Saturday!

Written by Burr Stewart
Leave a Comment

May’s 4DPNR Layout tours will take place on May 8, at 10:00 am PST, and will feature an HO NP home layout presented by Robert Richard, and the HO club layout of the PSMRE in downtown Tacoma presented by Steve Carter.

Bob Richard, a long-time model railroader and NP railfan, has focused his HO layout on the town of Easton, WA in the 1940’s, when heavy articulated steam and the new FT diesels ruled the cascade mountains. He is copying the prototype Northern Pacific track, buildings and operations as closely as possible, and his layout tour will show us a combination of prototype photos, layout photos, and a live video demo of trains in action. Expansion plans are also on his mind, and he’s looking for input from the rest of us.

The PSMRE layout tour will give us a chance to get behind the scenes of this large layout in a working museum in downtown Tacoma, how it has transformed over the years, and how the group organizes themselves and their operations. The Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers (PSMRE) layout is at the Washington State History Museum.  Built as a museum exhibit that also provides a challenging Operations environment, as it represents the Tacoma area in the 1950’s. Largely focused on the Northern Pacific’s operations, they operate trains from the Great Northern, Milwaukee Road and Union Pacific.

The zoom info for this meeting is shown below. As usual, we will open the meeting about 9:30am for technical checks and informal discussion, and start the layout tours at 10:00am. Please use your full name in your Zoom screen name, and add your division if you are outside the 4DPNR group, so we will know you are safe to let in from the waiting room. (As usual, this meeting will be recorded and posted on our 4DPNR YouTube channel for later viewing.)

Topic: 4DPNR Layout Tours for May 2021
Time: May 8, 2021 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88440554588?pwd=Z0Z1a21Qc0pBcHpJUG9tNVg0TVFZUT09

Meeting ID: 884 4055 4588
Passcode: 100460
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,88440554588# US (Tacoma)
+13462487799,,88440554588# US (Houston)

Dial by your location
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 884 4055 4588

Grab-Iron, Layout Tour, News

Election of Directors and Assistant Superintendent

Written by Russ Segner
Leave a Comment

 

Russ Segner

 

A Nominating Committee headed by JJ Johnston has begun receiving nominations for two Director Positions on the 4D Board as well as nominations for Assistant Superintendent.

The terms of these positions are for two years commencing September 1, 2017. The Board holds six meetings during the year and usually meet at Mitzells Restaurant in Kent.

If you are interested in serving or wish to nominate someone, contact JJ Johnston at jj@jtwice.com or 425 985 9805. Full information on duties is available in the Members section in the 4D website.

The Ballot shall be distributed to the Membership in May by mail. To be counted, Ballots must be received by the Committee at the address printed on the ballot, postmarked by no later than June 1, and received by June 15. All ballots shall be tallied by June 20.

Grab-Iron, News

Nominations Needed for 2017 Golden Grab Iron Service Award

Written by Cliff Green
Leave a Comment

By Jim Sabol

Go Ahead — Nominate Someone!

Do you know someone who has been beating his brains out promoting our hobby and helping modelers (which is the same thing). Holding open houses. Giving clinics. Writing articles. Helping kids become interested in our hobby. Please consider nominating him or her for the Golden GrabIron Service Award (click here to see previous awardees) for 2017. Send your nominations, and how we can reach you, to jimsabol@msn.com or give them personally to previous awardees Ted Becker or Jim Younkins.

Thank you.

Grab-Iron

Nominations Needed For 2017 Golden Grab Iron Service Award

Written by Cliff Green
Leave a Comment

Russ Segner

Each year, the Golden Grab Iron Service Award is given to the Fourth Division member who best exemplifies outstanding service to the organization. The winner is chosen by a committee comprised of the previous three winners of the award. We are proud to present well over a half century of award winners, each of whom sacrificed many hours to this hobby we love.

We solicit your input on this with suggestions of names of people to be considered. The past recipients are noted on the 4D website at https://4dpnr.com/gi-service-award-winners/.

You may contact Jim Sabol at jimsabol@msn.com, Jim Younkins at jcyounkins@comcast.net, or Russ Segner at russseg@gmail.com.

This Award will be presented at our 2017 Spring Meet.

Grab-Iron

PNR Social Media Person Needed

Written by Cliff Green
Leave a Comment

Cliff Green, Grab Iron Editor

@PNRNMRA is the PNR (Pacific Northwest Region of the NMRA) Twitter account. It is in need of someone to populate and manage it.

NMRA at the national level is using social media at an increasing level – I’ve noticed NMRA Facebook posts pop up in my personal Facebook feed the last couple of months. The regional and divisional levels could benefit from more presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Please contact me at gi_editor@4dpnr.com if this volunteer position is of interest.

Grab-Iron

Ted Becker Receives Golden Grab Iron Award for 2016

Written by Cliff Green
Leave a Comment

Jim Sabol, Photos by Ken Liesse

Ted Becker receiving the 2016 Golden Grab Iron Award at the 4th Division Spring Meet.

Ted Becker receiving the 2016 Golden Grab Iron Award at the 4th Division Spring Meet.

On May 14th at the NMRA/4D Spring Meet, a surprised Ted Becker was presented with the 2016 Golden Grabiron Service Award for 2016 (formerly the Man of the Year Award). Called to the podium during the annual business meeting, Ted was presented with the award by a committee of the previous years’ winners Jim Sabol, Russ Segner, and Jim Younkins. In presenting the award, committee members remarked on how easy it was to unanimously and enthusiastically select Ted as his name kept popping up for all his many and continued services to the Fourth Division.

Among those clapping loudest for Ted were several previous award recipients: Scott Buckley, J.J.Johnson, Walt Huston, Ed Liesse, Gay Liesse, Al Lowe, Jeff Moorman, Jack Hamilton, Di Voss, Gene Swanson, Dale and Diane Kraus.

Read More

Convention or Meet, Grab-Iron, News

Grab Iron Assistant Editor Needed

Written by Cliff Green
Leave a Comment

Cliff Green, Grab Iron Editor

A 4th Division position with high compensation is open!

I need help with Grab Iron and 4D web site content. There are two main reasons – continuous (and at times high) volume, and (more importantly) we should have more than one person “managing the pipeline” of 4D news and information through the Grab Iron newsletter and 4D web site. In particular, Grab Iron post notification is currently a manual process (through Constant Contact newsletters) versus the previous automatic e-mail notification process. When I’m not available to create the Constant Contact newsletter, time critical Grab Iron (GI) posts wait until I’m able to create the newsletter. We need more than one person managing GI content to improve this bottleneck.

So what is the compensation? It’s not money or stock options (hah!). I’ve been compensated with the connections and friendships I’ve made in (and outside) the 4D community (whether model railroading or prototype railfanning). I’ve been compensated with the satisfaction of spreading useful information within the 4D community. I’ve been compensated with learning about aspects of this hobby I would never have thought about.

Read More

Grab-Iron