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News and articles relating to the Grab Iron blog and newsletter
Al Lowe
We just added Kevin Klettke’s Washington Northern Railroad to the Layouts page of www.4dpnr.com joining the other 11 to make an even dozen great, local model railroads featured.
If you’re a 4D member with a layout and a web site and you’d like the world to see your work, just email me its URL (see address at bottom of any page on the site). I’ll get it posted ASAP.
Meeting on Thursday, October 21, Bellevue Four Square Church.
We’re back in business. To kick off our next meeting after the summer hiatus and the Cascadian Convention, we are planning a blockbuster meeting. “TREES & MORE TREES” is our presentation and our sought after presenter is Charles Jackson. Charles will be showing us how to make incredible trees, he will demonstrate his tree making machine and he will share many new scenery products at unbelievable pricing. He’s also bringing from scenery products which he is donating as door prizes. You have this opportunity to see Charles’ presentation before anyone else in the area. That’s why the Eastside Get Together rocks.
AND, we’ll have the usual great array of activities including the Model of the Month, bring stuff for sale, free coffee and donuts, fabulous door prizes and a great time for all.
This summer is shaping up to be quite busy for model railroaders here in Alaska. In Fairbanks, the Tanana Valley Model Railroad club, located in the Alaska Railroad depot, will be in operation every morning during the tourist season from 7–8 AM to entertain passengers waiting for the daily southbound passenger train. If you are touring Alaska this year, stop by and say “Hi.” Their regular meetings are Tuesday evenings at the depot. For more information, call Ron at 907-479-0651.
In Anchorage, the Northern Lights Model Railroad Club, located in Russian Jack Springs Park, 5200 DeBarr, will continue to hold its monthly public open house on the fourth Sunday afternoon of the month. The next Open House is Sunday, June 27, (followed by July 25 and August 22). Regular meetings are Friday evenings. For more information, call me at 907-746-6414.
The Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry (MATI) opens their extensive collection of railroad equipment daily from 10 AM to 5 PM. The weekend of June 5–6 will be the “Blast from the Past” and the Mooselip Display Railroad will be in operation in the Barn. The Museum is located about 3 miles north of Wasilla, about a mile off the Parks Highway. For more information, call 907-376-1211.
The Alaska Live Steamers are located next door to MATI, with regular run days on the 1st and 3rd weekends. June 5-6 is a special “Blast from the Past.” For more information, call 907-373-6412.
This year the Annual Consolidated South Western Railroad Open House will be the weekend of September 11–12. This annual event is now in its 15th year and is always well attended. It is located near Palmer, in the Knik River Valley, about 45 miles north of Anchorage. For more information, call me at 907-746-6414.
Is your email address correct? Many in the PNR membership data base are not.
We recently became aware of this when the PNR mailing about the upcoming convention got bounced because of bad email addresses. As we move toward fully electronic communication, the need for the keeping your email addresses up-to-date becomes imperative .
Here’s what to do: email us at either eeliesse@aol.com or glliesse@aol.com from your current email address and give us your full name and NMRA number, if possible. We’ll update our database and the NMRA’s database for you. It’s so simple. Just send an email today!
At the February Board of Directors meeting, the 4D Board voted to move the Grab Iron to a new improved format. Rather than continue our current method of digitally “printing” a new “issue” in a magazine format each month and storing it on the web, we will now take full advantage of the benefits of the Internet. Come September, your new Digital Grab Iron will be 100% web-based, with all the advantages of the net.
Rather than twelve pages, we’ll have unlimited space. Instead of waiting weeks until an arbitrary end of the month publishing date, updates will be published immediately. Instead of a monthly email notification, you’ll receive an email instantly whenever areas you are interested in change. No more postage-stamp photos; instead you’ll see high-res, large-format photographs where you can actually see details. No more downloading a large PDF; everything will be instantly accessible in your browser.
Every article will include space for comments, suggestions, hints, and tips. Every link and email address will be clickable. We’ll even include videos! You’ll receive timely Treasurer’s reports and Secretary’s minutes. We’ll have unlimited room for articles and submissions. Instead of formatting for 8.5″ x 11″ paper, everything will be formatted for your browser.
This also means the end of the paper Grab Iron. We can stop paying thousands of dollars of your money to print, stamp, address, and mail it to fewer than fifty members at a cost greater than $25 per year! We will keep our Yahoo Group for discussions, but I suspect much of its traffic will move to the Digital Grab Iron.
We see this not as a step back, but as a vast improvement to our Division’s communications and we think you will, too. This issue will be posted as a starter. It and all future Grab Irons will be at www.4dpnr.com/grabiron. Stop by now and check it out. Compare it with this PDF. We think you’ll love it.
The Grab Iron is dead; long live the Grab Iron!