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4D PNR Modular Groups Displaying at United Northwest Club’s Model Train Show & Marketplace

Written by Bob Stafford
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Bob Stafford

The 4th Division, Pacific Northwest Region, National Model Railroad Association will be participating at the United Northwest Club’s 24th Annual Model Train Show and Marketplace Saturday, February 28th and Sunday March 1st. The show is held at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington. The show offers over 50,000 square feet of family fun! Over 250 vender and swap tables. View over 20 layouts of several different scales. Modeling clinics will be offered on both days. Doors open at 10 AM both days. For more information visit http://www.unwclub.org/unwshow.html.

Division-sponsored groups that will be present are The 4th Division HO Modular Group, 4th Division Hi-Rail O Gauge Modular Group, 4dNTRAK Modular Group, and The 4th Division OmNi-Rail Modular Group. The division will also have a membership booth.

The 4th Division HO Modular Group consists of about 20 active members with about 50 modules, a staging yard, and 6 corners. They get together monthly for breakfast. The group sets up its modular layout at about 8 to 9 events annually for charity, community service, 4th Division events, and fundraisers. For more information visit http://www.4dho.com.

The 4th Division Hi-Rail O Gauge Modular Group consists of about 18 members who collect anything from ancient Marx or Ives tinplate to the modern die-cast Lionel and MTH trains of today. The layout is O gauge, 3 rail. Boy do they run trains on it! The Hi-Rail Group has 24 modules, 4 corner modules and 4 yard modules, and the number is growing to build large displays with lots of moving trains. The current capacity of the layout is 4 long moving trains and 3 trolley cars. The group meets periodically as needed for breakfast and to conduct business meetings. The Hi-Rail Group attends 8 to 9 shows a year in the Puget Sound region, from Lynden, Washington to the North, to Portland, Oregon to the South. For more information contact Ed Ives at gresley7@gmail.com.

The 4dNTRAK Modular Group has been displaying modules and running trains for thirteen years. The group started out with four corner modules supplied by the 4th Division. Members have built more than 50 additional modules in the years since. The layout includes a new spectacular yard built in 2013 with 120+ turnouts and the capacity to handle many prototype-length trains! For more information, visit http://www.4dntrak.org.

The fourth and newest 4D PNR sponsored modular group is the OmNi-Rail Modular Group. The group has been running trains now for a bit over 2 years. The 4D PNR financed the construction of the four corner modules. The nine members of the group have built over 20 additional modules for public display layouts. The OmNi-Rail name is to represent “All Encompassing” for N Scale modular design. The intention is to bring NTRAK, Free-moN, and Bent Track to one club, so the design incorporates the best of each. It is also designed to accept older modules from these different disciplines with minor modifications. The design uses a dog-bone linear base design with no bridge tracks and power pole connections. There is also a one track branch line called the OmNi-Branch. The sky is the limit on different module designs. For more information go to http://omni-rail.net.

4D PNR HO Modular Group Layout on display.

4D PNR HO Modular Group Layout on display.

4dNTRAK Modular Group, Grab-Iron, Hi-Railers Report, HO Modular Group, Model Train Show, OmNi-Rail

Hi-Railers Attend Lynden; Next: Maple Valley

Written by Al Lowe
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Ed Ives

The 4D Hi-Railers were mentioned on page 2 of The Bellingham Herald this week, next to an article regarding someone found guilty of embezzlement. I assure you these two are not connected.

We made it to Lynden on Friday in fine shape with set-up almost complete by 5:30 p.m., due in large part to Sam and his new (silent) red truck. Yes, it came with a muffler! He says the color is “sunset” but we call it red. We heartily congratulate Sam on his new truck. I hope he doesn’t mind the leg pulling we give him on it.

Running was made without major incident and no derailing, finger poking etc., that we sometimes get. Even the Kiddies layout came unscathed for most of the time. Teardown and pack up took just two hours, which meant that we were out of there before dark.

We are looking forward to the Maple Valley Train Show on October 18-19, from 10-5, the weekend after next. Set-up will be on Friday afternoon from 1 until done. I’d like to know who plans to attend set up and/or running so I can pass the numbers on to the organizers. As in the past, they will provide refreshments for each day, free of charge. For those of you that have never been there, here’s a Google map.

 

Hi-Railers Report