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Palmer, Alaska (Knik River Valley) Model Railroad Open House, Saturday Sep 12 from 1 to 5 pm

Written by Marty Quaas
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Marty Quaas

Every year on the second Saturday in September as for the past many years, the Consolidated South Western Railroad (CSWRR) holds it’s annual Open House. This year it will be held on Saturday, September 12th from 1 to 5 PM and as in the past, we will be featuring Operation. Also this year we will be celebrating 20 years since the first rails were laid on the CSWRR. The Open House is free and the public is invited to get a first hand look at the fun of Model Railroading. Visitors are also invited to try their hand at operation under the supervision of an Old Hand.

The CSWRR is located at 21550 E, Arnold. From mile 4.6 of Knik River Rd, turn right on Ivanhoe, right on Arnold, follow the Signs. Phone 907-746-6414. http://alaskamodelrrnews.homestead.com/CSW-Ops-1-1.html

Model Train Show, The Alaska Section

Tacoma Northwestern Model Railroad Club Show and Swap Meet at Freighthouse Square Mar 21 and 22

Written by Cliff Green
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Cliff Green

The Tacoma NW model railroad club show and swap meet is being held March 21st-22nd at Freighthouse Square in Tacoma.

The TNW is excited to host their fourth Model Railroad Show and Swap Meet at Freighthouse Square. Many clubs from around Washington will be in attendance as well as vendors with various railroad items to sell spread through three floors, two very large rooms and various shops. Freighthouse Square always offers a variety of eating establishments and interesting shops for browsing. A portion of the ticket sales from the show will benefit a local charity.

The hours are 9-4 on Saturday and 10-3 on Sunday and admission is $7 for adults, $5 for children under 12, seniors and active military personnel, and children under 3 are free. Additional information including directions and contact info can be found on the TNW web site.

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Bremerton Northern Model Railroad Club Annual Swap Meet On June 20

Written by Cliff Green
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Bill Hupé

The Bremerton Northern Model Railroad Club (a 100% NMRA club) will be having their Annual Swap Meet on June 20, 2015. The location is West Side Improvement Club, 4109 West “E” Street, Bremerton, Washington. The swap meet will be from 9 am to 3 pm. General admission is $5, children under 12 are free. For more information contact me (Bill Hupé) at whopay@tscnet.com or 360-621-5041. To acquire a table please contact Dan Reilly at dereilly@comcast.net or 360-286-5088.

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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

A Great Big “Thank You” To The PSC Show Volunteers

Written by Cliff Green
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David Yadock
Jeff Moorman
Bobj Berger (the PSC Committee)
and Russ Segner (4D Superintendent on behalf of our entire Board)

This year’s Pacific Science Center Model Railroad show was very successful thanks to the many volunteers and all the exhibitors that made the show possible. This show is the premier fundraiser for the 4th Division (PNR, NMRA).

The public was happy to see the trains at the Center for their annual visit and almost 12,000 attended. Yes, the square footage for the model railroad show was a little smaller this year since we had to make way for the Pompeii exhibit but the smiles from all the people attending the show were just as big as in previous shows. As usual, this show is a crowd pleaser.

Here is a listing of all who we have been able to identify as participants at the recent Pacific Science Center Show. Many were there all three days for the full sessions. They ran trains, answered hundreds of questions, re-railed and repaired trains and generally represented the great hobby of model railroading to a very grateful public.

Thank these folks for all their hard work on behalf of our hobby. If you missed out, we will be planning next year’s show very soon. Join one of these fine groups to share your skills and interest – info on most can be found at the 4D Clinics page or the 4D Modules page.

General Volunteers

Don Melnick
Linda & Al Pellegrini
Bob Richard
Seamus Richard
Charles Gerton
Fred Hamilton
Fred Philbrook
Phil Gonzales
Dennis Murphy
Ed Liesse
Rod Olson
Cliff Green
Nathan Green
Michael Posner
Fritz Grant
Alex Grant

Omni-Rail

Dennis Terpstra
Jim Merriam
Marcee Merriam
Walt Scotson
Nolan Deardorf
Paul Pellegrino
Bobby Pellegrino

Northwest Rail Museum (Snoqualmie Museum)

Peggy Barchi
Mark Wilkerson
Dennis Snook
Larry Dalke
David Olix

Northwest Transportation Museum

Al Ramey
Ruth Ramey
Linda Smith
Lawrence Holliday

Operation Lifesaver

Bud Thompson
David Agee

Baby Gramps

Dorë
Baby Gramps
Val Jones

Mike Petrocelli’s Layout

Rod, Zindra, Josiah, Jed, Jaden, Julia, Jeranna Nelson

United Northwest

Keith Lyons
Jim Morgan
David Moses
Jamey Morrison
Gil Hermans
Wally Davis
Charlotte Morgan
Mason Morgan
Keith Lyons
Dave Montgomery
Shawn Newkirk
Tim Finley
Bruce Porter
Adam Phillips
David Phillips

4dNTRAK Group

AL Lowe
Doug Bulger
David Cook
Edwin Hill
Neill Clift
Peter Clift
Mike Donnelly
Scott Marshall
John Marshall
Kent Sullivan
Sean Sullivan

T-TRAK

Mateo Kuo
Malcolm Kuo
Steve Kuo
Jennette Kuo

wTrak

Annette Shephenson
Tom Stephenson
Emily Korson
Marra Holmes
Debra Limon
Kim Tepe
Steven McKay
Kelley Heavey
Dwight Vantuyl

Build-A-Dream

Walt Huston
Jack Hamilton
Bill Hupe
Steve Hauff
Gil Hermans

NMRA table

Bob Rorabaugh
Russ Segner
Rick Jillard
Robin Peel
Wendy Yadock

HO modular

Rob Staples
Thomas Johnson
Dave Ellis
Tom Barrett
Larry Sloan
Ross Tabor
Joel Scott
Norm Curtis
Paul Fischer
Mike Laughlin
Judy Laughlin
Donn Yeo
John Johnson
Alex Brikoff
Tina Brikoff
James Monroe
Nicholas Arnold
Peter Gulick

Playmobile

Quin Jones
Shauna Jones
Burton Jones

Hi-Rail

Sam Hayden
Ed Ives
Wayne Grinnell
Woody Matthews
Marc Sachnoff
Ed Pennington
Ray Francis
Cindy Francis

Committee folks

David Yadock
Jeff Moorman
BobJ Berger

A special thanks to Al Turnbull who was able to attend and display his Cascades & Western layout.

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PSC Model Railroad Show Today through Monday, Welcome to New Members

Written by Cliff Green
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Cliff Green, Grab Iron Editor

If you haven’t made plans to attend the Pacific Science Center Model Railroad show here in Seattle, now’s the time! As noted on the 4th Division PSC web page, the show is Saturday January 17 (today) through Monday January 19 (MLK weekend).

I also want to extend a welcome to the new 4th Division members (or those that have renewed their NMRA membership). I add new members to the Grab Iron e-mail distribution list on a monthly basis. Please e-mail me at cliffg@codewrangler.net if you would like to be removed from the Grab Iron distribution list, or have feedback you’d like to make.

There are many helpful clinics and members across the 4th Division (which includes Alaska). I encourage everyone to take advantage of the skill sharing and fellowship available (it’s the main reason I belong to the NMRA). More information can be found on the 4D Clinics Page.

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Pacific Science Center Show Still Needs Volunteers

Written by Cliff Green
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David Yadock

Don’t worry, there is still time to volunteer!

Yes, the Pacific Science Center Show still needs volunteers. This is the premier fundraiser for the 4th Division. This year’s show will be a little smaller in size but the need for volunteers is just as great. Any amount of time will be appreciated. So, come join your fellow modelers and help promote the hobby. This is the perfect opportunity for all those armchair model railroaders to become active in this local event. Remember, parking is free and you have access to the Pacific Science Center.

As noted on the 4D PSC web page, the show is Saturday January 17 through Monday January 19 (MLK weekend). On Friday the exhibitor set-up will commence at 5 pm and last till 9 pm. On Saturday the show starts at 8:30 am and lasts till 6 pm. Sunday and Monday the show is from 9 am till 6 pm. After the show on Monday will be layout load out till 9 pm. This year will be critical for help since we will not have one of our load in/load out docks available.

If you want to help out please contact me at hi61izq@hotmail.com or 425-226-7518.

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Calling All Volunteers For Pacific Science Center Show

Written by Cliff Green
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David Yadock

Yes, the Pacific Science Center Show is just around the corner! Now is the time to reserve space in your busy schedule to help at this event. This show will need all kinds of volunteers. Volunteering at this show is a great way to help the model railroad community as well as helping promote a train show to the greater community of Seattle.

This event is the premier funding source for the 4D.

As noted on the 4D PSC web page, the show is Saturday January 17 through Monday January 19 (MLK weekend). We can use some assistance on Friday since exhibitor set-up will commence at 5 pm and last till 9 pm. On Saturday the show starts at 8:30 am and lasts till 6 pm. Sunday and Monday the show is from 9 am till 6 pm. After the show on Monday will be layout load out till 9 pm. This year will be critical for help since we will not have one of our load in/load out docks available.

Come join in on the fun. Be a model railroad ambassador to the community. Parking is free for the volunteers. Admission is free to the Pacific Science Center, so you can look at all the exhibits. As with last year, come see your fellow modelers struggle with dead sections of track! Be amazed at how slow locomotives move over dirty track! Learn that not all four legs of a module are of equal length, even though a tape measure says they are! Observe model railroad cars derail just like the real ones!

If you want to help email me at hi61izq@hotmail.com. Thank you.

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Boeing Employees Model Railroad Club Swap Meet

Written by Cliff Green
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BEMRRC

The Boeing Employees Model Railroad Club 35th Annual Swap Meet is being held Saturday, November 8th. Doors open at 9:30 AM until 4:00 PM. This is the Pacific Northwest’s oldest, largest, and best model railroad and railroadiana swap meet with 250 tables. The show is held at The Kent Commons Community Center, 525 Forth Ave N, Kent, WA 98032, on the corner of 4th and James Streets. Admission is $8. For more information contact swapmeet@bemrrc.com or visit http://www.bemrrc.com/.

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