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The Washington State History Museum’s 16th Annual Model Train Festival was held from December 26th through January 1st and had record attendance. Several groups from the 4D were represented.
Bill Kajdzik was kind enough to share his photos with us. To see them, click here and use the small triangles below the photos to navigate.
While Santa’s elves produce a lot of train sets each holiday season, they can’t hold a candle to the quality and scale of the ones on display each year at the Washington State History Museum’s Model Train Festival.
“Railroads have played an important role in our state’s history,” said Jennifer Kilmer, director of the Washington State Historical Society. “The model train festival provides a wonderful opportunity for us to share that history in a fun environment that involves Washington state residents and brings to life their passion for model trains.”
Running the week after Christmas, the 16th annual event will showcase eight model train displays designed and assembled by model train enthusiasts from across the state, including Boeing Employees Model Railroad Club, Cannonball Express, Pierce County Lionel Club, Mount Rainier N Scale, 4D NTRAK Group, 4D PNR HO Modular Group, Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers, and Washington State Operation Lifesaver. The displays will occupy every floor of the museum and include the largest permanent model train layout in the state.
“The week after Christmas is a time that a lot of families have off from school and work,” said Kilmer. “We’d like to encourage everyone from around the state to consider a day trip to Tacoma.”
As an added attraction, this year’s festival will also feature a presentation on The History of the Great Northern Railroad and the important role it played in the development of the Pacific Northwest. The presentation will be hosted by Randy Dasho Sr., a local railroad historian who spent 43 years as an employee at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The presentation will run from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on December 28 and December 29 and is free with paid admission to the train festival.
December 26, 2011 – January 1, 2012
10 a.m. — 5 p.m. daily
Washington State Hustory Museum
1911 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98402
(253) 272-3500
Admission: Adults $8; Seniors 60 and older $7; Students and Military $6; Children 5 and under free; Members of the WSHS free
The Tacoma Northwestern Model Railroaders held a successful first year show and swap meet May 14 – 15, at Freighthouse Square in Tacoma. Several modular railroads attended, including the 4dNTRAK Group. Sound Transit had a Sounder there with its cab car open. A few lucky souls even got into the locomotive (and convinced the engineer to “wind ‘er up!”) The Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad provided steam train rides on the hour to 72nd Street and back. Over $3,200 was raised for the Tacoma food bank.
On behalf of the 4dNTRAK Group, I would like to thank TNW for providing us with a wonderful place to run trains during what’s usually a slow spring for train shows. And what better place to host a show than beside working prototypes? Not to mention all the wonderful, non-franchise food places right in the building.
Photos by Ken Liesse are posted here.
And photos by William M. Kajdzik are posted here.
The Seattle, Pacific & Eastern, (SP&E) or 4D HO Module Group had a 32’ X 48’ layout in the shape of a “U” at the UNW show this year. We had 8 different members bring modules for a total of 24 modules plus 10 modules and 8 corners of the SP&E. There were no long trains running this year, but we did have a real wide variety of trains running, everything from 10 car passenger trains (including Acela and Sounder) to freight trains. Some unusual freight loads were a Boeing 737 body on custom flatcars as well as a turnout in a gondola.
The set up went great as all modules showed up on Friday. Take down went real smooth too and all were out of the hall 1.5 hours after the show closed. I thank all of the people who brought modules and those who just came and helped. It was a fantastic show.
We welcome new members to join our group. If you are interested you can call Norm Curtis (chairman), (425) 743-9035 or me, Bob Beise (425) 488-2494. We meet just about every month for breakfast, usually the second Saturday. The place for breakfast changes as we alternate every other month from north to south to accommodate the wide range of our members homes.
The Pacific Science Center Model Railroad Show will be January 15-17, 2011 (MLK weekend). Public show hours are 10 AM to 6PM each day. Attendance at the show is free to the public, with purchase of admission to Pacific Science Center. See the PSC website, www.pacsci.org, for details.
The 4th Division assists the PSC with organizing the show.
You can help us promote the show by posting copies of the show poster on public bulletin boards in your community. Download the poster pdf from the PSC show page on the 4d website: www.4dpnr.com. Check your printer settings to print the image as “fit to page” or similar.
You can help us at the show. Volunteers are needed to help with various support functions. One important function is helping supervise the various opportunities for children to operate trains. You get free admission at the exhibitor’s entrance, the pleasure of helping children learn to love trains, and use of the crew lounge. Please let us know soon when you can help. We will respond with specifics.
Mark your calendars for August 14, 2010, from 10 AM to 5 PM for a train show at the Issaquah Depot Museum. The depot is located at 40 Rainier Blvd N in historic Issaquah. Train show admission is free with museum admission $2 per adult, $1 per child. Activities include riding the pump car, blowing the air horn, play areas for children, and viewing the garden railroad and modular railroads. For additional details about the depot and museum, see issaquahhistory.org/depot or 425-392-3500.
I’m taking over the reigns from another organizer that has been running the train show in partnership with the Issaquah History Museum for the past three years. I’ve been a member of the NMRA for about ten years and Secretary of the 4D Hi-Rail group. We would like other modular groups to participate. Please contact me no later than August 1st at 425-427-8686 or markander5022@yahoo.com.