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The Mount Vernon Clinic news
Next Tuesday’s clinic will feature Nick Muff, MD and MRR, showing Bragdon Enterprises geodesic foam scenery materials. You never want to miss one of Nick’s presentations.
For those wishing a little extra camaraderie (and food) meet at the College Way Round Table Pizza around 5:00 to 5:15 for a no host dinner gathering.
Photos by Nick Muff, Al Carter, Tom Buckingham, Paul Koren
The October Mount Vernon clinic of the local Fourth Division, PNR, NMRA was attended by sixteen men, one of whom is from the Dallas, Texas area. As a Peterbilt employee, he frequently visits the local Paccar Technical Center and decided to give us a look. Please come back again, Don Winn.
The Show & Tell segment featured:
Nick’s KCS Restaurant model
Nick’s KCS Restaurant photo
Al’s abandoned gas station
Al’s gas station close up
Paul’s resin box car
Tom’s VW van from Germany
Tom Buckingham, Clinician for the evening, showed us pictures from his September visit to Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany. For those who do not already know, Miniatur Wunderland is the world’s largest model railroad, presently occupying over 14,000 square feet but still growing. This reporter will stop here with the barely believable statistics. For more information see the layout’s website. Tom’s photos showed most of the main features of the layout including many pictures of the seemingly infinite number of details, such as a penguin with his (her?) pet polar bear cub on a leash waiting at a station for the nest train and a couple making out in a convertible.
Coming attactions: the November 25th clinic (fourth Tuesday) will feature Nick Muff showing us how to use Joel Bragdon’s Geodesic Foam scenery process.
Other items of discussion included:
Continuing the tradition established by the Skagit Valley & Whidbey group, anyone who wishes can meet at the Round Table Pizza restaurant at 5:00 PM for a no host pre-clinic dinner. The restaurant is located on the North side of College Way just east of the freeway. See this link for a map and directions: http://tinyurl.com/lpcfa7x
Finally it was decided there would be no December clinic as the fourth Tuesday falls on the 23rd, only two days before the Christmas Holiday, when many folks have full schedules already.
The Mt. Vernon NMRA Clinics got off to a great start with 21 attendees, including several dignitaries from “down South:” PNR President Mike Highsmith, Ed and Ken Liesse, Bob Rohrbach, and Sherman Stevens. Such an honor to have them at our first clinic!
A “Show And Tell” segment included models from Nick Muff, Al Carter, Ted Becker, Mike Pettruzzelli, Roger Johnson, and Paul Koren. This is not a competition, but is designed to get folks to share their modeling projects and techniques and, in the process, hopefully discover new clinicians. Please see the photos below.
Nick Muff’s 4300th scale layout
Paul Koren’s urethane box car
Ted Becker had the honor of being our first clinician, with his “How To Hobby Shop Outside The Hobby Shop” program. Ted has a great eye when it comes to recognizing items from sources other than the traditional hobby shop that we model railroaders can use. He came with what seemed like a bottomless box out of which he pulled a plethora of tools, supplies and ideas.
Ted Becker, Our First Clinician
Other hints included visiting Harbor Freight for needle files, heat shrink tubing assortments, and miniature vacuum hoses (to attach to a shop vacuum). From Grizzly Tools, Ted found a great digital caliper measuring both inches and metric and small 4” Jorgensen clamps.
The bottom line: keep your eyes open when shopping and you’ll be surprised what you find that can help you in your modeling efforts.
The next clinic is October 28 when Tom Buckingham will show “up close and personal” photos of his recent trip to Germany and Miniature Wonderland, that fantastic layout we’ve all seen in the model magazines. Then, on November 25, Nick Muff will show us how to do geodesic foam rocks and landforms.
The inaugural meeting of the new Mount Vernon Clinic, sponsored by the Fourth Division, is next Tuesday, September 23, 2014. The meeting is at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, starting at 7:00 p.m. The address of the Senior Center is 1401 S. Cleveland Street, easily accessible from I-5 via the Kincaid Street exit. Click here for a map and directions.
Our first program will be by long time Fourth Division member Ted Becker, titled “How To Hobby Shop Outside the (Hobby Shop) Box.” We’ll learn about sources for modelling stuff not found in a hobby shop. A lot of old ideas, maybe some new ideas and, best of all, ideas new to you that you can use.
We encourage attendees to bring along a model they’ve completed (or even models in progress) to share with the group. Perhaps it will inspire others to start a new project.
We cannot unlock the door nor are we permitted to leave it propped open, but we will have someone at the entrance until 7:00 p.m. If you arrive after that, please ring the “Model Railroaders” doorbell that will be on a board by the door and wait for someone to come and let you in.
If you have any questions, call me at 360-399-1226, or email tabooma@msn.com. If you wish to be on the list for the monthly e-mailed newsletter, email Roger Johnson at skagitrailbird@gmail.com or call 360-770-5944.
The Skagit Valley & Whidbey Model Railroading Clinic will meet in Oak Harbor on Wednesday, September 10th at 7:00 p.m. to begin the new model railroading season.
Rich Blake and team have some great clinics scheduled for your enjoyment and edification this year, beginning with this month’s clinic by Rich himself.
In preparation for the upcoming OPS season (a.k.a. Model Railroad Operations), get a primer on train operations and how to make your ops participation more fun and realistic. This is not a how-to for setting up an operating session, we will focus on how to participate as guest or owner.
We spend considerable time modeling and developing our own operating method for our layouts but, when it comes time to operate on another’s layout, it can be confusing and difficult. We will show how to make life easier during an ops session while emulating the prototype. If time allows, we will also cover car forwarding methods using JMRI.
Remember: come to Summer Hill in OakHarbor on September 10 by 7:00. We will have our customary pre-clinic get-together at 5:15 at the San Remo restaurant, 421 NE Midway Blvd, OakHarbor. Come early and enjoy some great pizza and conversation.
New Mount Vernon Clinic update
There usually are “bumps in the road” when starting up a new activity, and the new clinic “up north” is no exception.
First off, we have changed the name of the clinic to the Mount Vernon Clinic, to better define where we are located, and eliminate confusion with the existing Whidbey/Skagit Clinic in Oak Harbor.
Secondly, we have changed the date of the clinic to the Fourth Tuesday of the month, so there is more time separation between the new clinic and the neighboring clinic over in Oak Harbor. Hopefully, some folks will be able to attend both clinics this way, as it eliminates back to back clinics on successive evenings.
Here is the original article, edited to include the latest updates:
The Fourth Division has added yet another monthly clinic to better serve local NMRA members and other model railroaders. The Mount Vernon Clinic will have its first meeting on September 23, 2014, at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, starting at 7:00 pm. The Senior Center is at 1401 S. Cleveland Street, easily accessible from I-5 via the Kincaid Street exit. All meetings will be held on the 4th Tuesday of each month.
A number of Skagit and Snohomish County folks were making the monthly trek to Oak Harbor for the Whidbey/Skagit monthly clinic and several of us decided to start a newer clinic closer to home. Our goal is to work closely with our fellow friends over in Oak Harbor to possibly share clinic agendas and clinicians, which seems like a win-win situation. We also hope to serve more NMRA members (and other model rails) in the Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom County areas.
As of this writing, Ted Becker has agreed to step up and be the first clinician and he has proposed several ideas. As we get closer to September 23, we will make a more detailed announcement in the Grab Iron. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions or suggestions, or wants to volunteer to be a clinician, feel free to contact me at tabooma@msn.com or 360-399-1226. If you wish to be added to an email list for a clinic newsletter, just let me know.
The Fourth Division has added yet another monthly clinic to better serve local NMRA members and other model railroaders. The Mount Vernon Clinic will have its first meeting on September 23, 2014, at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, starting at 7:00 pm. (Editor’s Note – the original clinic name was Skagit Clinic, but has been changed to prevent confusion. The date of the first meeting has also been updated and is correct in this blog post.) The Senior Center is at 1401 S. Cleveland Street, easily accessible from I-5 via the Kincaid Street exit.
A number of Skagit and Snohomish County folks were making the monthly trek to Oak Harbor for the Whidbey/Skagit monthly clinic and several of us decided to start a newer clinic closer to home. Our goal is to work closely with our fellow friends over in Oak Harbor to possibly share clinic agendas and clinicians, which seems like a win-win situation. We also hope to serve more NMRA members (and other model rails) in the Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom County areas.
As of this writing, Ted Becker has agreed to step up and be the first clinician and he has proposed several ideas. As we get closer to September 23, we will make a more detailed announcement in the Grab Iron. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions or suggestions, or wants to volunteer to be a clinician, feel free to contact me at tabooma@msn.com or 360-399-1226. If you wish to be added to an email list for a clinic newsletter, just let me know.