Category: News

The Pacific Northwest Archives is featuring Lowell Smith of RailSmith of Railroad Models as guest speaker this Wednesday at 1PM. RailSmith features outstanding N scale models.

Here is the link to the Zoom meeting. Please do not forward this to anyone not a regular reader of the Grab Iron.

PNRA Admin is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: PNRA Admin’s Zoom Meeting
Time: May 25, 2022 12:45 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83745654188?pwd=UjU5bU0xa1pKZ25QcW5uRU9zNlg2QT09

Meeting ID: 837 4565 4188
Passcode: 375006
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Al Lowe

Yea, verily, thy deadline approacheth!

You have only 10 days left to get your free lunch. Oh, and also to register for a day filled with fun, knowledge, comradery, fellowship, and donuts.

The annual 4D Spring Meet will be held for the first time since Covid on June 4 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Jackson Conference Center on the Everett Community College campus, 2000 Tower Street, Everett. There will be clinics, a model contest with no paperwork(!), and an in-depth FastTracks Make & Take session.

In addition, the 4th Division’s annual meeting will be held during lunch. We’ll announce the 2022 Grab Iron Award winner, some new Master Model Railroaders, the results of the ongoing 4D election (vote now if you haven’t!)  and much more.

Register by Monday, May 30 to get your free lunch! Or register afterward and you can watch the rest of us eat. Or bring your own lunch. Just come!

What are you waiting for? It’s easy to pay online with Paypal. Click here to register now!

The PNRA is hosting Lowell Smith founder of RailSmith, a producer of N scale passenger cars. This is a Zoom meeting next Wednesday, May 25 at 1PM. I will forward the link as soon as it is released.

Jeff Schultz reports that All Aboard Washington, the rail passenger advocacy group, will have a general meeting and auction this Saturday, May 21 at 1:00 PM in the Centralia Depot’s Multi-Purpose Room, 210 Railroad Avenue, in Centralia. Masks required.

This is a chance to learn about passenger operations in the Northwest.

They will also host an in-person-only auction of books, models and prototype items. Membership is not required. Registration is suggested. To attend on Zoom, register for connection information.

Agenda:

1. Silent Auction (Photos of available items)
2. Roll, determination of quorum (Rocky)
3. Welcome (Kathy)
4. Pledge and Donation Request (Hendrik)
5. Cascades Update (WSDOT, Luis) 
6. Planning for 2023 Legislative Session (Luis)
7. Interstate Bridge Replacement, Just Crossing Alliance (Charlie)
8. Regional and National Updates (Dan Bilka, Charlie) All Aboard Northwest, Greater Northwest Passenger Rail Summit, 2022 Train Trek
9. Upcoming events and meetings
10. Adjournment

Eastside Clinic will be held on THURSDAY, May 19, 2022 at 7:00 PM (lobby opens at 6:45 PM) PDT

The Eastside Clinic is inviting everyone to the May Clinic to be held virtually on ZOOM this Thursday, May 19, starting at 7:00 PM with our virtual lobby opening at 6:45 PM.  So be sure and save the date for the May Eastside Clinic this Thursday!  The log in info for the clinic is below.    

Topic: Eastside Clinic for May 2022
Time: May 19, 2022, 06:45 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join the Zoom Meeting at:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84588120670?pwd=aG5TSUhNWlh4ci9HWmMwN2FlbWhpdz09

Meeting ID: 845 8812 0670
Passcode: 096514

Our clinic this month will be presented by David Yadock and is titled “The Use of Mirrors on a Train Layout”.  This will be an informative clinic describing some of the common issues with using mirrors on a layout and then compare them to the correct methods of using mirrors.  David will show lots of examples from his own layout where he uses mirrors in clever ways to give the appearance of large spaces. 

Alex Brikoff, 05/17/2022    

By Ted Becker

Topic for May is Kent Sullivan giving his presentation on the Northern Pacific operations in Sedro Woolley, Washington. Kent is an expert on Northern Pacific history. The amount of railroading done by the NP in Sedro Woolley was a surprise to me and Kent does an excellent job of presenting the material with lots of photos and maps.

May 16 at 7:00pm.

We will be taking the usual break for the summer hoping to resume clinics in September. Whether the clinics are live or virtual will depend upon the state of the pandemic. Since nobody has offered to help there will not be a combined live and Zoom presentation.

4dpnrOrganizer MountVernon is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Mount Vernon Clinic, May 2022
Time: May 16, 2022 06:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88584105299?pwd=eDY0TmRNVEpvbHFsdTQ1ZGNXcXBNdz09

Meeting ID: 885 8410 5299
Passcode: 264054

Jon Bentz will be presenting a clinic on his under construction On30 layout, the “Rio Como”.
We should get a full update on the entire layout. Jon says since the last update Alan Murray and he
finished the benchwork for the car float operation and built a car float and tug as well as the loading
bridge and winches. This should be completed along with the harbor sea wall this month. He has started
track painting on the end of the line that’s the first thing seen when entering the layout room. This will be
finished for the NNGC in September.

He also thought he’d give a brief description of operations. Initially ops will be based on a series of ’turns’
originating in the staging yard. This will feed traffic to each station on the layout and will represent a ‘job’
for operators. The branch line that serves the mines and lumber industry is independent of the main line
and can be run by either one or two crews. That branch will feed a turn to the lumber mill with logs
returning with empties and could run twice (we’ll see if that works ).
Jon says
“During all of this I have continued building structures thanks to the help I’ve received. This summer I’d
like to get at least some scenery roughed in.”

Zoom LINK:
4dpnrOrganizer SkagitValleyWhidbey is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Whidbey Clinic May 2022
Time: May 11, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82312135769?pwd=dDNrT2lHMG5na2JWTHZvQ0dnV1ZqUT09

Meeting ID: 823 1213 5769
Passcode: 991691

Al Lowe

It’s time for you to register for the 2022 4D Spring Meet. Time’s a’wastin’!

Details: In case you didn’t notice, this page of the website https://4dspringmeet.com/clinics.html includes links to details about each clinic, including photos. For example, if you click on the title of William Messecar’s clinic, “Building HO Resin Freight Cars,” you’ll go here: https://4dspringmeet.com/clinic2.html.

Register: Head on over to the website and register right now! You’ll be glad you did. And if you do it before Tuesday, May 31, you’ll get a free lunch. Plus, great clinics by 4D MMRs. Plus, camaraderie with your fellow model railroaders. Plus coffee (which you need in the morning) and donuts (which you don’t!).

Model Contest: Don’t come to Everett empty-handed — bring along a model! But nothing scratchbuilt. It must be a kit. And bashed. And the only paperwork you need is a sheet of 8½x11 paper with the name of the kit and a photo of it as the manufacturer intended it to be built. Include the model’s name, your name, and your NMRA number. That’s it. No other wording needed — or allowed!

Bring anything you want. Something you did thirty years ago? A tank car kit converted to a Vanderbilt tender? A passenger car that’s a diner or a shed or both? A flat car into a bridge? As long as it’s railroad‐related and suitable for a layout.

Judging will be: 35 points for the transforming idea; 35 points for workmanship; 15 for detail; and, 15 for painting and lettering.

So click here and register today while it’s fresh in your mind.