Category: News

I have appointed a Nominating Committee to seek candidates for our upcoming election of officers. Their task is to identify and/or recruit candidates for one Director position and for a new Superintendent. Ed Ives holds the one Director position to be voted on and I do not know if he will seek another term. Ed has done a fine job dealing with train shows, especially the Thanksgiving Show at MOHAI as well as being a leader in our considerations in Board meetings.

I told the Board of Directors last week that I would like to see someone new step into the Superintendent role. I have served some ten years now and it is time for someone else to have a chance to lead all of you and represent the Fourth Division. It has been an honor and very rewarding to fill this position.

I want to thank you all for your involvement in the hobby of model railroading and especially in the Fourth Division. It has been a great pleasure to know many of you and come to understand your many individual talents. My term runs through the end of this year. I intend to stay very active in the 4D and look forward to working with many of you on your layouts and in operating sessions.

I hope whoever is elected will agree to step up early to work with me on the upcoming events which include planning for next year’s PNR Regional Convention. So, please give some thought to running in this year’s election. You can suggest to the Nominating Committee the name of someone you feel would be a good leader. You can, of course, put your name in the hat for either position.

The committee consists of Burr Stewart (burrst@hotmail.com), Dan Kellogg and Al Lowe. Please contact them to put a name forward, perhaps your own.

Thanks, again.

Russ

By Ted Becker

Some changes of plans for the Mount Vernon clinic. Due to the lack of volunteers to help with combined virtual/live clinic the clinics will continue to be virtual for the time being. Also, due to a memory lapse on the part of the clinic chairman the topic for March will not be the topic announced earlier.

Check earlier Grab Iron posts for information on the Mount Vernon Gabfest and Swapmeet coming in April.

The topic for March is the continuation of the series by Ron Hopkins: Scratch Building Part II: Rationale, Tools, & Examples. Ron is an excellent modeler and his clinics are quite informative.

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

Topic: Mount Vernon Clinic March 2022
Time: Mar 21, 2022 06:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86803503388?pwd=ekhtYlVjZWs4TS9ydHh2elp2cmhsQT09

Meeting ID: 868 0350 3388
Passcode: 079402

By Ted Becker

Mount Vernon Clinic Gabfest and Swapmeet, April 30, 2022, 10am to 3pm at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1401 Cleveland Ave, Mount Vernon, WA. Free admission. The Senior Center Game Room will be open with tables and chairs to sit around and get reacquainted with people you haven’t seen for a while.

Table reservations are now open to everyone in the 4th Division. You are invited to reserve a table. One table per family. No commercial sales. A table can be shared by more than one person. This is a small swapmeet, a little over a dozen tables.

A nominal $10 donation for each table will be collected at the door. Half tables available for $5. Cash only. All proceeds will be donated to Senior Center Meals on Wheels.

Tables are 6’ or larger. There may be a few 54” round tables. Table selection will be first-come-first-served.

Doors will be open for set up at 9am and vendors are welcome once tables are set up.

To reserve a table email Ted Becker at rail.bird@att.net with “Table Reservation” as part of the subject line and your first and last name in the email. One table per email.

Covid precautions will be those in effect for the City of Mount Vernon or Skagit County. Fully vaccinated is preferred.

Al Lowe

In case you missed it in the recent NMRA email, the Feather River Route, the layout of former 4th Division member Mark Bridgwater, was featured on its 25th anniversary. Here’s Mark’s video, with many scenes created when he lived here in Redmond:

Eastside Clinic will be held on THURSDAY, March 17, 2022 at 7:00 PM (lobby opens at 6:45 PM) PDT

The Eastside Clinic is inviting everyone to the March Clinic to be held virtually on ZOOM this Thursday, March 17, starting at 7:00 PM with our virtual lobby opening at 6:45 PM.  So be sure and save the date for the March Eastside Clinic this Thursday!  The log in info for the clinic is below.    

Topic: Eastside Clinic for March 2022
Time: March 17, 2022, 06:45 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join the Zoom meeting at:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86550431054?pwd=VnNWVytxWmlDSm9EYWNQRUFWNjJxQT09

Meeting ID: 865 5043 1054
Passcode: 514936

Our Clinic this month is titled “Dupont – The Dynamite Train” and will be presented by Russ Segner.  Russ will discuss the history and potential modeling opportunities of the DuPont Company’s own narrow-gauge railroad. Built in 1906, it was used to deliver materials and explosives from the old DuPont Powder Works Plant to the pier on Puget Sound.  

Alex Brikoff, 03/14/2022    

Join us this Wednesday 9 March at 7:00 on ZOOM for a special double feature. We start with Jon Wilbert showing some items from his prototype equipment collection that has been nicely restored for display and functionality. Our second feature will be Al Frasch sharing a tour of his new layout in Arizona – the Modesto Empire and Traction in N-scale. Will be an interesting clinic covering a wide spectrum of big and small subjects.

Zoom Link

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

Topic: Whidbey March Clinic
Time: Mar 9, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82889000829?pwd=ZHBISzZyczZrdGhib3BzWldwU2xBUT09

Meeting ID: 828 8900 0829
Passcode: 120810
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