The Lewis County Model Railroad Club is back with their Spring Show!! Buy, sell, or trade all types of model railroad equipment, toy trains, and railroadiana. All scales and gauges.
A large LEGO Trains area (20’ x 20’) and European layouts (standard and narrow gauge) are currently scheduled. If you or your club have a layout you would like to display, please contact us for further information. Space is very limited.
The show will be located at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds Blue Pavilion.
2555 N. National Ave., Chehalis, WA 98532. Loads of FREE parking.
If arriving from the north, take S. Gold Street which changes into National Avenue at NE Exhibitor Road. Both Gold and National are one-way heading south. If arriving from the south, take Kresky Avenue and then cross over to National on Exhibitor Road. The entrance is across the street from the Chevrolet dealership.
April 2-3, 2022 Hours: Saturday 10-4 Sunday 10-3
Admission is still just $5.00 per person. Children 10 and under free.
6′ Tables $25 for both days of show.
Electrical power available for an added fee.
One half of the admission goes directly to the Lewis County Historical Museum.
Applications and additional information available at:
It has been a while since my last update. I thought I would do a little different update this time. Instead of reporting on scenery progress I would report on other items taking place on the Dry Gulch & Western. There have been several additions to my locomotive fleet. All of these have been either re-builds of Ebay specials or in one instance a modification of an old AHM model. I believe more folks should take this approach for adding to their own fleet of locomotives. All it takes is some time, patience, and a few choice tools.
I have been very busy updating and weathering my freight cars. The corresponding car cards have had photos of their respective car added to them. This has been a monumental task since I have well over 200 freight cars on the layout at any given time. Now all my freight cars on the layout have some form of weathering applied to them. Operators on the layout can easily find a specific freight car since they have a reference photo of the car on the front of the car card. I admit I stole this idea from Jim Younkins!
Photo 54
In this photo you can see the end product that was produced from another of my basket case purchases off of Ebay. This is a model of a PFM UP 2-8-0 locomotive. I’m not quite sure what the previous owner did to this locomotive, but the drivers were not in quarter. The tender was missing a wheelset and the back convex portion of the Vanderbilt tender tank was missing. I admit I have dealt with worse off locomotives but this one was in sad shape. I replaced the gearbox and motor. I installed a new motor mount, motor, and driveline. The drivers were checked for gauge and re-quartered. The cool thing about this re-build was that I could install a DigiTrax sound decoder and Stay Alive system in the tender since the back was missing. I did install new wheelsets on both tender trucks. I only needed to enlarge the holes on the tender trucks to accept the new wheelset axles. For the rear convex section of the tender, I found an old plastic Roco tank car that gladly accepted the challenge to be the donor. I was able to saw off the convex portion of the Roco tank. It almost fit perfectly into the tank of the tender. I did need to remove about 1/16” of the bottom for it to slide into the tender tank. I added a couple of stops onto the inside of the tank to keep the new convex section positioned correctly. I lightly glued it in place with Walthers Goo once the decoder was installed. The new tender back is easily removeable by gently prying it away from the tender tank wall if the decoder needs repair. Yes, it isn’t all constructed from brass, but the new paint job hides this deception very well.
Photo 55
This locomotive began its life as a model of a SP C-8 2-8-0. The manufacturer is unknown. I bought it many years ago on Ebay without a tender. The locomotive had some issues since the motor was an open frame type and the gearbox/driveline was completely shot. This time the drivers were in quarter! I had an extra PFM ATSF 2-8-0 tender that was a separate Ebay purchase, so I mated the two together and produced this model. The model had a Mabuchi can motor installed with a custom mount. A new driveline was fabricated and a new NWSL gearbox was installed. This locomotive, like all my other locomotives, had several modifications. A DigiTrax sound decoder and Stay Alive capacitor system were installed. A firebox LED light, working front headlight, and working rear backup light were also installed. This old model was brought back to life and will be working on my layout for many years to come.
Photo 56
I bought this model of a PFM ATSF 2-8-0 years ago at the Boeing Employees swap meet. It was a good price and thought it would be an excellent model to run on my layout. It had already been painted, but the paint was way too gray. Even the valve gear had the same gray paint! The coloration didn’t look right. I did the normal modifications on this locomotive to make it DCC compatible. Again, a Mabuchi can motor was installed with a custom motor mount. A NWSL gearbox was installed with a new driveline. I installed a DigiTrax sound decoder and Stay Alive system in the tender. A “sugar cube” speaker was attached to the back portion of the boiler weight. It fit very well in that location and produces nice sound. A firebox light, front micro LED headlight, and micro LED back up light were installed. Of course, the locomotive was repainted and lettered for the Dry Gulch & Western.
Photo 57
This locomotive started out as an AHM (Rivarossi) model of the famous B&O 0-4-0 Docksider locomotive. The locomotive in an unmanipulated form is a fine model if your layout has code 100 track and is not DCC! I liked this locomotive from the first time I saw it back in the 1970’s, that is why I bought it back then. I have always wanted this locomotive to be able to run on my layout. Now was the time to make some changes. My standard Mabuchi can motor was too large to fit in the locomotive without creating a custom driveline. I decided to use a smaller micro-can motor to fulfill the installation. Yes, this motor only has an 8-volt power rating, but it can be used to power this locomotive. Since this locomotive is relatively small, realistically it can’t pull a large string of freight cars, so this tiny motor will not be overtaxed. To use this motor, you only need to adjust your voltage output settings on your decoder to 6 volts. I used the original worm gear and bull gear located on the driver. I installed the old worm gear onto the new motor shaft by making a custom coupling. The original motor mount was used to mount the new motor. The wheel flanges were carefully filed down to the correct depth to allow this locomotive to run on even code 55 rail. A small Tsunami Econami sound decoder and the new Keep Alive 2 system was installed. The tiny “sugar cube” speaker was attached to the interior of the cab. Both front headlight and rear back up lights use micro-LEDs. A 5mm flicker Led was installed next to the motor to act as a firebox light. This will make for a nostalgic addition to my layout!
Photo 58Photo 59
These photos are specifically for Al Lowe! They are proof of what can be done with an inexpensive old freight car. At the last Boeing Employees swap meet I bought one of these cars (Photo 59) and Mr. Lowe was intrigued by my suggested use. I already had 2 copies of this same car that were originally produced by Tyco and bought decades ago (Photo 58). They both had a strange cradle designed to carry large diameter pipe sections. I liked the short length of the car and thought they could be used as transport flats for my granite mine. I didn’t have to do much modification to them. I added some wooden decking over the odd cradle section, a brake staff, and some foot stirrups. Some weathering and a couple of chunks of “home-made” granite completed the car set. Of course, they received metal wheelsets and Kadee #5 couplers.
I thought I would present some of my “other” projects to show that you can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Sometimes you encounter freight cars that really aren’t very detailed or have features that are not desirable for your intended purpose. Don’t give up on them! Just because they look odd or have strange features that doesn’t mean they can’t be modified to fit your needs. Yes, these projects do require some work, but this allows you to create a car that is more customized than the standard “off the shelf” cars. This is part of the fun. Next time I’ll get back to my scenery projects. The town of Dry Gulch is nearing completion and my expansive alcove section of the layout is having scenery applied at a record pace.
February’s 4dPNR Zoom layout tours will be given by Mike O’Connell and Al Lowe. Mike is the founder of Chooch and will show us his progress on his large O “Proto-48” fine-scale layout. Al Lowe will then update us on his N scale NTRAK modules. It should be a great morning. As usual, we open the meeting at 9:30am PST and start the first presentation at 10:00, ending the meeting between 11:30 and noon. The link to join the Zoom meeting is posted below:
Topic: 4dPNR February Layout Tours Time: Feb 12, 2022 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Meeting ID: 853 0910 7066 Passcode: 065192 One tap mobile +12532158782,,85309107066# US (Tacoma) +13462487799,,85309107066# US (Houston)
Dial by your location +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) Meeting ID: 853 0910 7066
This is a friendly reminder that the North End February meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, February 3, at 7:00pm. Until further notice our clinic is going to remain virtual. The link to the Zoom meeting is included in this announcement. The lobby will open a bit early for socializing.
This month Greg Wright, who chairs the 4D’s Olympia clinic, will be our clinician. He will be sharing a presentation about his trip riding the Rocky Mountaineer in Utah and Colorado this past November.
Following on with our theme of show and tell about your favorite projects, we are focusing on rolling stock for the February clinic. Do you have a favorite piece of rolling stock that you have scratchbuilt, kit bashed or simply super detailed and weathered. Let’s see it in an open forum.
Looking for volunteers to show off their work in about 5-10 minute segments. This will be a similar format that we have done with our Caboose Clinic (youtube link). Please contact Rich Blake at email “slugsmasher – At – oakharbor.net” and get on the crew list. Looking for about five volunteers, first come first served.
Standard Zoom protocol for presenting, Powerpoint or photos preferred. Limit use of video as it doesn’t present very well in zoom. Holding up project in front of webcam or phone/tablet cam works also.
Zoom link
4dpnrOrganizer SkagitValleyWhidbey is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Whidbey Clinic – Rolling Stock Bash
Time: Feb 9, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Eastside Virtual Clinic will be held on THURSDAY, January 20, 2022 at 7:00 PM (lobby opens at 6:45 PM) PDT
The Eastside Clinic is inviting everyone to the January Clinic to be held virtually on ZOOM this Thursday, January 20, starting at 7:00 PM with our virtual lobby opening at 6:45 PM. Be sure and save the date for the January Eastside Clinic this Thursday! The log in info for the clinic is below.
Topic: Eastside Clinic for January 2022 Time: January 20, 2022, 06:45 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
This month’s clinic will be presented by Russ Segner and titled “A Look Back at Rail Served Industrial Buildings in South Seattle”. This clinic is a follow on to Russ’ clinic recently about north Seattle rail served industrial buildings. Russ will be using photos from the 70’s as well as Google Earth to look at scenes in south Seattle. We will look at many building types and interesting trackage layouts for model building ideas.
Topic this month is the Mount Vernon Terminal Railroad by Al Carter. The MVTR is an active local shortline within the city of Mount Vernon. Al will cover some history plus current operations with photos and information from interviews with current owners of the railroad.
The future of the Mount Vernon Clinic is in your hands. We need clinicians. If you can prepare a slide show that can be displayed on your computer screen you can present that slide show on Zoom. Show us what you have been working on. Share any new tools or techniques. Doesn’t matter how short or how long. Email Ted Becker rail.bird@att.net with your ideas. Help is available with your presentation and trial sessions are easy to set up.
At this time we are not predicting when in-person clinics will resume.
4dpnrOrganizer MountVernon is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Mount Vernon Clinic, Jan. 2022 Time: Jan 17, 2022 06:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
The January clinic will have your news letter editor Cliff Aaker presenting a clinic on a Train Ferry that was scratch built to function much like a turntable at one end of a end-to-end layout. The ferry is scratch built to insure it’s function is thoroughly served. Topics will include aligning the track on a turntable like structure. the animation/control which in this case is an Arduino/servo and planning or lack thereof. If you have some “mini-clinic” material to share also that would be perfect.
Cliff Aaker’s On30 rail ferry that also operates as a turntable to provide variable operational opportunities on his Salmon Bay Railway and Navigation layout.
ZOOM LINK:
4dpnrOrganizer SkagitValleyWhidbey is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: WHIDBEY CLINIC JAN 2022 Time: Jan 12, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Here is more information and the Zoom info for the 4DPNR Layout Tours scheduled for 10:00am and 10:45am on Saturday, January 8, 2022. Please invite your friends, this will be worth watching!
Michael Dziubinski ‘s Layout (on at 10:00am) is the Northwestern Pacific (Southern Pacific). This N scale shelf and island style with 65 feet of mainline in a 12×15 room and 30 feet of staging/reversing in an adjacent room based on the Northwestern Pacific in August of 1953. It is fully operational, and the scenery is at the 60% mark. The NWP was a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific and ran from Tiburon California in the south, to Eureka California in the north. The layout models the southern division and begins at the town of Tiburon on San Francisco Bay. The NWP interchanged with the ATSF via rail car barge in Tiburon and it is where their main shops were located. The layout continues railroad east, compass north, through various towns and changes in topography such as tidal areas, farmland, vineyards, and redwood forests. The main layout ends in the redwood forests near the town of Hopland. From there it exits to staging and a reversing loop in another room.
Don Borden (on at 10:45am) is a Santa Fe HO modeler of Cajon Pass who will introduce his model railroad and the goals he set for operations and performance. He will give a slide presentation of each geographic/ train order area he is modeling, a summary of the operational scheme his club is using and the electronics to make it work, and finally 2 short videos of trains operating on the layout.
Here is the Zoom info to join the meeting. As usual, we’ll open the meeting at 9:30am and start the formal presentations at 10. Please make sure your first and last name are shown on your Zoom screen name, so we can let you in from the “waiting room”.
Topic: 4DPNR January Layout Tour Zoom Meeting Time: Jan 8, 2022 09:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Meeting ID: 889 3471 5496 Passcode: 836693 One tap mobile +12532158782,,88934715496# US (Tacoma) +13462487799,,88934715496# US (Houston)
Dial by your location +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) Meeting ID: 889 3471 5496
Happy New Year!! With the winter weather wreaking havoc on the Seattle area recently, it’s good to know that we still have the virtual option for our North End clinic, regardless of the new COVID variant.
The January meeting is coming up this week and we are fortunate to have Lee Bishop presenting a clinic entitled: Taking Better Photographs of Your Layout, With Any Camera or Cellphone. Lee’s clinic will describe how he is taking pictures of his layout and share some of his recently published pics!
A little bit about our presenter:
Lee got into the hobby at the age of 5, with a Lionel O27 train set. He modelled in HO and G through his youth, into the 1990s. He left the hobby for several few years and came back when Bachmann decided to release his favorite prototype (an ET&WNC Baldwin ten-wheeler) in On30. He’s been in On30 ever since.
He is also a part-time military historian, having worked on various magazine articles, books and TV shows over the years in a consultant role. He is considered to be an expert on various topics of military history and also served in the US Army as an officer for several years.
Lee’s modeling reflects his love and interest for the WW2 era. He decided to model a fictional branch line of the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina (ET&WNC) railroad in On30, in an 11 X 10 foot bedroom in his home. The layout takes place in 1943. His layout has been featured in several model railroad magazines over the last couple of years
Lee presented this clinic in November at the Olympia clinic, but, unfortunately the presentation was not recorded. Lee has been gracious enough to present again on Thursday so folks who missed it in November can get a chance to see it live (and we can also get a recording!). Thanks to Byron Osborn for the suggestion!
Here’s a link to the clinic. The meeting will start at 7pm. “Doors” will open shortly beforehand:
