Eastside Virtual Get Together Clinic will be held on THURSDAY, October 15, 2020 at 7:00 PM (lobby opens at 6:45 PM ) PDT
I’m happy to announce our next Eastside Clinic will be held virtually on ZOOM next Thursday, 10/15, starting at 7:00 PM with our virtual lobby opening at 6:45 PM. We have switched back to Thursdays by popular demand! Since our clinics are virtual these days, I would like to extend an invitation to all the 4th Division to attend next Thursday. So be sure and save the date for the October Eastside Clinic next Thursday, 10/15 at 6:45 PM! The log in info for the clinic is below.
Our Clinic this month is titled “Wiring for DCC” and will be presented by Max Maginness. Max will give a short history of DCC systems as based in the same standards in use today as have been available for more than 25 years. This clinic will give an overview of the basics and some of the “nuts and bolts” for wiring a layout as a refresher, but the main topic will be a discussion of the many practical building and operating items that still seem a little mysterious and even controversial.
After the Clinic, we will have some time for other folks to show off their latest model work in our “Show and Brag” segment. The Clinic will wrap up with some administrative comments.
Tomorrow night you are welcome to a virtual operating session at the North End Clinic.
Keeping with our tradition of having our October meeting at Burr Stewart’s home, we are thumbing our noses at COVID and using technology at its finest to run trains over Zoom.
That being said, bring your sense of humor and patience as we navigate the Burrlington Northern from our homes. Multiple cameras have been set up all around the layout and participants will be able to run a train remotely from a web browser or a smartphone app.
The meeting will be a bit different than other Zoom sessions in the past. The clinic will start at 7pm with a quick overview of the evening. We will be utilizing the breakout room feature in Zoom for training/set up, so we’d appreciate your arriving on time. The lobby will be open by 6:50pm.
To help us prepare for tomorrow night, please complete this short survey to give us a sense of who will be attending and how you will be accessing the Zoom session.
A special thanks to Burr Stewart, Andy Dupree, Robin Peel, Dave Enger, and Aidan Murray for a laughter-filled proof-of-concept dry run on Monday afternoon.
We are looking forward to a fun evening tomorrow night. Do not hesitate to call or email me if you have any questions.
There will be a General Meeting of leaders of the Board, clinics and modular groups this Monday evening at 7PM. We will look ahead based on our experience with the new ways we have made adjustments because of COVID 19. How can we do more and how can we do things better? How can you get involved?
Please feel free to look in and share any suggestions you may have to make our sharing of the hobby better. Here is the link to the meeting:
Topic: 4D General MeetingZoom Meeting Time: Sep 21, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join the 4th Division this Saturday, Sept. 12, at 10:00am, on another pair of exciting Zoom virtual layout tours, by Brian Ferris and then Janice and Barry Dupler. Brian is from Olympia and has an HO layout to show us that features south sound scenery and structures, with an emphasis on realistic Timetable and Train Order operations made accessible even for first time operators. Janice and Barry Dupler have an HO/HOn3 layout in Bellevue that features some wonderful bridges, complex track work, towns, and soaring rock faces that only a narrow gauge line could conquer. Here are the details for joining the Zoom meeting: Time: Sep 12, 2020 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Readers who have crewed on my HO-scale Coldwater Creek & Cascade RR during the past eight years have been greeted when entering the layout room by the scene in Figure 1—a granite defile spanned not by proper bridges but two pieces of ½” plywood subroadbed. When I started my layout in 2008 (having been away from the hobby since 1962) I sought the advice of local experts about the construction sequence for a layout designed for operations, which was entirely new to me. All advised laying track and beginning op sessions as soon as possible, leaving scenery and time-intensive structures such as bridges until later, so that the operation scheme and track plan were debugged first. It was good advice, but I didn’t quite follow it. Unhappy with my bare plywood empire I charged ahead and completed the scenery next, leaving the plywood spans in place where bridges would be, well, “someday.” That left the conundrum shown in Fig 1: scenery 90-percent finished—but no bridges. I had two choices here. I could cut away the temporary spans, removing the track, cork roadbed and subroadbed entirely, then build the bridges the usual way, from the ground up. However, I had seen an article in Railroad Model Craftsman (“Building Trestle at North Crags” by John Olson, Dec 1978) in which the author described cutting the subroadbed away, but keeping the rails in place, then building the bridge and abutments underneath them. More or less bass-ackwards! The advantage, especially for a bridge or trestle on a curve, is the preservation of smooth curvature as well as precise level across the span. That seemed appealing so I have built most of my bridges in this manner.
Fig 1 – Project Start
I’ll use the example of my Silver Falls Bridge, the upper span in Fig 1, to describe the construction sequence. The 1:87 pile driver crew came out to the site to have a look at the sheer granite walls on each side and, after a few unkind words about the railroad’s surveyor, announced that no piles could be driven there. Some sort of single span was needed rather than a pile trestle. My modeled year is 1928 so I could have prototypically selected a steel girder span—I have them elsewhere on the layout and it would have been far easier—but since this was a foreground model I chose a timber deck truss bridge, with its fussy tension rods and nbw’s. I used a Kalmbach publication plan, shortened by one panel to fit my 50-foot span.
Building the deck truss bridge used standard methods at the workbench (Fig 2). Stripwood and bridge ties are from Mt. Albert Scale Lumber (now distributed by Fast Tracks), pre-stained with Micromark Bridge and Tie Stain. Having tried several glues, I use Aleene’s Tacky Glue, either standard or fast-grab variants depending on whether the workpiece is held tightly in a jig, or needs the fast-grab action. Nbw’s are from Tichy Train Group. Tension rods are 0.028” brass wire or 2.4” in HO, just slightly oversize but easier to see.
Fig 2 – Silver Falls Span Built at the Bench
Now for the fun part! First the plywood subroadbed and cork roadbed were cut away (Fig 3) using a Zona 5” saber saw blade. The granite rock faces by the way are Cripplebush rubber rocks, which though more time-consuming to paint than plaster or resin alternatives, I am very pleased with. I presented a Skagit Valley & Whidbey NMRA clinic on their use in 2016. Next the flextrack plastic ties were removed. The blue painter’s tape marks ties that are to remain in place; these will be set in ballast on the concrete abutments.
Fig 3 – Subroadbed and Cork Cut Away and Flextrack Ties Removed
The next step, Fig 4, was to carefully clamp the pre-fabricated span to the rails. None of the clamps in my toolbox was quite right for the job, so I jury-rigged the pair seen here. Alignment is important; to get it right I drew pencil lines on the bridge ties for locating the rails.
Fig 4 – Span Clamped to Rails
The next step was to build the abutments below the suspended bridge span. I used basswood and artist’s mat board to simulate concrete abutments, sealing the mat board well so that it didn’t warp with subsequent applications of acrylic paint. This is the most tedious step in the sequence, requiring a number of height measurements from tie level to the pre-existing terrain. In Fig 5, the abutments are completed and ready for painting. They were blended into the existing rock terrain with Sculptamold, which was then carved with striations to match the features of the rubber rocks. All was then given a coat of white acrylic gesso. I used gesso liberally in my scenery coloring as an undercoat, to even everything out over varying materials and increase reflectance and brightness, a trick I learned from my artist son. The white stream below the span is a coat of gloss mod podge which will dry clear; this was unrelated to the bridge work and just done at the same time.
Fig 5 – Abutments Ready for Painting
The bridge span was repositioned into place and rails spiked to the bridge ties. Guard timbers and their nbw’s were added as a final step. The completed Silver Falls Bridge is shown in Fig 6, with the CC&CRR’s heaviest loco—a 2-4-4-2—giving the bridge an axle-load test; it passed. I sized timbers and other features for an E-55 rating, or slightly lower. The abutments were weathered with India ink washes and Bragdon powders, and some simulated foliage and moss added.
Fig 6 – Bridge Installation Complete
I’m not recommending that you build your bridges this way, but having boxed myself in by largely completing my scenery before tackling the bridges, it worked satisfactorily for me. There are several better ways, only one of which is illustrated in Fig 7. The idea here is, when you build your basic layout framework—stringers, risers, subroadbed—instead of keeping the subroadbed continuous across your future bridge locations as I did, construct a removable “bridge frame,” highlighted in yellow in the figure. It’s built of 1 x 3’s or 1 x 4’s or whatever your chosen lumber size is, and includes abutment and pier supports as shown. Lay your track and begin op sessions and run for years this way if you want to—but don’t complete the scenery around the bridge frame. When you’re ready to build your bridge or trestle, remove the frame, the top piece of subroadbed, and build the bridge on the frame at the bench. Reinstall the bridge frame with its completed bridge and fill in the scenery around it. Maybe on my next layout!
The Seattle North End Clinic will once again meet virtually for September. There will be no in person meeting.
This month’s presentation will be on Layout Command Control (LCC) by Brian Pickering. Brian will be providing an overview of what LCC is and then demonstrate how you can implement it on your home layout.
These meetings are for NMRA members and guests. It’s a great way to introduce your friends to the hobby. Also, with our meetings being virtual, you don’t have to drive to North Seattle. A win-win all around.
Below is the information for the Zoom meeting. The lobby will open at 6:45pm and the meeting will start promptly at 7:00pm. PLEASE NOTE: We are starting a bit earlier than we did over the summer months.
Thursday, September 3, at 7:00pm (lobby opens at 6:45pm) — all times PDT
The 4dNTRAK Group will hold its annual meeting on Saturday, August 29, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. via Zoom. All members are encouraged to log in and anyone interested in joining the group is also encouraged!
Check out the website of the St Louis National Narrow Gauge Convention. The meetings were cancelled, but much of it is online this Saturday, August 29 and on the 5th of September.
There are three clinics and two layout tours each Saturday.
Technology is upon us. Just in time, it seems since, all our normal gatherings have been shut in. No train shows and no clinics. No visiting others layouts. Bummer.
By now, many of you have discovered the power of meetings online. With Zoom, we can meet while sitting in the comfort of our own home. No need to drive across town in the rain and traffic. No need even to shave or get out of our very casual comfy clothes. Munch discreetly on a snack and sip a cold one while a well organized presentation is displayed before us.
Now we can visit beautiful layouts without fighting for a close parking space or elbowing into a crowded layout room. We get to really see all that is there. Our host has an opportunity to thoroughly tell the story of his railroad vision. And, since it is recorded, we can visit it again, anytime.
Our clinics can easily accommodate larger attendees and the presentations can come to us from anywhere in the model railroad world.
Thanks to Burr Stewart and Bill Messecar for organizing and presenting this to us. The schedules appear regularly in the Grab Iron. So, turn on the computer and tune in.
