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What’s happening now in the 4th Division
Available at this month’s Redmond Clinic
I will be bringing copies of Kurt Armbruster’s new book on the Pacific Coast railroad centered around the coal mines of the area. It is soft cover, some 127 pages, with good maps and many photos we have not seen before.
Each copy is $20 with all proceeds going to local museums and historical societies. I am selling them for the Newcastle Historical Society.
Photos by author
The Paradise Lanes meeting room was full as host Kevin Klettke brought us to order (more or less.) Our friendly hobby shop proprietor, Rob, showed some interesting products, including an Athearn tunnel motor, a radio controlled Lionel Great Northern GP9, and a 3 car set from Kadee of TTX flats with M-1 Abrams tanks.
Jim Sabol introduced our guest speaker, John Hilbar who regaled us with stories of his long career on the Milwaukee Road. John began as a laborer and retired as a conductor on the Hoquiam local.
The modeler’s showcase had five entries.
Warren Kerr’s HO Speeder with DCC installed
Walt Huston’s N scale SD35 and Caboose
Chip VanGelder’s 3D printed cabooses in N and HO
Paul Vaughn’s On30 scratchbuilt switches (under construction)
Larry Sloan’s HO brass transfer caboose, painted for BN.
The next meeting will be 7PM, February 14. At Paradise lanes.
Sorry about the photos. I can’t get them to move. dgk
We need some volunteers!
It is that one time of the year when the general membership of the Fourth Division can show our commitment to our hobby and share it with the public.
The show is this January 19, 20 and 21. Since this is the major source of funds for the Fourth Division, each who can give some time is encouraged to come and help.
Here is a list of places to serve:
Operation Lifesaver needs to be manned all 3 days
N-scale layout needs to be manned all 3 days
On30 switching layout needs to be manned all 3 days
NMRA table needs to be manned 2-2.5 days (Bob R. will be there part of the time)
Build-A-Dream needs to be created and manned all 3 days (someone or several can build a kit or create trees during the show)
Crew lounge needs to be manned 2 days (Ed Liesse will be there on Monday)
Layouts that need help for breaks are as follows-
Whidbey Island switching layout
Cascades-N-Western
Train Mania
Al Rameys Transportation Museum
Mike Petrozzelli’s N scale layout
Ideally, volunteers can be most effective by coming for a four hour shift. Parking script is available and you get into the show free. Refreshments are available in the breakroom.
If you can help, contact David Yadock at hi61izq@hotmail.com; or me at russseg@gmail.com. Call me in the evenings at 206 200 2211.
Russ
Kevin Klettke, Tacoma Clinic Chair, announces that the first meeting of 2019 will be a program featuring John Hiblar, a prototype railroader in a question and answer presentation hosted by Jim Sabol at the January 10th clinic. John was a laborer, a brakeman, then a conductor on the Milwaukee Railroad out of Tacoma, including the Hoquiam local, and the Bellingham local.
Paradise Lanes Entertainment Center
12505 Pacific Ave S
Tacoma, WA 98444
Meeting starts at 7:00 PM
Contact : Kevin Klettke
206-467-042
There will be a meeting of several members who have expressed interest in forming a modular group for HOn3. The first meeting will be this Saturday January 5 at 1PM at my home in Newcastle. We will discuss general topics such as; standards, membership rules, possible themes, etc.
Barry Dupler, John Paschal, Syd Schofield are coming. If you can join us, let me know. We will spend some time running trains on my layout – Coal Creek Lumber Company. We will finish in plenty of time for everyone to get home for the Seahawks game.
Russ Segner
Please call me at 206 200 2211
Our annual train show at Seattle’s Pacific Science Center is scheduled to open very soon on January 18. David Yadock has once again organized a very busy show with most of our modular groups and several individuals setting up displays.
If you can help, it is a great opportunity to share some time with your fellow 4D members as we show the public what our hobby is all about. Contact David at hi61izq@hotmail.com or me at russseg@gmail.com.
The PSMRE layout together with several of our modular groups is celebrating the Holidays with open house throughout this week.
One of the finest examples of model building is featured. Here is a link to a Facebook presentation.
Russ Segner
We are in the midst of a season of gift giving. We will give and receive clothing, toys, electronics and all manner of gizmos. Some of us who are really lucky will get things for our love of trains. This is all great and I hope you get what you wished for.
I want to mention one special aspect of giving. That is the giving of time and sharing of experience to benefit others with no expectation of compensation or even acknowledgement. In the course of our association together in the 4th Division, many routinely give of themselves to the benefit of us all. So, I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you who have done so.
Thanks to all who present clinics, help with setup for the clinics, spend hours preparing modules for display at train shows, talk with the public about our hobby, work to publish communications with members, organize membership information, recruit leadership and serve as directors and officers of the 4D.
I wish you all a very enjoyable season, however you observe our many holidays. Get some rest, do a little model railroading, share some time with others and be ready for a very busy and fulfilling 2019.
Submit your nomination with the name of the member and a list of their contributions to the hobby, the NMRA and the 4th Division plus a short bio. If you have submitted a nomination in the past, please resubmit. Email your nominations to Ted Becker at: rail.bird@att.net.
The Golden Grab Iron Service Award is given each year to a member of the 4th Division, Pacific Northwest Region, National Model Railroad Association, who exemplifies extraordinary service to the organization. The selection committee is comprised of the immediate past three honorees. Please submit your nominations for the 2019 recipient by January 15th. A list of past recipients is on the 4D website here.
Ted
Article and Photos by Rich Thom
Clinic Chair Rich Blake welcomed a jovial crowd of 32 to our annual holiday Wassail at the Summerhill facility in Oak Harbor. The large room there (pirated last month by another group) was rightfully ours once again and definitely needed to accommodate the dozens of groaning platters of snacks and sweets: It was not a Weight Watchers meeting! Rich also welcomed newcomer Mike Bernethy and we hope he becomes another regular.
The evening’s diversion, while attendees dug into the goodies on their paper plates, was a slideshow by your reporter titled “No Problem, Sahib” presenting photographic excerpts from his four trips to India between 1982 and 2005. “No problem, Sahib” was something the traveler didn’t want to hear from the train’s conductor, the hired car driver, or the hotel clerk. Because that reassurance actually meant: you had a really big problem! Your train would be hours late or terminated short of its destination; the road ahead was closed and the detour was 140 miles; or despite your reservation, you really had no room at the hotel and it was full. Rail travel seemed chaotic—because it was. Stations were overflowing, as were the trains; even the tracks at busy junctions and stations were used as footpaths home.
In the early 80’s steam still dominated, although dieselization and electrification had made inroads,and the remaining steam on India’s broad (5’6”) and meter gauges comprised mostly standard post-war classes. But itwas still possible to cross the subcontinent entirely behind steam, as your presenter did. The narrow gauge was another draw: hundreds of miles of mostly 2’6” gauge still remained 100-percent steam. Perhaps the most interesting of all was the world-renowned Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the 2-foot gauge mountain-climbing gem in India’s far northeast, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Maybe more than anything, the rail enthusiast in India was simply overwhelmed by the crush of humanity; the cities and even small villages which seemed to burst with people; the poverty; the incessant toil of the country’s citizens. A handful of photos from the program may give a flavor of Indian train travel during the years your writer traveled there.
Editor: This was a fascinating presentation by Rich and Linda Thom that provided a colorful glimpse into the widely (and dare I say “narrowly”) variable types of railroad subjects in India, a country still very much dependent on railroads for travel, commuting and commerce. All had a great time and again thanks to the Thoms for sharing their travel adventures.