Category: News

Mike Donnelly, Treasurer 4D-PNR-NMRA

The June 23 4D Board meeting is our annual budget meeting. Please develop your annual budget requests and get them to me by June 9^th.

Modular groups should break their requests into three categories:

• Operations and Maintenance
• Capital improvements
• Travel

Modular groups should include a list of the shows they plan to, or may, attend in the upcoming fiscal year (Jul 2018 to Jun 2019).

I can be contacted at treasurer@4dpnr.com.

by David Yadock

Attention-

All voting members of the 4D. The ballots for this year’s election are in the mail. You should have received the ballot in the mail or you will receive it very shortly. Please vote and return the completed ballot as soon as possible. Thank you for your participation in this election process.

Also, please note that a flyer for the upcoming Spring Meet was sent with the ballot. Please save the date and attend the Spring Meet.

 Dale Kraus

Digital Command Control (DCC) is a boon to model railroaders.  In it’s essence it is simple, straightforward, and user friendly [geekspeak for easy to use.] Nevertheless, several myths persist.  Those who use DCC  will chuckle at these, but many new model railroaders  find them confusing.  So without further ado, here, in no particular order, are the myths.

1. Each locomotive will require a dedicated throttle. If I have five locos I need five throttles.   No.  Each operator will need a throttle, which can control any decoder equipped loco.
2. DCC systems must be connected to a computer.  No.  The command station IS a single-purpose computer. It’s all you need to run your locos.
3. Loco programming requires a computer.   No.  All basic programming can be done through the command station using the throttle that came with the set. You can use your computer for advanced programming, but it’s a “nice-to-have” and not a necessity.
4. Older (pre-DCC) locomotives cannot be used.  No.  Any locomotive, be it 2-rail, 3-rail, DC or AC powered, can be converted.  Some will require more work than others.
5. The track must be re-wired and existing control panels removed.   No.  Existing wiring can be  used.  If your control panels are set up for multiple cabs set them all to the same cab and attach the DCC system to the inputs for that cab.
6. “DCC friendly” turnouts must be used.   No. If your layout runs fine with the current turnouts it will run fine on DCC.  All-rail turnouts are OK too if  insulated  rail joiners are properly used.
7. Blocks are unnecessary.  No and Yes.  Conventional DC blocking  is overkill.  The wiring can be simplified into maintenance/troubleshooting sections. e.g.: A town with a passing siding and several spurs  can be wired as one section.
8. DCC systems are not compatible with each other.  All DCC systems will talk to all DCC decoders, regardless of brand.  Generally, however,  the command station and throttles must be the same brand.

Finally, remember that this is technology, not magic.  If you’re using 2-rail  all the rules concerning polarity, reversing sections, and insulation must be followed. But fear not, for there are devices available to overcome these problems.

Dale Kraus

Remember, the Tacoma clinic has moved.  We will meet on Thursday, April 12 at

PARADISE BOWL 12505 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, WA 98444

The clinic starts at 7PM.

by Alex Brikoff

The April 2018 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on April 19, 2018.

Don’t forget that the Clinic is at the:
Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village
6505 176TH AVE NE, Rm. 202
REDMOND WA 98052-4930

Doors Open at 7:00 PM and Meeting starts promptly at 7:15 PM

We will begin by mentioning any noteworthy, upcoming model railroad and railfan events in the area. We will also have our Model of the Month contest and Rail Photo of the Month contest. So, please bring your best models and photos for the contests! Winners will have first choice of many fine items from our Door Prize table.

This month’s clinic will be about “Preparing and Presenting a Model Railroad Clinic” and be presented by Russ Segner. This clinic will show how to organize your thoughts and ideas for a clinic, move it to an outline and to prepare and present a clinic at an NMRA event. We all have some unique ways of doing things while we work on our layouts or while building that award-winning freight house or trackside industry. Have you ever wanted to share those techniques with your fellow modelers as a well-crafted and well-presented clinic? This month’s clinic will certainly help you get there! Come and learn how to create an outstanding clinic on your favorite topic!

We will have refreshments and snacks available. We’ll also have a great selection of Door Prizes to give away at the end of the clinic.

See you there!!

by Bill Hupe

Hello all!
Hope everyone is well.

Next Tuesday, April 10th is our clinic.

This month’s clinic “Track Laying Basics” by Jack Hamilton, MMR.

Time: 7:00
Place: Kitsap United Way, 645 4th St , Bremerton, WA 98337

As always coffee and cookies will be served.
Bring a friend and something to share

Article and Photos by Rich Thom

Clinic Chair Rich Blake welcomed the 25 folks who gathered at our Oak Harbor venue for the Skagit Valley and Whidbey Clinic’s March meeting.  General announcements were brief other than to bid adieu to long-time member Al Frasch, whose n-scale Pilchuck Division of the BNSF brought hundreds of model railroaders to Whidbey Island for operating sessions.  Your reporter wishes to correct his error in last month’s report, in which he stated that Al hosted 50-plus op sessions.  Al’s final session, on March 10^th, was in fact the one-hundredth!  With anywhere between 11 and 16 crew, readers can do the math: a huge number of model railroaders enjoyed his creation.  Modest as always, Al reminded the group that he wasn’t dying, just moving to Arizona.  Rich and Program Chair Susan Gonzales reminded all that this was our last meeting at the Oak Harbor venue this season; our April meeting will be a joint one with the Mount Vernon clinic at their meeting place, and the May meeting a field trip at the Lake Whatcom Railway in Wickersham.

Your reporter Rich Thom provided the entertainment this evening, a change of pace from modeling and a look at some 1:1 scale railroading.  The title “The Very Last Steam in the World” may seem a brash claim since there are hundreds of tourist steam operations around the globe, and even a few outbacks where revenue, non-tourist steam trains remain in action.  So let’s clarify.  Featured in the 45-minute video were: (1) the last open-cast coal mine worked by a large, 100-percent steam fleet; (2) the last steel mill entirely steam-worked; (3) the last steam commuter railroad; and (4) the last long-distance steam main line.  If you haven’t guessed, all of these “lasts” were in the Peoples Republic of China.  Rich made 13 trips there between 1995 and 2007 to capture on film (and tape) this last Big Steam Show.

Fig 1. The open cast coal mine at JaLaiNur, Inner Mongolia.

We’ll include just a couple of stills here to give a flavor of the video.  Several open-cast (sometimes called open-pit or open-cut) coal mines operated in China using rail systems rather than trucks.  Although many used electric locomotives, some used steam traction, even into the 21^st century; one even survives to this day in SanDaoLing in China’s far west.  The granddaddy of them all, though, was the mine at JaLaiNur, just a few miles from the Russian border in the far north of Inner Mongolia.  This enormous pit (Fig 1) was worked by a fleet of no fewer than 54 Class SY 2-8-2 locos, a design optimized for industrial railways and the very last steamers to be built in China (a handful were even built in the early 2000’s).  In JaLaiNur’s heyday one could see up to 25 SY’s working in and around the pit at the same time.  In the photo, trains of side-dump hoppers at the lower right are being loaded at the coal face, where the seam has been newly exposed, which will then climb out of the pit on a dizzying array of switchbacks to a washing plant at the top of the pit.  Other trains are hauling out the spoil, or waste rock, to spoil dumps around the pit’s perimeter.

Fig 2. An SY Class 2-8-2 at AnShan Iron and Steel.

China’s steel mills also had large stables of SY-class (and earlier 2-6-2’s and even American-built tank engines) and the go-to mill for steam enthusiasts was AnShan Iron and Steel’s vast complex in LiaoNing Province.  Producing over 17.5 million tons of steel each year (then, a high output), this integrated steel mill—raw materials in, steel out—relied on over 100 steam locomotives to move the incoming materials to its blast furnaces, as well as the outputs of molten metal to the rolling mills and slag to the slag dumps.  In Fig 2 is one of the dozens of locos on duty each day, this one the “pride of the shed”, an SY emblazoned with a congratulatory slogan around the smokebox door, and on the cab sides ahead of the number plate, a Red Flag.  Both denote something laudable, such as minimal coal use by the loco’s crew.  The “Red Flag” award was launched by none other than Mao Zedong himself.

Whereas the SY-class was built for industry—including for example a slope-backed tender for frequent tender-first runs—the final location in the video highlighted China’s largest and most modern main line steamers: the Class QJ 2-10-2’s.  The last long-distance run for steam anywhere in the world was on the Ji-Tong line, a 695 mile long, single-track line built to bypass BeiJing’s rail traffic congestion, completed in 1995.  A railroad built for steam operation in 1995 was astonishing enough, but it also featured a 28-mile climb which became known to enthusiasts as simply “JingPeng”—a tortuous pass requiring three full horseshoe curves and one high viaduct which spanned no less than a full 90 degrees to surmount.  Almost every train required a pair of QJ’s.  Rich filmed the Ji-Tong for several years until it finally dieselized in 2005.

Fig 3. An HO model by Bachmann of a QJ Class 2-10-2.

Well-known manufacturer Bachmann also produces a line of Chinese models, but they are hard to find in the US.  Rich brought in a pair of these models, an SY and (Fig 3) a QJ.  Although the largest in China, the QJ’s would be considered “light” Santa-Fe class locomotives: about 240 tons compared to 350 tons for Santa Fe’s 3800-class for example.  Nonetheless, they put on quite a show: the “last” in China, and the last main line steam runs anywhere in the world.

Rich Thom

by David Yadock

Nominations for candidates for the positions of Board of Director and Superintendent is now closed. Two candidates have stepped forward for the positions. They are Russ Segner, our current Superintendent will be running for a third term and Ed Ives who is running for the open Board of Director position. Ballots for the election process will be sent out shortly.

Thank you.

For Superintendent:

I am Russ Segner, your current 4th Division Superintendent. I have decided to run for election for one more term of two years. If elected, I will focus on recruitment of additional leadership as well as expansion of the existing modular club layouts and area clinics.
The 4th Division is one of the larger Divisions in the entire NMRA and it faces many challenges to grow and better serve our members. I am asking you to support me in this election and offer your help in sharing your expertise and modeling skills with others as well as the public.
Model railroading is fun. Let’s keep it that way.

Russ

For Board of Directors:

I’ve been a NMRA member on, off and on again since 1968. Apart from trying various gauges, prototypes etc., I have learnt that as hobbyists most of us are loathe to volunteer for anything and that in the past included me. I have come to realize this organization can only succeed on willing volunteers, so in the autumn of my years I throw my hat in the ring. I have the time and I still have the energy to serve.
Do I know what it’s like to be a volunteer? Absolutely. In the past I was a Cub Scout leader for two years; a Boy Scout leader for seven years and dare I say I am a leader or focal point of the Hi-Railers modular group for some twenty years and have in that time participated in most Board of Directors meetings on behalf of the Hi-Railers. I have the dedication.
As an organization we need to retain our existing members and capture new members or we fail. Constant contact and inviting programs for those, we will succeed, but it will only happen with sufficient and engaged volunteers.
Whether you vote for me or not, PLEASE vote!

Ed Ives