by David Yadock

I have been selected as the Chairman of the Nominating Committee for the 4D election. There are two positions opening up in the upcoming 4D elections. These include the 2 year term for Superintendent and also the 2 year term for Board of Director (BOD). They are very important positions and I am looking for candidates to fill them. This is your chance to take an active role in the direction the 4D. Yes, these positions require individuals to volunteer their time but it also gives the opportunity to see how active the 4D members are in their model railroad communities.
If you are interested in becoming either a BOD member or the Superintendent of the 4D let me know. Don’t sit on the sidelines, become involved! Please submit your name and a short statement about yourself. You can email this information to mailto:hi61izq@hotmail.com.
I will be accepting submissions till March 16th 2018.

by Syd Schofield

The gathering of railroad and model train enthusiasts in the Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village was brought to a dull murmur by Alex Brikoff around 7:10 Thursday evening.

After introduction of notable persons and upcoming events, Jonathan Fischer gave a slide presentation and narration of railroad activity around Bellingham, Washington. There were several railroad lines running through and serving industry there before the recent consolidation. John showed the interactions and mostly cooperation between these railroads while they served the region.

Following the presentation, the Model-of-the-Month was chosen to be a Bavarian-style house by Anton Faulk. As an award, he got the first pick of the door prize collection. For the most part the door prizes are contributed by generous local hobby shops and fellow NMRA members.

by Syd Schofield

The February gathering of the National Model Railroad Association 4th Division of the Pacific Northwest Region took place at the Northwest Railroad Archives building on 153rd Street in Burien, Washington. The Archives shares a duplex storefront with the Boeing Employees Model Railroad club layout. Interested folks started drifting in around 6:30 Thursday evening. Russ Segner called attention to the program around seven o’clock.

After the usual model railroading small talk and things of interest happening around the area, Russ showed a video, mostly by Jim Sabol and Gary Haack on railroad-related logging near the west coast. The video showed activities in some of the many railroads and how the ingenious, hardworking folks took out trees for building materials supporting much of America. A follow-on video will be shown sometime in the near future.

The clinic for next month (March) will be given by Brian Pickering on the subject of Digital Command and Control systems used in model railroading. The introduction of DCC has allowed much more operating facilities than the original direct current (and even alternating current found in the tinplate systems). The concept uses the two (or three) rails as a digital signal bus as well as a power bus to communicate with and provide electric power to the model trains. This feature allows many functions not available with the standard power-only systems for one or even hundreds of trains simultaneously on the same track.

by David Yadock

I have been selected as the Chairman of the Nominating Committee for the 4D election. There are two positions opening up in the upcoming 4D elections. These include the 2 year term for Superintendent and also the 2 year term for Board of Director (BOD). They are very important positions and I am looking for candidates to fill them. This is your chance to take an active role in the direction the 4D. Yes, these positions require individuals to volunteer their time but it also gives the opportunity to see how active the 4D members are in their model railroad communities.
If you are interested in becoming either a BOD member or the Superintendent of the 4D let me know. Don’t sit on the sidelines, become involved! Please submit your name and a short statement about yourself. You can email this information to hi61izq@hotmail.com.
I will be accepting submissions for one month.

Well done, Al, for all those years of fine model building, sharing your talents with so many of us in the hobby, being such a gracious host at many operating sessions and for being a really fine example for all of us.

We are going to miss you a lot. I want to thank you personally for your leadership, especially in organizing several years of Sound Rails.

The Golden Grab Iron is our top award for contribution to the hobby in general and the 4th Division in particular. It is well deserved.

Russ Segner, 4D Superintendent

By Rich Thom

Twenty-four modelers gathered in Oak Harbor for the Skagit Valley and Whidbey Clinic’s February meeting, including guests Jan Clarke (spouse of locomotive-rebuilding wizard Dave); Dale Bearden, from our “sister” Mt. Vernon Clinic; and—all the way from Olympia—well-known 4^th-Division modelers Greg Wright and Jim Younkins.  Clinic Chair Rich Blake congratulated member Mark Malmkar for earning his NMRA MMR (no. 604) joining Jack Tingstad and other MMR’s in our area.  Program Chair Susan Gonzales appealed to all that she needs ideas for future clinics.  Susan added that our private visit to the Lake Whatcom Railway, in Wickersham, WA, has been delayed slightly due to downed trees on the property, but is now targeted for Saturday, May 19^th.  Both our clinic group and Mt. Vernon’s are invited, and the railroad won’t be open to the public during our visit.

Golden Grab Iron Service Awardee – Al Frasch

Jim Younkins (left) presents Al Frasch with the Golden Grab-Iron Award for 2017.

As most everyone around the 4^th Division (and beyond) knows by now, Whidbey Island’s own Al Frasch has decided to move to a warmer clime (near Tucson, AZ).  Al has done much to put Whidbey “on the map” so to speak, and due largely to his networking and writing skills (for example, his newsletter for the SV&W clinic), has helped our clinic, and the spun-off Mt. Vernon clinic, grow into a vibrant pair of groups with regular combined attendance of over forty modelers.  Al also spearheaded the movement towards “ops” in our area, personally forging layout owner and op session relationships from Sequim to Olympia and most everywhere in between, as well as the entire West Coast and British Columbia, too; he also serves as an official in the OpSig organization.  In recognition of this and more, Al was presented the NMRA 4^th Division Golden Grab Iron Service Award.

Al Frasch’s N-Scale Pilchuck Division of the BNSF.

Al’s championing of ops in the region was “by example”: his n-scale Pilchuck Division of the BNSF is widely-known.  The shot above shows just one detail of the double-level railroad, which models the Seattle-to-Vancouver B.C. main line, with New Westminster (lower level) and Stanwood above on the upper level.  (edit: See Model Railroad Hobbyist Issue 17 July 2011 for a full on-line article of this great layout).  If your reporter has his numbers right, Al has hosted over 50 op sessions since the Pilchuck Division began, which translates to somewhere north of 750 or more happy crew members over the years.  On a personal note, your reporter loved dispatching this railroad—and will miss it.  Thanks, Al, for all those fun hours, but the half-mile long coal train won’t be missed.  After Soundrail 2018 (next month), the Pilchuck Division will be dismantled and rolling stock, some buildings and track moved to Arizona where a new railroad will appear—knowing Al’s pace—in a few months.

Former Golden Grab Iron recipients, Jim Younkins, Ted Becker and Greg Wright presenting Al Frasch with the 2017 Golden Grab Iron award.

These guys have driven a long way from the mainland to honor Al: Jim Younkins, left; and Ted Becker and Greg Wright, right.  Jim pointed out in his remarks that among the many mutual ops arrangements, Al started WOW (Weekend on Whidbey) where, for several years running, Olympia-area folks have traveled north once a year to crew on island layouts.

Ted’s Potpourri

Ted Becker digs into his “Tub of Tricks”

Ted Becker followed with the evening’s program, “Potpourri,” alternatively Ted’s “Tub of Tricks” and various other catchy titles.  The idea: Show “stuff” very useful for our hobby but not from the train store (such as that remains) or even on-line model railroad suppliers.  The items in Ted’s tub are from craft, fabric and tool stores—even Dollar Tree—with emphasis on “cheap.”  Not “inexpensive” Ted emphasized, just plain old cheap.

Ted has presented this clinic elsewhere, and it may be coming soon to yours, so this reporter won’t spoil the fun by listing all the items—and Ted passes out a list for you to take with you.  Ted pulled about one hundred items out of his tub, such as, in above, a make-up brush.  (Buy your own, don’t “borrow.”)  Ted said his clinic was a success if each of us picked up at least one fresh idea for a cheap modeling aid.  With that criterion, your reporter was overwhelmed, taking away dozens of ideas, from gun swabs (superior to Q-tips) to Dappen dishes to a Japanese saw (“Bear Saw”) cutting on the pull-stroke.  Presented with much dry humor, a very useful clinic indeed.

Saturday, the 17th, Jack Hamilton and Russ Segner will be at the Lemay Marymount Car Collections in Spanaway. We will be presenting about model railroading.

Jack will present on modules and his approach to model building. I will present on how I built my Sn3 layout, The Coal Creek Lumber Company.

We will be there from 10 to Two. Check it out.

I am bringing a Woodland Scenics Mod-U-Rail Corner Module kit. It will be auctioned to the highest bidder.  The proceeds will be donated to the Northwest Railroad Archives in Burien where one of our clinics is held monthly.

Hopefully someone will build it and bring it back to show the group.  This is a corner module and measures 36 in by 36 in.  It is a $189.99 item if purchased new.

Russ Segner