Category: Skagit Valley and Whidbey Island Clinic

12 Inch Square Diorama Contest

Article and Photos by Rich Thom

The SV&W NMRA Clinic’s February meeting topic was the long-anticipated (well, since September anyway) diorama contest, this year shepherded by Phil and Susan Gonzales. The rules were simple: Build a small diorama, not to exceed 12 inches square [ed.], that tells a story. The mini-scenes could be any scale, and any height or depth so long as their footprints did not exceed the specified area. Entry categories were: scratch; kit; kit bash; and humorous.

Attendance on the night was lower than usual due to threatening weather, and we’re sure that several more dioramas were intended to be entered. (Those modelers are invited to bring in their work to the March meeting.) But the ones brought in on this evening were both clever and beautifully-constructed. Awards were presented using “Peoples’ Choice” voting, rather than any formal scoring system. Without further ado, let’s show the dioramas and say a few words about how each was constructed.

Fig 1- Cliff Aaker’s Station Scene, Platform Side

Fig 1 shows Cliff Aaker’s O-scale scratch-built station scene. The story: A boy is tempted to pet a frisky dog, left, but his mother, center, is unsure about it. Another pair of passengers, apparently more sure about their petting, awaits the train on the right. Note the stationmaster visible in the window; to see his other side, just turn Cliff’s diorama around …

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Article and Photos by Rich Thom

The SV&W NMRA Clinic’s first meeting of the new year, held on January 11^th, was all about an item which many layouts just can’t have enough of: trees. Several folks brought in a variety of trees and tree-making materials and gave demonstrations, with the hope that other attendees would try their hand at making a tree using one of the methods shown. However, few rose to the challenge! Nonetheless, the variety of materials and techniques was instructive and we’re sure that all picked up some new ideas.

Before the hands-on demos, Rich Thom gave a short presentation about the challenge of mounting trees (fir trees, in his case, modeling a northwest short line) in hardshell scenery. Especially those in foreground scenes, in front of trackage where switching will take place, putting the trees at risk of being easily damaged during operating sessions. The solution? Magnets. See Fig 1.

Fig 1 – Epoxying Magnet to Trunk

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Article and Photos by Rich Thom Except as Noted

Fig 1 – The Blake Christmas Layout

The Skagit Valley & Whidbey NMRA Clinic revived an earlier tradition of our group by enjoying a Christmas wassail in place of the usual programs of modeling tutorials and hands-on sessions. All right: It’s a bit of a stretch since wassailing originally was the practice of people going door-to-door, singing and offering a drink from the wassail bowl in exchange for gifts (click here for additional history). No singing tonight (thank goodness, knowing our group) or wassail bowls either, but plenty of merriment and a good program, too, by long-time member John White, who along with wife Valerie hosted our original wassails. Twenty-eight enjoyed the evening including several spouses, and an abundance of potluck finger-food prevented starvation.

In the spirit of the season, Clinic Chair Rich Blake skipped his usual announcements and calendar review, but did bring a Christmas tree with (of course) a train running around it (Fig 1). OK, we’ve all had circles of track around a Christmas tree, but with a pair of sidings for switching? Note the cargo: wrapped candy kisses.

This little “layout” traveled around the world during Rich’s long Navy career and meant a lot to his family. Thanks for bringing it, Rich.

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Article and Photos by Rich Thom

Fig 1 – Dave Clarke’s GN Class F8 2-8-0

The Skagit Valley & Whidbey (SV&W) NMRA Clinic’s November meeting, held on Nov. 9^th at the group’s Summerhill venue in Oak Harbor, attracted 24 participants and rewarded all with a diverse evening of both prototype and model railroading. The clinic included a detailed look at the products of new clinic member Mark Malmkar, who with wife Chris recently moved from Nebraska to the Pacific Northwest – quite a transition for sure! – to be closer to family who had gravitated to this corner of the country.

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Article by Rich Thom, Photos by Rich Thom & Presenters as Noted

Fig 1 – Dave Clarke’s Shay

The Skagit Valley & Whidbey NMRA Clinic’s October meeting featured mini-clinics, a format which has been popular before and proved itself so again. The clinicians kept the group in the meeting room for a whole hour beyond the usual lights out — so it must have been interesting!

Dave Clarke, a master at taking old locomotives, mostly brass, and turning them into beautiful, smooth-running new power, brought in his latest transformation, a Roundhouse Products 3-truck Shay (Fig 1). Dave installed a 3/4 amp NCE decoder, replaced many plastic parts with castings, swapped out the original bull and axle gears for Northwest Shortline ones, and painted the loco. Nice work Dave.

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Article by Rich Thom, Photos by Rich Thom & Jon Wilbert

Fig 1 – A Bigger than Usual Swap Meet – Tom Hawkins, Dick Haines and Curt Johnson (l. to r.) Look Over Offerings

The Skagit Valley & Whidbey NMRA Clinic got off to a great start for the season with 27 hobbyists filling our meeting room at the Oak Harbor Summerhill facility. Clinic Chair Rich Blake welcomed guests Frankie Bott and Chris Malmkar (spouse of new member Mark Malmkar) and we hope to see both again at our upcoming clinics this year. Rich reviewed some of the highlights of the short summer break: our annual BBQ hosted by John Marshall in Coupeville and op session on John’s ever-growing G-scale empire; our private tour of Nick Muff’s phenomenal layout in Sedro Wooley, organized by Susan Gonzales; and last (but not least) – Tom Hawkins earning his NMRA Golden Spike Award for his Port Thomas & Southern HO layout in Anacortes. (Click here to view the May 2016 Grab Iron post on Tom’s layout.) Rich encouraged new people to take up some of the clinic’s tasks, one in particular to be responsible for the drinks and snacks, which have been faithfully supplied by Phil and Susan Gonzales for several years. Thanks go to Cliff and Sue Aaker for volunteering to take over this role to prevent our members from starving, although few show any symptoms of it.

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Text & Photos by Rich Blake

John Marshall’s Garden Railroad Potluck

Over 20 enthusiasts and significant others showed up for the annual John Marshall garden railroad potluck event August 13^th, 2016 in beautiful Coupeville WA. We were treated to his fantastic railroad, lots of social time and some great food prepared by John’s daughter. It was a wonderful time as usual with great weather. Thanks to all who participated. To see a video of the day click here.

Climax #6 Rolling along on John’s garden railroad.

The crew of Climax #6 makes a necessary stop.

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Article and Photos by Rich Thom

The Skagit Valley & Whidbey Island NMRA Clinic held its final meeting of the season on May 11^th at the Summerhill facility in Oak Harbor. Clinic Chair Rich Blake welcomed new member Mark Malmkar, who recently moved from Nebraska to Oak Harbor. Mark is a long-time model railroader (since age 10) and has a large HO layout, 14 by 40 feet (still in storage back in Nebraska), which models a passenger line passing through the Colorado mountains. We look forward to its reassembly and Mark’s first open house. Mark also has his own business manufacturing interior details for passenger cars; readers can find his range of products on-line at http://www.PalaceCarCo.com.

Fig 1 – Ray Wheeler demonstrates hand signals

Clinic Newsletter-Master Al Frasch mentioned that he and Al Carter had colluded on a possible idea to have one joint meeting each season of the SV&W and Mount Vernon Clinics, at a location TBD. The thought resonated with attendees, so we’ll leave it to the two Als to flesh out the idea.

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Article and Photos by Rich Thom

A layout visit makes for a nice change of pace, so on April 13^th the Skagit Valley and Whidbey NMRA Clinic met at the Anacortes home of long-time member Tom Hawkins, for a close-up look at his HO-scale Port Thomas & Southern. Since only a few could view the layout at the same time, to keep others busy, and to discourage excessive consumption of the treats supplied every month by Susan and Phil Gonzales (thanks guys!), clinic members were invited to bring in their track plans — whatever the stage of construction, from dream to done. What a surprise! Of the 23 attendees, there were about as many track plans! Your clinic Grab Iron reporter for one had no idea there were as many layouts abuilding in our area. A lot of interaction and constructive suggestions occurred during the evening.

Tom’s layout, though, was the star attraction. The PT&S features a walk-in track plan in a 10 x 20 foot room. Tom’s plan won 3^rd place in Model Railroader’s 2012 Track Plan Contest, and was published in the October 2012 issue of MR, pp 64-66.

Fig 1 – Port Thomas

Tom’s railroad was inspired by the prototype Port Townsend & Southern, envisioned by its builders to connect the northern tip of the Olympic Peninsula to Portland, OR. Like many such dreams, it fell far short, only reaching the town of Quilcene 27 miles away.

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