Category: Superintendent’s Message

Russ Segner

Cliff Green has indicated he cannot continue as Grab Iron editor.  So, this is an opportunity for someone to step up and play a key role in communication with our members.

The position requires skills in working with our website which uses WordPress.  It also requires writing skills and a willingness to be proactive in contacting members who write articles and share news helpful to 4D members.  Currently, we publish news and articles as received from members and the groups such as local clinics and modular clubs.  A monthly newsletter is also an option.

If you are interested, please call me, Russ Segner, 4D Superintendent at 206 200 2211.

by Jim Sabol

Greg Wright accepts the Golden Grab Iron Service Award for 2017 from previous recipients Jim Younkins, left, and Jim Sabol, right.

The Golden Grab Iron Service Award is given each year to a member of the 4^th Division, Pacific Northwest Region, National Model Railroad Association, who exemplifies extraordinary service to the members of the organization. For 2017 the selection committee, comprised of the immediate past three honorees, has chosen Greg Wright for his outstanding longtime contributions.

It is not difficult to find Greg Wright. Just look for a great modeler with a family railroad heritage. Greg’s father and grandfather were SP&S and NP railroaders who sometimes took Greg along when they went to work. To find Greg as a child, just look for a little guy getting to know model trains with a Lionel set and Marx cars. To find Greg as a young man, look for a youngster getting into serious modeling with his HO and HOn3 layout. Then, look for Greg taking the brave leap into the realm of 1:32 large scale modeling with uniquely improvised locomotives and scratch built structures that tower over your head on the Consolidated Republic Mining Company narrow gauge railroad. To find Greg Wright these days, just look for the popular Olympia clinics that Greg helps plan as well as chair each month and at which he sometimes shares his own skills and models. Check out the PNR and NMRA convention schedules to find Greg on their programs sharing his clinics with a wider audience. To find Greg, just look to the annual Olympia OlyOps operating sessions that attract modelers from all over the region to benefit the Thurston County Food Bank. Look for Greg helping the active Whidbey Island crew put on their annual Whidbey op sessions. And don’t overlook Greg helping organize the annual G.O.P.H.E.R.S. outing to help modelers understand more of our prototype heritage. Then check out Greg in the layout room of a modeler having trouble with his wiring or DCC throttle. There you’ll find Greg with his sleeves rolled up, sharing his knowledge to help a fellow modeler.

So, if you’re searching for Greg Wright, just look for the guy in front of a group giving a clinic, look for the guy meeting with a committee to plan the Olympia clinics or prototype field trip. Check out the guy at his computer preparing the schedules for OlyOps. See who’s the willing helper working on a friend’s layout: that’s where you’ll find Greg Wright generously and cheerfully giving of his time and talents to spread the joy of model railroading in whatever your scale or wherever you reside in the 4^th Division.

Russ Segner

This has been a very busy first quarter in the Fourth Division.

The Seattle Center Show in January was one of the best attended shows in years. In addition to the many fine modular layouts operating, this show featured many smaller demonstrations of modeling and operation reflecting a shift in emphasis from just running trains to helping attendees understand “how to”. We will see much more of this in coming years with a focus on education about railroads.
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Russ Segner, 4^th Division Superintendent

This is the first issue of a monthly article I will be publishing about the activities inside our 4^th Division. I hope you enjoy it.

We have just completed the Pacific Science Center Model Train Show. Before that, many participated in the Christmas show at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, The Great American Train Show and last weekend the World’s Greatest Hobby Show in Puyallup. We are well into our operating season.

These shows are our major outreach to the public and, in the case of the Pacific Science Center Model Train Show, the source of our annual funding. Last year, we added support for one more modular group and funded a trailer for the OmNi-Rail modular group.

So what’s ahead? The Tacoma Layout Tour, the 4D Spring Meet (which includes our annual Division Meeting), Spokane Falls Express (SFX 2017, the PNR Convention in Spokane), the NMRA Annual Convention (in Orlando, Florida), the National Narrow Gauge Convention (which will be in Denver, Colorado this year) and all our local clinics including the new Burien Clinic at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archives in Burien. Does that leave any time to model and work on our layouts? Well, from postings in the Grab Iron and on Facebook, many of us are doing a lot. Please keep sharing comments and photos.

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Russ Segner, 4D Superintendent

The Pacific Science Center Train Show is a very busy and challenging event each year. Thousands of parents and children get to see what our modular groups have built and operate. We get a chance to explain our hobby, our interest in trains and why we are so enthusiastic about model building and operations. The public really likes what we do.

The best part of all this is the effect it has on us. We get to meet and share with our members from all over our very large region. This year, a significant number of our members have become involved for the first time. This is an opportunity for us to learn from each other and be challenged to do better ourselves. We also learn the value of sharing our hobby with others.

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