Category: Tacoma Clinic

By Kevin Klettke

Please join us on Thursday, January 14th for the Tacoma Group Virtual Clinic. Greg Price will be showing us how he constructs asphalt roads. Everyone is invited to share their projects they have been working on. Hope to see you online! 

Zoom meeting: 

Topic: Tacoma Clinic for January 2021
Time: Jan 14, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) 

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83356681575?pwd=bjVoRk5PaVdXMHlMM0dQcXNhdllwQT09 

Meeting ID: 833 5668 1575
Passcode: 556902 

Kevin Klettke

By Kevin Klettke

The 4^th Division of the Pacific Northwest Region’s Tacoma Clinic is proud to support the local community with our yearly contribution to the Emergency Food Network. For the ninth consecutive year, at our November 2019 clinic, the members presented a check to Michelle Douglas, Chief Executive Officer of EFN for $1,300.  This brings our nine-year total to $12,360. 

Our efforts are spear headed by member Leo Scafturon, who came up with the idea to give back to our community during the 2010 floods that brought so much local damage and hardship to so many, particularly in the Chehalis and Centralia areas. After presenting the idea to the members, and then leader Gene Swanson, the motion was passed. Every month since, the can has been passed around at each clinic to collect donations from our generous membership.

Food insecurity impacts people of all backgrounds, including the working poor, seniors, and people experiencing homelessness. Now, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the food bank network which EFN supports is even more important.

In a letter to the Tacoma Clinic membership, Director Douglas wrote, “On behalf of those who need it most, we thank you for helping us distribute more than one million pounds of food each month. We cannot do this alone; your generosity is greatly appreciated.”

Kevin
Tacoma Clinic Host

By Kurt Laidlaw

For the ninth year in a row the Tacoma Clinic donated to the Emergency Food Network at the November meeting. Leo Scafturon, who has run the donation program from its beginning, presented a check for $1,300.00 to the Executive Director. That equals 6,500 meals for Pierce County residents in need.

Emergency Food Network provides 13.9 million pounds of healthy, nutritious food annually to 76 food pantries, meal sites, and shelters for distribution to families and individuals in need. There are 1.3 million visits to food pantries and meal sites in Pierce County each year – and 56% of these visits are children and seniors! Emergency Food Network makes sure these hungry families and individuals receive the nutritious food they need to stay healthy.

Thank you to all the participants at the Tacoma Clinic for your continued generosity.

Kurt Laidlaw
President, Pacific Northwest Region, NMRA

Dale G. Kraus

Photos by Author

It was a full house at the Paradise Lanes meeting room.  MMR Gene Swanson  gave a presentation on   the prototypical use of telltales  and how to model them using stripwood and thin music wire.  He covered the history of telltales, when and where the railroads use them, and the several different designs used.

Rob, proprietor of Rob’s Trains and Hobbies,  showed off the latest stuff available for Christmas.

The Modeler’s Showcase was well populated this month.

Gene’s Telltale

Dale’s logging lokeys

Warren Kerr’s  “excursion” Cab forward with auxiliary water tenders

Kevin Levine”s “Beefonite” mining  Co.

Gary Fox’s Merchants Row

Dennis  Reeve’s  mini (Z scale?) Micron Art ferris wheel

My apologies to Mitch Schoonejans  for not having a picture of his Eiffel Tower. It was the largest model there, by far, and I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE!!   It looked to be 1:200 scale and stood over three feet high. I am abashed and embarrassed.

Next Clinic:  Thursday, December 13.  Dirty Santa will be there.

By Dale G. Kraus

Photos by author

Twenty-three modelers gathered at the Paradise Lanes  to see a video presentation of the history of West Coast Steam Logging. Our own Jim Sabol  had a significant part in producing the video, and many of the scenes were shot by him with a 16mm movie camera.

Prior to the presentation  Rob, our local purveyor of model railroad stuff, show us several new items, the most interesting of which were  weathered and graffitti’ed city water towers on “O”, “HO”, and “N” scales.

The Modeler’s Showcase had the following entries (All HO):

A small coaling stand and rusty ole’ water tank by yours truly

Two rail barges, one finished, one under construction , by Tyler Whitcomb

A finished and weathered cement plant (Faller kit) by  Ken Levine. This was the model of the month.

Paul Vaughn showed us this  I-Phone extension for getting above crowds at photo run-bys. It’s made from an old paint roller pole.

The next Tacoma clinic is 7 PM,  November 8 at Paradise Lanes.

Dale Kraus

The May Tacoma clinic was held on May 10 at the Parkland  Paradise Lanes.

What’s New at The Hobby Shop  was presented by Rob, owner of Robs Trains and Hobbies, who presented several new  N, H.O, and O scale care and structure kits.

This months’ clinic topic was “Fleet Weathering – easy, time saving techniques for large rolling stock fleets,”  presented by clinic chairman Kevin Klettke. Using an eclectic mix of  Acrylic paint, artist pastel chalks, weathering powders, earth tone artist oil paints, and Krylon and Rust-Oleum rattle-can sprays, Kevin demonstrated how he represented rusted scratches and dings, dirty, rusty roofs and underframes, and overall “grunginess.”

His presentation can  be viewed at:  http://wnrr.net/Fleetweatheringclinic.pdf

Bring-and-Brag has 3 entries ( we need more,everybody. BRING YOUR MODELS)

Scratchbuilt H.O. General Store  by  Ken Levine made using an old MR article.

Five H.O. SP AC4, 5, 11, and 12s  from a variety of manufacturers by Warren Kerr

A super detailed H.O. yard storage shed kit by Leo Scafturon 

The next Tacoma Clinic will be on June 14 at 7 PM in Paradise Lanes.

Don’t forget to attend the PNR regional convention on May 30 thru June 2  at the Jantzen Beach Red Lion in Portland, OR See:   stumptown2018.org  for details.