Category: Tacoma Clinic

by Al Babinsky

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic on time as usual and dispensed with the usual announcements. The “Model of the Month” or “Bring and Brag” was held with several models being shown. We had 41 modelers attending this clinic, our “Dirty Santa” clinic.

Paul Vaughn brought two versions of molds, a hard rubber and a soft rubber mold. He explained the difference, which is the hard rubber mold is made to be used many times to create soft metal parts and the soft rubber is usually a one-time use.

Leo Scafturon brought a HO kit of Western Welding shop mounted on a corner module. The shop is complete with equipment welding hoses, shop personnel, forklifts, material, and a siding.

Chris Clancy brought some of his finds from antique shops including a gondola and an F7 A and B unit, all heavily weathered.

John Miller brought a Model Diecasting 0-6-0 with tender and a lengthy story of all the problems he addressed to make the model work properly. Very interesting.

Walt Huston brought a dual gauge track switch to show how the narrow gauge track diverged from the dual gauge track.

The “Model of the Month” winner was Leo Scafturon with his Western Welding module.

The next item on the agenda was our food, appreciated by all and attacked with great gusto. We then waited with anticipation for Dirty Santa to arrive which he did. As the program progressed many items switched hands and several modelers opened presents since someone had stolen theirs. Of special interest were a couple of power tools that seemed to change hands a number of times. The evening ended with the drawing of door prizes, enough for all attendees to receive one. The clinic was closed with the clinic committee singing “We Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

Our next clinic will at 7:30 PM on January 8^th in our usual place, the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg on the corner of 112^th Street and Waller Road. The presenter is Steve Cox on the subject of Model and Prototype Roadbed. Hope to see you there in 2015.

I don’t know how many of you know about an online publication called Trackside Model Rail Roading (TSMRR), their website is: www.tracksidemodelrailroading.com. It is run by a husband and wife team. The reason that I’m mentioning this is that three members of the Tacoma Clinic have been published in that publication: Dale Kraus and his layout are in the November issue and Walt Huston and Al Babinsky are in the December issue. Each layout article has an embedded video to give you a rail fan tour. In order to view you must purchase it, the cost is $1.89 per issue or $14.99 for a year. Check it out you may like what you see.

From all of us to all of you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Al Babinsky

The Tacoma Clinic report is back after a couple month absences due to the writer having a hip replacement. It went well and now it is like the old days — it works like a champ. This report has information from last month’s clinic and this month’s clinic.

Last month’s clinic was attended by 42 modelers. The model of the month was won by Ken Levine with his Great Northern gondola, weathered, KD couplers and sprung trucks. The clinic was given by Paul Rising on removable loads. If these are the same type of loads as he built for PSMRE, they have magnet imbedded in the load which is used to remove the load.

This month’s clinic started on time as always and MMR Gene Swanson gave recognition to all the veterans. November is also the month where the clinic makes a donation to the Emergency Food Network with Helen McGovern accepting a check for $1250.00 from money collected during this year’s clinics. Jim Sabol read an email he received from Bob Edwards, a modeler in the Olympia area looking for contacts, and he replied telling him about the Olympia clinic.

The “What’s new at the Hobby Shop” segment was given by Bill Sandstorm from Tacoma Trains. Athearn had passenger cars and reefers, Wheel of Time with a Piggy pack stacker, Walthers had several buildings, MicroTrains an N scale freight train, Broadway Limited with NP coal hoppers.

The “Model of the Month” had Ken Levine with a couple of cars obtained at a swap meet, a Western Pacific box car and a gondola, which he weathered and upgraded. Chris Clancy with a find at an antique shop, a three-truck Heisler, a depot kit and three 4-wheel high-side coal gondolas. Dale Kraus with what he called cheap Maerklin Banana cars which he reworked and weathered. Chip showed a drawing of an N scale NW-2 with was manufactured on a 3D printer. Paul Vaughn with an On30 Y module with a station and store built from paper. Bob Ayer with a model of the First Lutheran Church which he scratchbuilt; the roof is made with Plastruct tile. Bob Ayer was the winner of the model of the month.

The clinic for this month was given by Gene Swanson and Brian Liesse and titled “ The making of a book”. The book was on Gene’s layout and what it took to do the photography. Brian demonstrated the equipment he used such as light sources, lenses and the cameras he used. It was a very interesting clinic and informative.

Next month clinic is of course “Dirty Santa” along with refreshments and other goodies. Please don’t forget to bring a wrapped present and mark it as to what scale it is. The clinic will be held at our usual place in the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. at the corner of 112^th Street and Waller Road and the time is 7:30 PM. Hope to see you there and bring a friend, modeler or significant other.

Al Babinsky

Just a friendly reminder that the Tacoma Clinic will be held on September 11 at 7:30 PM in our usual place, in the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. on the corner of 112th Street and Waller Road.

Hope to see you there.

Al Babinsky / Photos by Chip Van Gilder

First I want to apologize for the late report, but a number of things happened and I had to get the layout ready for the PSX 2014 tour as well as a few models for the contest.

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic on time as always and asked for topics for future clinics. We had 38 modelers attending including two newcomers. The up-coming conventions was mentioned and has since past with I believe great success. The Kitsap Live Steamers announced that they are operating on the 1^st and 4^th Saturday of the month.

What’s new in the Hobby Shop presented a number of new items in Z scale, N scale, HO and Lionel.

Walt Huston presented Al Babinsky with a structure merit award.

In the Bring and Brag category Chris Clancey had a Kato ALCO RS-3 heavily weathered and a Central Oregon & Pacific diesel. Scott Taylor had a Grandt Line 23 ton Box Cab diesel that he converted to an electric traction unit. It is powered with a Stanton drive. Dale Kraus showed a Bachurus locomotive test stand and a complete scratch built hardwood lumber mill. Stu showed an N scale curved turn-out and Mike Stepner had a weathered track mobile.

Scott Taylor won the Model of the Month award with his traction locomotive.

The clinic was presented by Robert Scott and was a slide show titled North Dakota – Requiem for a lost land. It showed the before and after the current oil boom which changed everything. An excellent show as always by Robert.

Our next clinic will be in September with Chip Van Gilder presenting 3-D photography. It will at our usual location in the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. at the corner of 112^th Street and Waller Road. Have a great summer do some railfanning and enjoy, see you in September.

Al Babinsky, photos by Chip and his Ipad

MMR Gene Swanson welcomed all back at our usual location which is a little more on the space side then last month location. We did not have any newbies at this time but did have a few junior modelers accompanying their dad and granddad and 40 regulars at hand.

Under the announcements we found out that there was free stuff available on the tables in back, such as G scale items, DigiTrax stationary decoders, GN reference material and old model railroader magazines. The Tacoma Clinic layout tour will be held on Saturday May 10^th and is split up into two segments with a break for lunch in between. The layout maps will be available at 8:00 AM at the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. prior to the tour start.

One of our new features is; introduce your layout and invite fellow modelers to visit your layout when in the neighborhood, of course with prior announcement and you being available. Walt Huston introduced his layout which is in a building behind his house. The building has a double garage door which was required by Pierce County. His N scale layout covers all but 7 feet along one side which is used for workshop and storage.

Stu had the video library on hand, in order to get a video let him know what you want and he will bring it the next time. He will also convert the tape into a DVD if you prefer that but the DVD remains property of the library. He is also looking for a replacement librarian so he can pursue other endeavors.

What’s new at the hobby shop presented by Tacoma Trains and Bill Sandstrom had a number of items such as a SP work crane along with an idler car, a Bachman standard line decoder equipped Milwaukee road GP40, Athearn a five pack of N scale bethgons and cars from Micro Trains, vehicles and a book on the Milwaukee Road.

In the Bring and Brag category, Jim Clowers brought an old kit of Dollar Brothers Transfer Building. Dale Kraus brought a German steamer that he kit bashed from three separate locomotives. Walt Huston had two N scale lumber cars that he modified to carry culvert pipes, the pipes were made from tin foil wrapped around a bolt and the bolt was then un-screwed from the foil pipe. John brought an excursion car that he kit bashed from a gondola. Chip had a transfer caboose that he designed with the Sketch-up program which was used to 3D print the car. Jim Clowers was the winner of the Bring and Brag with his transfer building kit.

After the break Jack Hamilton presented his clinic on the AP Program supported by an excellent slide presentation along with humorous comments. Very well done Jack and he probably won over a few to try and participate in the program, yours truly included.

Next month clinic will be given by Dale Kraus and is on Stumps; I’m stumped and will be at our usual location at the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. at the corner 112^th Street and Waller Road at 7:30 PM. Hope to see you there and bring a friend to share in our hobby.

Al Babinsky

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic on time with 34 in attendance; we did not have any newcomers in the crowd. Russ Segner was introduced as the new 4D super and told about his work at the Snoqualmie museum and at the DuPont museum. The DuPont museum has the only narrow gauge railroad in this area; it is a 2 foot gauge.

Mike Highsmith is the assistant super and is in charge of the nomination committee for the upcoming elections and asked that everyone vote when the ballots arrive.

The Tacoma Clinic layout tours will be held on May 10^th with the layouts grouped, 5 are in the Tacoma area and 4 in the federal Way area. The Tacoma tour is in the morning and the Federal Way tour in the afternoon with a lunch break in between to allow for time to transition between the two areas.

There was an announcement about the Mount Rainier Scenic RR having a steam up of 5 locomotives plus one guest locomotive on May17th.

The IPMS (International Plastic Modelers Society) has a spring show at the Renton Community Center on April 12. For information on the go to their website at: http://www.ipms-seattle.org/springshow

What’s new at the hobby shop presented by Bill Sandstrom of Tacoma Trains, there were a number of items from Athearn, Walthers, Kato, Microtrains, and Wheels of Time.

The Bring and Brag had several entries, Scott Taylor brought his scratch built track models that were built for his civil AP certificate, and they consisted of a #5 RH turnout, a 90 degree crossing and a gauntlet track. He used downloaded drawings from “Fast Tracks” which are available from their website. Chris Clancey brought a GP-38 that he painted for the Weyerhaeuser logging RR; Russ Segner brought a laser cut kit for a repair shop that is a project in progress. Walt Huston had an N scale diorama. Scott Taylor won the Bring and Brag award.

After the break MMR Gene Swanson and Mike Shaw presented this month clinic on basic scenery. The presentation was made with a diorama showing the how it was done by using a video camera and a wall mounted monitor. They also had photos of Gene’s layout where you could see the final result. A very informative clinic with a great handout and of course the use of video and photos. I will have the handout as well as some of the photos attached to this report.

Next month clinic will be on the AP program and is presented by Jack Hamilton. The clinic will be at our usual place in the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. at the corner of 112^th street and Waller Road at 7:30PM, hope to see you there.

Basic Scenery 2

Basic Scenery 1

Al Babinsky, Photos by Chip

Since I was not able to attend the clinic I want to thank Chip for doing the steno duties and taking the photos which will comprise most of this report.

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic and asked for announcements. The primary announcement is the 4D convention in June at the LaQuinta inn in Tacoma.

Walt Huston presented Scott Taylor with 2 civil AP awards.

The video library was available and Bill of Tacoma Trains presented What’s New at the Hobby Shop (rather slim as can be seen by the photo).

Bring and Brag (model of the month) had several entries with the winner being Diane Kraus’s control tower.

Tip of the Month: Construction foam does last, with an example layout (recently disassembled) lasting 12 years. Gaps for a juicer and reverser need distance.

After the break Jim Sabol presented his clinic on successful soldering:

If you’re doing something wrong, stop it, if you aren’t doing something, start.

Different metals solder differently and you need to learn each and make sure that both pieces are clean. Use whatever methods work best, such as sandpaper, files, scrapers, and acid (if needed). Do not use acid when soldering electrical components. The soldering tip needs to be clean and tinned and use rosin core solder and flux with electrical components. Hold both parts still until the solder turns dull and then clean off excess flux. Always use the correct size soldering iron for the job, large pieces need a high wattage iron and electronics need a low wattage iron. Walt Huston and Dale Kraus assisted in a demonstration soldering N scale equipment and decoders.

Next month’s clinic will be on layout presentation and will be presented by Dale Kraus.

Due to a little timing problem we could not get our usual place, so please note that next month’s clinic will be at the Summit Library 5107 112^th Street East which is just of Canyon Road. The date is 13^th of March at the usual time of 7:30 PM.

Soldering Clinic                                                                                                               Award Presentation

What’s new at the hobby shop

Bring and Brag winner

Al Babinsky, Photos by Chip

MMR Gene Swanson opened the on time as always with 38 modelers including 3 newcomers attending.

Under announcements Mike Highsmith talked about welcoming new NMRA members to the 4D. One of the things that he was doing was to call or e-mail them and thank them for joining. He also informed them about clinics and other programs in the areas where they lived. In the spirit of this idea the Tacoma Clinic, under Wain Miller’s guidance, started a program in which the clinic attendees would introduce themselves and their layout and add phone numbers and e-mail so that they could be contacted by another member to arrange a visit. Al Babinsky volunteered to be the first to introduce himself and his layout. This will be about a 10 minute talk each clinic and a folder will be available with all the information given by the layout owners.

The TNW will have their swap-meet May 31 – June1.

What’s new at the hobby shop presented by Tacoma Train had a number of goodies from ready to use service station in O scale by Woodland Scenics, rolling stock, locomotives, vehicles in HO, N, and O scale. Of local interest would be the Sounder version of an FP59 and the Sounder passenger cars.

In the Bring and Brag (model of the month) category we had numerous entries; Chris Clancy with 2-6-0 weathered and decalled OSL (Oregon Short Line) a heavily weathered Milwaukee Road boxcar and a tank car, Dennis Reeves with an Eagle River Mine a laser kit weathered with cosmetic eye shadow colors, Dale Kraus with a tunnel made from Faller stone paper along with a Roco 0-6-0 narrow gauge loco and short passenger car, Walt Huston with a couple of covered hoppers one weathered and the other as is out of the box, Peter with a Chooch model kit of a mining machinery building and John Miller with an English loco that seemed to need a recharge on the magnet. The winner of this month was Dennis Reeves with the N scale Eagle River Mine.

This month’s clinic was on DCC programming with JMRI and SPROG and presented by Al Babinsky. As sometimes happens MR. Murphy presented his ugly head and made things difficult. Al could not do the actual programming but proceeded to go through with programming steps on the computer which was connected to the overhead projector so that the others could see what he was doing. He also had a handout for the group with the information on the how and where to download the program and obtain the SPROG. He also showed an app for the smart phone called Engine Driver that allowed the smart phone to act as a throttle and run the locomotive.

Now I want to apologize for that mishap at the clinic and tell you that I did not follow my own instruction and forgot to check a couple of items. I didn’t check to see which COM port the SPROG was using and in the program I didn’t check that the programmer was in PAGED mode.

Next month clinic will be given by Jim Sabol and is called Seven easy steps to soldering; the date is February 13^th at 7:30 PM at the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. the corner of 112^Th Street and Waller Road. We hope to see you there and bring a friend, modeler or your better half.

Al Babinsky

MMR Gene Swanson opened the “Dirty Santa” clinic on time with 48 modelers present. The normal program was dispensed with the exception of the Bring & Brag (Model of the Month). An announcement was made that we had good donations for the food bank. Gene called for a moment of silence for the casualties of the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor.

Wain Miller sent the clinic member roster around to make last minute corrections. The roster will be used to make up membership badges.

Herb Buhl called for the owners of the Bring & Brag to describe their entries. Wain Miller operated the video camera to show the entries as the owners described them. Kurt Laidlaw brought a diorama entitled “Crossing the White River.” Gene Swanson brought a removable section for his railroad with a trestle that functioned as a duck-under when in place. Dale Krause had a scratchbuilt clamshell crane to be used in his coaling facility. This month’s winner was Kurt Laidlaw’s White River diorama.

Prior to the Dirty Santa we had an excellent buffet dinner with cake and ice cream, with Dave Liesse entertaining us at the keyboard.

After dinner Dirty Santa arrived and a good time was had by all. Many presents changed hands numerous times, especially the ones that had tools. After the conclusion of Dirty Santa, we had a drawing for door prizes. Gene did a great job of collecting a large number of items and, as it turned out, everyone got a door prize.

We want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and hope to see you in the next year. Our next clinic will be on Jan 9^th at 7:30 PM at our usual place in the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. the corner of 112^th Street and Waller road. The clinic will be on programming with the SPROG and JMRI and programming with DigiTrax DCC on a specially built programming setup and given by Al Babinsky.

Hope to see you there.

By Jim Sabol

Dear Lee:

Last summer it seemed like a good idea to bring water from the outdoor standpipe into the barn where we could hook up a hose to reach the stalls. Much more convenient.

So I did.

Fed the feed line from the well through the footing/foundation wall into a stall, across the stall wall, into the center aisle to a spigot and hose. Always enjoy jack-hammering through concrete walls. Wonder what other people do for fun afternoons.

Doctor says cement flake in left eye will work itself out eventually.

Protected total run of new pipe from investigating horses with much stout lumber and screws. Not the horses, the pipe.

Wrapped all new pipe in heat tape. Plugged in heat tape about a week ago.

Didn’t notice horse had kicked plug out of socket several days ago. Or was it nights?

Amazed to see how large a lake that a day and night of free running broken pipe can deliver. Neighbor was amazed, too, when he saw his lawn and his RV inundated with ice. Thought it looked quite beautiful. Still do.

Discovered that neighbor’s sense of humor is considerably smaller than I had always assumed. Same to you, Bob!

Thought of you and guests running trains in nice warm basement while I knelt in ditch bailing water for two hours until I could cut in an emergency shut-off valve in feed line from well.

Artist’s Interpretation

Chuckled to myself when I noticed that 3/4″ valve from Home Depot didn’t fit 3/4″ line.

Enjoyed yard decorations on return trip to Home Depot. Smiled cheerfully to clerks commenting about returning so soon and possible discount for multiple trips. Great kidders.

Helpfully informed clerk who sold me incorrect valve how I could help him save money on his next colonoscopy. Can’t be too thrifty these days.

Installed shut-off valve with super fast-setting PVC cement. Great stuff. I hear that nail polish will separate thumb from eyebrow.

Opened valve, cut well pump back in, let pipe run clean, shut off valve. Pleased to see valve hold back water flow. End of adventure.

Will tear apart enclosure and repair rupture when freezing weather passes.

Will administer stern lecture to horses about stepping on cords.

Will administer similar lecture to Mary about monitoring her barn.

Me Tarzan. You Jane. Me build. You monitor.

Response from horses: “Yeah, right.”

Response from spouse: “Yeah, right.”

Enjoyed yet another chuckle after putting tools away and grasping gate with wet glove hand. I was never stupid enough as a kid to put my tongue on a frozen gate. Now, a wet glove…

Couldn’t believe how amusing I must have looked as I attempted to crack loose Levi legs frozen from thighs down. Could have sworn that Bob could have heard my cries for help. Response  time  from house not as rapid as your typical 911 call, but not bad. Same to you, Bob.

Well, Lee, I’m leaving out a lot of the more amusing parts, such as how the hot towel I wanted to wrap my hands in caught fire in the microwave oven (note to self: 90 seconds is about it) and how we all chuckled one more time as I tried to squat over the edge of the tub while Mary poured hot water onto the thighs of my frozen Levis. On the whole, it would have worked rather better if we had removed the cat form the tub first. (Note to self: next time wear thermal pants for outdoor jobs in freezing weather.) (Note to cat: how many times do I have go tell you not to play with spiders in the tub?)

And that’s why I missed the train meeting at your house this afternoon, Lee.

I hope you’ll invite me again when we’re not having so much fun in the barn.

I just notice Bob doing acrobatic stunts on his sidewalk. Had no idea he had a background in aerial gymnastics. Wait. He seems to be signaling me he’s O. K. Strange use of finger, though. Same to you, Bob!

Jim here.