Category: Tacoma Clinic

Al Babinsky

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic on time and paid honor to the Veterans for their services in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and in the Gulf and Afghanistan. Our annual collection for the Northwest Food Network was presented to their representative in the amount of $1,250.00.

We had 44 modelers attend, including one new modeler, Bill Sandstorm, who models in HO.

Ed Liesse announced that Ken Liesse resigned as 4D Superintendent due to school conflict and Russ Segner will take over his position. Mike Highsmith will take over Russ’s position as Assistant Superintendent. The 2014 convention tours are filling up. The convention dates are June 18-21 and the registration is $59 and after March 1 it will be $79. PNR is looking for volunteers to fill in the president position.

The December clinic will be “Dirty Santa,” but remember to bring your “Bring and Brag.” The date is Dec. 12^th.

George Bourcier from Tacoma Trains presented what’s new at the hobby shop with his new helper Bill who will take over for him at the clinic. His display had models from Lionel, Walthers, Atlas, BLMA, Athearn, and Accurail.

We had a great number of “Bring and Brag,” scratchbuilt building, weathered cars, scratchbuilt trees, and a scratchbuilt rail storage building from the Wenatchee Apple yard around 1922.

The winner this month is James Jeffrey with his railroad storage facility in the Wenatchee Appleyard.

This month clinic was presented by MMR Gene Swanson, Mike Shaw and Bob Stumpf and pertained to making a working switch stand target. You can download the PowerPoint slide show in PDF format here. These switch stands were built for the PSMRE layout in the Washington History Museum.

Next month’s clinic will be December 12^th at our usual place: the Pierce County Library Administration Building at the corner of 112^th Street and Waller Road. The start time is 7:30 PM and, as always, we will have food and drink. Hope to see you there. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Tacoma Clinic 11.14.2013.1

Al Babinsky / Photos by Chip Van Gilder

MMR Gene Swanson opened the first clinic for this season with an attendance of 36 modelers. Gene announced that we would be getting new badges and turned to Wain Miller to explain the process. Wain explained that he would pass a clipboard around for the next three clinics to get as many names as possible to make up a roster and to issue new photo badges. Walt Huston gave a special 4D president’s award to Jim Sabol and a president’s special service award to Gene Swanson.

George Bourcier from Tacoma Trains presented what’s new at the hobby shop and had a collection of items from the last few months. Woodland scenic with ready to use structures in O and HO scale, Roundhouse with short passenger cars, Athearn with trailer cars, lighted caboose, Freightliner, Texaco, Oscar Mayer trucks, Microtrains with Milwaukee Road passenger cars and log cars.

Bring and Brag (model of the month) had a number of entrants: Chris Clancey with a U18B formerly CSX diesel and a wood deck flat car both heavily weathered; Dale Kraus with gondola converted into open passenger car, named by its former owner a Buffalo hunting car, and a kit bashed depot for his narrow gauge railroad; Walt Huston with a set of Microtrains log cars, one in its out-of-the-box appearance and the rest weathered and decaled; Scott Groft with a Bachmann On30 Porter kit bashed into a Forney with car display case; Paul Vaughn with rebuilt gondola; John Bunten with an 1829 Stevensen Rocket of the Manchester Railroad built from a kit; and Al Babinsky with a ME-321 Gigant (Giant) cargo glider capable of carrying 24 tons and an IHC 4-4-0 belonging to Gene Swanson in which he installed a Tsunami micro decoder and speaker and a micro LED in the headlight.

We had two winners for our contest: Chris Clancey and John Bunten.

Model of the Month Winner  

The clinic for this month was by Chip Van Gilder on his five steps to better photography. This is a very interesting PowerPoint presentation on how to make a good photo better by showing the before and after pictures and how it was done to get the result. He explained that a lot of photo programs can do some of the things but to get the best results you need a very good program such as the CS5 program that he uses. A well done and excellent clinic, thanks Chip.

The clinic for October is the making of a Rail Fan DVD; it will be given by Jim Sabol. We will be at our usual place, the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. at 112^th Street and Waller Road at 7:30 PM on October 10. Hope to see you there. Bring a friend, a modeler and/or your better half. Until then, happy railroading.

Just a last minute reminder that the Tacoma clinic will be held at our usual place, the Pierce County Library Admin Bldg. at the corner of 112th Street and Waller Road at 7:30 PM Thursday September 12. Hope to see you there at the beginning of the new season.

Al Babinsky

Al Babinsky

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic and welcomed 43 modeler and prospective modelers, Bruce Cranfield and Eddie (Herb’s grandson) were the newcomers. Under announcements it was mentioned the Testor is dropping the Floquil and other lines of railroad colors. Microscale has a conversion table for color replacements. The 4D is sponsoring the 2014 convention with Russ Segner at the throttle and he is requesting help. The Snoqualmie Museum received a donation of an N scale layout which they want to use for kids to operate and they are in need of rolling stock. The NMRA membership is dwindling so please renew your membership and try to get new members; a six month membership for less than $10.00 is a good start. John Novotney, who does our meeting room reservation, wants to step down and needs someone to take over. If I heard correctly is looks like Scott Taylor stepped up to do the job. Walt Huston presented Dave Fausset with his Golden Spike Award.

“What’s new in the hobby shop,” presented by George Boucier, had a number of new items including a couple of ready to use buildings from Woodland Scenics, very detailed and good looking.

We had a number of great entries in the Model of the Month contest: a caboose B&B diorama based on the one in Sequim, a weathered SP&s switcher, a 10 boxcar decaled and weathered set, 2 old time Maerklin tinplate HO cars, a sand house with elevated track and sand gondola, an O scale icing facility with milk reefer, 3 HO hoppers with gravel load, a Varney caboose cleaned to its former glory and Model Power one to compare, HO hopper and boxcar decaled with graffiti. The winner of the model contest was John Novotney, for his B&B diorama.

After the break, Dale Kraus presented the continuation of his clinic on “DCC: things you don’t need to know.” A very informative clinic with demonstration of programming, installation, and operation along with a good hand-out to remember the things you don’t need to know.

After the summer break our next clinic will be on September 12, 2013 7:30PM at our usual location at the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. corner of 112^th Street and Waller Road. The clinic will be on Five Basic Steps For Better Photos given by Chip Van Gilder.

I will post the photos as soon as I get them from Chip.

Have a great summer and we’ll see you in September.

By Al Babinsky / Photos by Chip

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic on time as always. We had 43 attendees including Paul Vaughn’s grandson Gaylon as guest.

Under the announcements Ed Liesse read a portion of the Museum Of Flight newsletter which stated that Scott Taylor became the 737 crew chief. The 4D spring meet will be at the Embassy Suites in Tukwila Saturday May 18 with layout tours on Sunday May 19. He also announced that the 4D is sponsoring the PNR convention in 2014; the dates are April 23 – 26 with location to be announced later. Mike Highsmith is the clinic coordinator and asked for clinicians. Jim Sabol said that the south sound GOPHERS to look at 1:1 scale operations and a possible carbide on a switcher.

Due to some other commitment George Boucier from Tacoma Trains could not present the What’s New at the Hobby Shop segment and we proceeded to do the Model of the Month or as we like to call it; Bring and Brag.

First up was John Miller with some old Varney tenders that had seen better days and his trials and tribulations on the effort to restore them to good condition. His biggest problem being that Bowser Mfg. was slow in responding to get things accomplished. His last comment was that it would have been better to switch to Diesel power. Joshua had three N scale reefers that he reworked extensively and as he said weathered too much. Kris Clancy had the good fortune to find a Sunset model Santa Fe 4-10-2 in an antique shop and was able to get it for a good price and it was in good running order. Walt Huston brought a Modeldiecast BN boxcar and Trueline Trains Boise Cascade boxcars highly weathered. Dale Kraus showed his AKG Kieswerk No 3 gravel tipple which was entirely scratch built; the sign was generated on the computer. He also had a gluing fixture by Riteway available at Mikro-Mark. Gene Swanson had a set of Varney locomotives that are up for grabs except for one that is going to be upgraded so it can be used at History Museum. The Model of the Month winner was Dale with his gravel tipple.

After the break Jim Clowers presented his clinic on how to get manufactures to make items that you like to have. He said that if you can get pictures, drawings and lots of information and send it to them they may be inclined to produce the item. The thing to do is take pictures from any angle, measure the item and produce a drawing or if you are lucky to get the actual drawing it is of great help. He showed a number of items that he was able to get made. Thank you Jim for a great clinic.

Next month clinic will be on the 13^th of June at our usual place; Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. the corner of 112^th St. and Waller Rd and 7:30 PM.  Dale Kraus will present part 2 of his DCC clinic. See you there and bring company and or modelers.

AKG Kieswerk No 3 Dale Kraus, Model of the Month Winner

Al Babinsky / Photos by Chip

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic on time to a crowd of 41 modelers. There were no new comers and we proceeded with the announcements. Ed Liesse made the following announcements; the 4D spring will be May 18 at the Embassy Suites in Tukwila with layout tours on May 19. The 4D board meeting is April 20 at Mitzel’s in Kent. Ballots for the 4D elections should be in your home in the next few days, the must be returned by May 10. The PNR convention is June 20 in Boise, ID.

Mike Shaw was given a number of posters from the Alaska Railroad as well as some pillows with railroad motive; these are free to anyone who wants them.

Mike Highsmith is running for one of the director positions and gave us his candidate statement.

The model of the month contest had some great entries from Chris Clancy with his ALCO C4-24s weathered. John Miller with 3 Varney stamped cars reworked to look correct. Dale Kraus with a European narrow gauge train in 760mm (HO n). Walt Huston with 3 N scale cars one decorated with a Saskatchewan logo. Dennis Reeves with a logging camp diorama featuring camp cars and log train, the diorama is to be installed in a display at the old Cannery in Sumner. Paul Vaughn had a newly designed tool to cut flex-rail. Duane Damgaard with a shotgun house that included a flickering fire in the stove. Skip showed a Bachmann Hogwarts Express with installed sound decoder and lights using micro LEDs. The winner of the model of the month was Dennis Reeves with the logging diorama.

What’s new at the hobby shop included items from Walthers, Microtrains, Railking, and Athaern Genesis.

This month clinic was given by Dale Kraus and titled What you really don’t need to know about DCC or Myth-busters. The clinic had great information along with a hand-out on how to get started. Due to the fact that the clinic was too long it was decided to continue the clinic at the June clinic.

May’s clinic will be given by Jim Clowers and is called; how to get manufacturers to make what you want, this should be a very interesting topic. We will meet at our usual place, the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. at the corner of 112^th Street and Waller Road at 7:30 PM, hope to see all of you there.

Al Babinsky / Photos by Chip Van Gilder

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic on time as usual with a total of 40 modelers and guest in attendance.

It was reported that the Corkscrew Northern, built by Ken Gentili and others, was destroyed. The CN had been looking for a new home since the Boys and Girls club needed the space.

Model of the Month or, as we call it “The Bring and Brag,” had a number of great entries. Chip brought Eddy Fisher Leasing locomotive which he painted and detailed along with a string of hopper cars most of which he stripped and repainted. Walt brought in 3 NW2’s which modified by adding 3-chime horns, beacons, and removed steps along with 2 depressed-center metal body flatcars. They had the wheels replaced and body mounted couplers installed. He also built 2 MDC boxcar kits and detailed them for his railroad. Dave brought a loggers cabin wood kit. Scott showed an Atlas HO lumber yard kit and a 137% enlarged version scratchbuilt along with a saw house. Chris had a heavily-weathered hopper with graffiti and excursion caboose with a load of passengers. Gene showed a Silver Streak kit to which he added Kadee sprung trucks and couplers. George Bouncier from Tacoma Trains presented “What’s New at the Hobby Shop,” with a number of items in several scales, including a Z scale hopper pack. The Model of Month was won by Scott Groft’s scratchbuilt lumber yard.

After the break Jim Sabot and Robert Grove presented their clinic on the DuPont Narrow Gauge. The E. I. DuPont Powder Works had an extensive 3’ narrow gauge network at their plant to transport raw material and finished product within the plant area and to the deep water wharf. They operated a 12-ton Plymouth diesel with homebuilt rolling stock. A very informative clinic along with a slide show and information on the restoration effort of some rolling stock.

Next month’s clinic by Dale Kraus will an update on decoders. We’ll meet in our usual location in the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg., corner of Waller Road and 112 Street, at 7:30 pm. Please come and join us.

(As always, click a photo to enlarge.)

Walt’s N scale equipment

Stripped and re-painted Loco and Hopper cars

Lumber yard and Silver Streak boxcar

Logging shed

Filling lead shot

Al Babinsky / Photos by Chip

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic on schedule as always. A total of 32 model railroad enthusiasts were on hand despite of Valentine’s Day.

It was announced that the Olympia Layout Open House would be from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on March 2^nd. The 4D BOD meeting would be at 1:00 PM on February 23^rd at Mitzel’s in Kent.

The video library was manned by Stu and open to check out or check in videos.

What’s new at the hobby shop was presented by Bill Deutscher from Tacoma Trains, under the many new things was a town in the box by Woodland Scenics, rolling stock, locomotives, and accessories from various manufacturers. BIll mentioned that this would be the last he would present what’s new at hobby shop because he had to devote more time to his regular job. He will be missed by all.

The model of the month (Bring and Brag) had a number of nice models, Walt Huston with a diesel for his Aberdeen, Tacoma and Spanaway Forrest RR, detailed and decaled.  Chris Clancy with a Yard tower and tool shed scratchbuilt from lumber of a wood house kit, the shed with corrugated roofing. Dale Kraus with an Alexander Scale white metal crane kit, modified, weathered and painted. Jim Sabol with an O scale toy flatcar purchased at a swap meet, the car was actually brass and he was able to remove the metal deck install brake rigging and wooden deck on the car, next are proper couplers and complete trucks. Gene Swanson had two Santa Fe box cars and one NP reefer from his Dirty Santa loot. They needed major repair since most of the detail parts were broken. Gene was this month winner.

After the break the clinic for this month was by Al Babinsky on LED lighting for model railroad use. Since LEDs became available much progress has been made in size as well as intensity. The colors that are used in model railroading are available. Yeloglow LEDs from Miniatronics simulate incandescent headlights.  Mini and Micro LEDs are so small they can be used in light fixtures and even small enough to be used in N scale. Resistors are normally used to restrict the current flow but now new devices are out that can be used, they called current limiting diodes, CLDs for short. They not available at this time but Mouser and DigiKey carry them normally. The information on the CLDs can be found NMRA magazine May 2012 issue. Al’s handouts listed the vendors and their web addresses.

A great clinic which everyone enjoyed and hopefully will be able to use the information on their layouts.

Next month clinic will be March 14^th at our usual place, the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. the corner 112^th Street and Waller Rd. We hope to see you there!

Al Babinsky / Photos by Chip Van Gilder

MMR Gene Swanson opened the first clinic of the new year with 48 modelers present including two newcomers: Michael Buchanan (N scale) and Tim Cloud.

Under announcements, the Pacific Science Center show, Jan 19-21 and the United Northwest Train show Feb 2-3 were mentioned. The Science Center show still needs volunteers to help with check-in on Friday and check-out on Sunday. A pledge form was available for donation to the  NMRA gallery at the California Railroad Museum.

The video library was available to check-out videotapes or DVDs.

What’s new at the Hobby Shop was presented by Bill Deutscher from Tacoma Trains, cabooses from Atlas, wood chip hoppers from Red Caboose, Milwaukee caboose from Railking, Woodland Scenics bike shop and old barn, Walthers center beam flatcar and a powered rail crane.

In the bring and brag category (model of the month) a Rhein river powered barge (HO), GN hopper and boxcar (N), an Iron Horse Models Precision Scale Co. Milwaukee Road EP-2 brass Bi-Polar owned by Mike Shaw. The winner was Dale Kraus with his barge owned by the Algemeine Rhein und Bodensee Schiffahrtgesellschaft.

The clinic was on plaster less cloth shell scenery given by Jim Sabol. Jim purchased a book called cloth shell scenery and demonstrated how to make the scenery without a mess and dust. There are several ways to create the scenery foundation, ribbed, lattice, chicken wire, and stacked foam. Any type of cloth can be used but an old thin blanket is the best. The cloth is draped over the scenery and the outline marked with a marker pen the cutout and construction adhesive is laid in beads about 1” apart then spread with a piece of wood which is then placed on the scenery and when dry becomes hard. The book can be ordered from Marsh Lake Productions.

A great clinic and very informative and easy to do. Next month clinic is about LED lighting and how to wire them along with types of LEDs available.

We hope to see you in February at our usual location in the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. the corner 112^th Street and Waller Road.

These items were up for grabs: