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Eastside Get-Together on Thursday, Steve Cox of Cascade Rail Supply is Guest Speaker

Written by Cliff Green
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JJ Johnston

February the 19th, at 7:30pm (this Thursday), the doors will open for this month’s Eastside Get-Together, bringing the joy and happiness of model railroading to those fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend our glorious meeting. This month our presenter will be Steve Cox, owner of Cascade Rail Supply, makers of dimensioned Homasote roadbed. Steve will share prototype roadbed for modeling using a PowerPoint presentation and a large display of his product.

All the usual stuff including coffee and the ever popular selection of calorie-free donuts. Just kidding, we don’t have those (calorie-free donuts). We will have “Model of the Month” competition, things to buy and sell, a large number of VIP guests and great door prizes.

Speaking of door prizes, our Woodinville Inside Gateway Hobby Emporium and owner Steve Depolo, who has donated door prizes for years to our meetings, is offering his in-store 15×15 layout under construction for sale for $750 OBO. No, he’s not going away, he just needs more room for product for us to buy. See you in a couple of days.

For Eastside Get-Together location and other information, see the 4D Clinics page.

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

Operating Sessions on Tom Enloe’s Pacific Northwestern Railroad

Written by Cliff Green
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Bob Stafford, Cliff Green

Tom Enloe is inviting anyone interested in operations to contact him to attend an operating session on his HO scale Pacific Northwestern Railroad. The PNW is a standard gauge railroad that fills a 28 ft by 42 ft room. The theme is a railroad operating from a Pacific Ocean seaport across a mountain range connecting with major railroads in the east. The railroad has extensive staging yards representing these connections. The layout has multiple yards, a seaport, large passenger station complex, and a 2% crossing of a mountain grade, all connected with a 400 foot long main line. The PNW connects with the Cherry Valley Railroad, a typical Pacific Northwest logging short line which is still under construction. Operation of the railroad is by timetable and train order.

Operating sessions are typically held on the second Saturday of each month. Sessions can be held with as few as eight operators or as many as sixteen, and twelve to fourteen is optimal.

Please contact Tom to be added to his e-mail list (which is his primary method of coordinating upcoming sessions) and for his street address. Tom can be contacted by e-mail at TomEnloe@aol.com or by phone at 425-788-1291.

Operations

Upcoming Events at the Northwest Railway Museum

Written by Cliff Green
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Peggy Barchi, Marketing/Events Manager

2015 events at the Northwest Railway Museum include:

  • Excursion Season Begins, April 4: All aboard! Visit the Northwest Railway Museum for a unique living history train experience that has been a part of western Washington since 1957.
  • Mother’s Day Weekend, mothers ride free, May 9, 10: Celebrate mom this Mother’s Day with a scenic train excursion through the Cascade foothills. You and your mom will journey to the top of Snoqualmie Falls and enjoy the view of the valley below. The NRM invites mothers to enjoy a free ride aboard our antique train, when accompanied by a paying child – of any age.
  • Father’s Day Train Ride, fathers ride free, June 20, 21: The NRM invites children to treat their dads to a special train excursion aboard the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad this Father’s Day weekend, June 20-21. Fathers ride free when accompanied by their paying children – of any age! Enjoy views of the Cascade foothills, Snoqualmie Falls and the Snoqualmie Valley as you relax aboard the NRM’s antique coaches. Bring the whole family!
  • Day Out With Thomas, July 10, 11, 12, 18, 19: An amazing ride with Thomas the Tank Engine™!
  • Snoqualmie Railroad Days, August 14, 15, 16: The 77th Snoqualmie Railroad Days festival showcases Snoqualmie’s “Trains, Timber, Traditions” on August 14, 15, and 16, 2015! This year step back in time as the 125th anniversary of the historic Snoqualmie Depot is celebrated. Join the fun with a ride on a steam train as the Santa Cruz and Portland Cement locomotive #2 pulls the trains during the Railroad Days festival.
  • Labor Day Steam Train, September 5, 6, 7: The NRM pays tribute to America’s workers this Labor Day with a special weekday steam train run of the Museum’s antique train on Monday, September 7th. This is in addition to the railroad’s usual weekend steam train schedule. The NRM offers scenic train excursions through the Cascade foothills of the Upper Snoqualmie Valley, including a ride past the top of Snoqualmie Falls and a splendid view of the valley below.
  • Grandparents Grand Excursion, grandparents ride free, September 12, 13: Celebrate grandma and grandpa on National Grandparent’s Day, September 13! It’s the perfect weekend to take the grands for a ride aboard the NRM’s antique train. On both September 12 and 13, a grandparent rides free when accompanied by a paying grandchild – of any age! Listen to the stories and share the memories of your family members. Enjoy a day together and experience the scenic beauty of the Cascade foothills aboard the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad.
  • Halloween Train, everyone in costume saves $2, October 24, 25, and 31: Gather the family, suit up in your costumes and take part in the fall festivities at the Snoqualmie Depot. See the historic depot in autumn and ride on the Steam Train pulled by the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Co. #2 steam locomotive which was built in 1909. Watch an old-fashioned cider press in action and sip hot apple cider. Ride the Halloween Train October 24, 25 and 31. Halloween Train takes you on a scenic excursion through the Cascade foothills of the Upper Snoqualmie Valley aboard a vintage train. Receive $2 off when dressed in costume. Everyone dressed in full costume will receive a prize.

For general information click on the museum website at http://www.trainmuseum.org, e-mail at info@trainmuseum.org or call the museum at 425-888-3030. I can also be contacted at ext. 7203 or peggy@trainmuseum.org.

More information on Snoqualmie Railroad Days can be found at
http://www.railroaddays.com and additional information on Day Out With Thomas at http://www.thomas.trainmuseum.org.

Northwest Railway Museum

Eastside Get-Together Clinic Report, January 15, 2015

Written by Cliff Green
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Ed Liesse, Photos by Ed Liesse

JJ Johnston welcomed everyone to the first Eastside Get-Together for 2015 and, as is his custom, introduced the members of the 4th Division Board of Directors and the MMRs (Master Model Railroaders) in attendance. He then reported that we had collected $772 for our Christmas gift to the church and helped 4 members in need. The church minister also thanked us for our gift and further details of how the gift was utilized.

The announcements included Russ Segner (speaking for David Yadock, PSC show coordinator) and Bob Rorabaugh asking for additional PSC show volunteers (editors note: we had a successful PSC show this year, please see the previous Grab Iron article); Robin Peel mentioned that there were 130 people signed up to attend the upcoming Sn3 Symposium in April but there was room for more; Russ Segner as 4D Superintendent reported he had met with Stu Rogers about the 4D Video Library and will meet with several others to review what’s in stock and what tapes needed to be converted to CD/DVD’s; Russ also mentioned the 4D Board will be considering locations for a Spring Meet, possibly in May and will be looking for a location – Lynnwood, Everett, Mt. Vernon? He’s open to suggestions.

The “Model of the Month” had six entries this time:

Paul Pellegrino had a custom painted N scale Cascades Talgo train painted with original DuPont paint.

Paul Pellegrino Amtrak Cascades

Paul Pellegrino Amtrak Cascades

Paul Pellegrino Amtrak Cascades

Paul Pellegrino Amtrak Cascades

CJ Turner had the second of his buildings of Seattle, the original UPS Store where UPS got its start.

CJ Turner Original UPS Store

CJ Turner Original UPS Store

Mike Donnelley showed powdered rock that could be used for loads or other scenes around the layout.

Mike Donnelley Powdered Rock

Mike Donnelley Powdered Rock

George Chambers brought in an old style tank car built on a flat car modeled in brass (for display only).

George Chambers Brass Tank Car

George Chambers Brass Tank Car

Russ Segner lugged in his On30 module used for talks on Model Railroading at his local library (and also on display at the PSC show at the membership booth).

Russ Segner On30 Module

Russ Segner On30 Module

Sharon Ricketts displayed copies of photos from a book she had read and told a related story – after obtaining the copies from the book’s author she learned that he had lost the original pictures in a flood.

Sharon Ricketts Shows Photos From Book

Sharon Ricketts Shows Photos From Book

Sharon Ricketts Shows Photos From Book

Sharon Ricketts Shows Photos From Book

After our usual short break for refreshments, JJ introduced Dave Kreitler and his presentation of “Modeling with Paper and Playing Cards”.

Dave Kreitler presenting "Modeling with Paper and Playing Cards"

Dave Kreitler presenting “Modeling with Paper and Playing Cards”

Dave Kreitler and his presentation of "Modeling with Paper and Playing Cards"

Dave Kreitler and his presentation of “Modeling with Paper and Playing Cards”

Dave said that his inspiration for trying this technique came from seeing a video of “Coast Line Railroad” modeled by Troels Kirk of Sweden. The natural look of the colors on the layout led him to look further for information on Troels work. He found he was an artist and found several references to his work and his ‘realistic color’ techniques. Several pictures were shown depicting the work of the artist that demonstrated the naturalness of the colors in his paintings. One picture showed the sketch made of a lighthouse scene and then the finished model made from paper.
Dave then went on to identify the materials he used to make paper buildings. The basic materials he used were blank playing cards or blank flash cards, styrene and / or basswood and aluminum foil (roofing). The usual mix of normal modeling tools – X-Acto type knife with new, sharp blades, straight edge for trimming, measuring tools, etc., plus paints (he used acrylics), and adhesives (ACC and transfer tape). Additional tools he found useful were a paper trimmer that uses a knife on a track and a rotary cutting tool commonly used to cut fabric. He also provided sources for card stock.

The process he followed was to: color the paper; cut the wall backing; cut strips; attach strips to walls, assemble the building; add roofing; finish trimming. He showed the various steps though photos and passed around some examples. All of this was being done in N scale.

Dave Kreitler final slide from "Modeling with Paper and Playing Cards"

Dave Kreitler final slide from “Modeling with Paper and Playing Cards”

For more on the work of Troels Kirk, visit his website or Google him. For more information on Dave’s clinic, e-mail him at davek@northbendeng.com for a copy of the PowerPoint presentation.

CJ Turner was (again) the winner of the Model of the Month!

The next Eastside Get-Together will be on February 19. Our guest speaker will be Steve Cox of Cascade Rail Supply and his topic will be everything to do with Homasote roadbed, including many kinds of applications and products in multiple scales. For Eastside Get-Together location and other information, see 4D Clinics page.

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

4D PNR Modular Groups Displaying at United Northwest Club’s Model Train Show & Marketplace

Written by Bob Stafford
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Bob Stafford

The 4th Division, Pacific Northwest Region, National Model Railroad Association will be participating at the United Northwest Club’s 24th Annual Model Train Show and Marketplace Saturday, February 28th and Sunday March 1st. The show is held at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington. The show offers over 50,000 square feet of family fun! Over 250 vender and swap tables. View over 20 layouts of several different scales. Modeling clinics will be offered on both days. Doors open at 10 AM both days. For more information visit http://www.unwclub.org/unwshow.html.

Division-sponsored groups that will be present are The 4th Division HO Modular Group, 4th Division Hi-Rail O Gauge Modular Group, 4dNTRAK Modular Group, and The 4th Division OmNi-Rail Modular Group. The division will also have a membership booth.

The 4th Division HO Modular Group consists of about 20 active members with about 50 modules, a staging yard, and 6 corners. They get together monthly for breakfast. The group sets up its modular layout at about 8 to 9 events annually for charity, community service, 4th Division events, and fundraisers. For more information visit http://www.4dho.com.

The 4th Division Hi-Rail O Gauge Modular Group consists of about 18 members who collect anything from ancient Marx or Ives tinplate to the modern die-cast Lionel and MTH trains of today. The layout is O gauge, 3 rail. Boy do they run trains on it! The Hi-Rail Group has 24 modules, 4 corner modules and 4 yard modules, and the number is growing to build large displays with lots of moving trains. The current capacity of the layout is 4 long moving trains and 3 trolley cars. The group meets periodically as needed for breakfast and to conduct business meetings. The Hi-Rail Group attends 8 to 9 shows a year in the Puget Sound region, from Lynden, Washington to the North, to Portland, Oregon to the South. For more information contact Ed Ives at gresley7@gmail.com.

The 4dNTRAK Modular Group has been displaying modules and running trains for thirteen years. The group started out with four corner modules supplied by the 4th Division. Members have built more than 50 additional modules in the years since. The layout includes a new spectacular yard built in 2013 with 120+ turnouts and the capacity to handle many prototype-length trains! For more information, visit http://www.4dntrak.org.

The fourth and newest 4D PNR sponsored modular group is the OmNi-Rail Modular Group. The group has been running trains now for a bit over 2 years. The 4D PNR financed the construction of the four corner modules. The nine members of the group have built over 20 additional modules for public display layouts. The OmNi-Rail name is to represent “All Encompassing” for N Scale modular design. The intention is to bring NTRAK, Free-moN, and Bent Track to one club, so the design incorporates the best of each. It is also designed to accept older modules from these different disciplines with minor modifications. The design uses a dog-bone linear base design with no bridge tracks and power pole connections. There is also a one track branch line called the OmNi-Branch. The sky is the limit on different module designs. For more information go to http://omni-rail.net.

4D PNR HO Modular Group Layout on display.

4D PNR HO Modular Group Layout on display.

4dNTRAK Modular Group, Grab-Iron, Hi-Railers Report, HO Modular Group, Model Train Show, OmNi-Rail

Nominations Requested for Assistant Superintendent and Director Positions

Written by Bob Stafford
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 JJ Johnston

The 4th Division, PNR, NMRA Nominating Committee is seeking names of individuals to run for three positions on the Board of Directors. Nominations are for the position of Assistant Superintendent and two Directors positions. All three positions will be for terms of two years each beginning on September 1, 2015. Members can nominate themselves or nominate someone else by contacting JJ Johnston at 425-643-1000 or jj@jtwice.com.

Nominations must be submitted prior to March 1, 2015. A candidate statement should accompany the submittal.

News

2015 Anchorage, AK Fur Rondy

Written by Marty Quaas
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Marty Quaas, Palmer, AK

Every year in late February into early March, the city of Anchorage puts on its annual winter festival, the “Fur Rendezvous” known locally as “The Rondy”. This year the Rondy starts on February 27 and runs through March 8. The Rondy hosts many events such as sled dog racing, carnival rides, parades and includes several Model Railroad displays. There will be Model Railroad displays set up in the Alaska Railroad Depot by the Military Society of Model Railroad Engineers (MSMRRE) as well as in Russian Jack Springs Park by the Northern Lights Model Rail club.

The dates and times for these are as follows:

The MSMRRE at the Alaska Railroad Depot, 411 West 1st Avenue, Anchorage:

  • Friday, February 27 from 9 am to 6 pm
  • Saturday, February 28 from 7 am to 8 pm
  • Sunday, March 1 from 10 am to 8 pm
  • Monday, March 2 from 9 am to 6 pm
  • Tuesday, March 3 from 9 am to 6 pm
  • Wednesday, March 4 from 9 am to 6 pm
  • Thursday, March 5 from 9 am to 6 pm
  • Friday, March 6 from 9 am to 6 pm
  • Saturday, March 7 from 7 am to 6 pm

Please note that the MSMREE display will not be open on Sunday, March 8.

The Northern Lights Model Railroad club in Russian Jack Springs Park, 5200 Debarr Road, Anchorage:

  • Friday, February 27 from 4 to 8 pm
  • Saturday, February 28 from 12 noon to 6 pm
  • Sunday, February 29 from 12 noon to 6 pm
  • Friday, March 6 from 4 to 8 pm
  • Saturday, March 7 from 12 noon to 6 pm
  • Sunday, March 8 from 12 noon to 6 pm

For more information contact me at cswrrceo@mtaonline.net.

The Alaska Section

Seattle-North on February 5, 2015 – Layout with Recognizable Scenes

Written by Jeff Moorman
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By Jeff Moorman

Next Clinic:

Our next clinic meeting is this Thursday, February 5. The topic will be a new video about a layout built by Dr. Scott Campbell. This layout was on one of our special tours a few years back and contains many recognizable scenes from around Washington State. I’ve been told it will show how some of them were done.

Note that the church has started some extensive remodeling. The meeting room we used for the past few clinics will not be available for some months. We are temporarily moving up to the third floor. Please see more specific instructions in the “Directions” section below.

 

Prior Clinic:

Remember, there was no clinic in January. Our December clinician was Mike Bjork who gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Washington and Idaho Railway (WIR), from the perspective of both a former employee and a consulting engineer providing design and construction services. Mike works as a civil engineer and a transit engineer here in Seattle.

Mike’s presentation took us on a tour of the tracks and operations of the Washington and Idaho Railway. The WIR is a modern shortline that operates along the central eastern border of our state. It runs from a BNSF connection in Marshall (just southwest of Spokane) to Palouse with connections to both Harvard and Moscow Idaho. It happens to run right past Mike’s alma mater, WSU.

The railway started in 2006 on trackage of varied heritage. Originally it was mostly NP (I think). It generally hauls agricultural and lumber goods. Mike had several entertaining stories about the WIR’s motive power. There is WIR #20, a GP30M, and WIR #316, a GP16. But perhaps the most interesting is MRLX #2304, a FP9A, in a pseudo Southern Pacific paint scheme. To make it even more interesting consider that #2304 is an ex-VIA locomotive and there is still some French labelling of controls, etc. inside the cab.

Mike’s presentation was very educational and interesting. On top of all that he is a talented photographer. If you want a little flavor of what Mike talked about, go online to RailPictures.net and search for photos of FP9s by Mike Bjork. In fact, search for anything by Mike Bjork. I am sure you will be pleased.

“Show and Tell” had Chris F displaying more of his ongoing HO passenger car project. Although this time it was more about motive power and how swap meet bargains may not turn out as good as you think they will.

 

Directions: We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) between 175th and 185th Streets and more specifically, between the Cadillac dealer on the south and Deseret Industries to the north. Going southbound on Aurora, make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location. The parking lot is at the rear of the church. For regular meetings go up the steps to the main entrance.

The next few meetings we will be meeting in the Adult Sunday School room. Once inside the main lobby, take the stairs (or elevator) to the third floor.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, usually September – June. However in June we often do something different, so there may be no “regular” meeting. Doors open at 7:00 PM and the program starts at 7:30.

Remember the next regular evening meeting is February 5. And the one after that is March 5. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

Seattle-North Clinic

Mt Vernon January 27, 2015 NMRA Clinic Report

Written by Roger Johnson
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by Roger Johnson / Photos by Paul Koren & Roger Johnson

The January 2015 Mount Vernon clinic of the local Fourth Division, PNR, NMRA was attended by 14 folks including two spouses. We hope they will return and be joined by even more spouses. Let’s hear it for co-ed clinics!

The Mt Vernon Model Railroad Clinic is a NMRA sanctioned event with the 4th Division of NMRA providing a modest sum of seed money to help us get started. While NMRA membership is not required to attend the clinics, it was once again heartily encouraged. Please let Al Carter or Roger Johnson know if you wish to join NMRA.

There were several announcements of upcoming events (editor added a couple):

  • First up was the Monroe Model Railroad show & swap meet to be held at the fairgrounds in Monroe Saturday and Sunday February 28th & March 1st. All proceeds go to 4H. Info at http://www.unwclub.org/unwshow.html
  • 30th Annual Sn3 Symposium in Bellevue April 16-18, 2015. Info at http://sn3symposium-2015.com
  • The annual Olympia area layout tours will take place May 16th. Per the NMRA Pacific Northwest Region calendar, additional information will be available from Scott Buckley, sbuckley54@comcast.net
  • Portland Daylight Express, the NMRA national convention, will be held August 23 – 28, 2015. Additional information is available at www.nmra2015portland.org

Our Show & Tell (or Bring & Brag) segment featured:

  • A Southern Pacific ‘outside braced’ auto boxcar model built by Paul Koren from a kit by Speedwitch Media.  The model represents a car made in the early 1920’s, modified in the 30’s and retired by the late 40’s (likely).
  • An Athearn 50 ft gondola modified by Bob Stafford for cement bottle service. Car has holes cut into the sides to allow for the attachment of air hoses and unloading hoses to the bottles. Bottles have been modified with brass wire lifting straps. Lackawanna’s fleet of bottle cars operated between the cement mills on its Bangor and Portland Division and New York Harbor. According to Bob each of the bottles held 11 tons of cement headed for construction sites in New York City.

Paul Koren's SP automobile box car

Paul Koren’s SP automobile box car

Bob Stafford's cement bottle car

Bob Stafford’s cement bottle car

 

 

 

 

 

The presentation for the evening was titled “Structures on a Diet,” with Roger Johnson showing how many plastic kits on the market today can be reduced in size, primarily the footprint, to better fit into the limited real estate of our layouts. There were numerous slides showing how he has done and how he is doing this on several different structure kits. While his work has thus far been limited to plastic kits the same techniques could be used on other material. In addition to making structures smaller Roger showed some other kit bash examples including modification of a stock pen to mate a loading ramp with his meat packing house and a combination of two freight house kits into an unusual three story structure. This project is based upon an Art Curren kitbashing article in Model Railroader in the early 1980’s.

Diagram showing reduction of machine Shop footprint

Diagram showing reduction of machine Shop footprint

Completed smaller machine shop--narrower & shorter than kit design

Completed smaller machine shop–narrower & shorter than kit design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up February 24th is “Weathering Buildings with Bragdon Weathering Chalk” by Bob Stafford. He has put together a Power Point presentation on weathering buildings using Bragdon Weathering Chalks. The program shows how some buildings were finished using oil stains and dry brushing before applying chalk. We will learn what kinds of brushes he used to apply the chalk and the use of over spray when needed. Also included will be the making and weathering of roads. If you have seen any of Bob’s work you know you want to catch this clinic.

Mt Vernon Clinic

David Yadock featured in NMRA Magazine

Written by Al Lowe
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Al Lowe

Grab your copy of the latest issue of the national NMRA Magazine, check out the cover, and then turn to page 34 to read 4D member David Yadock‘s feature article, “The Sky’s the Limit.” It has many construction photos by David’s wife, Wendy, and some spectacular scenery photos by Paul Gornitzka.

Congratulations, David, on a beautiful cover and article!

Layout Tour, News