There will be a meeting of the 4D Board of Directors on March 3rd, 1:00pm at the Yankee Grill in Renton (corner of Grady Way and Rainier Ave.) (Map) Any member of the 4D may attend the meeting. Anybody with agenda items for the meeting should send them to Secretary Jean Melvin or Superintendent Ken Liesse by Monday, February 27th to be included.
The success of the PNR depends on the active involvement of its members. Your active participation can make it successful.
I am requesting nominations for two officers to serve for a two-year period commencing September 1, 2012. All nominations should be forwarded to me postmarked no later than April 15, 2012. Ballots will be included in the Switchlist in May 2012.
We have many members who, through either personality or work experience or both, have effective leadership skills. Please consider contributing your talents to the future growth and success of the PNR and the hobby.
“Self nomination” is welcome! PNR leadership earns AP points toward Association Official. If you would like to be nominated or would like to nominate a candidate, please contact me right away: David Faussett, 5658 S. Yakima Ave., Tacoma, WA 98408, davidfaussett@comcast.net.
News from the Winter NMRA Board of Directors meeting last week
More Board meeting news next month!
In other news, the Grand Rails 2012 website at www.gr2012.org has some new features:
Interested in the Achievement Program? I was interviewed on The Model Railway Show about it. Trevor Marshall talked to me about the hurdles and joys of my path to MMR. Episode 32 is available for listening or downloading now at www.themodelrailwayshow.com or through iTunes. After March 1, it is available via the Model Railway Show’s online archive.
Seattle’s own Sound & Northwestern LLC has released an HO scale, laser-cut, multimedia kit of a Great Northern 12’x34’ Standard Portable Depot. The kit represents an important railroad structure that was built by the score and shipped by flatcar to towns all along the GN lines. Some examples of this well-documented structure survive to this day. The kit can be built with or without the bay window, and includes optional parts for multiple versions. Window sashes are positionable and have laser-cut Mylar glazing. Comes with laser-printed station signs. Footprint: 1.95” D x 4.7” W. More details at www.snwlines.com.
Our next meeting is Thursday, February 2, 2012. Time and place are at the end of this piece.
Robert “Bob” Stafford was our January clinician and the topic was weathering structures. Bob says structures seem to be the last thing modelers weather, yet buildings near real railroads were always pretty dirty. And Bob should know, since he worked for the prototype for many years.
There were lots of little tips in Bob’s presentation. Here are a few from my notes:
Bob left us with the observation that structure weathering is not hard, you just have to pitch in and “do it.”
Show and Tell was initiated with a home-built resistance soldering unit, however yours truly failed to get the builder’s name. The workmanship and appearance of the final product was very clean. Apparently the plans for this were the subject of a clinic some years ago.
Michael P showed a watch that once belonged to a street car conductor. Chris F had both a powered and a dummy Athearn GN diesel in the same blue and white color scheme with the same cab number. The number wasn’t so unusual as was the fact that the colors didn’t really match, nor was the lettering applied the same. It would appear that they were from 2 different production runs.
Tom had an un-built Vau-pe cardboard building kit from the late 50’s or early 60’s. He also talked about the evolution of European kits paralleling the rebuilding of their industrial base following WWII.
Dennis T talked about his recent experience doing coupler conversions on some locos he acquired at the clinic mart a couple of months ago. He will expand on this at the next meeting.
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. You can no longer make cross-traffic turns on Aurora, so you need to be going southbound (so you can make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location).
Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. In June we usually do a tour. For regular meetings enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.
Remember the next meeting is February 2 and the one after that is March 1.
Photo: Larry’s Truck and Electric
Typical model railroader: Can’t decide on a prototype and has way too many locomotives!
Be sure to mark your calendars for Saturday, April 14th, for the Ninth Annual Olympia Model Railroad Layout Tour.
There will be at least eight layouts representing various scale and gauge combinations, including N, HO, On30 and 3/8n20. Jim Younkins’ N scale Mud Bay & Southern and Greg Wright’s 3/8n20 Consolidated Republic Mining Railroad have been featured in national publications. Most of the layouts are in various stages of construction, which will give visitors an opportunity to see each builder’s construction methods.
As with previous years, a few layouts will be open early and a few will stay open late, giving visitors the opportunity to see as many layouts as possible.
We hope that you will take the opportunity to visit our layouts. There aren’t many chances to see these many layouts at one time without spending the money to attend a convention.
Additional information, including how to request a tour map, will be provided soon. Meanwhile, if you have any questions, please contact me, Scott Buckley, sbuckley54@comcast.net.
Our meeting scheduled for tomorrow, January 19th of the Eastside Get Together has been cancelled due to weather reports of more storms and potentially unsafe driving conditions. The Inside Gateway is also closed so I am unable to get door prizes and I know that’s a big reason you all come. Just kidding.
Mark your calendars now for February 16 as we will have a clinic presented by someone no one has seen before and it’s one of those
“can’t miss clinics” so watch for our announcements. We will re-schedule Ron Cole for a future clinic too. Be safe. JJ
The Kalmbach Library’s immensely popular The Postwar Freight Car Fleet book has sold out.
The Grand Rails 2012 Convention still has space left for modular layouts at the National Train Show. If you want to show the world what you’ve done, contact Tom Draper, Chairman of the National Train Show, at either tcdraider@aol.com, or call 602-953-1681.
More Grand Rails 2012 news: They have great things planned for non-rails: a cooking demo that will make attendees think they’re watching a stand-up comedian do a cooking show; great entertainment at the luncheon in one of the most beautiful ballrooms in the country; even a ride on a dune schooner to see the 1,100 acre Saugatuck Dunes! Send your non-rail to www.gr2012.org for details.
This year registration for Grand Rails 2012 will be handled in a new way: instead of the large registration package inserted into NMRA Magazine, the full package can be downloaded from www.gr2012.org. Those who prefer printed paper can send their request, name and address to: GR 2012 Registrar, 4165 Costa NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525.
NMRA Elections. The official ballot was prepared by the National Nominating Committee according to the procedures laid out in the Regulations and the Executive Handbook (available at www.nmra.org). It will appear as an insert in the center of the February issue of NMRA Magazine, which will be mailed to all voting members. Ballots must be postmarked by April 10, 2012 and received at NMRA headquarters by April 15, 2012.
These jobs and candidates will appear on the ballot:
Charles W. Getz, IV, HLM
Howard Goodwin
Clark Kooning, MMR
Dave Thornton
Bill Kaufman
James “Lump” Lupfer
Mike Brestel
Miles Hale, MMR
John Roberts, MMR, HLM
Mike Bartlett
Kelly Loyd
Rob Peterson
MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic and wished all a Happy New Year. There were 49 attendees and no newcomers. Several announcements were made about the Science Center Show this weekend and that the PNR nominations committee is looking for volunteers. Dave Fausette, the nominating committee chair, is seeking nominees for both President and Vice-President. 4D Superintendent Ken Liesse is also seeking nominees for positions in the 4th Division. Jim Sabol who suggested that whoever stopped at Tacoma Trains put some money in a can in order to purchase a train set or two for a needy child. Bill Deutscher from Tacoma Trains reported that $165 was collected and the money spent to give sets to several children. They received two thank you letters, which were read at the clinic.
What’s New at the Hobby Shop was presented by Bill Deutscher with many new items from a wide variety of manufacturers.
In the Model of the Month category we had a number of entries: Dale Kraus with a mostly scratchbuilt sanding tower and coaling facility; Tony Dell a works in progress Milwaukee Road Bridge near Avery, ID; Walt Huston with two entries a HO scale scratchbuilt tree and 4 N scale bulkhead flat cars, 3 with load and 1 empty; Jim Sabol with two O scale passenger cars by Atlas; and Kurt Laidlaw with an N scale winter scene layout built to wrap around a stove pipe. The Model of the Month winner was Kurt Laidlaw with his winter scene layout.
We were also treated with tip on how to make a no-glue box for storing rolling stock and other things made from recycled cereal boxes.
This month clinic on mines and mining was presented by Duane Damgaard. He put together a slide show from photos he had taken on trips some 30 years ago along with some archival photos of mines, mining equipment, mining rail equipment, and structures.
Next month’s clinic on February 9th will be freight yard design by Jim Sabol, and will be at our usual place in the Pierce County Library Bldg. at the corner of 112th St. and Waller Rd. We hope to see you there and bring a newcomer, friend, spouse or significant other and find out what’s going on.
Model of the Month winner Kurt Laidlaw with his winter scene layout
Tony Dell’s bridge near Avery, ID with photo of the actual bridge
Walt Houston’s HO scratch built tree