Photos by Doug Bulger
Three select images from the Yosemite Valley Railroad by Jack Burgess.
Grab Iron Posts
SP 4449 Crosses Stampede Pass
Photo and Article by Ken Liesse
As part of Cascade Rails 2011 (the National Railroad Historical Society’s annual convention) in Tacoma, WA, the group chartered ex-SP 4449 and train for a trip over Stampede Pass on Saturday, June 25. This was the culmination of a week of various tours and charters to railroads and museums around the Puget Sound area, much like that of an NMRA or PNR convention. Despite leaving Tacoma about 30 minutes late, it appeared that all on board weren’t too bothered with the delay. The train ran up the BNSF Seattle Subdivision to Auburn, where they turned east onto the Stampede Sub for the trip over the pass to Easton.
SP 4449 Pauses in Easton, WA
Once in Easton, the power was cut off the train and run around the wye before rejoining the train for the run back to Tacoma. The train had actually been pulled backwards over the pass on the eastbound leg so that it would be headed the right direction for the westbound run. This also put it in the right direction for the run home to Portland after the convention. The run over the pass started under cloudy skies, but the sun broke through east of the Cascades and remained for the rest of the trip.
It’s not often we get to see mainline steam in these parts, so it was a treat to see 4449 on this run. Several photos and videos of the trip are now online. Google 4449 and see what comes up.
Eastside Visits Chooch
By Ken Liesse
On June 16th, members of the Eastside Clinic and several friends descended on Chooch Enterprises in Maple Valley, WA. The purpose of this visit was our season end field trip, which was graciously hosted by Chooch owner, Mike O’Connell. Members were invited to wander around the shops of Chooch, which are located on the bottom floor of a large building on Mike’s property, and also visit Mike’s wonderful O Scale layout which resides on the second floor. Mike’s layout depicts railroading in and around Spokane, WA and he has a wonderful representation of the old station there. Photos of the layout and of Chooch Enterprises can be seen here. Mike would like to thank his helpers for the evening: Fred Hamilton, Don Larsen, Sherman Stevens and, of course, our “Valley Parking,” Jim Sabol.
Summer is here and we are taking the next two months off as outdoor activities and the long northern latitude days take precedence over modeling activities. We at the Eastside Clinic hope you have a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you again in September.
Skagit Valley and Whidbey Clinic
Gordon Garnhart
There were 29 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Community conference room on Wednesday, June 8th.
The meeting was opened by John White leading a brief discussion to finalize the line-up of programs for the coming year.
Al Frasch's N scale barn was awarded Best Entry Runner-up
The guest speaker for the evening was Jack Hamilton MMR, who spoke about many different tools, fixtures, clamping and lighting devices that a model railroader might find useful. He also took a few jabs at some tools which Micro-Mark and other catalog sales operations tout as essential but which, in Jack’s estimation, are not very effective. He distributed a very comprehensive list of 159 different tools, what each is called, where it can be purchased, its item number in a catalog, its price and, in many cases, a commentary on its practicality and usefulness. He cited a number of examples where a fancy high-priced catalog item is not as effective as a similar tool from a hardware, sporting goods or kitchen supply store. He had examples of most of the items, discussed each one briefly, and passed it around for everyone’s inspection. His lively presentation prompted many questions and sparked many thoughts on how each of us might improve our methods, skills and techniques.
The main purpose for Jack’s visit, however, was to judge, with the assistance of Di Voss, the entries in our Scratchbuilt Dilapidated Building Contest. There were only eight entries in the competition, but what the field lacked in quantity, it more than made up for in quality. Steve Jaffray, the Competition Shepherd, announced the winners: Best Entry was awarded for the work of Jack Tingstad; Best Entry Runner-up was won by Al Frasch; Most Humorous was taken by David Laws; People’s Choice went to Iver Johnson; and Honorable Mention awards went to Al Frasch, Steve Jaffray and Curt Johnson.
The clinic does not convene in July or August, but we are looking forward to Wednesday, September 14th and a visit to the very elaborate HO layout of Nick Muff in Sedro Woolley.
Steve Jaffray's HO scale barn
This HO scale barn was a joint effort by Iver Johnson and his son Curt
Jack Tingstad's HO scale mine structure will be used on his layout.
Eastside Get Together Road Trip this Thursday
JJ Johnston
This Thursday, June 16th, the Eastside Get Together will be treated to a tour of the Chooch Enterprises in Maple Valley. We’ll see both their operation facilities and a owner Mike O’Connell’s fabulous O scale, Proto 48 layout. This is something you shouldn’t miss! Plus, there will be other surprises for those who attend.
Everyone is invited to Thursday’s Get Together. Due to limited parking and long walking distances, we are organizing van pools for our trip. We will depart at 6:00 pm from our usual meeting location’s parking lot, Bellevue Four Square Church, 2015 Richards Rd SE, Bellevue, WA. Map
This is important: To determine the proper number of vans for transportation, you must MAKE AN ADVANCE RESERVATION. If you plan to attend, email me at jj@jtwice.com. There is a $5.00 charge per passenger.
4D 2011 Election Results
By Ken Liesse, Election Committee Chair
Ballots have been counted and the results are in: John Salzetti edged out Rob Jones and has been elected as the new 4D Assistant Superintendent. Al Lowe and Nathan “Stu” Rogers were re-elected to Director, Positions 1 and 3 respectively.
There were 127 total ballots received, with four ballots being disqualified, for a total of 123 valid ballots received. The breakdown of the votes is as follows:
For Assistant Superintendent:
- John Salzetti, 68 votes
- Rob Jones, 55 votes
For Director, Position 1:
- Al Lowe, 121 votes
For Director, Position 3:
- Ethan “Stu” Rogers, 119 votes
- Write in Jim Easley, 1 vote
- Write in Jeff Moorman, 1 vote
- Write in Chris Fife, 1 vote
Respectfully submitted by your Election Committee: Ken Liesse (Chair), Michael Highsmith and Vincent “Hub” Hubbert.
Tacoma Clinic June report
By Al Babinsky
MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic after completion of the board meeting. We had 50 attendees including 6 newcomers. Under announcements it was mentioned that the National Railroad Society convention is being held in June in Tacoma. The joint convention, which is going to be held on May 5 2012 in Medford, OR, has its website up and running. The Narrow Gauge Convention website, which is being held in Bellevue, is up and running.
What’s New at the Hobby Shop, presented by Tacoma Trains, had a variety of products from Athearn, Red Caboose, Roundhouse, Intermountain, Woodland Scenics, and Atlas, including flatcars and locomotives.
The Model of the Month had a showing of various models including a scratchbuilt station, kit-bashed trucks, a BTS saw mill kit, and a Miller Engineering N scale etched brass Victorian mansion kit. Tony Bentley won the Model of the Month with his BTS Laser cut saw mill kit, a huge model for HO scale.
This month’s clinic was presented by Scott Groff and Mike Shaw on how to sell items on eBay. It was very informative on the do’s and don’t’s of placing ads, taking photo to show the item at its best, and the costs involved. They also listed some other websites to sell on that were free.
This was our last clinic before the summer break so our next clinic will be September 8 at our usual place: 7:30 PM at the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg. the corner of 112th Street and Waller Rd. Scott Taylor wil present a clinic on airbrushing for beginners. Hope to see you all back at that time. Have a great summer and support your Tourist railroads and Railroad Museums!
NMRA InfoNet News for June
Gerry Leone, NMRA Communications Director
The NMRA is now on both Facebook and Twitter. For up-to-the-minute news, follow us at either or both.
The National Train Show also has a Facebook page. Follow them and get info about which vendors will be at the show, show specials, and other previews of the NTS.
Membership numbers remain stable. The membership count is 19,495. This represents an increase of 1/3 of 1% over a year ago and a decrease of 1/3 of 1% over five years ago. So if you hear rumors of a “constant decrease in NMRA membership,” quote these figures: it’s stable—and has been for at least five years!
In case you missed last month’s news, the 2011 NMRA election results are in: the NMRA Canada Director is Don Hillman; the Central District Director is Peter Magoun; the Regional Advisory Council Director is Stephen Priest. All Directors will take office at the Sacramento Board Meeting.
The Summer Board Meeting will be held prior to the Sacramento x2011 Convention on Friday, July 1st, in the Beavis Room of the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel, at 9 am (subject to change, of course).
Notice of 2012 elections. All candidate names must be submitted by June 15, 2011 — THIS WEDNESDAY! The following NMRA Officers and Board of Directors positions are open for election in 2012: President, Vice President-Administration, Vice President-Special Projects, Eastern District Director, Pacific District Director, and At-Large North America Director. Please check the NMRA Executive Handbook for qualifications and the extent of the districts. Submit candidate names to Didrik Voss. Remember: by WEDNESDAY!
General Meeting Notice
Ken Liesse
There will be a general meeting of the 4D membership immediately preceding the Tacoma Clinic this coming Thursday, June 9th. The purpose of this meeting is to approve the 4D budget for the coming year. We don’t anticipate the meeting to last too long and we’re grateful to the Tacoma Clinic for allowing us the time to take care of this important division business. All 4D members are invited and encouraged to attend this meeting.
The Tacoma Clinic is held in the Pierce County Library building, 3005 112th St. E., Tacoma WA.
Seattle-North: Operations 101; Next Meeting 6/2/11 (if you have signed up)
Jeff Moorman / Photos by Jeff Moorman
After introductions and announcements, the May meeting started with a discussion of the tradition tour in place of the June meeting. Yes, we are going to do a tour this year and, like always, we are not going to tell folks where we are going ahead of time. There might be some last minute change, but right now the plan calls for model railroad-related destinations, a variety of scales, and maybe something more than just looking at layouts. Note that we need to know who is going ahead of time. You cannot just show up for the tour. If you have signed up, here is your official reminder:
VANS LEAVE FROM THE CHURCH PARKING LOT NO LATER THAN 7:00 PM, JUNE 2. IF YOU ARE LATE, YOU WILL MISS OUT.
Next, Bobj received his fabulous prize for being the first (and only) person to come up with documentation on the origin of the phrase, “The human mind is like a railroad boxcar, guaranteed to have a certain capacity, but often running empty.” Congratulations, Bobj; use your plastic parts box with pride.
A good part of the meeting was then devoted to the topic of “operations.” Here are some highlights: Operation is the running of a model railroad in a manner which simulates prototype activity. While there are reams and reams written about operation, they appear to be mostly concerned with designing a model railroad for operation and then implementing that design. But, it is all pretty daunting for those unfamiliar with the concepts. So, at the risk of gross oversimplification, here are some tips for trying to make sense of what’s going on, for those new to operating a model train like a prototype.
Some have called operation the ultimate board game. That is one way to look at it. But it is a board game where the players do not compete with each other; rather they cooperate to ensure smooth “operating” of the whole railroad.
Another way to look at it is that there are two basic processes: one is freight movement, and the other is train movement. Consider a semi-truck; deciding what to load it with, where to pick that stuff up, and where to deliver it, is fundamentally different from operating the truck itself, moving it safely over the road. For model railroading, freight movement is typically by carload. The entire car is filled with something going to the same place.
All sorts of “paperwork” is used to keep track of what is the car and where it is going. Some modelers even use the same forms used by the prototype railroads. Often the paperwork includes a card for each car; a train is represented by a deck of such cards. What cards go in the deck depends on what’s in the car, where it is going, how soon it needs to get there, how much the locomotive can pull, the capacity of any sidings along the way, etc. Fortunately, new operators don’t have to worry too much about the more intricate techniques of train makeup.
When it comes to running a train, there are two basic processes. One is the assembling separate cars into a train and their subsequent dis-assembly. This is often referred to as “yard work.” Moving the entire train across the railroad from one place to another is considered “road work.”
As with a semi-truck, there are rules of the road for railroads. You cannot run a locomotive/train anywhere you want to. For new operators, learning the rules of the road is usually the biggest hurdle to overcome. There are two categories of rules: one for movement of a train, basically when it is and is not allowed to proceed; and rules for real-sized people interacting with a model-sized railroad, such as are you allowed to touch rolling stock and locomotives or not. Some consider the latter type rules “owner’s rules” and they can be the most important to know.
Hopefully you now know enough about operation to be intrigued. So, if you get the opportunity, give it a try. As long as you are making a sincere effort to learn, the more experienced operators will help. Always remember:
- Know the owner’s rules
- Be considerate of others – it is all about cooperation and team effort
- Leave turnouts the way you found them
- Have fun
Once again, Show and Tell brought out some interesting stuff. Dennis had his T-TRAK modules there to show progress and hopefully inspire others to get out of their armchairs and start modeling. Chris had several paint projects in both HO and N. Stu had a nice little N sawmill with interior detail. And Rob had the latest MicroTrains fire car and an SP sky box.
Chris' Latest Paint Project
Rob's Latest from Micro Trains
Stu's Sawmill
As we were cleaning up several of us had an interesting conversation about clinic name tags. Whew! There were almost as many opinions about that as there are about what scale to model. If you want to influence my thinking on the subject, let me know your thoughts.
I still have a few T-TRAK module kits. Contact me for availability and prices. For those who have already gotten their kits or have decided to build their own, we’d like to see them at the next regular meeting in September. No, we do not want to see just the kits; we want the resultant modules, in running order.
Remember the next meeting is June 2, but only if you have signed up ahead of time. Otherwise we will see you (and your modules) the first of September.
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) just north of 175th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Note that there is still a lot of construction along this stretch of Aurora. Therefore, it might be best 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. However, 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, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.
Remember: for June’s trip, you need to be there by 7:00 PM!