Click here to read the December 2021 issue of The Flimsy Board from the Bremerton Northern Model Railroad club.
Grab Iron Posts
Seattle Streetcar Presentation
Lake Union Industrial Trackage Tour by Russ Segner Thursday December 2
Larry Sloan did a clinic recently describing an industrial warehouse with a bow string roof structure. It inspired me to revisit an area I became very familiar with during my 40- year career as an industrial real estate broker. My clients included Foss Maritime, Olympic Stain, Colonial Cedar Products and Marco Marine.
Lake Union was once a very busy complex of warehousing and shipping served by rail and ships. The Great Northern served both sides of the Lake Washington Ship Canal with extensive trackage in the area now home to Amazon and fine waterfront restaurants. Many of the buildings along Westlake had rail service and Terry Avenue had significant trackage before the Terry Avenue Freight house there became a fine restaurant. So, let’s take a tour of the area using Google Earth and photographs I shot in the 1970’s of the many interesting structures and businesses.
There will be many locations that can inspire intricate trackwork, scratch-built structures and operational challenges. This is a chance to see buildings not available as Cornerstone kits.
Russ Segner
Arduino Session, November 30, 2021
By Ted Becker
Topic this week is reading sensors and displaying their status on a display panel with suggestions on expanding into a signalling system.
The next session will be held Tuesday, November 30, 2021 at 4:00 via Zoom.
Subscribe to: https://groups.io/g/MR-Duino for more information and discussions from these sessions.
4dpnrOrganizer MountVernon is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Arduino Session
Time: Nov 30, 2021 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86821693344?pwd=RWNYQ3Q5RWk5VzEvK1FRbHlLYU90Zz09
Meeting ID: 868 2169 3344
Passcode: 430003
North End Virtual Clinic this Thursday, December 2nd at 7:00pm
The next North End clinic is this coming Thursday, December 2, at 7:00pm. This month our fearless 4th division leader, Russ Segner, will be the presenter.
Here is the link for the meeting:
Topic: NMRA North End Clinic December Meeting
Time: Dec 2, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86772559643?pwd=c2lMUHFaVjF3Um5OTXUvZko3WmFCZz09
Meeting ID: 867 7255 9643
Passcode: 992364
See you Thursday!
4D PNR YouTube Channel
Did you know you can watch most of our 4D clinics and layout tours on YouTube? Great if you missed one, or just want to re-watch some again later. We record and edit most clinics for our public 4D PNR YouTube channel. The channel has become very popular and now has well over 1,000 subscribers with 100+ videos published. We have separate sections for Clinics and Layout Tours.
You can get notifications when new videos are published by subscribing to the channel (when in the YouTube channel, just click SUBSCRIBE) and turn on notifications (click on the Bell button next to SUBSCRIBE).
Go here to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/4DPNRMovies
Our five latest clinics are (make sure to unmute the video in YouTube to hear sound):
November Eastside Clinic: Modeling a Round Roof Building with Larry Sloan
November Mt Vernon Clinic: Railway Express Agency with Thomas Keyes
November Skagit & Whidbey Clinic: Restoring and Running Steam Engines with Stathi Pappas
October Mt Vernon Clinic: Gary Dobias Austin Texas Layout Tour
And our latest monthly layout tour is: October: Sugar Pine RR in HO scale by Jeff Johnston
If you host a clinic or layout tour and want to publish it, please record it in Zoom or in person and send it to us.
Enjoy!
Burr Stewart, Magnus Christerson, Russ Segner and Byron Osborn – your 4D PNR YouTube editors
Arduino Session, November 23, 2021
By Ted Becker
Topic this week is a servo tester built with a commonly available UNO and UNO shield. In the code examples a couple of the built-in Arduino functions will be covered. This device will aid in determining the values to make a servo stop where you want it.
The next session will be held Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 4:00 via Zoom.
Subscribe to: https://groups.io/g/MR-Duino for more information and discussions from these sessions.
4dpnrOrganizer MountVernon is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Arduino Session
Time: Nov 23, 2021 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84959778826?pwd=SmpuNHdaWDNkRmFPeHluYUR0Nkdtdz09
Meeting ID: 849 5977 8826
Passcode: 792751
Boeing Swap Meet Successes
Russ Segner
The November 13 swap meet last Saturday was great for many reasons:
- We met so many old friends face-to-face even if we didn’t recognize each other at first behind the masks.
- Many attendees got some real bargains.
- Many others freed up space on their layouts or in their garages.
- The 4th Division got a nice cash infusion from sales of donated items.
We are particularly grateful to Clay Hanson and the estate of Mike Murray for many donated items.
Thanks to so many of our members who helped set up and man our sales tables:
- Ed Ives
- Jack Klapwyk
- Dan Peters
- Wayne Grinnell
- Marc Sachnoff
- Mike Donnelly
- Al Lowe
- Dennis Terpstra
- Robin Peel
- Roger Nulton
- Burr Stewart
It was great meeting so many in person again. AND, there’s lots of great bargains left over. I’ll post some lists of items for members to come by and bid on over the next weeks. Watch for lists in future Grab Irons.
David Yadock’s Dry Gulch & Western Update 8
Article & Photos By David Yadock
Dry Gulch & Western, Update 8
It is now time to travel down the mainline into the town of Dry Gulch. This town is the terminus for the narrow-gauge railroad. As mentioned in the last update Dry Gulch is the last puzzle piece but had to wait for completion while all the other sections were worked on and the branch line was realigned. The area has a small business district and a few industries. A small two-stall engine house provides facilities for minor locomotive repair and servicing. A tiny turntable provides for locomotive turning. In this update we will specifically examine the access hatch area.
Photo 41 shows the Dry Gulch area before scenery and branch line realignment was completed. Yes, a station, turntable, and small coaling tower were there but the scenery was lacking. You will also note in the center of the photo a large hole directly behind the 6-dome yellow tank car! The citizens of Dry Gulch petitioned the layout owner to remedy this problem since it was a danger to the public. The hole is actually a large access hatch that is needed to service the track and switches located at Potter Flats, Raade Springs, and the interior portion of Dry Gulch. The access hatch is about 22 inches by 36 inches and is another vertical lift type of hatch.
![](https://4dpnr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Yadock-Dry-Gulch-update8-41-1024x681.jpeg)
Photo 42 is an arial view showing the hatch in the closed position. A lot of care was taken to hide the edges of the hatch. Since the hatch can’t have an odd trapezoidal shape it made it difficult to blend in the edges and seam. Careful placement of fencing, guardrails, and shrubbery helped hide the seam along the front of the hatch. The sides of the hatch did not require much effort, they are hidden from view by the other portions of the layout. The back side of the hatch was also difficult to hide. I have found it best to have access hatch holes with odd shapes, that allows them to be hidden much better. Of course, sometimes this can’t be done.
![](https://4dpnr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Yadock-Dry-Gulch-update8-42-1024x510.jpeg)
Photo 43 shows an up-close view of a couple of the businesses that cover the hatch. All the buildings have interior lighting. Wright’s fire extinguishers building has some special flicker LED lighting installed. Greg, you should know better than to place oily rags next to open flames! The police car and fire chief’s car roof lights also function. Note the curved roadway, retaining walls, old-style wire guardrails, and multitude of billboards to help add visual interest.
![](https://4dpnr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Yadock-Dry-Gulch-update8-43-1024x518.jpeg)
Photo 44 shows another view of the structures. Some of you will note the names of the structures. Greg Wright was poked fun at with his structure, I couldn’t resist it. JJ Johnston is the landlord of Johnston Arms apartments. Both Fred Hamilton and Jack Hamilton can fight over which side of the building belongs to them! Which one of you handles the hardware and the supply? Jim Sabol builds something in that large green structure. Trunzo Materials Handling is named after Jim Trunzo. He is head of the local Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society chapter. Most of the structures are from kits, but there are a few scratch-built structures as well. All of this scenery was placed on a rigid foam base and attached to an L-shaped sliding lift mechanism. The weight of the hatch is about 15 pounds, so it is easy to operate.
![](https://4dpnr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Yadock-Dry-Gulch-update8-44-1024x681.jpeg)
Photo 45 shows the back of the hatch, looking from Raade Springs. Trees, shrubs, and a small ravine help break up the seam of the hatch. Natural features such as small ravines can help hide or break up the straight line of an access hatch. Small hills or rises in land can accomplish the same.
![](https://4dpnr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Yadock-Dry-Gulch-update8-45-1024x681.jpeg)
Photo 46 gives you another view of the structures that are in Dry Gulch and Raade Springs. You will note just how close these towns are in relation to one another. A road and careful placement of trees helps hide the fact that they are only a few inches away from each other. Must be wash day at the apartment complex! Ed Liesse provided the Central Valley billboard sign. It is from a 1960’s era NMRA convention handout. I made a photocopy of it and made the roof sign.
![](https://4dpnr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Yadock-Dry-Gulch-update8-46-1024x681.jpeg)
Next time I will provide a photo of the hatch in the raised position to give you an idea of how the edges were hidden. Also, we will look at the changes happening with the Dry Gulch foreground area. As of this point it is still a work in progress. Some of the features have been installed, but most of the ground cover and especially the two-stall engine house is still waiting for final placement. I was hoping for it to be further along, but a shoulder injury has slowed its progress. Have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving.
David
Eastside Clinic for November 2021
Eastside Clinic will be held on THURSDAY, November 18, 2021 at 7:00 PM (lobby opens at 6:45 PM) PDT
The Eastside Clinic is inviting everyone to the November Clinic to be held virtually on ZOOM this Thursday, November 18, starting at 7:00 PM with our virtual lobby opening at 6:45 PM. Be sure and save the date for the November Eastside Clinic this Thursday! The log in info for the clinic is below.
Topic: Eastside Clinic for November 2021
Time: November 18, 2021, 06:45 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting at:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88404580326?pwd=T3MzUmtMQzlSaER1M0R5dU80VGNQQT09
Meeting ID: 884 0458 0326
Passcode: 798460
Our Clinic this month will be “What is a Bow Truss Building and How to Model it” presented by Larry Sloan. Larry will be introducing us to the bow truss method of supporting roofs on many buildings found in industrial areas serviced by railroads. Larry will also be discussing his methods of modeling these types of structures on his layout. If you want to have a unique looking building on your layout, then be sure and see this clinic.
After the Clinic, there will be an opportunity for everyone to show off their latest model work in our “Show and Brag” event.
Alex Brikoff, 11/16/2021