Grab Iron Posts

By Dan Peters

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you of the passing of Woody Matthews. Woody passed away Tuesday, January 19^th. I do not have any details on services at this time.

For all those of you who might not know Woody’s background, he was a lifetime NMRA member, involved with the Fourth Division for a long time, a lot longer than me.

He won the Fourth Division “Man Of The Year” Award in 1966. Now known as the “Golden Grab Iron” Award. ( At that time, the 4th Division was known as the “Evergreen Division”. The name got changed when the NMRA formed “regions” and our division was assigned to the Pacific Northwest Region. I think that was in the 70’s. At that time PNR changed division names to numbers. )

Woody started the Science Center show. He was the first show chairman for 10 or 15 years, until Lou Toppano took over for him. Woody has been in O gauge for as long as I’ve known him, almost all that time in 2-rail “O Scale” (as opposed to 3-rail “O Gauge”).

He used to wear a cap with the slogan : “O Gauge, The King Of Gauges”.
When the module program was started in 1988, Woody and 2 other modelers built a set of 2-rail O Scale modules. Once they had 4 straight modules up and running, the division financed the building of 4 corner modules – that was the first completed circuit of modules in any scale. The O Scale module group disbanded in the 90’s when the other 2 members dropped out because of health problems. Woody is a retired Certified Public Accountant.

Dan

The Olympia Clinic meets tonight at 7PM.

The program is on restoration work of an old passenger car in Antonito, Colorado and a ride on the Narrow Gauge.

Time: Jan 15, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Here is the link to the session

https://zoom.us/j/99026832872?pwd=Z1dsNTNFdG5zNFdCQ0lVejBOd3p4QT09

Meeting ID: 990 2683 2872

Passcode: 469997

Power is out so the clinic will be rescheduled.

Rich Thom will be presenting our February clinic on the use of rubber rocks (not molds) which is very different that traditional scenery methods. (This is a re-do from last month where we needed to cancel due to wind storm induced power outages on wonderful Whidbey Island) Here is his newsletter description of the clinic:

Five years ago I presented a mini-clinic to the Skagit Valley & Whidbey clinic group about my initial trials of rubber rocks for scenicking my HO-scale Coldwater Creek & Cascade Railroad.  I had purchased enough of the “rocks” to complete about one-third of my terrain.  Compared with my past experience with conventional plaster castings, the rubber rocks were entirely different and presented a steep learning curve.

I was pleased with the first results (see photo) and decided to use the product—from Cripplebush Valley Models (www.cripplebush.net) –to complete the layout.  In this updated clinic I will cover how I trimmed the rocks to size; attached them to my hardshell (itself different from what most modelers use); and most critically, colored them.  I found coloring to be the biggest challenge and departure from staining plaster castings.  I’ll conclude with a comparison of advantages and disadvantages, and if you tune in, you can decide for yourself whether rubber rocks are a better alternative—or not!

ZOOM LINK BELOW:

4dpnrOrganizer SkagitValleyWhidbey is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: NMRA PNR 4D Whidbey Clinic

Time: Feb 10, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/94937323423?pwd=OUZTSVZnb3RxdU4vQTdkS1dnaGVvZz09

Meeting ID: 949 3732 3423

Passcode: 860260

Meeting will be open around 6:30PM for chit chat before the presentation. See you there!

Tune in on Saturday morning, Jan 9, at 10:00am for two more virtual layout tours, brought to you by the Fourth Division of the National Model Railroad Association (4DPNR). First will be Gary Jordan, who has an interesting O scale layout in Mukilteo of the Gilpin Tram that includes interchanges between three different gages of track and some innovative operational ideas on keeping track of loads and empties. Second will be Bruce Hendrick from LA with a tour of his HO club’s layout representing SP operations (the Corona Model Railroad Society. Both tours will even include video of moving trains! The Zoom info to join the meeting is below:

Topic: 4DPNR Layout Tour – Gary Jordan (O) & Bruce Hendrick (HO)
Time: Jan 9, 2021 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85479739925?pwd=SnIwT0RjQ0hhazdueHlTMVZVMG1Ldz09

Meeting ID: 854 7973 9925
Passcode: 479007

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I apologize for the late notice but the North End Clinic that was scheduled for this Thursday, January 7, at 7:00pm has been cancelled.

We will be back in action at our regular time/day next month (Thursday, February, 4 at 7:00pm via Zoom).

Happy New Year & see you in February!

Lisa Murray
northseattle_organizer@4dpnr.com