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Grab Iron Posts

North Seattle NMRA Virtual Clinic Thursday, February 4, at 7:00pm

The North Seattle / North End NMRA clinic for the 4th division is back in business, folks. Thanks to all of you who sent the nice notes when I needed to cancel last month.

I am happy to report that Greg Price has graciously volunteered to present a clinic on Foam Core Building Mock-ups this month.

Please join us at 7pm via a Zoom meeting, the information for which is below. As always, we will open up the doors a little before 7pm so we can start on time.

Also, if time permits, we will open the floor up for those of you want to share what modeling or railroad activities that you have been doing recently. That includes any recent purchases or gifts that you’d like your fellow modelers to drool over!

Meeting info:
Topic: North Seattle NMRA clinic
Time: Feb 4, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92513684030?pwd=cVF6ZXdzaGlndFJUclh2ZTJNdTUxZz09
Meeting ID: 925 1368 4030
Passcode: 598558

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at northseattle_organizer@4dpnr.com or via phone/text at 206.310.6778

Looking forward to seeing you!

Lisa Murray
Chair, North Seattle Clinic

Groundhog Day Cometh

We would like to make 2021 a much better year than 2020. So, there will be an online Zoom meeting open to the entire membership this Saturday morning.

Please join in and express your opinions and share your ideas on what the 4th Division can do to better serve you.

•Do the online Zoom meeting work for you?
• What days and time are best?
• Are you interested in training sessions?
• Does a swap meet online interest you?
• How can Make and Take work now?
• How do we make the AP Program work for more of our members?
• What topics should we focus on?
Other questions?

This meeting is open to all 4th Division members. Here is the link. Please be respectful of others time and comments.
Topic: 4th Division Zoom Meeting
Time: Jan 30, 2021 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87582871808?pwd=NDB3TFZIUHNXeVRzZDJVUFFtZktyZz09

Meeting ID: 875 8287 1808
Passcode: 280461
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,87582871808#,,,,280461# US (Tacoma) +13462487799,,87582871808#,,,,280461# US (Houston)

Dial by your location
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 875 8287 1808
Passcode: 280461
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/knKC1bXk9

Call me if you have questions: Russ Segner 206 200 2211

Groundhog Day – 2021

It’s a New Year. How will it be different from last year?
Your Board of Directors and the leaders of our clinics and modular groups will meet online this Saturday the 30th at 10AM to try and answer this. We will discuss what is working for us during the time of lockdown and what we can do to be more effective this year.

• Does Zoom work for you?
• What topics should we focus on?
• What days and time are best?
• Are you interested in training sessions?
• Does a swap meet online interest you?
• How can Make and Take work now?
• How do we make the AP Program work for more of our members?
• Other questions?
This meeting is open to all 4th Division members. Here is the link. Please be respectful of others time and comments.
Topic: 4th Division Zoom Meeting
Time: Jan 30, 2021 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87582871808?pwd=NDB3TFZIUHNXeVRzZDJVUFFtZktyZz09


Meeting ID: 875 8287 1808
Passcode: 280461
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,87582871808#,,,,*280461# US (Tacoma)
+13462487799,,87582871808#,,,,*280461# US (Houston)

Dial by your location
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 875 8287 1808
Passcode: 280461
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/knKC1bXk9

Woody Matthews Passes

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 19th. 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

Mount Vernon Clinic for January 2021

By Ted Becker

The January Mount Vernon Clinic will be held at 7:00 January 18, 2021 via Zoom. Meeting will open at 6:30.

Program this month will be a virtual tour of Nick Muff’s layout and the models he is building. If you have not seen Nick’s layout
or his models you are in for a treat. For those who have seen his layout there is new stuff to be seen.

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

Topic: January 2021 Mount Vernon Clinic
Time: Jan 18, 2021 06:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95978102840?pwd=WXVNdlVBRzNQejBPMm1qWk9ScWFNUT09

Meeting ID: 959 7810 2840
Passcode: 009208

Hope you can join us.

Ted Becker

David Yadock’s Dry Gulch & Western Railroad – Part 11

Article & Photos By David Yadock

Dry Gulch & Western, A Photo Series Part 11

By now I am sure some of you have been wondering about how I got some of the city names and building names for my layout.  Allentown should be obvious.  It is named for John Allen.  My main town of Ellison is named for Frank Ellison.  Some of the other smaller towns are named after close friends or relatives.  A lot of structure names are also named for coworkers and friends.  I find it a good way of naming businesses and such.

My layout name, Dry Gulch & Western, came about in a strange way.  It involves a very long explanation but the namesake town on my layout is called Dry Gulch.  The town’s initials are DG which is GD backwards, again a little homage to the Gorre & Daphetid of John Allen fame.  Now on to the last pictures of the photo tour.

Photo 51 shows the stub end of the wye in Allentown.  This photo also gives a good overall view of the layout.  If you look between the two large mountains in this photo (center left) there is a valley that goes all the way to far wall.  There are actually 5 different mountain areas visible when looking down that valley.

Photo 51

Photo 52 shows how other parts of the layout can be used as a backdrop in this photo.  Careful cropping of photos allows this to happen.  Allentown is a mix of a lot of different structures.  The flour mill was carefully built to hide the wall corner yet allow for freight traffic.

Photo 52

Photo 53 gives a view of the layout rooms other corner along with a close-up view of the industrial section of Allentown.  The future city of Ellison will be located in that far corner.

Photo 53

Photo 54 shows a good section of the layout while standing beside South Allentown.  Allentown is to the left and Newport is to the right.  Dry Gulch is directly behind Allentown and is directly above the large control panel.  Gornitzka Crossing is just to the right of Dry Gulch and Ellison is tucked into the room corner.  If you look really hard you can see the town of Alpine by the stone arch bridge on the far back wall.

Photo 54

Thus, ends this part of the layout tour of the Dry Gulch & Western RR.  I hope everyone has enjoyed the trip around the layout.  I also hope that viewing the layout in this photo series has given some impetus to work on you own model railroad project.  In a few weeks’ time I’ll show you what I have been working on since these photos were taken.  The Covid-19 pandemic has given me the opportunity to devote some time to quite a few model railroad projects.  There has been quite a bit more work done on the layout.  I have also spent a great deal of time working on various locomotive projects.  The energy spent on these locomotives will increase my roster for future layout operations.  I hope everyone had a good New Year and the management of the Dry Gulch & Western is looking forward to a great 2021!

David

January 2021 Eastside Virtual Clinic

By Alex Brikoff

Eastside Virtual Clinic will be held on THURSDAY, January 21, 2021 at 7:00 PM (lobby opens at 6:45 PM ) PDT

Our next Eastside Clinic will be held virtually on ZOOM next Thursday, January 21, starting at 7:00 PM with our virtual lobby opening at 6:45 PM.  I would like to extend an invitation to all the 4th Division to virtually attend next Thursday.  So be sure and save the date for the January Eastside Clinic next Thursday, January 21 at 6:45 PM!  The log in info for the clinic is below.   

The Eastside Clinic is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Eastside Virtual Clinic for January 2021
Time: Jan 21, 2021 06:45 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting at: https://zoom.us/j/96184861545pwd=QW8rU21aeTk4a2xjU3ByczlHcjJBQT09
Meeting ID: 961 8486 1545
Passcode: 520062

Our Clinic this month is titled “Narrow Gauge Railroading at DuPont, WA” and will be presented by Russ Segner.  Russ will discuss the history and modeling opportunities of the DuPont Company’s narrow-gauge railroad used to deliver materials and explosives between the old DuPont Powderworks Plant and the pier on Puget Sound.  When the DuPont Company sold the property and the plant to Weyerhaeuser, the sale included the railroad. 

After the Clinic, we will have some time for other folks to show off their latest model work in our “Show and Brag” segment. 

Alex Brikoff, 01/16/2021

Friday Night in Olympia

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