By Bill Hupe
Due to current and forecasted weather conditions, the Westside Clinic for January 14, 2020 has been cancelled.
Be safe and stay warm.
Bill
Grab Iron Posts
Upcoming Clinic – Eastside Get Together, Wednesday 1/15
By Alex Brikoff
The January 2020 Eastside Get Together Clinic will have its monthly meeting on January 15, 2020. Please note: that the third Wednesday is our new meeting day going forward until the June 2020 clinic.
The Clinic will meet at the:
Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village
6505 176TH AVE NE, Rm. 202
REDMOND WA 98052-4930
Doors open at 7:00 PM and meeting starts promptly at 7:15 PM
We will begin by mentioning any noteworthy, upcoming model railroad and railfan events in the area. Let’s start off the New Year by bringing our best models and photos to the clinic for our Model of the Month and Rail Photo of the Month contest and show off what we’ve been up to in our train rooms so far this winter! The results from our voting last month have been tabulated for the “Mini Clinic Event” topics. The top four most voted for topics are:
- Wiring for DCC, Bus and feeder wires, Accessories
- Servo switch machines
- Fine-tuning and maintaining locos
- Weathering rolling stock and/or engines
I already have a volunteer for the DCC clinic but, at this point, I still need three more volunteers to step forward for the other three topics. Here is your chance to share with your fellow modelers your knowledge in a particular topic. So, please, let me know if you are interested in presenting a short, 15-minute, high level clinic on one of the above topics.
This month’s program will be presented by John Morrison. John will present three short programs about the rack railways in Switzerland. The three presentations will be titled:
- Brienz Rothorn Bahn (Railway): A rack railway in central Switzerland that climbs 7500 feet through some spectacular scenery.
- The Locomotives and System ABT Rack
- Riggi Rack Railways: Vitznau-Rigi Bahn and Arth-Rigi Bahn
We will have refreshments and snacks available as always.
See you there!!
Alex Brikoff
Pacific Science Center Show – January 18, 19 and 20
By Russ Segner
It’s almost time for our annual really BIG SHOW. This is the major source of funding for activities within the Fourth Division. Three of our Modular Groups, Hi-Rail, N-Trak and HO will have very large operating layouts. In addition, there will be eight other exhibits including smaller modules and switching puzzles. There will also be several demonstration tables describing various modeling skills and techniques.
All this involves a great many of our members. I hope you are one of them. If not, there are still opportunities to participate in many support roles. We need help assisting the loading in of all the modules and exhibits on Friday evening, preparation and distribution of signs and printed materials, helping in the break room and providing relief breaks for those operating the layouts and displays.
So, I need to hear from many of you. Please consider helping for at least four hours on one of the days. Parking is provided for as well as admission to the event. It is your opportunity to contribute the continued success of the Fourth Division and share time with other model railroaders.
Give me a call at 206 200 2211 or email me at russseg@gmail.com
Russ
Bremerton Northern January 2020 Flimsy
Click here to read the January 2020 issue of The Flimsy Board from the Bremerton Northern Model Railroad club.
Clinic Report – East Side Get Together – December 2019
Article & Photos by Syd Schofield
The NMRA/PNR Fourth Division Redmond Clinic for December was held Thursday evening at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding. The gathering was brought to order at 7:17 PM. Notable and new attendees were introduced followed by upcoming events of interest being announced. Refer to the Grab-Iron calendar for details.
***PLEASE NOTE:
An important announcement was regarding the day change of the Eastside Clinic. Beginning in JANUARY 2020, the Eastside Clinic will be held on the 3rd WEDNESDAY of every month at least through June. The meeting room and start time will remain the same.
There was no Model or Photo of the Month contest this month as there were no entries.
This evening was the annual Dirty Santa gift exchange. The usual door prize random pick format was used with modifications for the Dirty Santa twist. Everyone in attendance brought a holiday wrapped model railroad-themed gift with only the model scale marked, if applicable. Only the size, shape and weight of the package disclosed the contents. Upon the gift pick, it is unwrapped and revealed to the group, an important part of the process.
The first drawing, perhaps the least beneficial, started the process and continued until the last item is picked. Starting with the second drawing, “stealing” previously picked items is allowed. Any gift may only be “stolen” twice before the holder retains permanent possession. To even the process the original picker can then “steal” any item, resulting in a fresh pick from the gift supply or a trade with the “thief.” During and after the drawing and “stealing”, side negotiations for redistribution occurred.
Seasonally appropriate (although non-alcoholic) refreshments (coffee and cookies) were provided by C. J. Turner and Di Voss. Stronger beverages were rumored to be available at undisclosed, offsite locations.
Syd Schofield
Demonstrators Needed
By Russ Segner
The Pacific Science Center Show is coming soon. January 18, 19 and 20. Our modular groups will be there as well as several individual members with their displays.
**************
We have some extra room this year and want to set up several demonstrations of the skills and techniques we use in our model building. We already have one offer to demonstrate a N scale module under construction; trackwork, wiring and scenery. I am looking for someone to demonstrate kit construction and perhaps special scenery techniques; rocks, trees and water.
**************
If you are interested or know of someone who might also be interested, please contact me as soon as possible. This is an opportunity for individuals or teams to show how it’s done.
Contact me at 206 200 2211
Russ
Upcoming Clinic – Eastside Get Together, Thursday 12/19
By Alex Brikoff
The December 2019 Eastside Get Together Clinic will have its monthly meeting on December 19, 2019.
The Clinic will meet at the:
Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village
6505 176TH AVE NE, Rm. 202
REDMOND WA 98052-4930
Doors open at 7:00 PM and meeting starts promptly at 7:15 PM
We will begin by mentioning any noteworthy, upcoming model railroad and railfan events in the area. We will also have our Model of the Month and Rail Photo of the Month contest. This year, our “Mini Clinic Event” in March 2020, will be done a bit differently. This month, we will be voting as a group to select four Mini-Clinic topics from the list of topics we put together last month. The winners will be announced at the end of this month’s clinic.
We will be having our annual Christmas “Dirty Santa Gift Exchange” this month. Everyone is asked to bring a small gift to participate. It is requested that the gift be inexpensive (less than $10 – $15 value) and gift wrapped with ONLY the scale marked on it if necessary (no names).
We will have refreshments and snacks available as always. The winners of the contests will have first choice of gifts from the “Dirty Santa Gift Table”.
See you there!!
**Clinic Change Next Month**
Also, please note that starting in January, the Redmond Eastside Get Together Clinic will be moving to the third WEDNESDAY instead the third THURSDAY. This will be our new meeting day until the end of the clinic year in June. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but we didn’t have much say in the matter.
Alex Brikoff
MOHAI SUCCESS
Article & Photos By Russ Segner
Thanksgiving weekend was a great success led by Ed Ives for the second year. Three of our modular groups: 4D-Ntrak, HO, Hi-Railers and several additional small layouts and displays participated. The feedback from MOHAI staff has been very positive and we expect an even better event next year.
Here are some shots of the activities:
On30 switching puzzle 
HO module 
NTrak 
On30 layout 
Wooden Trains 
Wooden Trains 
Hi-Rail 
HO kids layout 
Operation Life Saver 
Bob Stafford N scale 
Dan Kellogg N scale layout 
NTrak 
NTrak 
NTrak 
NTrak
Coming up next weekend on Friday December 20, many of the same groups will be at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma for 11 days. This is a great show and I encourage you to go and attend to support this effort. The displays are very well done and it is a chance for all of our 4D members to share time together.
Russ
Skagit Valley and Whidbey Clinic November Meeting Show and Tell and DCC Night
Article and Photos by Rich Thom
Clinic Chair Rich Blake welcomed 26 to the November meeting, first reviewing the upcoming calendar. Dec 11th will feature our annual Wassail, a tradition dating back at least a dozen years, with all invited to bring a (finger-food) potluck dish to share. The pre-clinic dinner at Alfy’s in Oak Harbor is annulled for this meeting only, and the starting time for the Wassail is 6:30 pm. For the January get-together (Jan 8th), modelers are invited to bring their latest models for detailed discussion of how they created them, and having their models judged (if they wish) for NMRA Achievement Awards.
Several clinic members have layouts in progress including Jon Bentz (Fig 1), who described the status of his Rio Como Railroad. Filling the better part of a 14’ x 39’ room, the On30 pike re-uses many of Jon’s scratch buildings on all-new benchwork. A car float operation is featured. Helping Jon with the construction among others is Cliff Aaker and Alan Murray; Alan, for example, is building the overpass (Fig 2)—a work in progress—for a spot on Jon’s layout.
Ted Becker brought in a model for display (Fig 3), a Banta Modelworks HO-scale “Crick Hollow Hardware and Miners Supply.” Ted has thoroughly re-purposed the structure and varied the details.
Read MoreClinic Report – East Side Get Together – November 2019
Article & Photos By Syd Schofield
The NMRA/PNR Fourth Division Redmond Clinic for November was held Thursday evening at the Redmond Community Center, Alex Brikoff presiding. The gathering was brought to order at 7:15 PM. Notable attendees were introduced and upcoming events of interest were announced. The Grab-Iron newsletter will furnish schedule and content particulars.
***PLEASE NOTE:
One important announcement was regarding the day change of the Eastside Clinic. Beginning in JANUARY 2020, the Eastside Clinic will be held on the 3rd WEDNESDAY of every month at least until June. The meeting room and start time will remain the same.
Model of the Month was by Dan Kellog. He showed an HO scale diorama of the Chittiden Locks railroad bridge that will be used on his layout. John Paschal showed three photos of steam locomotives at the East Broad Top Railroad repository/storage facility for Photo(s) of the Month.
The evening’s clinic was by Russ Segner. He presented an excellent clinic on the basics of model railroad scenery. He discussed scenery design and considerations of technique based on his Sn3 home layout.
The winners of the Model of the Month and Photo of the Month were the first to select from many great door prizes that were available that evening. The remainder were dispersed with the usual blind jar drawings, manned by Anton Faulk.
C. J. Turner was kind enough to once again provide our refreshments.
The December gathering will be the yearly tradition “Dirty Santa” gift exchange. Everyone is encouraged to bring a railroad-related, identified by scale (if applicable) and unidentified on the wrapper. The random pick drawing is for these items of approximately $10 in value. The somewhat complicated and resultant, occasionally gentle chiding process will be explained at the meeting. Side negotiations for redistribution are permitted.
The meeting concluded by 9:15.
Syd Schofield