There is still time to register and make sure you will have lunch for this weekend in Redmond. Some very good clinics have been prepared for you. In addition, you will get a first hand look at many of our modular groups handiwork.
It is an opportunity to meet and share with model railroaders from all over our area.
Check in with our website 4dspringmeet.com.
SV&W Crew along with several guests enjoying a nice spring day at the Lake Whatcom Railway near Bellingham, WA.
The regular May meeting of the Skagit Valley and Whidbey Model Railroad club was not held at its regular meeting place but on a train in the foothills of Whatcom County. We had a delicious lunch at Bob’s Burgers & Brews just off I-5 on Cook Road prior to our departure time. All 23 of us were able to order and eat in record time.
We made our way to the Wickersham parking lot off Highway 9 where we purchased our tickets for a special ride on the Lake Whatcom Railway. While waiting for our other attendees, we were allowed to wander through the shed that holds a steam engine and other cars. We boarded the train being pulled by a diesel and began our trip. Lovely ride through heavily wooded areas, the sun was out and we had entertainment in person of Ben the Banjo Man. We sang along to old folk songs and railroad songs. In between songs, Frank, the owner of Lake Whatcom Railway Inc., told stories of the railroad. We went through a tunnel made out of culvert material. The end of the ride was beautiful Mirror Lake. We backed down the track to return to our point of departure.
#1070 an NP Class L-9 0-6-0 sitting in the storage shed awaiting boiler work.
A handcar was brought out for those hardy souls who wanted to try their hand at pumping some iron down the track. It was very entertaining for those of us watching. We had a great afternoon outing and the rain held off till we were done.
(This little excursion railroad sits along HWY 9 north of Sedro Woolley and east of Bellingham near the shores of Lake Whatcom. The township of Wickersham was once a whistle stop for the Northern Pacific on it’s way to Sumas and was a connection point for the Bellingham Bay and Eastern Railroad. Find out more about the Lake Whatcom Railway by clicking here. ed.)
On June 7, the North End Clinic will once again host a layout tour. Each year the group organizes a tour of model train layouts in local homes so that members can see real life applications of the modeling ideas presented at 4D NRMA clinics.
This year we will be visiting two professionally designed HO layouts, as well as a professionally designed N scale layout. Also we will visit a vintage train collection that focuses on pre-war tinplate standard and O gauge trains which can run simultaneously on custom 5-rail track.
The tour is open to active NMRA members and their guests and will run from 7 to 10pm on Thursday, June 7, 2018.
The tour will start at the Edmonds Historical Museum (www.historicedmonds.org) which is located at 118 5th Avenue North in Edmonds, WA. All of the homes on the tour are in the Edmonds area.
Members will check in at the museum to receive a map and directions to the different homes on the tour. They will also be able to visit the permanent train display at the museum and meet the museum volunteers who keep the layout operational and open to the public.
Because the layouts on the tour are in private residences, we ask, out of respect for the people opening their homes to fellow modelers, that members limit the number of guests that they bring. We also encourage you to carpool if you can, as parking may be limited at some of the locations.
Also, for those members with limited mobility, please be aware that walking up and down stairs is required to access one of the layouts.
A big thank you to Bobj Berger for organizing this year’s model layout tour.
Please contact Lisa Murray at 206.310.6778 or mattinata@outlook.com if you have questions or need additional information.
The 4th Division’s 2018 Spring Meet will be held at the Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village (formerly Lake Washington Institute of Technology), 6505 176th Avenue NE, Redmond on Saturday, June 9th.
The Spring Meet web site is 4dSpringMeet.com, which includes an online registration page and venue details. The cost is a measly $20 for NMRA members. If you register by Tuesday May 29, you’ll get a free box lunch. You can register at the door, but you’ll probably not get a box lunch. Non-NMRA members are still welcome; if you haven’t been a member for a while, you join the national for a six-month “trial membership” for another $20.
There will be at least two simultaneous clinics, plus a Make & Take session. Click here for complete details.
Murphy’s Law of Railfanning, No.22: Any once-in-a-lifetime photograph taken quickly will have a pole, signal, or sign in front of the subject.
Corollary No.3: The older or rarer the subject the more likely Law 22 will apply.
Hence:
The Burien Clinic will meet this coming Thursday at The Pacific Northwest Railroad Archives in Burien. The meeting will begin at 7:00 PM.
David Yadock will lead a program about helpful hints for structures, easy to make bridge abutments, and layout scenery. Dave’s large HO layout features many interesting scenes inspired by John Allen and he has incorporated many clever solutions to separate scenes and bring focus to his many fine bridge structures.
Location: 425 SW 153rd St, Burien
The May Tacoma clinic was held on May 10 at the Parkland Paradise Lanes.
What’s New at The Hobby Shop was presented by Rob, owner of Robs Trains and Hobbies, who presented several new N, H.O, and O scale care and structure kits.
This months’ clinic topic was “Fleet Weathering – easy, time saving techniques for large rolling stock fleets,” presented by clinic chairman Kevin Klettke. Using an eclectic mix of Acrylic paint, artist pastel chalks, weathering powders, earth tone artist oil paints, and Krylon and Rust-Oleum rattle-can sprays, Kevin demonstrated how he represented rusted scratches and dings, dirty, rusty roofs and underframes, and overall “grunginess.”
His presentation can be viewed at: http://wnrr.net/Fleetweatheringclinic.pdf
Bring-and-Brag has 3 entries ( we need more,everybody. BRING YOUR MODELS)
Scratchbuilt H.O. General Store by Ken Levine made using an old MR article.
Five H.O. SP AC4, 5, 11, and 12s from a variety of manufacturers by Warren Kerr
A super detailed H.O. yard storage shed kit by Leo Scafturon
The next Tacoma Clinic will be on June 14 at 7 PM in Paradise Lanes.
Don’t forget to attend the PNR regional convention on May 30 thru June 2 at the Jantzen Beach Red Lion in Portland, OR See: stumptown2018.org for details.
The May 2018 Eastside Get Together Clinic will meet on May 17, 2018.
Don’t forget that the Clinic is 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 contest and Rail Photo of the Month contest. So, please bring your best models and photos for the contests! Winners will have first choice of many fine items from our Door Prize table.
This month’s clinic will be “Modeling Prototype Scenes” and presented by Max Maginness. In his clinic, Max will show how he models scenes on his layout based on a prototype gauge in New Zealand. It works out to be a metric gauge where just about everything must be scratch built as there is very little if any commercially available products in this scale. Max is an MMR and an outstanding model builder. This promises to be a very interesting clinic.
We will have refreshments and snacks available as always. We’ll also have a great selection of Door Prizes to give away at the end of the clinic.
See you there!
The June 23 4D Board meeting is our annual budget meeting. Please develop your annual budget requests and get them to me by June 9th.
Modular groups should break their requests into three categories:
Modular groups should include a list of the shows they plan to, or may, attend in the upcoming fiscal year (Jul 2018 to Jun 2019).
I can be contacted at treasurer@4dpnr.com.
All voting members of the 4D. The ballots for this year’s election are in the mail. You should have received the ballot in the mail or you will receive it very shortly. Please vote and return the completed ballot as soon as possible. Thank you for your participation in this election process.
Also, please note that a flyer for the upcoming Spring Meet was sent with the ballot. Please save the date and attend the Spring Meet.