Article and Photos by Syd Schofield
Russ Segner called the gathering into a listening mode at 6:30.
Burien Clinic Report, Thursday, February 23, 2017
Grab Iron Posts
Mt Vernon Clinic – March 2017
by John O’Connell
7 PM, Thursday, March 9
Mount Vernon Senior Center
1401 Cleveland Street, Mt Vernon
Click Here for map & directions
The Program
Hands-on Working Session Bring a project and work on it with your materials and tools. If you have run into challenges, there will be someone at the Clinic who has probably had the same challenge and would love to help.
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Seattle-North Clinic – Next Meeting is 3/2/17
By Jeff Moorman
Important note regarding meeting arrangements. For the months of February, March, and April we will be meeting downstairs in the church Fellowship Hall, not upstairs where we have been. That space is being used to temporarily house a tax service. However, the church hosts community dinners in the Fellowship HalI on the evenings we meet. Those dinners end at 7:00, so their clean-up will overlap our set-up. Therefore, we may encounter some situations where we need to be flexible.
Next Clinic: The next Seattle-North clinic is Thursday, March 2, 2017. The plan is to explore the subject of creating layout backgrounds, plus resume another installment in our fallen flags mini-clinics.
Last Clinic: Our “surprise” video was from Bobj who also supplied occasional narration. It was mostly a series of edited cuts, that hadn’t yet been combined into a contiguous piece. It showed some of the same gorgeous western Canadian scenery and the same lovely Canadian steam as “Rocky Mountain Express”.
Day Out With Thomas Returns to Snoqualmie in July, Tickets on Sale March 6th
Peggy Barchi, Marketing/Events Manager
Thomas The Tank Engine™ To Visit Snoqualmie, WA on July 14-16 and July 21-23!
Thomas the Tank Engine at the Northwest Railway Museum
All aboard! Thomas the Tank Engine invites little engineers to join him for a day of friendship and family fun at “Day Out with Thomas: The Friendship Tour 2017”. Children everywhere can spend the day with their friend Thomas when the #1 Engine pulls into the Northwest Railway Museum on July 14-16 and July 21-23. “Day Out with Thomas: The Friendship Tour 2017” is presented by Mattel.
This fun-filled event offers children and their families the opportunity to take a ride with Thomas the Tank Engine, star of the popular Thomas & Friends™ series. In addition, they will meet Sir Topham Hatt, Controller of the Railway and enjoy a day of Thomas-themed activities. The tour, now in its 22nd year, will make 42 stops across the U.S. and Canada and is expected to welcome nearly one million passengers in 2017.
Skagit Valley and Whidbey Clinic February Meeting 2017
12 Inch Square Diorama Contest
Article and Photos by Rich Thom
The SV&W NMRA Clinic’s February meeting topic was the long-anticipated (well, since September anyway) diorama contest, this year shepherded by Phil and Susan Gonzales. The rules were simple: Build a small diorama, not to exceed 12 inches square [ed.], that tells a story. The mini-scenes could be any scale, and any height or depth so long as their footprints did not exceed the specified area. Entry categories were: scratch; kit; kit bash; and humorous.
Attendance on the night was lower than usual due to threatening weather, and we’re sure that several more dioramas were intended to be entered. (Those modelers are invited to bring in their work to the March meeting.) But the ones brought in on this evening were both clever and beautifully-constructed. Awards were presented using “Peoples’ Choice” voting, rather than any formal scoring system. Without further ado, let’s show the dioramas and say a few words about how each was constructed.
Fig 1- Cliff Aaker’s Station Scene, Platform Side
Fig 1 shows Cliff Aaker’s O-scale scratch-built station scene. The story: A boy is tempted to pet a frisky dog, left, but his mother, center, is unsure about it. Another pair of passengers, apparently more sure about their petting, awaits the train on the right. Note the stationmaster visible in the window; to see his other side, just turn Cliff’s diorama around …
4D HO Modular Group Meeting on Saturday, Mar 11, 2017
Pete Gulick
The 4D HO Modular Group will hold its next regular member no host breakfast meeting on March 11, 2017 at 8:00 to 10:00 am at Mitzels American Kitchen in Kent. The meeting is open to anyone interested. Larry Sloan will present a program titled “Modern Layout Lighting”. For further information, contact information is on our web site 4dho.com.
(Editor’s note: The HO Modular Group has an excellent series of presentations at their monthly meetings and are well worth attending.)
Report from East Side Get Together, Redmond, Feb. 2017
Article and photos by Syd Schofield
Dave Cook presided, calling the group to order at 7:00pm for the evening’s clinic and general model railroad items if interest. Recollections of recent model train shows were discussed, as well as similar upcoming events.
Russ Segner gave an outstanding video show of his Sn3 scale model railroad, “Building the Coal Creek Lumber Company.” Similar portions of the presentation were shown on a recent local afternoon TV show. The layout occupies a “spare” upstairs room in his house with the associated comforts. Many of the structures on the point-to-point layout were adaptations of real world examples and constructed from raw modeling materials. Much of the track was hand-laid, the scenery was custom fabricated, and the backdrop was hand-painted. With the addition of a DCC system, Russ was able to create a unique miniature world for realistic multiple train operation.
A fine group met together for the February meeting, with Russ Segner presenting the clinic.
Burien Clinic on Thursday February 23
Russ Segner
We meet again this Thursday evening, Feb 23rd at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archives in Burien, from 6:30 to 9 PM.
The address is 425 SW 153rd Street, Burien, WA 98166. Additional info, including a map, can be viewed by clicking here.
Westside Clinic in Bremerton on Tuesday, Feb 14th, Steve Hauff Presentation
Bill Hupé
Steve Hauff from Port Angeles has volunteered another one of his presentations on trains he has ridden. I thank him for all his sharing. It may be the only way we see these trains.
We are still in need of volunteers for clinic presentations.
What would you like to see in our Clinics? Would a local layout tour be of interest? Or how about we bring a project and tools, getting help on the project from other members? I would love for someone to show me how to upgrade my cars by installing stirrups and ladders.
As usual there will be a “Show and Tell” and “Model of the Month”. Bring your family or a friend who is interested in model railroading. Refreshments will be provided.
Air Eraser, Tacoma N Scalers Clinic Report, Feb. 2017
by Chip Van Gilder
The group met at the Fircrest Recreation Center on February 2, 2017 with 11 attendees. There was at least one new visitor and several regulars were noticeably missing.
The first order of business was to review new products available. Then each person around the table shared their recent and current activities in the hobby. A couple of the samples brought to the meeting are shown in the photos below.
After a brief break, Mike Stepner gave a clinic on how he uses an “air eraser” in his modeling and some of the techniques he uses.