Cliff Green
The next 4th Division Board of Directors meeting is Saturday February 18th, 10:30 am, at Mitzel’s in Kent, Washington. As always, all 4D members are invited to attend.
Grab Iron Posts
Military Society of Model Railroad Engineers Upcoming Events in Anchorage, Alaska
Mike Philo
Feb 24 – Mar 5, Anchorage, AK: The Military Society of Model Railroad Engineers (MSMRE) will have three sectional layouts set up during the annual Fur Rendezvous winter festival in Anchorage, Alaska. The layouts – in HO, HOn3 and N scales – will be on display in the Alaska Railroad Passenger Terminal from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM most days, longer on some days to accommodate arriving and departing ARR passengers. Admission is free to all. Contact: Randy “Bj” Bjorgan, bjorgan@alaska.net, 907-952-4353.
Feb 18, Mar 18, Apr 15 (all are Saturdays), Anchorage, AK: Military Society of Model Railroad Engineers monthly Open House, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM at the club’s location on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Layouts in HO, HOn3, N and O. Admission is Free. Contact Randy “Bj” Bjorgan, bjorgan@alaska.net, 907-952-4353 for directions and access from off post.
(Editor’s note: Marty Quaas maintains a well-known web page on Alaska model railroading at http://alaskamodelrrnews.homestead.com/, with information on his layout, “The Consolidated South Western Railroad”, as well as various model railroad clubs and prototype organizations and activities in Alaska.)
Mt Vernon Clinic Newsletter- February 2017
Pacific Science Center Model Train Show Committee Thanks the Volunteers
David Yadock
The Superintendent of the 4th Division and the Pacific Science Center Model Train Show Committee would like to thank all of those folks listed below that volunteered at the train show. It goes without saying that if you didn’t help out at the show then it wouldn’t have been possible. This train show is very demanding and requires many people to make it work smoothly. This year there were over 13,000 visitors that passed through the gates of the Pacific Science Center. That number of people allows very good exposure to our organization.
Trees, Trees and More Trees, Skagit Valley and Whidbey Clinic Report, January Meeting
Article and Photos by Rich Thom
The SV&W NMRA Clinic’s first meeting of the new year, held on January 11th, was all about an item which many layouts just can’t have enough of: trees. Several folks brought in a variety of trees and tree-making materials and gave demonstrations, with the hope that other attendees would try their hand at making a tree using one of the methods shown. However, few rose to the challenge! Nonetheless, the variety of materials and techniques was instructive and we’re sure that all picked up some new ideas.
Before the hands-on demos, Rich Thom gave a short presentation about the challenge of mounting trees (fir trees, in his case, modeling a northwest short line) in hardshell scenery. Especially those in foreground scenes, in front of trackage where switching will take place, putting the trees at risk of being easily damaged during operating sessions. The solution? Magnets. See Fig 1.
Fig 1 – Epoxying Magnet to Trunk
More Trees!, Eastside Get Together Clinic Report, January 2017
Article and Photos By Syd Schofield
NMRA 4th Division Pacific Northwest Region East Side Get-Together clinic at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse on January 19
After the folks settled down from the evening commute Dave Cook brought things together at seven PM.
A good crowd showed up for the get together. (Editor’s note: Wow, look at that tree!)
Kitbashing HO to Sn3, Burien Clinic January Report
Article and Photos by Syd Schofield
Paul Vaughn’s clinic presentation material models.
The first meeting of the recently split-off Eastside Get Together South Clinic (NMRA, PNR Region, 4th Division) is now officially the Burien Clinic. It all came together at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive facility in Burien, Washington on 26 January, 2017 at 6:30 PM with Russ Segner presiding.
Coal Creek Lumber Co, Model Railroading On TV
Russ Segner
Update: Here is a link provided by John Prentice from “Seattle Refined” with video and a picture gallery: http://seattlerefined.com/lifestyle/we-took-a-ride-on-a-tiny-train-and-loved-it-all-aboard
This Thursday, February 2, at 3 PM, KOMO TV, Channel 4, will broadcast a segment on local model railroading. The broadcast will feature the recent train shows as well as a segment of video taken of my layout, “The Coal Creek Lumber Co”. This is part of the “Seattle Refined” community show, in case you want to set your DVR.
Al Lowe, Fred Hamilton, and Dave Woodrell joined me in an operating session on my layout. The session lasted over an hour. No derailments or collisions. It was a lot of fun and I hope many of you can see it.
Bob Rudge Passes
JJ Johnston
Update, Feb 23, 2017:
Well known vendor and modeler Bob Rudge passed away January 25th and his graveside service was held February 7th at the Tahoma National Cemetery honoring fallen service men and women. Bob had reserved a spot at the UNW Monroe Show this weekend (Feb 25-26) and his wife Emma and family members have decided to keep his commitment and run the booth. Bob was a member of the Boeing Employees Model Railroad Club. If you are attending the UNW model train show, please visit Bob’s tables and give condolences to the family. The pictures below show wife Emma receiving the American Flag and Bob’s Urn.
Make and Take Clinic, March 4th, 2016, Truss-Rod Flat Car in Wood
by Jack Hamilton
The first 4th Division Make-and-Take (MaT) clinic will be constructing a truss-rod flat car in wood. We will offer a choice of three scales for the project: O, HO and N. The clinic will provide the raw materials (wood, plastic parts, and metal for rods) as well as appropriate detail parts. The clinic will not provide trucks or couplers. The intent of the clinic is to address scratch building techniques and procedures, not to create a car that will be featured on your layout (if it does fit into your era and home road you get additional benefit from the clinic).
You will need to provide basic hand tools to complete the project and we will provide a list of recommended tools to those who intend to participate. Attendees will be required to measure, cut, fit, and glue up the pieces needed to complete the car. The clinic will have on hand several miter boxes and razor saws, a couple of electric model chop saws, and a variety of glues and adhesives that participants may desire to try out. The clinic will have a nominal cost for materials and we are targeting between $10 and $15. We will have a supply of additional materials on hand in the event of an “oops”.
The date for the clinic is March 4th, and the clinic will start at 9 AM with an anticipated 4-5 hours run time. The clinic will be in a Tacoma location and we will have room for up to 20 participants. The scheduled clinicians are Di Voss and me (Jack Hamilton), with others possible.
Please let me know if you intend to participate, which date(s) work for you and which scale you would like to work in. Reply to gradiver@wavecable.com. I will e-mail you the specific location of the clinic, along with other necessary details.
This is a fulfillment of the intent of the 4th Division to initiate a periodic (and traveling) MaT clinic series outside of our normally scheduled local clinics. We are now ready to move forward with the first of what we hope will be a continuing series of opportunities for our members to gain knowledge and either learn or polish skills.