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Grab Iron Posts

Westside Clinic in Bremerton on Tuesday, July 12th

Written by Cliff Green
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Bill Hupé

Tuesday July 12th is our next 4th Division Westside Clinic. For our newcomers the clinic is held at the United Way of Kitsap Building in downtown Bremerton (647 4th Street) at 7:00 PM. Additional details (including a map and contact info) are on the Clinics Page.

I apologize for not having anything planned. Any ideas?

I’m hoping Jack will be back and rested from the Convention and can share.

As always refreshments will be provided.

Please contact me if you have any related question at whopay@tscnet.com or 360-621-5041.

Westside Local Clinic

Mt Vernon May 2016 Clinic Report

Written by John O'Connell
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By John O’Connell

May 12, 2016, Mt Vernon Senior Center

Ted Becker opened the Clinic with twenty-one in attendance. Ted welcomed our guests Kevin Klettke, the evening’s presenter, Bill Sandstrom, owner of Tacoma Trains; and Cliff Green, Webmaster and Grab Iron Editor for our 4th Division, Pacific Northwest Region website. Ted then asked new attendees to introduce themselves and the Clinic welcomed Ken Wagner, Mark Malmkar, and Kurt Boyd. We hope you’ll come back!

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Mt Vernon Clinic

Pennsy Technical & Historical Society to meet July 16

Written by Al Lowe
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David Yadock

prrherald1

The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society (Pacific Northwest Chapter) will meet July 16th at 12:30 p.m. at the Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive in Burien. Click here to see event information, including a map to the PNRA.

Anyone who is interested in the Pennsylvania Railroad or would like to learn more about the Pennsy, please come. The meeting consists of informative clinics followed by dinner at Vince’s restaurant. We are a newly chartered group of the PRRT&HS for the Pacific Northwest area. All are welcome.

Convention or Meet, Railroad History

Tacoma Clinic Report for June 2016

Written by Al Babinsky
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Article and Photos by Al Babinsky

Weathered freight cars from Larry Sloan

Weathered freight cars from Larry Sloan, “Bring and Brag” winner

MMR Gene Swanson opened the clinic and made the announcement that beginning with the September clinic we would start at 7:00 PM. The change was made to ensure that we would be out of the building prior to 10:00 PM before the alarm system would activate. The regional convention at Salmon Arm BC and the 4D spring meet at Tacoma Community College (which had 84 attendees) were discussed.

The clinic was attended by 34 modelers.

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Tacoma Clinic

Renton Clinic – Next Meeting on June 30

Written by Russ Segner
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Russ Segner

This is a reminder that the next Renton Clinic meeting will be at the old Renton library on Thursday, the 30th of June. The library is located at 100 Mill Avenue South, Renton WA 98057, beginning at 6:30 pm. Maps and directions are available on the Clinics page.

The program will be built around your individual interests in railroads. We can do this by sharing photos of your favorite scenes. Please bring 10 to 15 photos of your layout or prototypes on a flash drive and we will project them on the screen while you describe them. We can also discuss various locations in the area to get the best rail shots.

Bring a model to share and brag about!

If you plan to bring photos to share, please let me know ahead of time so I can figure out how much time we will need. Please also think about possible locations for next fall when our meetings will resume. I can be contacted at 425-228-7327 or russseg@gmail.com.

Burien Clinic

Westside Clinic in Bremerton on Tuesday, June 14th

Written by Cliff Green
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Bill Hupé

Tuesday June 14th is our next 4th Division Westside Clinic. If you are visiting for the first time our clinics are held at the United Way of Kitsap Building in downtown Bremerton (647 4th Street) at 7 pm. Additional details (including a map and contact info) are on the Clinics Page.

For those who haven’t heard, we unexpectedly lost another member of our group last week. Dan Reilly lost his battle to cancer.

Steve Hauff has agreed to do another of his great presentations: “Slim Gauge Diesels”. He will be presenting it at the NMRA National Convention in Indianapolis next month.

Steve Neupert suggested we do a “Bring Your Favorite …” Everyone bring your favorite model railroading thing to share and talk about. Preferably one you haven’t shared before – freight cars, locomotives, passenger cars, tools, etc.

See you all Tuesday.

Westside Local Clinic

Renton Clinic on Thursday, June 30

Written by Russ Segner
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Russ Segner

Our next meeting will be at the old Renton library on the 30th of June. The library is located at 100 Mill Avenue South, Renton WA 98057, beginning at 6:30 pm. Maps and directions are available on the Clinics page.

The program will be built around your individual interests in railroads. We can do this by sharing photos of your favorite scenes. Please bring 10 to 15 photos on a flash drive and we will project them on the screen while you describe them. We can also discuss various locations in the area to get the best rail shots.

Bring a model to share and brag about!

If you plan to bring photos to share, please let me know ahead of time so I can figure out how much time we will need. Please also think about possible locations for next fall when our meetings will resume. I can be contacted at 425-228-7327 or russseg@gmail.com.

Burien Clinic

Eastside Get Together on Thursday, June 16

Written by Russ Segner
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Dave Cook

This Thursday our Eastside Get Together will once again be at the Redmond Library – 15990 NE 85th Street – Redmond WA 98052, 6:30 pm. Maps and directions are available on the Clinics page.

Our program will feature Brian Pickering who is very knowledgeable of all the aspects of DCC (digital command control) and Decoder Pro (a subset of the JMRI application). He will describe features as well as installation and programming tips for DCC.  Come and get your questions answered.

Bring a model to share and brag about! Coffee and doughnuts will be provided.

This will be our last program of the season and it is very likely we will be meeting at another location this fall. We will discuss location options and will solicit your opinions. It is up to you to show your support for this effort.

See you there.

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic

Train Spotting in Missouri – Ha Ha Tonka, St. Joe, Union Station, Atchison

Written by Cliff Green
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By George Chambers, Photos by George

While on a vacation trip in the middle of May 2016 to visit relatives and friends I was able to do a little rail fanning, as my wife and I drove across Missouri from St. Louis to Kansas City.

Fig. 1 - 18” gauge flat car at Ha Ha Tonka State Park

Fig. 1 – 18” gauge flat car at Ha Ha Tonka State Park

We stopped for a couple of nights at a B&B (bed and breakfast) in the Lake of the Ozarks area. We did some hiking at Ha Ha Tonka State Park where I found what was left of an old narrow gauge railroad. This 18 inch gauge railroad was used to haul stone from a quarry to build a European style castle home started in 1905. This house was being built by Robert M. Snyder, a wealthy businessman from Kansas City. He had bought 5,000 acres of land which is now part of the state park. He died in 1906 in the first auto accident in Kansas City. His sons finished building the stone house and it later became a hotel. It burned up in 1942 as sparks from one of chimneys caught the roof on fire. Only the stone walls still stand. There is a short piece of track with one flat car near the house. The flat cars were hauled by mules.

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Articles, Railroad History