John O’Connell

Date: Tuesday, December 22
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1401 Cleveland Street, Mount Vernon; click here for directions and additional info

Super Show and Tell

We encourage attendees to bring models for “Show and Tell” – show us what you are working on, even if it is not complete. We love to see work in progress, and maybe learn a new technique. We also encourage folks to bring along items for sale or swap, or even “freebies” – we’ll have a table for those items.

Diorama Build Progress

Bring your “in progress” diorama and share your learnings. It’s also a great opportunity to get some help if you’re stuck on a problem. See Rules in the appendix below.

Mini-Clinics

TBD

On the Horizon
  • December 21 thru January 1: 20th Annual Model Train Festival WA State History Museum Model Train Festival, Tacoma.
  • January 14, Mt. Vernon Clinic, new day and date: second Thursday of the month. Mike O’Brien will share his tree building process.
    • O'Brien's Trees

    Mike’s Finished Tree carefully planted on his layout

  • January 16-18: the 4th Division’s Annual Model Train Show at the Pacific Science Center. Click here for more details.
  • February 11: Mt. Vernon Clinic. Nick Muff, MMR, “Modeling the Kansas City Union Station”.
  • February 27, 28: Monroe Model Railroad Show and Swap Meet.
  • March 5: Milwaukee Road Meet. Burien, WA.
  • March 10: Mt. Vernon Clinic. Ted Becker, “Steam Locomotive Appliances”.
  • March 19: Santa Fe Mini-Meet.
  • April 2: Pennsylvania Rail Road Meet , Burien, WA.
  • April 14: Mt. Vernon Clinic. Dioramas and Mini-Clinics.
  • May 12: Mt. Vernon Clinic. Kevin Klettke will present “Fleet Weathering.” This is a reprise of his well-received clinic at PDX 2015 on efficiently weathering large fleets of rolling stock. Not to be missed. Click here to visit Kevin’s website.
Pre-clinic Dinner

For those interested in extra socializing over a bite to eat before the Clinic, we have taken the lead from our Skagit Valley & Whidbey Island Clinic cousins by arranging pre-clinic, no host, dinners. We gather at Round Table Pizza about 5:00. Click here for map and directions. The restaurant does not require a minimum food order or a prior head count, so an RSVP is not necessary. We understand if you place a telephone or online order 24 hours ahead of time you will get a 10% discount plus a free drink. Click here for the Round Table web site.

Arrival & Entry

As a courtesy to the other attendees, the MC, and the presenters, please try to arrive before 7:00. If you are unavoidably late, please enter quietly without interrupting the proceedings. We are not permitted to have the main northeast entry door unlocked nor are we permitted to prop it open. Entry is through the rear door at the southwest corner of the building which is kept open in the evening. A sign will be posted at the correct door (there is another rear door on the West side).

Coming Events

Click here to see other upcoming events. If you would like to subscribe for Grab Iron notifications, click here. NMRA membership is not required.

Sponsorship

The Mt Vernon Model Railroad Clinic is a NMRA sanctioned event. The 4th Division of the Pacific Northwest Region of NMRA provides funding of operating budgets for clinics in the division including ours. Thus, NMRA membership is heartily encouraged.

If you are not quite ready to sign up for a full membership, you might want to try the 6-month Rail Pass trial membership for only $9.95. It includes 6 months of NMRA Magazine, plus all regular member benefits (except voting). Please let Ted Becker or Roger Johnson know if you wish to join NMRA.

Diorama Build Rules
  1. Have fun.
  2. Size, up to 288 square inches–commonly one foot by two feet, but it could be six inches by four feet for example.
  3. Must have some reference to railroading–this could be as little as a railroad crossing sign or as much track as you can cram in.
  4. Any scale–though the very large scales become a problem.
  5. End date–the April clinic, but please bring progress to our monthly meetings.
  6. (Optional) Use at least one new technique/skill or revive an old technique/skill and tell us what it is.
  7. Have fun.

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