Roger Johnson

The February 2015 Mount Vernon clinic of the 4th Division, PNR, NMRA was attended by nine fellows. While a small turnout no one was disappointed they were there.

The Mt Vernon Model Railroad Clinic is a NMRA sanctioned event with the 4th Division of NMRA providing a modest sum of seed money to help us get started. While NMRA membership is not required to attend the clinics, it was once again heartily encouraged. Please let Al Carter or Roger Johnson know if you wish to join NMRA.

There were several announcements of upcoming events (editor added a couple):

  • First up is the Monroe Model Railroad show & swap meet to be held at the fairgrounds in Monroe Saturday and Sunday February 28th & March 1st. Info at http://www.unwclub.org/unwshow.html. All proceeds go to 4H.
  • 30th Annual Sn3 Symposium in Bellevue April 16-18, 2015. Info at http://sn3symposium-2015.com
  • The annual Olympia area layout tours will take place May 16th. Per the NMRA Pacific Northwest Region calendar, additional information will be available from Scott Buckley, sbuckley54@comcast.net
  • 4th Division spring meet is scheduled for Saturday June 6th. Contact Russ Segner through the 4th Divvision web site for more information.
  • Portland Daylight Express, the NMRA national convention, will be held August 23 – 28, 2015. Additional information is available at www.nmra2015portland.org

Our Show & Tell (or Bring & Brag) segment featured another of Paul Koren’s fine resin box cars, this one an outside braced “sawtooth” type by Speedwitch. The model is very nicely painted with TruColor paint sprayed on with an airbrush. Unfortunately I could not get any photos this month due to my camera being out of town with my wife.

The presentation this month was “Weathering Buildings with Bragdon Weathering Chalk” by Bob Stafford. He put together a Power Point presentation on weathering buildings using Bragdon Weathering Chalks. The program shows how some buildings were finished using oil stains and dry brushing before applying chalk. We learned what kinds of brushes he uses to apply the chalk and the use of over spray when needed. Also included was making and weathering of roads. He brought several examples of his work and of the brushes he uses. As indicated earlier I was unable to take any photos.

Next up March 24th is “Slim Rails to (Almost) Anywhere” by Rich Thom. As many of you know Rich is not only a very good model railroader, he is also an excellent photographer. Rich offered what he called “shameless promotion” of his presentation:

Was there anything even close to any of Colorado’s magnificent narrow-gauge railroads (insert your favorite here) in Latin America? Yes! To prove it, we’ll see American-style narrow-gauge steam in Central and South America — Baldwin locos and American-style equipment and operations. Also, some inspirational scenes showing there’s a prototype for everything. Attempting to cover all of Latin American steam in one evening is impossible. Included in the program will be five of the very best narrow gauge railroads.