Gordon Garnhart

There were 25 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility on Wednesday, June 13th. Rick Blake opened the meeting with a word of appreciation to John White for his able leadership of the clinic these past twelve years. He also gave a report on the health of Gordon Jones, a member of the group who is currently receiving radiation treatments.

The main program of the evening was a series of mini-clinics. Al Carter showed slides of layouts that will be featured at theNnarrow Gauge Convention in Bellevue in September. Rich Thom showed and discussed a “Model of a Model.” It was a small mock-up about 18 inches long of his entire HO layout. He made it after he designed his track plan, but before he began construction of his layout, to help him visualize how the layout would appear when finished. He said that it was very helpful and prompted several adjustments to his track plan that proved to be beneficial. Rick Blake demonstrated a technique for weathering a flatcar wooden deck.

Sue Gonzales showed an example and described her method for weathering a cattle car. Steve Jaffray was intrigued with a unique 50 foot long, combination baggage car and caboose. He looked for a kit, but nothing was available. So he scratchbuilt the car from plans. And while he was at it, he did an excellent job of detailing the interior. Incidentally, Rick brought a video camera, which was linked to a computer, which in turn was linked to a projector, so the image of what each of the exhibitors was showing was projected large on the wall enabling everyone to see easily. Alan Murray described his method for building portable benchwork for modules.

Tom Hawkins showed and described the use of many examples of jigs and fixtures which he has made and used over the years. Dick Haines demonstrated a method for duplicating parts from an original using a rubber-like plastic molding process. John White showed examples and discussed the uses of Gatorfoam in scratchbuilding structures. Gatorfoam is an extruded polystyrene foam board bonded between two layers of Luxcell wood-fiber veneer. It is easy to work with and is very resistant to warping. And lastly, Alan Murray showed a method he uses for weathering timber construction. Our group is truly fortunate to include so many talented and accomplished individuals who are willing to share their experiences.

We will not meet during July and August, and our September meeting will be a week later than usual because of the convention. So our next clinic will be on Wednesday, September 19th at 7:00 PM in Summer Hill Retirement Facility. It will feature Eric Erikkson, who will talk about “Logging and Live Steam.” See you there!