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2024 Spring Meet Report

Written by Anton Faulk
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By Bill Messecar, Photos By John Thompson

Weeks of planning between two 4D Board members, Kurt Laidlaw and Bob Kenworthy and the staff at the NW Railroad Museum near Snoqualmie culminated in a day 4D attendees won’t forget. It started with a train ride from the old NP depot at North Bend to the museum in beautiful spring weather. We divided into groups to attend a clinic given by Greg Wright MMR, a tour of the museum Lionel and HO layouts and a behind the scenes visit to the museum restoration shop where we saw several engines/carts being restored. The museum staff also discussed their archives of equipment blueprints and drawings. There were two more opportunities for a layout or shop visit or attend Burr Stewart’s enjoyable clinics on videography of his layout and sage advice on achieving your goals in layout building. Burr has his own YouTube channel so you can check out those great videos.

At noon we then took a 30-minute lunch break to enjoy drinks and a delicious box lunch. Bill Messecar 4D Superintendent led the 4D Annual Meeting where he introduced the 4D Superintendent elect Mike Stepner as well as the current 4D BOD members. After the meeting we had a chance to explore the many museum exhibits and then boarded our train for the return journey to North Bend. To complete a great day of Model Railroading we had the opportunity to see four excellent layouts in the area.

Members wait at the museum for the return trip to the North bend depot after a fun day.
NP Parlor Car undergoing complete restoration in the museum shops.
Weyerhaeuser FM H-12-44 on display at the museum.
NWRailway 4024 Baldwin 4S-RTC ready to pull our train to the museum.

If you were not able to make the spring meet this year—be sure to attend in 2025. It’s a great opportunity to meet local modelers and have a train filled day. This sort of event is one of the many benefits offered for your NMRA membership. Hope to see you next year.

Bill
4D Superintendent

Convention or Meet, News, Northwest Railway Museum, Superintendent’s Message, , ,

Spring Meet Registrations Status Update

Written by Anton Faulk
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By Kurt Laidlaw

Confirmed registrations for the Spring Meet on Jun 8th:

Kurt Laidlaw
David Falconer
Michael Donnelly
GregPrice
Dennis Terpstra
EDwin Ives
David Yadock
William Messecar
Dave Enger
Thomas Keyes
Bob Rorabaugh
Russ Segner
Scott Buckley
Greg Wright
Nolan Deardorf
James Younkins
Gregg Arndt
Cole Van Gerpen
Dan Kellogg
Joel Scott
Kimberly Ford
Bob
Robin Peel
Byron Osborn
Bob Kenworthy
Dave Thompson
Lee Marsh
ROBERT BRUCE LOVE
Burr Stewart
George Chambers
scott wiesemann
syd Schofield
John Thompson
Mike stepner
Mark Malmkar
Paul Rising
Bob Staffolrd
Bud Thompson

If you think you have registered for the Spring Meet and don’t see your name, please re-register. There is still plenty of time to register, but most of the shop tour slots have been filled There are only 10 slots left. Now is the time to pull the trigger and register.

For the full schedule and registration details visit the Spring Meet page.

Kurt

Convention or Meet, Layout Tour, Northwest Railway Museum, , ,

Register Today For The June 8 Spring Meet

Written by Anton Faulk
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By Bob Kenworthy

There are still spots available for the 4th Division’s 2024 Spring Meet on June 8th, 2024.  Event Address:  North Bend Depot, 205 E McClellan St, North Bend, WA 98045. Register today!

There is NO parking available at the Northwest Railway Museum.  Registration begins 7:30 AM.  Our special train to the museum leaves at 8:30 AM.

The following link will connect you to the registration form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfu2EpuEj0Te-YxzWX5KiT02uvC8uey41cSfjT7skO4rfPPTQ/viewform?embedded=true

For the full schedule and details visit the Spring Meet page.

Bob

Convention or Meet, Layout Tour, Northwest Railway Museum, , ,

Register Now For 2024 Spring Meet

Written by Anton Faulk
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By Bob Kenworthy

There are still spots available for the 4th Division’s 2024 Spring Meet on June 8th, 2024.  Event Address:  North Bend Depot, 205 E McClellan St, North Bend, WA 98045. Register today!

There is NO parking available at the Northwest Railway Museum.  Registration begins 7:30 AM.  Our special train to the museum leaves at 8:30 AM.

The following link will connect you to the registration form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfu2EpuEj0Te-YxzWX5KiT02uvC8uey41cSfjT7skO4rfPPTQ/viewform?embedded=true

The schedule will be:
7:30 to 8:30 am – Registration at the North Bend Depot
8:30 to 9:00 am – Train Ride from North Bend to Museum
9:00 to 9:10 am – Gathering Time
9:10 to 10:00 am – Clinics:

  • 1A – Shop Tour (maximum 12 people)
  • 1B – Clinic in Conference Room, topic TBA
  • 1C – Clinic in Foyer, topic TBA

10:10 to 11:00 am – Clinics:

  • 2A – Shop Tour (maximum 12 people)
  • 2B – Clinic in Conference Room, topic TBA
  • 2C – Introduction to Museum Archives (maximum 10 people)
  • 2D  – New O27 Layout at Museum

11:10 to 12:00 noon – Clinics:

  • 3A – Shop Tour (maximum 12 people)
  • 3B – Clinic in Conference Room, topic TBA
  • 3C – Introduction to Museum Archives (maximum 10 people)

12:00 to 1:00 pm – Lunch and Annual Meeting
1:00 to 1:30 pm – Free Time at the Museum
1:30 to 2:00 pm – Return Train Ride to North Bend
2:00 to 3:00 pm – Travel Time to Layout Open Houses
3:00 to 5:00 pm – Layout Open Houses

Attendance is limited to the first 80 people who register.  Attendees must be NMRA members.  You may attend the 4D PNR Annual Meeting in person during the Spring Meet or by Zoom.  A Zoom link will be sent prior to the annual meeting.

Please Note:  Parking at the Northwest Railway Museum is extremely limited and will not be available to Spring Meet attendees.  Please plan to park near the North Bend Depot.  There is a significant amount of parking available on the south side of the depot and some parking available on the north side of the depot.  The train ride and museum are ADA accessible.  If you need accessibility assistance, please mark the appropriate box when you register.

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April Olympia Clinic

Written by Brian Ferris
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In the final instalment of our operations series, Scott Nelson, of the OMRS will discuss his switching layout and how he uses JMRI (a computer based operations generator) to operate his railroad operations.

Scott will describe and show his layout and talk about how he envisioned it to operate, then put that vision into JMRI to create the scenarios.  

This clinic will give you both practical small railroad ideas and technical computer generated operational ideas.  You won’t want to miss it!

Time: Apr 19, 2024 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85050094529?pwd=deeCgW3D64zObUwrFCjcoTaYjSuYex.1

Meeting ID: 850 5009 4529

Passcode: 357612

In Person: Panorama City

Address: 1751 Circle Ln SE, Lacey, WA 98503

Our clinic will be in the basement auditorium of the Panorama Quinault Apartment building known as the Seattle Room (across the hall from our old meeting room).

Olympia Clinic

Mount Vernon Clinic, March 18

Written by Alan Carter
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The Mount Vernon Clinic scheduled for Monday, March 18, 2024, will reintroduce attendees to one of Ted Becker’s favorite subjects, “Mini Clinics.” Come and see/hear a variety of clinicians presenting a “mini clinic”, which is limited to a maximum of ten minutes. Clinicians so far include:

Dave Sherwood, repairing/replacing cracked diesel gears

Bob Stafford, Many uses of Weldwood thick & quick glue

Mark Malmkar, car reweighing

Tom Buckingham, NP collision in his backyard (really!)

Doug Seward, paper/card models

Al Carter, renumbering cars

And don’t forget, a bunch of us get together at 5:00pm at Round Table Pizza in Mount Vernon (115 East College Way) for pizza, sandwiches, and/or salad bar.

Clinic starts at 7:00pm; doors open at 6:30 for socializing. Location: Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1114 Cleveland Street (easy access from I-5, Kincade Street Exit).

Questions? Email Al Carter at tabooma@gmail.com or leave a message at 425-577-1570

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2024 Spring Meet Set For June 8th

Written by Anton Faulk
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By Bob Kenworthy

The 4th Division’s 2024 Spring Meet will be held June 8th, 2024.  The Spring Meet will be held at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA.

The schedule will be:
7:30 to 8:30 am – Registration at the North Bend Depot
8:30 to 9:00 am – Train Ride from North Bend to Museum
9:00 to 9:10 am – Gathering Time
9:10 to 10:00 am – Clinics 1 and 2
10:10 to 11:00 am – Clinics 3 and 4
11:10 to 12:00 noon – Clinics 5 and 6
12:00 to 1:00 pm – Lunch and Annual Meeting
1:00 to 1:30 pm – Free Time at the Museum
1:30 to 2:00 pm – Return Train Ride to North Bend
2:00 to 3:00 pm – Travel Time
3:00 to 5:00 pm – Layout Open Houses

Additional information will follow as plans are finalized.  Mark your calendar now and plan to attend.

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Call for Clinicians – Surrey Excursion 2024 PNR Convention

Written by Anton Faulk
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By Bill Messecar

Hello members of the 4th Division—my name is William Messecar the Superintendent of 4D, and I am planning to attend the 2024 PNR convention next year in Surrey, BC.

The PNR convention Surrey Excursion 2024 is the annual convention of the Pacific Northwest Region of the NMRA.  This year the 7th Division of the PNR is hosting the convention in lieu of the Railway Modelers Meet of BC.  The Convention will take place May 22nd to 26th, 2024 and will have clinics, layout tours, operating sessions, displays and much more.

2024 Surrey Excursion PNR Convention

The 7th Division is looking for clinicians as speakers at next year’s convention. Marc Simpson is the Clinic Coordinator for the upcoming 2024 Surrey Excursion PNR Regional Convention.  They have had an excellent response to their request for clinicians, however they wanted to spread the word that they are looking for clinicians for the program. They are looking for a broad range of topics that will appeal to convention attendees.  Whether you are an experienced presenter or a new clinician, it doesn’t matter.  All you need is an interesting topic that clinicians are interested in sharing with others.

In addition to the regular clinics, we are looking for people interested in presenting a tabletop clinic. This is a shorter time frame, more hands-on type of presentation for those who don’t want to prepare a full clinic presentation. Any assistance in making the Surrey Excursion clinic program a “can’t miss” event is greatly appreciated.  If you have any questions, please contact Marc Simpson, his contact information is listed below.  

Marc Simpson
surreyexcursionclinics@gmail.com
Surrey Excursion Clinic Coordinator

Bill

Convention or Meet, Superintendent’s Message

A heavyweight panel on lightweight aluminum benchwork is this month’s 4dPNR “Second Saturday” Zoom

Written by Burr Stewart
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Join us on Saturday morning, March 11, for a look at how you might use aluminum instead of wood for some or all of your benchwork needs. An astute panel of model railroad “users” of aluminum will briefly share their research and experiences with various products and layout situations, with time at the end to answer any questions you may have. One of the panelists, Magnus Christerson, will share the quantitative results of some recent shop experiments he conducted on supporting model railroad benchwork. The other panelists are Dave Kreitler, Mort Grosser, Burr Stewart and Jim Betz, all of whom have recent experience using aluminum extrusions for benchwork. The panel will be facilitated by Lee Marsh, a confirmed but reasonably open-minded wood benchwork practitioner.

As usual, this “Second Saturday” Zoom meeting will open at 9:30 for chit-chat, with the program starting at 10:00am PST. The Zoom info to join the meeting is:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87210657142?pwd=ZHhIWnZGMUU0YnAwNVUvMENheEZSUT09

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142
Passcode: 805577

Incidentally, this imaginative program was the brainchild of some illuminating conversations that took place at last year’s PNR convention in Eugene. You never know what will happen when you attend a regional convention with a few hundred other fellow modelers! This year’s convention will be in downtown Tacoma, May 10-14, called the “Prairie Line Experience”, and if you haven’t already registered to attend, please consider doing so now, at the convention’s website https://PNRTacoma2023.org . In addition to the on-site clinics, contest room, ice cream social, banquet, and aforementioned illuminating conversations, there will also be layout tours all over the region and the opportunity to attend operating sessions on some of the area’s finest model railroads. Don’t miss it!

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March’s “Second Saturday” Zoom is a panel on Aluminum for benchwork

Written by Burr Stewart
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Before you go out and buy a bunch of lumber for your railroad’s benchwork, consider joining us on March 11 for an interesting panel discussion on how to use new types of aluminum products instead. There can be advantages to it! Five panelists with recent experience looking into or using aluminum will compare notes and take your questions and thoughts, moderated by Lee Marsh.

As usual, the meeting will open at 9:30 and the formal presentations will start at 10:00am PST. The Zoom info to join the meeting is:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87210657142?pwd=ZHhIWnZGMUU0YnAwNVUvMENheEZSUT09

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142
Passcode: 805577

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