Skip to main content

April Olympia Clinic

Written by Brian Ferris
Leave a Comment

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
Leave a Comment

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

News,

2024 Spring Meet Set For June 8th

Written by Anton Faulk
2 Comments

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.

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

Call for Clinicians – Surrey Excursion 2024 PNR Convention

Written by Anton Faulk
Leave a Comment

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
3 Comments

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!

News,

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

Written by Burr Stewart
Leave a Comment

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

,

Virtual North End Clinic is on Thursday, Feb 2, at 7pm PST

Written by Lisa Murray
Leave a Comment

Come join us on Groundhog Day for the February clinic at 7pm PST. Even if Punxsutawney Phill predicts we will have six more weeks of winter, we will always have model trains, right?

This month we will have guest clinician, James Knabb, a modeler from the great state of Texas, presenting 3D Pen and Small Details.

James will walk through the basics of how to use a 3D pen and show how you can use a 3D Pen for your layout, such as using it to repair railings for cars and adding small details. He will also discuss incorporating left-out, forgotten details and new ideas into your layout using a 3D Pen.

Here is the information for the meeting:

Topic: NMRA North End Clinic (4D PNR) clinic
Time: Feb 2, 2023 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86808524120?pwd=MWVPQzB0SFNuUCttdFhIQ2VVdnZiZz09

Meeting ID: 868 0852 4120
Passcode: 297191

See you there!
Lisa Murray, clinic chair

News, Seattle-North Clinic

Cab Chatter at the virtual North End Clinic on Thursday, September 1, at 7pm

Written by Lisa Murray
1 Comment

By Lisa Murray

As the end of summer approaches, it’s time to get back to the Seattle North End Clinic.

Many of you have expressed the desire to keep the clinic via Zoom as it allows many to be able to attend without needing to travel into Ballard at night, especially as the weather gets worse, and it gets dark early. So we are keeping it virtual.

We are going to have an open forum where members can share any model railroading projects done or rail-fanning trips taken in the months we haven’t seen each other. The name of the clinic will be Cab Chatter: What I Did This Summer: Model Railroading and Rail-fanning Fun.

Feel free to contact Lisa Murray if you have something you want to share (like photos) and need any technical help. See contact information below.

We understand that many of you may be attending the Narrow Gauge Convention in Tacoma on Thursday and may not be able to attend. However, if you need a break, feel free to join and share your summer fun in real-time.

Looking forward to seeing you all!! Here is the Zoom link information:

Topic: September 4dpnr Seattle North End Clinic
Time: Sep 1, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88191288309?pwd=QythYUVpaHJvSjFPZExyREtNbXRyZz09
Meeting ID: 881 9128 8309
Passcode: 716203

Lisa Murray, clinic chair
206-310-6778 (voice or text)
northseattle_organizer@4dpnr.com

News, Seattle-North Clinic,

Seattle North End clinic on June 2 – “Car Forwarding” options for your layout

Written by Burr Stewart
Leave a Comment

June’s North End clinic on Zoom will feature a panel discussion on ways to provide “car forwarding” on your layout – that is, keeping track of which cars are directed to be moved where, in which train, etc. The panelists will include Burr Stewart, Joe Green, Russ Segner and Todd Von Stup, who will present different approaches they have taken to this subject, followed by open discussion with everyone present. As usual, we will open the meeting at 6:30 for meet and greet, with the panel discussion starting at 7pm. Here is the Zoom info to join the meeting:

Topic: North Seattle Clinic 4Dpnr

Time: Jun 2, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81371284719?pwd=UXFNbldBSlB6MDRtSER4cWlvMi84Zz09

Meeting ID: 813 7128 4719

Passcode: 845714

One tap mobile

+12532158782,,81371284719#,,,,*845714# US (Tacoma)

+16699006833,,81371284719#,,,,*845714# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

News, Seattle-North Clinic,