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Cab Chatter at the Seattle North End Clinic Tonight, April 7 at 7pm

Written by Lisa Murray
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Please join us for the first Cab Chatter event for North End virtual clinic tonight, April 7, at 7pm via Zoom. We are going to give everyone a chance to share their thoughts on a model railroading topic. So many of our members have knowledge to share but aren’t quite sure they want to do a formal presentation at a clinic. This will give everyone a chance to “present” without so much pressure. Who knows, you may end up liking it!

Tonight’s topic is one to which everyone in the hobby can relate: What advice or tips would I give my younger self if I was just starting out in the hobby?

Everyone has a few woulda coulda shoulda things they wish they would have done differently in the hobby — whether it has to do with building a layout, purchasing of rolling stock, or using a specific code of track. The list goes on…..

So grab a beverage of your choice and log in for a relaxing Thursday night of Cab Chatter. See you there!

Topic: April North End Virtual NMRA Clinic
Time: Apr 7, 2022 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89866729483?pwd=UzZWRVZzbmh0cjJhMnFXS2dkWVVsdz09
Meeting ID: 898 6672 9483
Passcode: 856410

Lisa Murray
North End Clinic Chair

News, Seattle-North Clinic,

Mt. Vernon Clinic Report for October 27

Written by John O'Connell
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By John O’Connell / Photos by Nick Muff and John O’Connell

Twenty four were in attendance when Ted Becker opened the Clinic. Ted advised that this is an NMRA, Pacific Northwest Region, 4th Division, sponsored event.
Announcements:
Ted welcomed two guests – George Stephenson, owner of the Mount Vernon Terminal Railway, and Rich Blake from the Skagit Valley and Whidbey Island Clinic.

Regarding upcoming Clinics:

  • November – George will talk about his Mt Vernon Terminal Railway and its operations
  • December – we’ll have a “Super” Show and Tell evening with possible mini-clinics but forego a presenter as it will be so close to Christmas

Al Carter proposed, for a number of sound reasons, to change the timing of our Clinics to a Thursday earlier in the month. While the first Thursday was agreeable to those present at the Clinic, the inevitable conflict with holidays falling early in a month was further considered and it has been determined that beginning in January 2016, the Mt. Vernon Clinic will be at 7PM on Thursday, January 14 and on the second Thursday thereafter.

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Eastside Get-Together on Thursday, Bob Stafford is Guest Speaker

Written by Cliff Green
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JJ Johnston

Reminder: Thursday, 7:30 pm, Eastside Get-Together at Bellevue Foursquare Church in Bellevue. Guest speaker Bob Stafford’s presentation will be Weathering Structures With Bragdon Weathering Powders, including many examples showing how to weather structures and roads on his HO railroad. Bob will also demonstrate using oil stains and dry brushing before applying chalk. And more.

Plus the usual stuff as well. You know, door prizes, free coffee, models of the month, stuff to buy and sell and a lot of conversation. Featuring donuts for a buck. Hey, we have to pay for those fabulous name tags. 🙂

For Eastside Get-Together location and other information, see the 4D Clinics page.

Eastside Get-Together (Redmond) Clinic, , , , , , , , ,

Tacoma Clinic March 2015

Written by Al Babinsky
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Al Babinsky, photos by Chip Van Gilder

Master Model Railroader Gene Swanson started the clinic on time with 46 modelers present including several new attendees. Gene started a discussion about the rules pertaining to the use of the Library facilities. Since this is a public facility we cannot stop anyone from attending because he is not a member of NMRA. They also do not allow solicitations of any kind which we feel that we are not doing. We collect donations for our refreshments and for the food network which are entirely voluntary. Our PNR president and several clinic members will talk with the Library staff and explain our position which we feel do not violate their rules.

Several announcements were made concerning upcoming events:

  • The Narrow Gauge Symposium is being held next month, their website is http://www.sn3symposium-2015.com.
  • The 4D spring meet will be held on June 6th with location to be determined.
  • Portland Daylight Express, the NMRA national convention, will be held August 23 – 28, 2015. Additional information is available at www.nmra2015portland.org.
  • The Tacoma NW model railroad show and swap meet is being held March 21st-22nd at Freighthouse Square in Tacoma.
  • 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.

“What’s New at the Hobby Shop” was presented by Bill Sandstrom from Tacoma Trains & Hobbies and had only a few items: beer cars from Atlas, Milwaukee boxcar from Athearn, reefers from Roundhouse and N scale cars from Microtrains.

The “Model of the Month” contest included the following: Chris brought in a EMD SD38 that he obtained and weathered it heavily along with a set of gondolas and the loads for them consisting chunks of a rusted metal can as a scrap metal load, an item from a dishwasher that looked like a tank, a load of granite blocks that used to be tiles for a counter and a load of black and grey rocks to represent broken up asphalt and concrete. Tyler brought a barge that had a load of vehicles and a tug boat and vehicle that were part of the clinic. Walt brought a pair of weathered gondolas that carried a pipe load. Gene presented a Labelle 3-in-1 kit of a vegetable reefer that he hand painted. Dave brought a water tank kit for a town on his layout and Scott brought three ACF 3650 hoppers, two of which were shortened and equipped with discharge shuts that were 3D printed. The winner of the “Model of the Month” was Scott Taylor.

Scott Taylor's modified hoppers with 3D printed discharge gates, the Model Of the Month winner.

Scott Taylor’s modified hoppers with 3D printed discharge gates, the Model Of the Month winner.

The clinic for this month was on weathering vehicles and was given by Jim Sabol, Dale Kraus, Walt Huston and Tyler Whitcomb. Each had his version on weathering and the basic thread was using alcohol or water to create a wash with weathering powders or acrylic paints. The hand-out was prepared by Mike Shaw and had photos to accompany the text. All in all an excellent clinic with very useful information.

Next month’s clinic will be on April 9th at our usual location in the Pierce County Library Admin. Bldg., the corner of Waller Road and 112th Street. Our clinician will be Steve Carter and he will talk about operating train order boards which he is building for PSMRE.

Chris Clancey's SD-38 and gondola loads

Chris Clancey’s SD-38 and gondola loads

Coors Brewing Company track plan

Coors Brewing Company track plan

Dave Faucett's D&D shops water tower kit

Dave Faucett’s D&D shops water tower kit

Gene Swanson's hand painted LaBelle reefer kit

Gene Swanson’s hand painted LaBelle reefer kit

Tyler Whitcomb barge and tug boat with vehicle load

Tyler Whitcomb barge and tug boat with vehicle load

Walt Huston's gondolas with pipe load

Walt Huston’s gondolas with pipe load

Tacoma Clinic, ,

Inaugural Mount Vernon Clinic is Next Week

Written by Alan Carter
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Al Carter

The inaugural meeting of the new Mount Vernon Clinic, sponsored by the Fourth Division, is next Tuesday, September 23, 2014. The meeting is at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, starting at 7:00 p.m. The address of the Senior Center is 1401 S. Cleveland Street, easily accessible from I-5 via the Kincaid Street exit. Click here for a map and directions.

Our first program will be by long time Fourth Division member Ted Becker, titled “How To Hobby Shop Outside the (Hobby Shop) Box.” We’ll learn about sources for modelling stuff not found in a hobby shop. A lot of old ideas, maybe some new ideas and, best of all, ideas new to you that you can use.

We encourage attendees to bring along a model they’ve completed (or even models in progress) to share with the group. Perhaps it will inspire others to start a new project.

We cannot unlock the door nor are we permitted to leave it propped open, but we will have someone at the entrance until 7:00 p.m. If you arrive after that, please ring the “Model Railroaders” doorbell that will be on a board by the door and wait for someone to come and let you in.

If you have any questions, call me at 360-399-1226, or email tabooma@msn.com. If you wish to be on the list for the monthly e-mailed newsletter, email Roger Johnson at skagitrailbird@gmail.com or call 360-770-5944.

We hope to see you there!

Mt Vernon Clinic, Skagit Valley and Whidbey Island Clinic,

Update on New Fourth Division Clinic

Written by Alan Carter
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Al Carter

New Mount Vernon Clinic update

There usually are “bumps in the road” when starting up a new activity, and the new clinic “up north” is no exception.

First off, we have changed the name of the clinic to the Mount Vernon Clinic, to better define where we are located, and eliminate confusion with the existing Whidbey/Skagit Clinic in Oak Harbor.

Secondly, we have changed the date of the clinic to the Fourth Tuesday of the month, so there is more time separation between the new clinic and the neighboring clinic over in Oak Harbor.  Hopefully, some folks will be able to attend both clinics this way, as it eliminates back to back clinics on successive evenings.

Here is the original article, edited to include the latest updates:

The Fourth Division has added yet another monthly clinic to better serve local NMRA members and other model railroaders. The Mount Vernon Clinic will have its first meeting on September 23, 2014, at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, starting at 7:00 pm. The Senior Center is at 1401 S. Cleveland Street, easily accessible from I-5 via the Kincaid Street exit. All meetings will be held on the 4th Tuesday of each month.

A number of Skagit and Snohomish County folks were making the monthly trek to Oak Harbor for the Whidbey/Skagit monthly clinic and several of us decided to start a newer clinic closer to home. Our goal is to work closely with our fellow friends over in Oak Harbor to possibly share clinic agendas and clinicians, which seems like a win-win situation. We also hope to serve more NMRA members (and other model rails) in the Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom County areas.

As of this writing, Ted Becker has agreed to step up and be the first clinician and he has proposed several ideas. As we get closer to September 23, we will make a more detailed announcement in the Grab Iron. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions or suggestions, or wants to volunteer to be a clinician, feel free to contact me at tabooma@msn.com or 360-399-1226. If you wish to be added to an email list for a clinic newsletter, just let me know.

Mt Vernon Clinic, , ,

Westside Local March Madness

Written by Ken Liesse
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Bill Hupe

This month’s clinic was turned into an interesting experience for all who attended.

It, as always, was good to see the regular crew: Jack Hamilton, Armand Cyr, Jim Byerley, Pete Rowe, Steve Neupert, Steve Avery, Bud Johnson, Glen and Corey Walls, Reed Cranmore and new member Jerry Enders.  Surprise visits from the Superintendent Ken Liesse and the rest of the Liesse clan, Ed, Gay and Dave, made the clinic special.

Our scheduled clinician had to cancel at the last minute, which left me wondering how the clinic would progress.

We started off the meeting with reports from around the NMRA. Reed reported that the Bremerton Northern Model Railroad Club had set up the small configuration of their new layout for the Veterans out at Retsil Veterans’ Home. Said it worked well and once again was appreciated by the Vets. He said they are now working on completing the scenery by the Kitsap County Fair in August. He also said the fair is talking about moving them to the Pavilion from the Presidents Hall.

I then passed the floor to Ken, who brought us up-to-date on 4th Division business. Ken also introduced his clan. Most attendees had not met Ken’s family, so it was good to have this opportunity. Ken also brought up the thought of us hosting layout tours on this side of the “Sound” in conjunction with a 4th Division event.

I then passed the floor to Jack Hamilton, who brought us up to date on the NMRA. Jack presented Merit Awards to Jim Byerley for his Structures – Jamestown Station and Lumber Yard. Jim also was awarded a Civil Merit Award for his dual-gauge turnout. Jack then presented Pete Rowe with Merit Awards for his structures:  Coaling Tower, Pennzoil Service Co. and Cycle Shop. Pete doesn’t have a home layout, but his structures show up on other modelers’ layouts.

Jack also brought a couple of new modeling items to share.  First was Balsa Foam, an amazing plastic foam that carves like butter and paints like wood. It’s ideal for sculpting and model making because it can be carved, chiseled, sawed, textured, or embossed with sharp-edged detail. He also shared a set of brushes: “Special Brush Set” from Micro-Mark™ that appeared to be a set of make-up brushes.

Glen Walls entered his first scratchbuilt building, a freelanced engine shop, in the Model of the Month contest. And Pete Rowe shared a diorama created to showcase a trestle built by Dennis Hill (past 4th Division Superintendent) which will be presented to his widow.

We took a short break where the Liesse Clan spent time with clinic members.

Following the break, Jack Hamilton presented a clinic on “Building a Resistance Soldering Machine” based on an article from October 1995 Mainline Modeler™ “Resistance Soldering” by Karl Eiler.

The clinic wrapped up with a drawing for door prizes.

Come join us April 12th at United Way of Kitsap County, 647 6th Street, Bremerton. Clinic starts at 6:30. Clinician Walt Huston will present a clinic on DCC Decoder installation.

Westside Local Clinic, ,