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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

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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

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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

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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’s Second Saturday Zoom Layout Tour on April 13 on Todd VonStup’s N scale MRL

Written by Burr Stewart
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Join us at 10am on Saturday, April 13, for an update from Todd VonStup on his operations-oriented N scale MRL-era layout. The Montana Rail Link’s Columbia and Palouse 14th and 15th Subdivisions is an N-Scale multi-deck loop to loop proto-freelanced layout from Connell, WA to Missoula, MT with a division yard in Moscow, ID.  Mostly prototypically modeled from the Palouse River in Hooper, WA across the Palouse to Troy, ID, where it’s then freelanced as if the NP had found its pass over the Bitterroot Mountains into Missoula, MT.  Started in May 2021, this will be a progress update on benchwork (95% done!), working ABS signals, a large yard, and operations as the MRL would have worked this line based on their practices.

As usual, we open the meeting at 9:30am and start the formal program at 10:00am. Here is the Zoom info:

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

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142
Passcode: 805577

Layout Tour,

March’s “Second Saturday” Zoom features Jerry Boudreaux’s large HO Santa Fe layout

Written by Burr Stewart
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March’s 4dPNR Zoom layout tour is going to inspire you for sure! Long freights often exceeding 50 cars and 6 units, 14 car passenger trains with sparkling warbonnets in the lead, and southwest mountain scenery punctuate the Pasquinel Division of the Santa Fe Railroad.  This 1200 square foot HO scale model railroad running thru the wilds of 1967 Arizona features a 650 foot mainline, large yard, and a number of smaller towns.  The Pasquinel is fully operational and 14 person crews keep it humming once per month.  Come join us next Saturday (March 9) for a trip  thru the red cliffs and distant mountain vistas of northern Arizona.  Jerry Boudreaux will show us his framing, track plans, electrical, scenery techniques, trains, operations forms, and even Santa Fe’s definition of a “Shooter!”  This Zoom-only presentation will start at 10:00 am PST, and we will open the meeting at 9:30 for meet and greet. Here is the Zoom info to join the meeting:

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

Meeting ID: 872 1065 7142
Passcode: 805577

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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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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.

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Board Meeting Next Saturday

Written by Ken Liesse
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Ken Liesse

There will be a meeting of the 4D Board of Directors next Saturday, May 21st. The meeting will be held starting at 1:00pm at the Yankee Grill, located at the corner of Rainier Ave. and Grady Way in Renton (just north of the I-405/167 Valley Fwy intersection next to the Holiday Inn). All members of the 4D are invited to attend the meeting.

Anyone who has business they would like to have discussed at the meeting should send their item(s) to Superintendent Jim Byerley before Thursday, May 19th to have it placed on the agenda.

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