Pacific Northwest Division LOGGER March - 2004 Hosting the O R T H W E S T E X P O S U R E Celebration in 2005 THE PRESIDENT S MESSAGE Spring is here but we still have snow on the ground in the shady places around our home here in Leavenworth.. We re off to a great start this year. The February winter meet was a lot of fun. A big thanks to all of the people that helped make this meet another great success for the PNWD TCA. I want to thank Dick Flinchbaugh, our division meet Czar for the job well done, but he couldn t have done it without the help of his lifetime partner, Barbara. The lunch was terrific! It reminded me of the old days when the meets were held at the Chehalis Eagle s Hall where we all took time out and sat down together and had lunch. Now we can look forward to the summer meet to be held in Ellensburg, Washington. It will be a 2-day meet for members and open to the public on Sunday. See page 3 for information on this meet. There is still time to sign up for the 2004 TCA National Convention being held in Pittsburgh June 20 th through the 29 th. Quite a few members of the PNWD TCA will be there to enjoy the tours, the trading, the seminars, the displays, the welcome party and of course, the banquet. Fort Pitt Division TCA has been working hard to prepare for the expected crowds. Check the notice on bottom of this page. It will be great time for the PNWD TCA to advertise our convention for next year and to raise funds to have the best TCA National Convention ever. Finally, have you seen the PNWD TCA ads advertising the limited edition PNWD TCA 2-Car Boeing Airplane Car Set in the March 2004 issue of the Headquarters News, Run 200, the April 2004, O gauge Railroading issue and the April 2004 Classic Toy Trains? If you have not ordered your set yet, you might miss out because they are going like hot dogs. It would be a shame if you miss out in acquiring this set at such a good price. These will be a terrific collectible item SOOOOOO get your order in now before they run out. God Bless, Merle The 50 th Anniversary Celebration of TCA is being hosted by the Ft. Pitt Division and takes place June 20 27, 2004 in Pittsburg, PA If you haven t already made your reservations, you better hurry you ll miss a fantastic celebration!! There is a registration form in the March issue of Headquarters News.
TCA PACIFIC NORTHWEST DIVISION 2 TCA Mission To preserve an important segment of history Tinplate Toy Trains through research, establishment of collecting standards, education, community outreach and fellowship and to promote the growth and enjoyment of the hobby. The views expressed by the contributors to this publication are theirs and not necessarily the view of the Editor, Pacific Northwest Division or the Train Collector's Association. President Merle Parise Leavenworth, WA Phone: 509-548-4858 E-mail: mjptrains@aol.com Vice President Richard Flinchbaugh 36066-57 th Ave. So. Auburn, WA 98001-9306 Phone: 253-939-2228 Fax: 253-804-3561 e-mail: rflinchbau@aol.com Secretary J. Michael Bowerman 4410 231 st Pl SW Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043 Phone: 425-778-8750 30Mail: jmbowerman@juno.com Treasurer/Logger Editor Barbara Flinchbaugh 36066-57 th Ave. So. Auburn, WA 98001-9306 Phone: 253-939-2228 FAX: 253-804-3561 e-mail: rflinchbau@aol.com Seattle Chapter President Frank Geczi 12508-206 th Pl. S.E. Issaquah, WA 98027 Phone: 425-281-1547 e-mail: frankgeczi@aol.com Portland Chapter President Tom Steeves 1741 NW 127 th Pl. Portland, OR 97229 Phone: 503-644-2325 e-mail: tomsteeves@comcast.net Treasure Valley Chapter President Bill von Tagen 1114 N. 7 th Boise, ID 83702 Phone: 208-345-1728 PNWD BOD Members at Large Dan Jones PO Box 127 Rollins, MT 59931 Phone: 406-844-2522 e-mail: DJo360@aol.com David Howry 4715 Northport Drive Mukilteo, WA 98275 Phone: 425-493-0621 e-mail: dchowry@hotmail.com A complete membership roster is included with this edition of the LOGGER. Please note that we have several new members since the first of the year. They are: Chad Darrah Frank C. Fogarty Todd Landwehr David Simpson David Yost A 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation Barbara Eicholz Kirk Holmes Brian McKay Tom Smith THE PNWD TCA WELCOMES ALL OF YOU Elections were held for the Seattle Chapter of the PNWD TCA. The elected officials are as follows: President Vice President Secretary Treasure Sergeant at Arms NEWS FROM THE SEATTLE CHAPTER Frank Geczi Chet Vetter George Burmeister Richard Rock Virgil Coop (Appointed Position) The Seattle Chapter February meeting was held in the back room of the Lake City Community Center due to a double booking of the main room for a toy swap meet. Although the space was relatively small we had a good turnout with plenty of trains for sale. Frank Geczi President of the Seattle Chapter TCA NEWS FROM THE TREASURE VALLEY CHAPTER The TCA Treas ure Valley Chapter met on Saturday, February 21, 2004. Jim White graciously offered to host this meeting at his home, located at 1127 Warm Springs Avenue in Boise. The meeting started at noon. First item on the agenda was to send out for lunch (pizza, for example or whatever seemed to be the majority choice). While the food is en route, we held a business meeting and then enjoyed lunch. After lunch, we climbed the stairs to Jim s superb train room and enjoyed viewing and operating his collection. There was not a swap meet at this event. We re glad all of you could come. NEWS FROM THE PORTLAND CHAPTER As many of you know, the TCA Portland Chapter and the Pacific Northwest Division of TTOS almost five years ago jointly signed a lease for rooms in the basement of the Aloha Mall at the corner of 185th Ave and Tualatin Valley With this lease Highway comes the in the use Aloha of a conference area of Portland. room, bathrooms, and a very large space for our train-room, or "Clubhouse". We have access to this space 24/7, and many members have keys to the facility. We have such a bargain here! Our landlord leases this space to us for $1.00 per month, plus our pro -rated share of utilities, and that amounts to about $49.00 per month - TOTAL - what a wonderful arrangement. In turn, we have an open house for the neighborhood kids in December each year - at his request. If you have not seen or experienced our joint train layouts, you need to get yourself down here! Should anyone be traveling to or through the Portland area and you would like to see the layout, run some trains, or just ohhhh and ahaaa, please give Tom Steeves a call, in advance, and we can arrange for someone to open up, turn on the lights and transformers, and delight you. If you would rather come during a regularly scheduled meet, come to the TTOS Operating Session on the 1st Sunday of the month between 1:00 and 4:00 PM, or come to the TCA Meet on the 3rd Sunday of the month between 9:00 AM and Noon. Bring trains to sell or run to either event, but principally, come to have fun with our hobby. Tom Steeves, Portland Chapter President
TCA PACIFIC NORTHWEST DIVISION 3 DIVISION MEET WILL BE IN ELLENSBURG ON JULY 31 ST AUGUST 1 ST, 2004 We are planning another big event this summer at the Kittitas County Fairgrounds in Ellensburg, Washington in the Home Arts Building. This is the same location we used in 2003. Members who wish to sell their trains will have the opportunity to set up their tables on Saturday, July 31 st and also sell to other members as well on that day. The hours for the public to attend will be between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 1 st. There will also be food service available on Sunday. We are planning to have a potluck Bar-B-Q late Saturday afternoon/early evening for all those members who arrived early to set up and do a little trading. Let s all get together and join in the fun. Perhaps some of the ladies can show off their culinary skills and bring lots of goodies, cakes & cookies to enjoy after the feast. As we keep hearing from many of the old-timers we used to make the meet last the whole day and into the evening, just visiting, spinning tales and sharing our love for trains. WELL, THAT IS WHAT WE HOPE WILL HAPPEN!!! All the information that you will need, i.e. registration forms, participation in the Bar-B-Q, your need for overnight camping at the fairgrounds as well as maps, lists of hotel/motel accommodations it will all be included in the May Logger. This year, we intend to make sure that the advertising doesn t fall thru the cracks as happened last year. We intend to put ads and information in as many newspapers as are available in the eastern part of Washington. Notices have already been placed in the Classic Toy Trains, Model Railroader and Model Railroad News. The local radio/tv stations will also be contacted and there will be ads in the Seattle newspapers as well. WORD OF MOUTH, HOWEVER, IS THE BEST METHOD OF ADVERTISING LET S ALL GET INVOLVED AND GET THE WORD OUT! The weather should be just about perfect warm, but not too hot, hopefully. The driving distance from the Seattle/Tacoma area is only about an hour and a half (maybe a bit longer). That s about the same time it takes to drive to Chehalis from Seattle. For those on the Eastside Ellensburg is closer.
TCA PACIFIC NORTHWEST DIVISION 4 The P D A T E D PNWD Web Site The PNWD web site has changed. We are still under construction and when we are finished, we will have it filled with everything you will ever need to know and do in our beautiful Pacific Northwest area. The 2005 National TCA Convention will have complete coverage. Please log on to www.traincollector.org and check it out. See the Merchandise Page. We now have a secure site where you can place your orders on line for the clothing, previous convention items, the Boeing 2-car set, etc. and eventually, all the items for the 2005 convention. The Logger can be viewed in color on the web site. DIVISION MEET INFO & SCHEDULES FOR THE REST OF 2004 AND ALL OF 2005 At the February 29 th meet in Chehalis, Barbara Flinchbaugh, the PNWD Treasurer gave the members a heads-up regarding the monies collected for the Division meets. Barbara indicated that at the present rate of $3.00 per member for pre-registration and $7.00 for a sales table, the division is not collecting enough money to pay our rent. Several members raised the question: Why don t we raise the fees to $5.00 for registration and $10.00 for the tables. A discussion followed from the floor and a straw vote was taken. The vote was virtually unanimous RAISE THE FEES. Our PNWD President, Merle Parise, told the members present that to raise the fees, the Board of Directors (BOD) needed to have a motion and pass that motion. A motion was presented & seconded to the BOD via e-mail after the meeting in Chehalis and the BOD unanimously approved raising the meet fees to $5.00 for pre-registration and $10.00 for tables. The fees at the door will be $7.00 entry and $15.00 for tables. THESE NEW FEES WILL TAKE EFFECT AS OF THE SUMMER MEET IN ELLENSBURG. Now, as your meet czar, (as Merle calls me), I would like to let you all know about the dates we have been able to coordinate for the next several meets. As you have already read on page 3, we will again have a big meet in Ellensburg, WA on July 31 st /August 1 st of 2004. This meet will be open to the public on Sunday starting @ 11:00 a.m. The 2004 fall/winter meet is scheduled for November 21 st, at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds in Chehalis in the Community Events Bldg. That is the Sunday right before Thanksgiving. We want to make this a very festive event and are working with the food vendor in Chehalis to have some special holiday food-fare for all members. Perhaps all those wonderful ladies that accompany their husbands to the meets, will bring some holiday treats. Again, this would require the members to sign up like they did for the February meet and let us know if they will stay for lunch. It is very important that the members indicate they will stay for lunch. Otherwise, we have no way to work with the food vendor for quantities. All the information necessary for this November meet will be published in the October Logger. This is just to give you a heads up. Now on to 2005. A few surprises here!! We have tentatively scheduled a winter division meet on February 13, 2005 in Seattle at the Lake City Community Center. This is the same building that is used every month for the Seattle Chapter meets. We are listening to our members. Not everyone cares for the long drive to Chehalis. Nothing is cast in concrete yet, so to speak. Further details on this meet will be published at a later date. This is strictly in the planning stage. Another division meet is firmly scheduled for May 7/8 th in Ellensburg, WA. Of course, all the details for that event will be published in the March 2005 Logger. THE BIG EVENT OF THE YEAR IS THE 2005 NATIONAL TCA CONVENTION WHICH IS BEING HELD AT THE DOUBLE TREE HOTEL IN SEA-TAC, WA. IN JUNE 2005. Therefore, a division meet held cannot be held in June as well. The 2005 fall/winter meet will again be held at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds in Chehalis. No date has been scheduled for that at this time. All meet dates through 2005 will be firmed up and published again in the May Logger. Respectfully submitted, Richard Flinchbaugh V.P. PNWD TCA
TCA PACIFIC NORTHWEST DIVISION 5 The Pacific Northwest Division meet on February 29, 2004 was fabulous. The member participation was terrific the food was exceptional, the auction was extremely lively. Gilbert Uhler won the Sellers prize, a K-Line O gauge classic reefer, Steve Peterson won the Am. Flyer S gauge car, Ron Wilcoxson received the Lionel Tractor/Trailer rig and Jan Anderson was the lucky lady to win the flowers. David Howry was the new auctioneer and did he ever get those members digging deep in their pockets. David is seen at upper right with Larry May there must be something really good on that table. At the upper left, members are busy looking over the reserve auction tables and Dick Flinchbaugh is deep in conversation with some of the ladies. Nick Fisher seems to be enjoying himself also at left and to the right, Michael Finn and Jordan Ollivier are having fun with the Kids Club layout. To the left, Marv Thompson is ready and willing to deal and on the right, George Burmeister is surveying all those great trains that Mike Ajax has on his table. John Morris is all smiles as he is looking at all those wonderful trains. At the right, Ted Alhberg is standing by his table and perhaps he has just the right item to satisfy the next customer. On the left, it looks like Jan Anderson has the job of taking care of Vic s table this time. Those are great looking trains. At the right, Cora Jackson Ahlberg has the right idea she s sitting down behind the table. Good show, Cora. In the background is Don Spencer did he ever have the trains for sale this time!!!
TCA PACIFIC NORTHWEST DIVISION 6 Barbara Flinchbaugh, Editor Train Collectors Association Pacific Northwest Division 36066-57 th Ave. So. Auburn, WA 98001-9306 FIRST CLASS MAIL Place Stamp Here CALENDAR OF EVENTS Portland Chapter Meets Are held at the Aloha Mall, 18631 SW Tualatin Valley Highway @ corner of SW 185 th Ave., Aloha, OR 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, Meeting and Auction, Tom Steeves (503) 644-2325 The Portland Chapter meets are held the 3 rd Sunday of each month The TTOS operating sessions are held the first Sunday of each month in the Aloha Mall. Bring your trains to run! Seattle Chapter Meets Are held at the Lake City Community Center, 12531-28 th Ave. NE, Seattle WA, Meeting 9:45, Trading 10:00 AM, Frank Geczi, (425) 281-1547 The Seattle Chapter meets are held the 4 th Sunday of each month. THERE WILL BE A SEATTLE CHAPTER MEET IN MAY