Introduction

Several of us have spent time this month preparing for future events – the West Somerset Line excursion, various lectures and a lot to do with the October Exhibition at The National Waterfront Museum. Club attendances are running at high levels as lots of train running and modelling went on. South Dock is starting to take shape now that some track is in place and the baseboards construction is nearing completion.

Membership

In welcoming Mike Brooks from Blackpill and John Meredith from Waunarlwydd our membership is now 77. Both new members came to our Open Evening in January and joined during February. Please give them our usual warm welcome. Some more new faces have called at SRMG recently and further new members are expected.

The Club’s Different Gauges and Members Interests in Each Gauge

The meeting planned for N Gauge members did not take place. It proved impossible to get sufficient numbers of interested parties in the Club at the same time. The Committee are keen that members’ interests in this gauge are properly accommodated and reflect the skills levels we have available. There will be a specific evening held in the near future when a forum will debate the best way forward. I will keep you all advised.

Excursions

Please remember the following details for the Club’s excursion to The West Somerset Line on Friday 27 March. Departure will be from the Club Car Park leaving at 6.30am. You can leave your car there during the day as on previous trips. There will be no pick-up from Neath on this occasion. The return journey will leave Somerset at 5.30pm so we should be back at the Club between 8.00 and 8.30pm depending on traffic conditions.

Exhibitions

Ted Hylton has delegated the responsibility of securing traders and exhibitors to Mike Brooks and Ken Lewis who are busy lining up people for the NWM show on 3 / 4 October. Ted and I will be assisting with contacts of our own and regular meetings between the 4 of us will take place between now and October. Additionally meetings with NWM staff are taking place as needed. Thanksl to Hywel Trick for the exhibition printing work he’s doing.

Store Cupboard

This now seems to be working better with users leaving the facility in a more orderly and tidy manner. Thank you all for your efforts in keeping the area tidy.

Clear Creek

This will solely be used for running purposes for the time being.

Open Evening

This is scheduled for Friday 11 September when refreshments will be available and guests invited; more to come.

High Level Cupboard at Top of Stairs

FOYD’s decision to allow this for Club use has been reversed. We’ll now move on and forget about this item.

Lectures

Hywel is organising lectures for the Club. More will be announced when a full programme has been put together. In the meantime see the first ones detailed below in the diary section.

Keys

The Treasurer reports a number of members have paid their £20.00 returnable deposit. One member decided he no longer needed a full set and so gave his back. Please remember this exercise only affects those who have a full set of keys. It is not applicable to those who just hold a front door and a lift key. If anyone has a problem with this arrangement please come and talk to me.

Modelling Competition

This will be held in the Club on Thursday 5 March. The same rules will apply as last year i.e. 3 categories – Scratch Built, Kit Built and Diorama. I know many of you are nearing completion or have finished your models and there’s a pleasant air of anticipation in the Club already. Please take completed dioramas to the South Dock area and bring kit & scratch built entries to the test tracks. John Gray will be issuing labels and voting slips produced especially for this occasion by Hywel Trick. The cups will be engraved with winners’ names.

Stock Sales

The Committee decided that we shall have a stock sale on Thursday 9 April in the Club. The sale will be a mix of members own stock and unsold items passed earlier on to the Club for sale. Please see John Allnutt if you intend to bring in sale items and he will allocate you a space and a table.

Website

Gwion Davies is continuing to tweak the site. This is the most important aspect of the Club’s publicity so the more data we can load with the greatest frequency of changes the better we shall appear to the public. The site has to cater for everyone so if we haven’t covered your particular special interest please let us both know.

Layouts

John Allnutt and Scott Rhodes will shortly be adding extra bracing to some of the test track baseboards. A partly hinged screen will be installed behind the existing guardrail to provide additional protection when 0 Gauge trains are in operation. The work will be done to minimise disruption but be patient if you’re looking to operate stock.

Mike O’Connor will shortly be replacing the centre portion of the 00 layout he operates with N gauge track. This will take some pressure off the N gauge test tracks as we have recently seen a growing number of new N gauge members. Please be patient if you find the layout out of commission, due to new demolition and construction work.

Activity on all other layouts has continued apace during the month.

Diary

5 March – Modelling Competition voting slips passed to members at 7.30pm. Winner announced at about 8.30pm.
17 March – Lecture– Loco Spotting in the 1960’s (with slides) given by David Beynon at 7.00pm.
27 March – Excursion to West Somerset Line leaving the car park at 6.30am.
9 April – Stock sale for members and also containing residual club stock.
11 September – Open Evening – more details later.
15 September – Lecture - The Gower Railway given by Rob Hulme at 7.30pm.
3 / 4 October – Exhibition at The National Waterfront Museum from 10 - 4.00pm