Ex-LMS Jinty 47480 resting awhile at Llanmorlais on the 2nd. July 1955, during the 'Swansea District Rail Tour' organised by the Stephenson Locomotive Society. The LMS had closed the Llanmorlais branch to passenger services on 5 January 1931 and this interesting north Gower branch was to close completely a few years after this railtour.
© Monmouthshire Railway Society and used with many thanks.
Comment
This month’s newsletter won’t be the busiest, but I do have some important information for all members and those who have expressed an interest in joining the club when we reopen.
I have to open this month with some extremely sad news concerning the passing of two members however. We heard recently that both Bob Lovitt and John Gardner have passed away. Bob was not a frequent visitor to the club but had been a great supporter and a member for some time. His interest was in N gauge, of which he had a large collection. John was a stalwart regular and will have been known by all, many of whom will have admired his scratch-built London Underground stock which frequently graced the test tracks. Because of the Covid crisis, details are scant but I understand that both Bob and John succumbed to long-term health conditions rather than the virus. Our sympathies go out to their partners and families.
Sadly, we heard also that ex-member John Pollock died recently, too. John left the club quite some time ago but continued to make occasional visits to see old friends or attend stock sales. Those who knew John will remember the large layout of Ferryside that he had in his garage.
And now, some good news……
It seems grossly insensitive to talk about good news on the heels of the above, however there is an important update to provide with regard to the re-opening of the club. It is also important that those who wish to reattend in the near future respond to a specific request made later, below.
But first, I need to repeat earlier advice that we are not our own masters in this matter. We have to respect the advice and expectations of our landlord, The Gordon Moore Centre. The Centre has a particular concern to carefully regulate reopening as a great many of its users are extremely vulnerable. Noel Blows has agreed an outline plan with them however and, in essence and subject to later confirmation, it looks like this:
• We hope to re-open on Wednesday the 8th September and, for the foreseeable period, will open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 6.30pm and 9.00pm [only].
• No more than 12 people may attend upstairs at any time on each of the dates and no more than 3 in Kingston. To enable as many to attend as possible, members may only attend once a week on a specified day.
• To enable a rota to be prepared and circulated, all those who wish to commence re-attending should e-mail me stating their preferred day. We are asking for real flexibility and compromise here as, clearly, everybody will not be able to attend on a Thursday for example. Where a few members have to rely on transport from others, those groups would be given preference to prevent some from being completely disadvantaged. Please send me your choices no later than Sunday August the 23rd. I regret that any failure to reply by then may well prevent an early return to the club for that member as the rota cannot operate with any great flexibility.
• In the week prior to re-opening, the top floor will receive a thorough clean. This will be thorough but not be an over-zealous deep clean as that might risk damaging layouts under construction and other items. During the period of lock-down, the top floor has been visited on three occasions and by myself only, to check on security. No-one else has been in the club.
• We will be required to have mandatory requirements for PPE, hand cleansing, signing-in and providing contact details. These arrangements will be covered fully in an early September newsletter.
• The lift is out-of-bounds for passengers for the time being, but it can be used for ‘freight’. The reason for this is one of personal safety, not just infection control but also, importantly, because its certification has expired and engineers will be calling to deal with this in the future.
• The downstairs toilets [that’s the ground floor] are also out-of-bounds and may not be used.
• Finally, the Committee is extremely grateful to all who continued to pay their subscriptions during lockdown. Do remember our earlier guarantee to reimburse those who might wish, without quibble. For those who quite legitimately chose to suspend their payments, when you return could you please reinstate your subscriptions and let Ted Hylton, Treasurer, know? Thank you.
I am conscious that the above arrangements may appear extremely directive and, perhaps, inflexible. I know that you will all understand that we have had to convince The Gordon Moore Centre that we can manage a return safely however and we also recognise that we have a responsibility not to create any additional risks for other, far more vulnerable user groups.
A number of potential members contacted Noel Blows or myself during the preceding months, enquiring about membership. Your attendance is now welcome and the above note applies to you, also.
As stated, a further note confirming the above will be issued in early September together with other advice over PPE, etc. Unless there is a sudden spike in infections, or the Welsh Government instructs otherwise, we look forward to seeing you all slowly returning and enjoying club activities once again. Keep your fingers crossed….!
The Club website
There’s new material on the website too…….
Michael Sarsfield has written an article on options for modelling the Gwili Railway. Heritage Railways are not often modelled, although from a lot of layouts I’ve seen, with their eclectic stock mix of regions, companies and eras, many of them could be viewed as that! Michael has taken the topic more seriously though: Link
There is also an account of the travails experienced whilst building a 50 year-old kit of a Hawksworth Dynamometer Car. All is not what it seems. When did you last see one of these? Have you ever seen one of these? Link
As ever, if you have an article which you’d like to be placed on the website for a wider audience to read, just let Gwion Rhys Davies or myself know. It’s your website……
What have you been doing?
Ian Stevenson has been busy again and sent me this photograph of a Ratio Boiler House [in OO] that he recently completed. The skill in building these lies not so much in simply putting the kits together but, rather, in detailing them and painting them realistically, both of which he has achieved admirably.
The interior is fully detailed with a scratch-built boiler and associated equipment and is lit in order that the details can be seen.
Keep sending in your projects, all!
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 ST ‘Rosyth No1’ at the old Swansea Maritime Museum 24th February 1980 Photograph by Phil Lindsey and used with thanks.
Best wishes all, and take care.