An undated photograph of the Mumbles Railway at Blackpill, showing the nature of the track and some of the overhead equipment. In the background is the railway’s electricity substation, now a café, and centre stage a pair of South Wales Transport’s AEC Regent V buses, the nemesis of the Mumbles Railway.
Also near centre, a now obsolete school road sign, indicating the presence of Blackpill School [visible beyond the distant Regent]. The school closed in 1959. If the school was still open when this photo was taken, it could be dated as between 1956 and 1959 [unless the sign remained in place for many years after] as the Evening Post’s Minor 1000 van in the foreground is probably a Series 3, introduced in 1956.
COMMENT
Not a huge amount of text this month but a lot of news nevertheless, including voting slips for the AGM, an update on the modelling competition rules, planned outings [that’s plural !] during 2024, the 2024 Dapol commission and more about our imminent stock sales.
And a quick note about membership: we currently have just over 80 subscribing members and whilst some are more occasional visitors, Wednesdays and Thursday nights can be quite busy. We also have a number of new members who are regular visitors and if you see a face that you don’t recognise, stop to say ’hello’ and introduce yourself. In the sometimes hectic, impersonal bustle of Thursdays in particular, a welcome would make it easier for new members to begin to feel at home.
THE MODELLING COMPETITION
First of all, many thanks to all who submitted entries for the Club’s Christmas mini-competition and to Simon Durrer for organising it. As usual, the quality and diversity of entries continues to improve and many congratulations to Dan Hughes, the overall winner. Gwion Davies took second place. But really, everyone won as it provided a showcase for skills and ingenuity and, hopefully, will persuade even more of you to enter the Annual Competition this March. Dan is shown opposite with his prize and certificate.
As mentioned last month, the club’s major annual modelling competition will judged on 28th March 2024. The categories have not changed [kit-build, scratch-build or radically altered r-t-r (‘radically’ meaning the most fundamental changes, simply weathering, adding crew or changing buffers for eg. will not be acceptable), diorama/micro-layout and junior section] but the rules have, and the changes are detailed below.Remember, the annual competition carries good cash prizes and, each year, the standard has been improving.
Here are the rule revisions for the competition to clarify what is and what is not acceptable. It’s all pretty much as before except that:
• For the Diorama / Micro-layout section, the entry must not exceed 2ft x 3ft in size,
• For the kit-built and scratch-built/radically altered r-t-r sections, the entries must be single free-standing models [ie. a single locomotive or a railway building, but not a rake of wagons or a collection of railway-themed items]. For eg. a modelled crane would be allowed to have a match truck because that would form a complete unit, but a tank engine could not include a Guard’s van or other vehicle.
Entries need to be submitted for judging no later than 6.30pm on the 28th. March 2024. Winners will be chosen by popular vote and for each section, a first prize of £25 and a second prize of £15 will be awarded. An additional prize of £25 will be awarded by the Chairman, if appropriate, for what he considers to be ‘the best of the rest’.
STOCK SALES
A reminder that there will be a further stock-sale this week on Thursday night at 7.00pm in the end room [the ‘Box’ and ‘Cwmfelin’ room]. Cards will be acceptable and the stock will vary from last time. We also plan a sale in February, on the 22nd., at the same time.
For information, the Club is also booking a sales table at the Bronwydd Arms Toy and Train Sale on the 23rd. March 2024.
THE 2024 DAPOL COMMISSION
You should all know about this by now, but if you don’t, here’s a photo of the ‘Lodwig’ wagon in all three gauges:
There is a brief article on the Club’s website giving some background history to the company, along with colour photographs of the three wagons. Go to the Products section to see this. Ordering details are there also, as well as on our Facebook page.
Orders have already been received by the commissioning team and this is likely to be another quick seller.
Get your’s now !
Around ten years ago, our second commission was a double pack ‘Clyne Valley Colliery’ and ‘Craven Llewelyn’. It sold quickly, too, and occasionally the issue arises on eBay for quite a high price. ‘Craven Llewelyn’ had never been released before [or since] in r-t-r but Peco did release a kit of it in the First Series of their ‘Wonderful Wagons’. It only appeared for a few years and was never repeated. I managed to obtain an un-built example of this kit recently and put it together over a couple of evenings. The First Series was unique in having 1mm plywood sides and a flat alloy base, all later editions had a one-piece alloy wagon-body but were otherwise similar. The embossed card overlays were in extremely good condition given that this kit dated from the mid-‘50s. The model is a little primitive by today’s standards but is nevertheless a nice piece of model railway history. The Bachmann couplings were, obviously, my decision to fit.
PLANNED CLUB EVENTS FOR 2024
In addition to normal Club activity, two excursions are planned for this year, both to preserved railway festivals and one for steam with the other for modern image. Details of where and when will be announced later but these trips will be fully transport-subsidised by the Club with members travelling simply having to purchase their own entry tickets for the event. Friends and partners/other family members will be able to travel at a reduced rate.
The Club is also hoping to organise a subsidised Curry evening at a local restaurant. Venues are being explored currently and more information will follow. These nights have always been extremely popular and early booking is advised once the details are known.
THE 2023 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
This will take place on Thursday the 29th. February at 7.00pm. The venue will be the large end room on the top [Club] floor.
The AGM performs two important functions which should be of interest to members. First, annual reports from the Chair, the Treasurer and the Auditor are formally presented and provide members with an opportunity to ask questions if they wish. Secondly, the Committee elections for 2024-2025 will be held, enabling any paid-up member to be nominated for a post and so contribute to the continuing management of the Club.
The Committee comprises 8 persons: 4 Officers [the Chair, the Deputy Chair, the Treasurer and the Secretary] and 4 Ordinary Members. All of these posts may be contested at the election and whilst some of the serving Committee members will be applying for re-election themselves [this does not prevent other members from being nominated for those posts], the posts of Secretary and 2 of the Ordinary Members will have become vacant and so not contested by their current post holders.
Nominations require a Proposer and a Seconder and the Nominee must agree to their name being put forward. Election to the Committee comes with a normal expectation of 3 year’s service [subject to annual re-election] although, in the event of exceptional circumstances, members may stand down. Committee meetings are generally held on a monthly basis.
That’s it for this month! This has also been our 150th. newsletter!