Another superb photograph from the archive of Bob Masterman. This shows Cardiff Queen Street Station in its final guise before British Rails destructive vandalism in the early ‘70s. Queen Street was originally the Taff Vale Railway’s Headquarters station with the company’s grand offices just out of sight at the left rear of the picture. In its final guise, Queen Street had five platforms: a bay to the left, the two through platforms as shown and a further two platforms to the right. The magnificent, huge overall roof was unique in South Wales but did not extend to the platforms on the far right. The whole ensemble, including the company’s offices, was a Victorian architectural masterpiece whose sole sin in later years was that it sat on valuable real estate….
COMMENT
A fair bit of news in this edition with updates of planned trips during the year, an imminent [ish] open day, some clarification on the modelling competition to take into account new technology and a note about the forthcoming AGM but first, and disappointingly, a reminder again to those who use the club on Wednesday evenings. On several recent occasions, lights have been left on and the control panel for the Test Tracks left live, all to be discovered by those who arrive on Thursdays. Please – please – take care to ensure that all electrical appliances apart from the fridge and the CCTV are turned off when you leave on Wednesday nights.
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
This is just to remind all members that the 2024 AGM will be held in the first floor old library on Thursday the 20th February at 7.00pm.
Mike Lloyd, Membership Secretary, contacted all members on the 8th. January with details of the AGM and included a nomination form for those who wish to stand for any of the committee positions. All members over the age of 18 are entitled to be nominated. In his note to members, Mike adds:
‘…There will be changes to the committee for next year as our Treasurer, Ted, is stepping down after many years of hard work and dedication and Harvey is taking some time off his committee role as part of his studies. In addition, as unfortunately no one has come forward as part of our appeal to replace Ted, Martin has offered to stand for the key Treasurer role to manage this critical coming year when we change over to electronic banking and accounting / tax systems. This will of course then create a vacancy for Chair too.
The election process is managed with Nomination Forms and a box and forms will be placed in the Library on 16th January. A form is also included as a cut off to this letter. Nominations will close at 19.30 on Thursday 13th February, with the elections held by means of ballot paper at the AGM.
Nominations require a Proposer and Seconder and must of course agree to their name being put forward!...’.
The AGM is an important event in the club’s calendar and, apart from electing officers and committee members, provides an opportunity for club members to receive reports from the Chair, Treasurer and Auditor and also ask questions from matters arising. Please make every effort to attend.
NEXT YEAR’S CLUB OUTINGS
Always popular events, this year’s planned trips are at an advanced stage of planning although dates have yet to be confirmed. It has been agreed that the main event will probably involve a visit to a Steam Day at the Great Western Society’s HQ at Didcot. It is likely that this will take place in June but this will be confirmed later. The Didcot site comprises nearly 20 acres and there will be much to look at. Entry would be in the region of £19 and the club will subsidise travel by coach as usual. SRMG has never visited Didcot before although it has been on many members’ wish lists. It should be a good day out. The Society’s website gives a good idea of what will be available. There is unlimited travel on the locos in steam also [although the running lines are not long as this is, essentially, a museum]. Further details will follow.
A second, smaller trip is being planned on a weekday in the Spring to visit the Dapol factory in North Wales. Transport will be via a self-drive minibus and so numbers will be limited to 15 plus the driver. A notice will be put up on the notice board for members to indicate interest and this will be on a first come, first served, basis. However, it would be appreciated if those who visited Dapol on the last occasion could hold back to allow those who have never visited to have priority. This seems the fairest way of allocating the limited spaces.
Further information on both of these events will be provided once the details have been firmed up.
From Martin Evans’ collection, a flier issued by British Railways during the later days of steam, urging young spotters and others to keep safe.
On-line there are many images of specialist trips organised by organisations like the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. These often show enthusiasts walking all over the running lines and climbing on the engines themselves, an absolute health and safety nightmare today.
There is no printing code at the foot of the flier to help date this publication although the image shows an A4 rushing along. These fliers were intended to be dispensable and one wonders how many have survived. Few, I would imagine.
THE 2025 MODELLING COMPETITION
A reminder once more! Last year’s competition was poorly attended, so let’s make this year’s one to remember.
The annual modelling competition will be judged on the 3rd of April 2025. Plenty of time to crack on with your projects. The criteria remain the same as always:
kit-build,
scratch-build or radically altered r-t-r [‘radically’ meaning the most fundamental changes, weathering or changing buffers for eg. will not be acceptable],
diorama or micro-layout
and junior section
As last year, entrants should note that for the Diorama / Micro-layout section, the entry must not exceed 3ft x 3ft in size and 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 or background buildings.
Finally, because of the increase in the use of 3D printing in modelling, further guidance is being issued concerning which of the above categories should be used for entrants:
a model entirely created from scratch by the exhibitor [ie. researched, drawn up and printed in all of its parts] should be placed in the scratch-build category
a model which uses printed parts to add to or improve an existing r-t-r chassis [a printed loco body for eg] should be entered in the kit-build category
Member Harvey John recently acquired this interesting GWR survivor, a First Aid box originally issued to No 2771, an open cab Pannier Tank of the 2721 Class, one of those locos that Hornby has been making a basic model of for decades. The box came near-complete with its contents and must be a fairly rare find.
A lot of the contents appear unused and the tourniquets [top right] look more like old bicycle inner tubes than items of first aid!
Interestingly the box came with its log, showing that it was used for the first time on the 10th December 1926, the entry stating ‘Guard Canning of Trowbridge – tip of 2nd finger rt hand squeezed’. Its final use appears to have been on the 31st January 1963 when ‘Fireman [illegible] injured hand - 1 medium dressing’.
Many of the entries in between these dates testify to dangers involved in shunting and driving steam locos. There are many accounts of scalds and crushed body parts, all rather lurid. But social history nevertheless and quite what ‘squeezed’ really meant is left to the imagination!
PLANNED RUNNING AND SOCIAL DAY
We will be holding another club open day for South and West Wales model railway clubs to visit us on Sunday the 18th. May. This will be similar in format to the 2023 event, which was very successful and helped to cement contacts with other groups. A simple buffet lunch will be provided, followed by a talk in the afternoon. We may also hold a small stock sale on the day. Whilst this event is primarily for other clubs to visit, members will be welcome to attend and run layouts. Further information to follow.
SKILLS WORKSHOPS
Please remember that two new skills workshops are proposed, one for laser cutting [on the club’s new machine], the other for the use of the lathe. If any members are interested in attending either, please register your interest on one of the forms on the notice board asap.
AND FINALLY, TWO LAST ITEMS….
• At some time in the near future, Box, one of the club’s N gauge layouts, will be taken out of storage for some remedial work and club use. Whilst the long term future of Box is still a little uncertain, we are hoping to exhibit it at the NEC over the 29th and 30th of November, with an article about it appearing in British Railway Modelling at the same time. The magazine will visit the club to photograph the layout once the remedial work has been completed. Exciting news.
• Members will have noticed that the FOYD ground floor entrance is being resurfaced for a resin covering to be put down in the near future. This will effectively prevent access to the club whilst the work is being undertaken. The lock on the car park gates will be changed temporarily to prevent access during this period. Unfortunately we have not been advised of the date/dates for this work but it should not take too long to complete. Any obvious disruption to club activities will be communicated to you all.
Best wishes