To show that we are thoroughly open-minded and not [completely] obsessed with the Great Western, here is another ex-Southern Region EMU sitting in Wales, awaiting scrapping.
Having seen last month’s photo of an ex-Southern Railway 2-BIL, Ian Davies sent me this photo of this 4-CEP unit awaiting its fate at Margam during May 1993.

COMMENT

April’s newsletter is deliberately late this month as I wanted to include the results of the annual modelling competition, held on the 27th. April, in this edition. But there’s lots of other news to share as well though, including Box’s outing at the recent Bronwydd show, the forthcoming club outing, our intention to update and modernise our website, a planned dinner, a project for our younger members and more besides. And for member David Williams, it’s good to see you back again after your recent illness. I’d also like to thank all of those who supported our most recent stock sale – we’ll have another in mid-June probably.

MAY CLUB OUTING

For those who have yet to sign up for the club outing to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s Cotswold Festival of Steam on the 13th. May, the booking-in form is on the club notice-board, with details of leaving times, etc. Over 30 places have been booked so far and the coach is filling up, so if you have yet to sign-up, now is the time to do it. A £10 deposit to secure your seat will be payable [to John Allnutt] and this will be refunded after you have boarded the coach. See the board for details.

USE OF CLUB SPACE

With so many layouts now nearing completion and space becoming a premium once more, a ‘clear-out’ of rubbish and abandoned materials is being planned in order to access better storage space. This will take place at the end of May, and it will be ruthless!

So, members should take this as advance notice and take steps to remove any personal items that they have stored in dark corners, particularly [but not exclusively] in the areas around the two alcoves at the end of the large room in which Box, Downton and Cwmfelin are being / have been built. Anything left unclaimed / not removed at the end of the month will risk being thrown out. If you wish to store personal items at the club, the only available space will now be in the Clock Tower. This has been cleaned out, is dry and is locked. Obviously, all items stored have to be at the owner’s risk but the facility is underused, extremely inexpensive and immediately available. Contact Steve Rodwell or Tony Richards if you wish make use of this option.

THE RECENT BRONWYDD SHOW

The recent West Wales Gauge O Group show in Bronwydd Arms was a great success and well-supported by the public. It also saw the first fully-operational outing for Box and the layout performed faultlessly.

The time consuming recent redesign of the boards ensured their easy removal, transport and return and the time spent on Box by the electrics team paid off in spades. Box was well received by the visiting public too and now looks forward to further show events. The club also had a sales stand adjacent to Box and that was extremely successful, too. Many thanks to all members who helped showcase the club on the day. Above, a busy moment at Box sees a Blue Spot special flying through.

LOST AND FOUND

Found – Ted Hylton recently found a small wooden box of modelling tools in the club. If you have mislaid these, please contact Ted directly. Lost – a small stainless steel pair of forceps, around 5 ins. Long and with a sharp nose. If you have found these, or know where they are, please let Tony Richards know.

THE NEXT CLUB DINNER

Please all diary this forthcoming event. John Allnutt has booked the dining room at Norton House for a club ‘do’ on Friday the 16th. June. The ‘Gold’ menu has been chosen [details to follow] at a cost of £33 per person, although note that for club members the meal will be free of charge and although their partners will have to pay, they will receive a 50% discount, making this an extremely economical night out! You’ll have to pay for your refreshments however….

In due course, a note will go up on the notice board inviting expressions of interest. John is currently exploring entertainment options and, for those who have not been to one of our Norton House events, they have always been extremely successful and well-attended. Early booking will be essential however as there is a limit imposed by the size of the dining room.

Norton House can also provide overnight accommodation for those who have travelled far or simply wish to party into the night. Details and prices to follow.

The Bronwydd show - a quiet moment at Box Station. Passengers await locals to Bath and Chippenham, a local bus drops its travellers and an Autotrain simmers in the bay. Middle Hill Tunnel is in the background.

THE 2023 MODELLING COMPETITION

Yesterday [the 27th. April] saw the club’s first full-size modelling completion for a long time. Members submitted creations in four categories, Junior, Kit-built, Diorama and Scratch-built, and the variety and number of entries was pleasing. Photographs of all of the entries will appear on the website in due course but, in the meantime, here are the winners and runners-up…..

The Junior winner was Alfie Davies with this dramatic diorama.

The kit-built joint winners were Gwion Davies and Michael Sarsfield. Gwion built a Parkside model of a GWR Mica B refrigerated van and Michael a military bogie wagon armed with heavy machine guns. Photographs are shown below.

The Diorama section was won by Ian Stephenson, with Simon Durrer as runner-up.

Ian’s 009 evocation of the slate quarry at Maenofferen

The scratch-built or heavily-modified r-t-r section was won by Ian Stephenson, with Tony Richards as runner-up.

Tony’s cut-and-shut / scratch-built Mid-Wales GWR coaches

The winners each receive a £20 prize [or share £20 in the event of a draw] and the runners-up £10.

FINALLY, MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS

Our website - this has been trundling along, pretty much unchanged, for many years now and although well-received, we have decided that it is time for a revamp to update and modernise it. Richard Hill is helping with this project – it’s very much his part of the world – and whilst there is not much to share on this at present [apart from the fact that it’s going to happen], we anticipate that the changes should be in place within the next few months. More on this later.

A project for younger members – with a growing number of younger club members now regularly attending, a specific project for them is being planned. Steve Rodwell is working with Alfie, Pierre and Ted to design an interesting and entertaining layout for them to build and use. Seen opposite are Steve, Alfie, Pierre and Ted struggling with the perennial layout builder’s problem of fitting quarts into pint pots!

St David’s Wells – a quick note to let you know that St DW can now accommodate DCC stock as well, Rob Pendry having worked his magic in there.

That’s it for April!

Best wishes.