Category: Train Orders

Dear member,

For those of you who could not manage to get to Kegworth for the Region Convention I want to just update you on the nominations for positions on the BoD as voting papers will be issued soon. As you were aware the President Robin Swan had resigned, Patrick Grace, the Treasurer also stood down due to his occupational workload. Two other members decided to withhold the nominations. Therefore, at the AGM Keith Webb was elected into the position of President unopposed, the Treasurer’s post was filled by Paul Evans. An explanation of some of the issues surrounding the decisions of the BoD members was provided by Steve Scott and Steve also stated he was prepared to put forward his nomination for Secretary again. As there were no other nominations he was elected to the post of Secretary. In respect of the Vice President position there were two nominations – Mike Arnold and Gavin Fry. There are also two nominations for the post of Membership Director, John Firth who reinstated his nomination and Richard Czaja. Therefore all members will in due course receive ballot papers for them to vote for one person per position for these two posts. I will answer any questions on this matter at our next meeting if required.

Our next Group Meet is on Saturday 17th November and I am pleased to announce that Tom Griffiths our New Jersey (or should that be New Joisey!) friend and honorary member is coming over to see us. Tom is also going to be at Warley the following weekend. Please make every effort to come along and help make it an enjoyable and welcoming meet for Tom.

Following my recent trip to Florida I have acquired another Calder Northern baseball cap which is available for purchase to the first member interested. Cost has unfortunately risen but £15 will secure.

Would those people who have not yet received their Calder Northern name badge please advise me this next week so I can put right those missing badges. I have unfortunately lost my list so please e-mail me or phone me (must be before 8pm please) so that I can prepare one for you. Yes Alan Wyatt, I remember yours so you don’t need to call!

I would like to remind everyone that we need gifts for the Christmas Meet raffle so please search those boxes in the back of your model cupboard for kits you have never built, or better still bring along one of those new DCC locos you realise you don’t really need! I am sure someone would be happy to select that as a prize!
The Christmas Meet will be a Mince Pie event to get you into the festive mood.

Congratulations to Derek Milby. The Region President has recognised Derek’s service and many accomplishments in furthering the enjoyment of the hobby for members of the Region and awarded him with the Golden Spike Award. Thank you Derek for all your hard work and efforts on behalf of Calder Northern Division members, we all remember those great weekends at Ulverston.

Les Herriot has reminded me to again ask you for nominations for the Calder Northern Chairman’s position in readiness for our AGM in April next year. Please let Les know your nomination after making sure the person you nominate is prepared to be considered.
2013 MEET DATES
Saturday January 26th – Sunday February 24th (Valentine’s Day Thanks To Our Ladies) – Saturday March 23rd – Sunday April 21st (Annual General Meeting) – Saturday May 18th – Sunday June 9th
Saturday July 6th – Sunday August 11th – Saturday September 7th – Sunday October 6th – Saturday November 9th – Sunday December 8th (Christmas – Mince Pies & Raffle)

Terry Wynne
Chairman

I have to advise you that Crewe Heritage Trust have received a proposal from the people who organise the Railwayana Auction to rent the Lecture Room (sometimes referred to as the Viewing Room), which we currently use as our clubroom.
Les Herriot, Tony Hayselden, Steve Scott, Mike Lenz who are your committee members and Terry Wynne who was involved with Calder Northern’s agreement with the Crewe Heritage Trust have been considering this matter. George Neyman (CN Secretary) and John Hey (CN Publicity) have not deliberately been left out but it was felt that those who are regular Wednesday attendees could meet more easily and debate what effects this proposal could have and seek our best options in dealing with this matter.

The proposal from the Railwayana Auctions people is to provide the Trust with a higher rent than currently paid by CN and to have a certain number of weeks sole use of the Lecture Room. There are a number of other elements within the proposal but it is not necessary to list all the information here. We are therefore, asking for as many members as possible come along to our next group meeting on Saturday 18th May when a full explanation will be given.
We need your input, co-operation and support for a proposal from Calder Northern to the Trust but of course we will have to consider what if any Crewe Heritage Trust decisions might subsequently have on Calder Northern’s occupation of the Lecture Room. It will then be for our members to consider what they feel and want to do in respect of our long term activities and indeed future position.

As you are aware there have been some voices in the past indicating the Lecture Room is a great asset to the Heritage Centre and should be used more effectively and commercially. Equally there are those who point out the condition of toilets, catering, heating & lighting and decor and floor coverings which will in no way compare with other local facilities for such activities as conferencing or meeting rooms.
We are awaiting any feedback from the Trust in the meantime.

We are aware that not all members can attend on the 18th and so we will also continue to debate the options at our June Meet on Sunday 9th June.

Do come along so that you can share in any decisions that are taken – it affects all of us!

Terry Wynne

Dear member,

We have sadly received a phone call from Pat, Norman Davies’s wife to say that Norman has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He is currently in The Countess of Chester Hospital but will be coming home soon as that is his wish. I have told Pat that I am sure all members join me in hoping that Norman is not suffering and for her to tell him we are all thinking about him.
Norman had asked Pat to contact Les Herriot and myself as he had asked particularly that his collection of models and layout be disposed of and I will be making contact/liaising with those who knew Norman to see if they can help in this matter.

I am unable due to family commitments to go and see Norman this week; Sue & I are then away on holiday for one week returning on Sunday 12th August which happens to be Calder Northern’s next monthly meet.
I will therefore be unable to attend that meet and my apologies to everyone but hope you have a great day.

Now to the more usual TO notes – On 18th/19th August there is a Steam Weekend at Crewe Heritage Centre and we have been asked if members could be available to run all the Calder Northern layouts that weekend. There will be steam locomotives on site and an event like this is sure to attract many visitors. It is also a great opportunity to showcase our layouts, trains and maybe welcome local people to join the Group. I will ask Mike Ingham if he can let us have some more membership brochures that we can display or hand out to prospective members.

Official welcome to new members Brian Burke and to father and son duo Len and David Ford; Len & David have already made swift moves to get our Calder Northern website up and running. These two guys have already shown the basics of the site and now are looking to obtain information which can be posted to the site for both member benefit and for others to see. If anyone has photos, press cuttings or suitable anecdotes about the Division and its activities then please would you mail that to Len at len.ford@caldernorthern.org Obviously your committee will have to limit what is on the site as we have to consider what we may wish to add in the future and we don’t want to have too much information in one section which prevents us adding detail in another.
Len has indicated that sections such as – Home page; About us; Layouts; Photo Gallery; News & Events; Contact Us; Members; Links to other sites, will be included and each member will have a unique access.
I am currently preparing information to mail to Len for inclusion but would appreciate any additional detail you can provide.

Welcome back into the Calder Northern family to Brian Neville in Dumfries and Trevor Austin in Crewe, it is good to have you guys back on board.

If anyone has asked Brian Neville for items from Eric White’s collection that was not dealt with at our last Meet then Brian will be along at our September meeting on Saturday 8th. Contact him on 01387 710782.

We have offers from Les Herriot and Paul Doggett to host clinics and your feedback is requested on when you would like these to take place. Les is doing his on KD’s and his famous Anti-wobble washer (to get rid of those freight cars wobbles) and Paul’ is offering a guide to soldering be it work on your soldering things like track or on your brass models or kits.

Finally a big thank you to those of you who have been regulars operating the layout during the weekend public entry days at the Heritage Centre. Your generous help is much appreciated.

Terry Wynne

Dear member,

Our next meeting is on 7th July which happens to coincide with the official Crewe 175 weekend celebration at the Heritage Centre. Therefore it is suggested that you arrive as early as possible as car parking spaces will be very much at a premium.

On this day Brian Neville will be coming down from Dumfries by car and will be bringing those items which members have purchased or agreed to purchase from the late Eric White models/book collection. Please bring your wallets/cash to settle your account with Brian.

This is a good time to remind members that they should always wear their name badges when on site. If you do not have a badge then please let Terry Wynne know so he can arrange for a badge to be made for you. E-mail Terry on or telephone early evening 01270 567050 (strictly before 8pm please).

It was suggested that Les Herriot might present his clinic on 7th July but in view of the events taking place at the Heritage Centre we must put this on hold for another meet date later in the year.

As mentioned in previous Train Orders and agreed at the AGM, Rory Lushman is going to produce a DVD about Calder Northern Division and we are seeking information from anyone who remembers the early days of the Group or has any information which might be worth including either in an interview or pictures/film that could be considered for inclusion.
For your information Rory did some filming at our May meeting and this is available for viewing on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTh6ZhOj-yE Rory has good selection of his DVD’s available for purchase – see his advert in the latest Roundhouse magazine.

The purchase order for Perspex display covers for Devils Creek has gone to the supplier along with a further purchase request for the protective panels which will be affixed around North Western Mills HO scale layout. Hopefully these will be in place before our next meeting.

You will remember we advised you that some Crewe Schools would be visiting the Heritage Centre to see and in some cases have hands on activities around the site. This visit is to take place on Wednesday 27th June and we at Calder Northern would like those who can come along to be available to help if required.
Should the weather turn wet on the day then shelter will be sought in places such as North Junction Signal Box and if we have volunteers on site we could then show these young people and their teachers our layouts in operation. Parking on this day is different to our normal access to the site. For safety reasons on this day we are asked to park on the Tesco Store car park. Steve Scott is making arrangements with the Tesco Store Manager for those who can come along, to park their car and go to the Store Customer service desk to show their NMRA Membership Card and present their car registration. The Store will then enter your car details into their systems which advises their car park security contractor that your registration must not raise an overstay payment report and avoid you receiving a payment demand for exceeding the normal 3 hour limit. Steve will have more on this in the next few days. Please contact us if you intend to come.

For those of you who do not subscribe to the British Region Yahoo ‘Chat’ Group, Nobby Clark has posted a message saying that he would like comments from members about the possibility of the Region hosting a National NMRA Convention in the UK sometime in the future (probably 2017 or 2018). If you have any views on this – positive or negative, can you please send them to Nobby. Obviously at this stage no fixed ideas as to location have been suggested but Nobby intends to draw together a small team to discuss all issues and anyone wishing to be part of this team then again please contact Nobby direct. With NMRA members likely to come from many countries around the world the location would have to be capable of providing many hotel rooms and near to rail related interests. The North American convention model where visits to homes to view layouts is an essential part of conventions, this is probably not applicable in the UK as home layouts are small and access to homes for a large number of people is not achievable. However, it could appeal to American visitors to visit British Model Railway Clubs as well as prototype locations. Do try and input your thoughts to Nobby whenever you can.

Bill Jackson has asked me to include the following information to members about a Hobby shop in Preston who he has found to be most helpful in obtaining Walthers catalogue items quickly –
Hi Terry,
I mentioned to you last Sunday – Transport Models of Preston, as a model shop that came recommended by Walthers for ordering model railroad items from their catalogue. I said would pass on their details to you for inclusion in the next Train Orders.
I’ve spoken to Mark (one of the joint owners) at Transport Models about including his details in our newsletter and he said he would be pleased to accept any orders from members for any Walther’s items.
However, please make clear to everyone, that Transport Models sell mainly British model railway items and do not stock any US railway items, other than some ‘G gauge’ and ‘Bachmann On30’ currently! They do stock the Peco range and lots of scenic material, Woodland Scenics; etc.
They have been very friendly and speedy in getting ‘HO’ railroad bits and pieces for me when I’ve emailed my orders to them and they do mail-order (ordered one week, in their shop the next!!!);.

Their details are as follows:- Contact either Mark or Liz at

Transport Models Ltd;
Unit 1, Oyston Mill,
Strand Road,
Preston,
Lancashire,
PR1 8UR.

Tel. No. 01772 733 644
Website: www.transportmodels.co.uk
or by email: enquiries@transportmodels.co.uk or for orders at elizabeth@transportmodels.co.uk
Shop opening times: Monday to Saturday – 9am to 5pm; Closed Sunday.

Reminder – For those intending to go to Kegworth Yew Lodge Hotel for the British Region convention it is recommended that you book before the end of the month otherwise the hotel will sell rooms to the public.
Bookings can be made by phone or by using the form in Roundhouse.

Another reminder chaps! If you are going to enter a model or photograph in the “contests” at Kegworth then do start your preparation and if you need help with documentation then I am only too pleased to help.

If anyone has any HO scale Yellow Cabs (either 1950’s or 1980’s style) that are surplus to your requirements then we will be happy to purchase them from you for use on the layout.

Hope to see you soon,

Terry Wynne
Chairman

Dear member,

Our next meet is only a few days away on Saturday 12th May so here is a quick update in respect of what is current news and happenings on for the day.

Terry Wynne will be giving a short clinic/presentation titled, “scratchbuilding, kit-bashing and adaptation”. This will not be a very in depth presentation but Terry will be showing some of the models he has worked on including some of the buildings positioned on the HO scale North Western Mills layout. The aim is to encourage some of you who may feel inhibited when faced with building an item which is needed for your own layout but where you possibly feel that your skills are insufficient. We have all been in that position but it is really quite easy once you have the confidence or determination to make the first move.
Future clinics will include one by Les Herriot on fitting and adjusting Kadee couplings and Les’s “anti-wobble washers” to correct those freight cars that have a distinct wobble.
We are also hoping that Tony Hayselden will regale us with his wonderful trip to India including the cab ride down from Shimla.

Brian Neville from Dumfries is making the journey to see us on the 12th. Brian as you know used to come along with Eric White to the meets at Broadheath often bringing a couple of modules and staying overnight. After Eric’s sad death earlier this year Brian is now involved with selling Eric’s models and if you are interested in discussing this with Brian then he will be pleased to tell you what is available.

At our AGM last month we saw potential new members Brian Burke and Len Ford and family and we hope they feel that they would like to join us as members. Welcome guys we are happy to have you aboard!

Following the AGM decision to push our advertising of the group Rory Lushman has started producing a video for us. He proposes to hold interviews with older members to set the scene about the Division history and will include ongoing film of the progress of the HO layout, Devils Creek and also the new N scale layout. Any suggestions for inclusion will be welcomed by the committee.

With all the changes likely at the Heritage Centre regarding L&NWR and the site lease we would like all members to please wear their identity badges at all times whilst on site.

I would like to reminder you that your dues for this and subsequent meets is now £4 for members and £5 for non-members as voted through at the AGM.

We are offering for sale the unused parts of the Union Station building at a price of £15. This Cornerstone Kit now contains parts to build a backscene station or if you feel it is too difficult for you then Terry Wynne says he will build it up in similar fashion to the one to be located on the layout. No extra charge!

The old N scale layout in the Hall has been dismantled and currently sits beneath our HO layout. John Baggaley and Alan Wyatt have proposed using up to four of the old modules to build a new portable layout with folding legs affixed and perhaps two balloon style return loops on the ends. This layout can then be stored beneath the HO layout and on meet days erected in the middle room where films are shown. The buildings from the old layout are stored ready for further use.

See you soon,

Terry Wynne
Chairman

Dear member,

Just a few notes to keep you updated with Calder Northern happenings.

First I have managed to make contact with Derek Milby who tells me he is feeling much better although he is still having difficulty with his right hand. Derek has moved out of his Sun Street home and is currently in an apartment which he says is at the moment temporary but could be permanent in the future. I wished derek well on behalf of our group.
Derek has unfortunately had to put some of his railway items for auction but by the time I made contact with him the locos were going under the hammer and regrettably I was unable to advise members of British Region about the sale.

Now as part of our planned series of short clinics/presentations Tony Gath will be presenting his clinic at our next meeting on 10th March starting at 12 noon. Tony’s clinic is on constructing switches (points) using the ‘Fast Tracks’ jig. It promises to be one very interesting presentation and hopefully many of you can attend.

With regard to our Wednesday gang people working on the HO layout we are still looking for helpers to come along when they can. Oh, by the way I will not be able to be at the 7th March session due to having to be at hospital for a scan that day but will see you on Saturday 10th.

The calendar of events for the Crewe 175 events is being compiled and a copy will be available at our meeting on the 10th for perusal. We understand 3 or 4 steam locos will be based at Crewe Heritage Centre for the summer railtours so that should add some interest. There will be events of some sort on most weekends either at the Centre or in the town. If events on site are likely to create a parking problem we will advise you in advance of our meeting dates and suggest other options.
It is early days but we have been approached by the Cheshire East Council education liaison co-ordinator for maths & science to help on Wednesdays as part of proposed educational visits to the Heritage Centre. Thoughts being discussed and in due course proposals will emerge relating to small groups of children visiting the signal boxes, APT, Exhibition Hall and doing work associated with our model layout.
The guy said that perhaps children under supervision by teacher and our members could complete work associated with timetables, moving a train from (say) the Mornflake building to the Pilsbury bakery building. We would of course have to set speed limits on any DCC loco being used so that anyone could not do a “SantaPOD” start with a train!
Initial thoughts see this as a good way to get young children interested in model trains and who knows they may convince their parents that they should come along and see what we do.

Another issue has raised its head and this is about the requirement for more display space and activity area in the exhibition hall. The Trustees have decided that the layouts and Scalextrix will have to come down and what is done with them is to be debated in the next couple of weeks. The volunteers are no too pleased but are having to accept that with the occupancy of Waterman’s set up space is at a premium and with the big event this year this space is necessary for display or other purposes. The small N scale layout built by Trevor Austin will have to be considered at our next meeting whether we sell the layout to a member or break the layout up. The large N scale layout is also to be discussed but in conjunction with the CHC Volunteers. As you are aware the backscene which is continuous across the joints was changed some time ago and some tracklaying was done at the same time. This again could involve track crossing baseboard joints. I had suggested we could perhaps store this layout if the ends boards are still around but space again is the issue as you know the centre has very limited storage facilities. Unless of course members know of somewhere they can store such a large layout? Lets all discuss this next Saturday.

Look forward to seeing you next Saturday.

Terry Wynne
Chairman

p.s. Don’t forget to get your nominations to Les Herriot for Committee positions by 31 March

A Happy New Year to you and your family,

I hope you had a good Christmas and that you are ready for a great 2012.
This New Year is going to be quite eventful with the Olympics, The Queen’s Jubilee and our local celebrations commemorating the 175th anniversary of the railway coming to Crewe. In addition the Crewe Heritage Centre turns 25 years and so as you will expect there will be a number of events planned during the year. Our monthly meetings will go ahead as detailed but obviously we must be aware that with the exhibition about the town’s 175th celebrations the public will be present on site on meet days. This is a great opportunity for us to showcase British Region of NMRA and perhaps we can mount a display of models as well as our display boards in the clubroom. I am sure there is a glass display case available that we can use.

I am pleased to say I managed to talk to Derek Milby just before Christmas to pass on all your good wishes to Derek for a speedy recovery. Derek had been moved to the hospital in Barrow so he was nearer to his family members. He sounded in good form but told me he was still having some difficulty with the movement in his right hand. He was at that moment unsure when he would be discharged but asked me to convey his good wishes to you all. I was also very pleased to pass on the thoughts and prayers from Jim Zinser and Bob Charles in the USA who Derek converses with on a regular basis.

Now to group matters –

• Our AGM is to be held on the April meet date of Sunday 15th April. Please think about nominations for committee positions and let Les Herriot have your nominations by 31st March at the latest. We are asking for nominations for Chairman (currently Terry Wynne), Treasurer (currently Tony Hayselden) and committee member (currently Gordon Nelhams).

• Please note ‘The Wednesday Gang’ working group will start again after the Christmas/New Year break on Wednesday 11th January. If anyone wishes to come along any Wednesday they will be very welcome as many hands will help to speed up the work we are doing on the HO layout.

• Our January meet coincides with that of the Region Winter Meet at Benson – 14th January. We had considered changing but have decided to leave things as they are as it is rather late to make significant changes to dates which might also conflict with members existing plans.

• I detail the meet dates again for those who have misplaced their latest Train Orders due to the festivities. The dates – January 14th; February 12th (Valentine Special for the ladies); March 10th; April 15th; May 12th; June 10th; July 7th; August 12th; September 8th; October 7th; November 17th; December 9th.

• The new TESCO Store opens on 16th January for those interested. Please be aware that the new entrance for delivery trucks is along the roadway (which actually belongs to Tesco) you normally use to access the Heritage Centre. However, the trucks turn off to the right just before the gates to the Centre. So please take care when entering or leaving the Centre.

• Following some discussions at the Christmas meet some members expressed a wish to ask those who are willing to give a (say) 15 minute or 30 minute “show & tell” talk at our monthly group meets. This could be on something they have built, modified, or on something of interest that they have done or are about to do. Will those who would like to give one of these short talks please contact me with details, thank you.
Tony Gath has offered to “show & tell” his construction of a switch using the FastTracks switch/point jig. I will draw up a list of volunteers who are interested and arrange to publish the dates of when these will take place. I would think one talk per meet will be likely unless we are inundated with volunteers!

Look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our meets.

Terry Wynne, Chairman
Next Calder Northern Meet – Sunday 12th February

This is just a quick reminder that our next meet on Sunday is our Special Valentine Event for the ladies. There will be a drink of something bubbly (not washing up liquid) and chocolates as a thank you for putting up with our hobby. Do bring your better half along on Sunday.

The date for closure of nominations for the committee positions becoming vacant is fast approaching. Please let Les Herriot have your nominations by end of March at the latest. If you wish those who are currently serving in a committee position to be nominated again then please do ask them if they are prepared to hold office for another term.

I have received a comment from a member saying that he felt we should have more ideas for the HO layout discussed between the members. If anyone has any views and solutions to move this forward we can discuss the merits of this at our ‘Notices’ session on Sunday. Do bring along your ideas.

If anyone has any news about Derek Milby we would be pleased to hear how he is progressing. After Derek was transferred to the Barrow in Furness Hospital and then subsequently discharged from there we have been unable to make contact as we do not know his family’s address in Barrow where we think he went to continue his recovery.

On Sunday we will be able to give you some information as to the events going to take place during the Crewe 175 celebrations. Obviously our monthly meets will take place as normal but there may well be lots more visitors on site on those days than experienced in previous years.

Look forward to seeing you all.

Terry Wynne
6th Feb 2012

Hi everyone,

First I have to report that just over a week ago Derek Milby suffered a stroke and I understand from the latest current information is that he is making good progress. I have mailed a get well card to him on behalf of all members wishing him best wishes for a speedy recovery. Derek is in the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (Ward 23) but when he will be released is as yet unknown.
Derek had been travelling on a train with a friend with the intention of going to do some work on a locomotive on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. His friend had said something to Derek in conversation and Derek did not reply which prompted the friend to turn toward Derek only to see that some facial paralysis had occurred. The guy immediately phoned emergency services and the train was met at Lancaster Station and Derek moved to the RLI. The actions of his friend must certainly have aided Derek as the sooner treatment begins the better the chances of recovery.

Calder Northern Division’s next monthly meeting is our Christmas Meet on Sunday 11th December. Do come along for the usual Mince pie gathering and of course our club Christmas Raffle. If you can bring/donate a something for the raffle to help make it a bumper prize draw then so much the better. A bottle, something railroad related or an item which will be appreciated by wives or partners will be much appreciated.

Through the good offices of Derek Frith we are very pleased to have received a donation of buildings and some freight and passenger car models courtesy of Ian Allen Bookshop in Manchester. I will be writing to thank them shortly. Members will be welcome to look at the models and make a bid for those items which we consider surplus to club use – Please note there are no locomotives.

Advance notice – Next year is the 25th Anniversary of Crewe Heritage Centre and also importantly the 175th Anniversary of Crewe. So there will be some special events taking place at the Heritage Centre. We may be asked to participate and if so we will look to members to help in some way. A full calendar of events will be published in the New Year. I t is also possible that some of our meet dates will need to be altered once we know more about the celebrations.

Mike Lenz has drawn up our meet dates for 2012 – the dates will also appear in Roundhouse and on the British Region website and hopefully will not clash with Black Diamonds or Red Dragon groups as we do have members who also attend their meets. Dates as follows –

SATURDAY JANUARY 14TH
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 12TH (Valentine Special for the ladies)
SATURDAY MARCH 10TH
SUNDAY APRIL 15TH
SATURDAY MAY 12TH
SUNDAY JUNE 10TH
SATURDAY JULY 7TH
SUNDAY AUGUST 12TH
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH
SUNDAY OCTOBER 7TH
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17TH
SUNDAY DECEMBER 9TH

Well that’s all for now folks, except to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous 2012.

Terry Wynne, Chairman

Hello everyone,

I am extremely pleased to say that our “Western Roads” themed meet was a great success. All those who volunteered in response to the September Train Orders can give themselves a hefty pat on the back. You were all so helpful and as a result the event passed off very smoothly. Thank you everyone who came along to sweep, vacuum and mop floors on Friday prior to assisting layout operators and traders unload and set up their stands. Then on Saturday to man car parking duties, look after stands whilst owners took a well deserved break, to deal with pay desk duties in the pay hut at the entrance to the site was really appreciated. Very special thanks are due here to Christine Lushman (Rory’s wife) who spent virtually all day at this task; you really are a star Christine! Sunday was covered in a similar way with different members undertaking these duties with assistance being given to those packing their stands away before leaving the site at the end of the show. As ‘old Mr Grace used to say whilst waving his walking stick’ – “you have all done very well” – so a big thank you, to you all.

The disposal of the late Bill Burke collection in the APT was very successful thanks to Les Herriot and Ray Elwin who managed to sell all the items raising a good figure to send to his widow. Additional thanks are due here to Geoff Poulter who kindly paid to take off our hands all the remaining items unsold at the end of our event. In total we raised £1200 after selling all the items Mike Lenz and I brought from Bill’s home earlier this year.

The whole show and the now expected evening meal on Saturday at these special themed meets has drawn only positive comments from the many members attending. It is amazing that 30 rooms were booked in hotels around Crewe and that close to 50 people sat down to dinner Saturday evening.
Our guests from abroad Tom Griffiths from New Jersey, USA and Patrick Bopp and friends from Luxemburg were made most welcome and they all seemed to enjoy their stay with us.
Special thanks must go to Tom for his help throughout the weekend. We have photos of his heroic efforts with broom and mop on Friday, helping man North Western Mills layout on Saturday and Sunday and we appreciate his many other small moments of help to others during the weekend. During the visits to the event by first The Mayor of Crewe and then by Edward Timpson MP (Member for Crewe & Nantwich) we were able to ask Edward to present Tom with certificate and Calder Northern Division baseball cap granting him honorary membership of our group.

My final vote of thanks must first go to Mike Lenz for all the background work he undertook with the Crewe Heritage Centre Trust and liaison with the Friends of the Heritage Centre in organising the extra activities available for our visitors to enjoy. Then secondly grateful thanks to all of the Volunteers who manned the miniature railway, the refreshment counter, book shop in the Signal Box and the Class 03 loco giving rides. It is these attractions being available that helps to make our events such a success – Thank you guys.

As you all know the aim of this event was to raise funds for our group and to use some of any surplus to finance the purchase of Perspex to provide cover over the Devils Creek layout so that it can be permanently on display and for ‘anti- little fingers’ protection for the front of the North Western Mills layout.
Well I can happily announce we can achieve these planned tasks. Our takings for the whole event amounted to £2198.50 and once expenses are taken away we are left with a surplus of roundly £800. It was agreed by committee members that we also give £250 to the Crewe Heritage Centre and £250 to the Friends of Crewe Heritage Centre for their assistance and kind efforts over the whole weekend. We see this as part of a partnership in maintaining good relations and common interest on the site and being able to work together toward improving the attractions for the public.

Finally, considering our event clashed with the Manchester Model Railway Club 75th Anniversary Train Show and Crewe Fire Station Open Day we did well to have just over 100 NMRA members attending and 300 paying members of the public (400 including the free entry for children). A grand total of 500 persons was not bad considering! Thanks again to you all!

Terry Wynne, Chairman

Well everyone, our “Western Roads” Themed Train Show event is almost upon us. I sincerely hope that we are going to see you all at Crewe on Saturday 1st and/or Sunday 2nd October because as a group we have so much to do to make the event a success. Don’t forget the prime reason for this event is to raise funds for you Calder Northern Division members, so you can all enjoy the facilities and layouts we have at our disposal without the need to increase our dues significantly.
In the last Train Orders and at recent monthly meetings I have asked for people to volunteer just a half hour or one hour to be a car park steward or to sit on the pay desk at the entrance to the site but guess what, only one member has come forward offering to help. I am sorry but if this is the attitude members are happy to adopt, with a distinct lack of offers to help, then this is the last major venture of this kind I will involve myself in for the group. I feel very let down with the whole situation. This Train show has involved a large amount of work in getting layouts, traders, other attractions agreed with the Heritage Centre, printing and distributing publicity material, arranging website information and circulating local model shops only to meet a brick wall from the people it is meant to help. All of this has taken place whilst Sue & I are committed to full time care of our grandchild and really have little spare time these days. I am certainly not asking for praise from anyone but I would just like some members to come forward and say I volunteer to help for an hour on …….day!

That said and off my chest, I am stepping down off my soapbox!

I need now to advise you all of the arrangements that will be needed for the weekend. The order I list these may not be in correct chronological order so please forgive me if it is a little mixed up.

First the information about the Train Show – we have 12 layouts including our own 2 HO layouts and Mike Lenz layout. There are 3 N scale layouts including a 200’ run on the Black Diamonds/Snake Bend group modules. There will be 5 HO scale layouts including two layouts from Luxemburg courtesy of Patrick Bopp, also there is Roger Nicholls new layout with sound/DCC and one Lionel O scale layout. With regards to Traders we have LSWR, Contikits, ABC Modelsport (airbrush & weathering), Sunningwell Command Control (DCC equipment), Dagfields Books plus Richard Maxwell with his brass models.
Chris Leigh (ModelRail) will be giving his presentations (only on Saturday) in the middle room of the North Junction Signal Box (NJSB) and Crewe Railroaders American Football team will be located in the main hall with their display table. The Tombola table will be near the door of the Exhibition Hall and we would welcome any donated gifts for the table to make this a bumper prize event. We will have sales tables in the APT selling the items from the late Bill Burke collection. We did advertise B&B tables @ £5 per table but as yet no takers!
The Heritage Centre miniature railway will be operating; the two other signal boxes will be open and the “be a driver for a fiver” will be available on the Class 03 shunting loco. We are fortunate also to have a GM London Ontario built Class 66 loco on site as well.
Refreshments will be available in the form of a hot food van outside the Exhibition Hall as well teas etc in the NJSB.
As you can see there is much to offer the public and members at our show.
We understand that the Mayor of Crewe may well be coming along as well as the Crewe & Nantwich Member of Parliament, Edward Timpson and his family.

Please ensure you arrive early as traders and a few layouts will be setting up from 8am with the gates open to visitors from 10am. However, many of these will have arrived before 10am and get first use of the Centre’s car parking spaces.

For those of you who attended Kegworth last year might remember Tom Griffiths from New Jersey who helped on the Calder Northern layout that weekend. Well Tom is coming again and staying in the area for 3 weeks but will join us for all 3 days to help out as required – great guy!.
We know of at least 25 hotel rooms booked locally and of course the Saturday evening drinks & meal at Crewe Arms looks to have about 40-50 people attending which will be very good. Please let Nobby Clarke or myself know if you wish to join us for the meal but please do it before the Saturday so the hotel can deal with any increase in numbers.

Now to the next bit –

The Heritage Centre will be open all day on the Friday 30th September so we must first make sure all is clean and swept before we can mark out on the Exhibition Hall floor where layouts etc will be positioned. Tables will be delivered by the Hire Centre for traders and others to use. There will be a need to discuss parking arrangements and sort out who is to be allowed on site to park, what happens to traders vehicles once offloaded and how we deal with the overflow of member and public visitor cars during the event as well as reserving some disabled spaces just inside the gates or alongside the APT.
Obviously we are going to see some layouts and traders arriving Friday and some may need assistance to help set up a table or two. One of the last things needed on Friday is to position the banner signs outside the premises and attach the metal arrow direction signs on lamp posts at agreed points on the approach roads around Crewe. I have drawn up a map for this and maybe this could be dealt with by more than one person.

Saturday and Sunday –

Apart from the pay desk in the Pay cabin just inside the main gates which we need to have covered all day we will need stewards to deal with cars arriving for most of the opening hours – well until 3pm I think.
We are aiming to try and get as many cars as possible on site and intend to try park cars along the access road facing the railway, inside the main gates to the right before you reach the miniature railway crossing. After that we want to park cars alongside the APT but some of these must be for disabled users. The grass area at the front of the APT at the end of the site can take about 8 cars parked facing the main line but they will have to ride up over the sleeper frontage. Obviously we hope many people will share cars to ease the situation as once our spaces are full we will have to direct cars to the public car parks across the roundabout from Tesco. Dunelm Mill car park is limited to 3 hours (£75 fine if breached) so this should be pointed out to visitors, however, alongside Dunelm just a little further up that roadway is the Council public carking which is a pay & display (Saturday only – Sunday being FREE). Walking from that car park, visitors can use the pedestrian bridge over the road before walking down the driveway. Unfortunately Tesco’s rebuild is still far from finished and we had hoped some spaces could have been made available to us. This is still an ongoing issue and hopefully we may manage to agree something in the interim.
The hot food van will be in front of the Exhibition Hall and they will probably have a support vehicle as well. We must ensure they park close to the electrical source and leave space for other car access to the Hall. We hope to park cars on this grass space as well (although Crewe Railroaders might want to use some of this space if the weather is fine!) plus as many vehicles as possible alongside the L&NWR scrap metal outside the hall near the tracks. Mike Lenz car and a couple of other cars will be parked down at the NJSB.
I expect we will have to leave a space for our M.P.’s car on Saturday as well and this should be by the corner of the Exhibition Hall.
Some traders and those who arrive early will be asked if they will park across on the public car parks after unloading to help us out.
The late Bill Burke’s collection of models is to be sold over the weekend and we need some members to assist with this role. His widow has generously agreed Calder Northern Division should keep 10% of all the sales for club funds. John Hey spent last Wednesday pricing all the items so there is no need for anyone to have any concerns about what items should sell for, although if anyone makes an offer for an item very close to the marked value I would suggest it be accepted to ensure we do not have stuff unsold at the end of the weekend..
After the event closes on Sunday afternoon a little help to fold down tables, clear any rubbish from the exhibition hall floor will be appreciated. Oh yes, direction signs from the surrounding roads will need collecting as well.
This being a 2 day Train Show the expenses payments are going to be very high this year so we all should do what we can to encourage as many people as possible to come along and boost the income for the event. Posters and leaflets have been placed at local model shops and small posters placed in Supermarkets, Library, Petrol stations and on some company notice boards to this end.

Please e-mail me (T_WYNNE (at) sky.com) or telephone (strictly before 8pm any evening) on 01270 567050 if you can help with any task over the weekend be it setting up on Friday, pay desk, car parking, second-hand sales etc.

Terry Wynne, Chairman