A very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year to you and your family – I also hope you had a great Christmas and that all your presents came with wheels on!
First a reminder that the date advised in “Roundhouse” for our January meet has changed. In order to avoid a clash with the British Region Meet at Benson on 15th January, we have moved our January meeting to Saturday January 22nd. A full list of our 2011 meet dates is included in this Train Orders.
A second reminder is for you all to note that the Calder Northern Annual General Meeting is to be held on Sunday April 17th commencing at 1.30pm. This year the only position to be voted on is that of Secretary. Nominations for this position should be sent to Les Herriot before 31st March 2011 – details at the end of this mailing. As you are aware Les currently holds this position and is happy to be nominated for a further term should members so wish.
A third reminder – please note that our “Western Roads” Themed Meet will be a 2 day event held on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October – 10am till 4pm each day. Like the previous themed meet we will be arranging an evening meal at a local hotel on the Saturday and hope as many of you as possible will come along; cost will be advised at a later date. Last time 36 people enjoyed dinner and most stayed overnight in the hotel. Local rates range from £29 per room per night in Travelodge / Premier Inn (early booking essential) to £49 at other hotels in the area. A number of traders and layouts are already booked and further details will appear in Roundhouse as we progress with the organisation of the event. ABC Modelsport of Crewe will be demonstrating airbrushing & weathering techniques on their stand. Chris Leigh (editor of Model Rail) will be giving a presentation on “The White Pass & Yukon RR” and maybe an update on ‘Kinsol Trestle’ for those of you who attended his presentation at the Canadian themed meet in 2007. The usual Heritage Centre attractions will be operating (Signal Boxes, Miniature railway and “be a driver for a fiver” on the Class 03 shunter) and hopefully a steam loco will be on site as well.
Don’t forget we will need assistance in the kitchen, with stewarding and car park attendants for the event.
Crewe Heritage Centre Trust has advised us that the rent we pay for use of the facilities in the North Junction Signal Box is to increase by £50 to £450 per annum with immediate effect. They also advise that due to planned significant expenditure on improving the NJSB (security and heating) we are also likely to see a further increase of £50 to £500 per annum for 2012. The rate of £400 has been maintained since we moved to Crewe from Broadheath in 2006 and your committee feel the increase/s is acceptable.
Following two successful clinics during the past year we are planning to continue with these for your enjoyment. Paul Brickles from ABC Model sport has promised to conduct another airbrushing clinic, this time with you having hands on experience on a model of your choice. Paul Doggett has also offered his services again and we are hoping to finalise a topic very soon. Terry Wynne has suggested that a ‘hands-on’ clinic on wiring an Athearn ‘Blue-Box Loco’ for DCC. Terry will show how easy it is to do and everyone attending can wire their own loco on the day. If there are sufficient numbers (we will ask for numbers later) we could perhaps approach one of the suppliers to see what discounts are offered. You then could buy decoders not just for the clinic but to take home for other locos you own for fitting at a later stage. A recent cost for the chip specific for Blue Box locos is around £17 (basic item). If you are interested then please tell your committee members as soon as you can.
We are looking for help with doing some rewiring and a small amount of track laying on the old DC scenic boards. The boards are now in position along the right hand wall of the clubroom and plans are in place to make a joining board so interchange of freight cars can be made when running sessions begin. An additional scenic board is planned which will have a rail ferry berth and float bridge. n.b. The DC scenic boards will continue to be solely DC powered. The connecting board however, will allow access from both the DC and DCC layouts for interchanging cars – a protected dead section ensuring no locos ‘get fried’.
Remember also the ‘Devils Creek’ layout is available to run your DC locomotives. Thanks to Steve Scott information for this layout is being prepared so members will be fully aware of all the little details for enjoyable operation of trains. If you want to run trains on this DC layout please remember it has #4 or #5 switches and so long wheelbase locos (i.e. 2-12-2’s) might find them rather tight!
Finally, for this notice, the Heritage Centre is holding a Model Railway show which is planned for Sat/Sun 19th/20th February when we need volunteers to operate all our layouts on both days. Please advise Mike Lenz, Terry Wynne or see one of the committee members at the January meet to say if you are able to operate on either or both of those days. Thank you.
2011 MEET DATES
Saturday January 22nd
Sunday February 13th
Saturday March 12th
Sunday April 17th – Annual General Meeting
Saturday May 14th
Sunday June 12th
Saturday July 16th
Sunday August 14th
Saturday September 10th
Saturday & Sunday October 1st & 2nd – Themed meet
Saturday November 12th
Sunday December 11th
Terry Wynne e-mail – T_WYNNE@sky.com
Mike Lenz e-mail – mlenz20284@aol.com
Your Committee – Les Herriot, Tony Hayselden, John Hey, Gordon Nelhams, Mike Lenz and Terry Wynne
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