Shed Notices

It’s nearly Christmas, so it must be time for the 16mm Association Christmas Quiz! This year, Show Director Laurence Smith has become our quizmaster.

The quiz can be found at https://www.16mm.org.uk/christmas-quiz/ and is open to both members and non-members of the Association. Even if you only know one or two answers you stand a chance of winning 16mm Association membership for 2017.

The following prizes will be awarded:

• Entry with the most correct answers: A Summerlands Chuffer for your locomotive and a year’s Association membership
• 2nd place: A Summerlands Chuffer
• Randomly selected entry: A year’s Association membership

Many thanks to Chris Bird of Summerlands Chuffers for kindly donating two of his ‘Chuffers’ as prizes again this year.

Entries must be submitted by midnight on December 31st 2016.

Richard Huss, IT Officer

Well, here it is! Having started work in earnest after last year’s National Garden Railway Show, the new Association web site has gone live today. The new site designed to work much better on the increasing variety of mobile and tablet devices in use today: just over 30% of visitors to the show web site use a tablet or a mobile phone. Whilst the content has been significantly reorganised, everything that was on the old site is still there, and any old links and bookmarks should redirect you to the right place. We hope you enjoy looking around, and perhaps discovering content you had not spotted before or had forgotten about.

One area of the web site where we are reliant on the membership is in submissions for Model of the Month feature. We love to showcase our members’ work and models, so if you have a model that you would like to write about for a future month then please contact me at webmaster@16mm.org.uk.

Richard Huss, IT Officer

Gareth and Suzanne have confirmed overnight that SMT and Bulletin are both now with Warners for printing by the agreed deadline. I have confirmed quantities, so all is now set for printing and packaging during next week and collection by Royal Mail on Friday 18th November. Postage as usual will be First Class to UK addresses and Air Mail to overseas addresses. If having allowed reasonable time based on your location your copy fails to arrive, please contact Warners on 01778 392016 or 16mmNGM@warnersgroup.co.uk.

The planned distribution date for February SMT and Bulletin, plus the Show Guide for the 2017 40th anniversary National Garden Railway Show, annual report and membership DVD, is Friday 17th February 2017.

Thanks again to both editors and those who contributed to both magazines. I hope you enjoy the fruits of the labours when you receive yours.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

Dear all,

It is that time of year again when we are looking for contributions to the DVD. We’d ideally like MP4, AVCHD or MP2 format files (as high quality as possible) to be sent via Dropbox or similar with a link sent by email to: debenvalleylightrailway@yahoo.co.uk. (Any queries should be fielded to this address also.) We’d like each video to be less than 10 minutes long. There is still time to get out into the garden with a camera and enjoy the enhanced steam effects the colder weather affords us, or perhaps you have some footage taken over the summer languishing on an SD card?

We’d be particularly grateful for any “How to” instructional videos on any garden railway topic – for example weathering, coal firing or point construction. There have also been requests for more overall shots showing how the railway fits into the garden – perhaps showing a track plan as part of the video may be of benefit to those members who are currently planning their own garden railways?

I wrote a few words on some ideas last year which are still relevant – you can read them here – On filming.

I look forward to receiving your videos!

Zach Bond

For the first time ever, we’re having a prototype steam locomotive in steam at the National Garden Railway Show. No.24 from the 15″ gauge Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway – a replica of the S.R.R.L 2ft gauge No.24 – will be in steam and giving you the chance to get behind the regulator for a driving experience for £5. Driver for a Fiver on No.24 will start from 9am on the Saturday and continue through the day.

If you’ve never had the chance to have a drive of a large steam loco, this is it! But don’t worry you won’t be alone in the spacious cab, as one of the professional drivers from the C.C.L.R will be in the cab with you to show you how to drive.

We are very thankful to the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway for allowing 24 to attend the show, which is looking like the best one yet.

Laurence Smith, Show Director

Loco stolen today – please keep an eye out – thank you.

Very distinctive rebuilt Mamod ‘Swordbreaker’ – very unusual as an 0-6-0. It was taken on a Cross-Country train Derby to Birmingham train today, stopping at Burton. Taken in a rucksack along with other bits including a camera. A much loved regular at the Llechfan Garden Railway and many other lines & exhibition layouts. Please help to keep out an eye for this very special little engine.

May SMT was printed on schedule yesterday and will be collected from Warners by Royal Mail today.  UK addresses will start to receive the package from tomorrow morning and most overseas recipients will start receiving theirs next week.  If you renewed your membership after Thursday 12^th May (I know that at least 30 of you did), you missed the bulk mailing so Warners will send your copy manually during next week.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

May Bulletin has already been printed and May SMT will go to print early next week. Thanks to Suzanne and Gareth for keeping to schedule again. We are on target for Royal Mail to collect the May package from Warners Midlands next Friday, 20^th May, so deliveries to UK addresses should start the following day. Overseas packages will be sent by air mail as usual. As part of the Board’s ongoing objective to provide additional benefits to members, what we hope will be a useful modelling aid will be tacked to the front cover of Bulletin. Thanks to Rod Nipper for making this happen. Enjoy when the package arrives.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

Thank you for your interest in the dehydrated water offer. Unfortunately as a result of Storm Katie, the Original Welsh Water Company’s dehydration plant was flooded over the Bank Holiday weekend, and we do not expect supplies to be available again till April Fools day next year.

Limited time offer – register your interest NOW!

For many years both full size and model steam engine operators have been concerned about the quality of the water that they put into their boilers, and the damage that impurities and chemical imbalances can cause. British Railways and ICI developed the Alfloc system and modern products such as Polytan 4F are currently used by heritage railways.

In models the use of de-ionised and distilled water has been hotly debated and at least one 16mm manufacturer offers a physical filtering system for water treatment. However the Association of 16mm Narrow Gauge Modellers has teamed up with The Original Welsh Water Company to bring the benefits of pure Welsh water to its worldwide membership.

Sustainably abstracted from Welsh mountain aquifers the Original Welsh Water Company triple filters the water through activated charcoal and micro mesh slate filter beds to purify it before passing it through the Patented Reduced Aquatic Treatment System, as certified by The Water Industry Technical Subcommittee, a state of the art patented system to dehydrate the product and hermetically package it so that it meets international standards for worldwide distribution.

The Association is delighted to be offering its members a trial pack of dehydrated Original Welsh Water for a strictly limited time as one of the current member benefits.

To register for your trial pack, send your name and membership number to water.offer@16mm.org.uk. Register now! – Offer ends at midday on 1st April 2016.

Pam Morgan, spokeswoman for the company said, “We are delighted to be working with the Association to provide members with the benefits of our product.”

Dehydrated water from the Original Welsh Water Company

Instructions for use: Trial pack makes 5 litres of boiler feed water. To use your trial pack you will need to provide your own clean plastic 5 litre container, ideally made from an opaque plastic. Careful open the trial pack by cutting along the red dotted line and empty the contents, taking care not to spill it, into the container. Top up with five litres of cooled water from your kettle or drinking water filter (e.g.: Brita) to maintain the highest purity standards. Enjoy the benefits of dehydrated water from the Original Welsh Water Company in your model boilers.

Caution: Please read and make sure you fully understand the instructions before use.

Warning: This product is not to be used without supervision. May cause drowning if inhaled. If accidentally splashed on skin, apply copious towels or other soft absorbent material. May cause irritation to young people with a known allergy to H2O. If in doubt use eye protection and gloves when handling.

For full chemical analysis and product data sheet tel: 0800 0104 2016

Recommended mean operating temperature between 32 and 212 degrees F at one atmosphere.

Store in a cool location out of direct sunlight. Use by date: 12:00 01.04.16

An updated Policy and Procedure for the Management of Harassment, Bullying, Violence and Aggression has been posted on the Policies page of the Association web site.

Mike Riley, Company Secretary