Shed Notices

“Please read the notices before you leave the shed.”

12 Mar 2017

Anniversary Charter Trains

2017-03-31T11:23:42+01:00March 12th, 2017|Shed Notices|Comments Off on Anniversary Charter Trains

How about a weekend in Wales riding on two iconic “Great Little Trains” specially chartered for the fortieth anniversary of the Association?

As you may have noticed in the February Bulletin, the weekend of the 10th and 11th June will be an opportunity to enjoy a trip on either the Talyllyn or Welshpool and Llanfair Railways, or indeed both.

Travel with other members of the Association on board our exclusive charter trains, at an absolute bargain price of just £5 per person per train – that’s a saving of at least £11 on the TR and £7.50 on the W&LLR!

At the Talyllyn there are two trains, an exclusive Association BBQ and of course the Llechfan 16mm garden railway as well as the narrow gauge museum.

There’s plenty of parking at both railways and the sooner you book the sooner you can also book some accommodation if you want to make a short break of this Anniversary Charter Weekend.

June might seem a long way ahead, but there are limited seats, and of course once they are taken that’s it! As an added incentive, if you have bought your tickets before Saturday 8th April, and you are at the National Garden Railway Show, then there will be the chance to enter the draw for Footplate Rides on the Charter Trains that will be made at the show!

Ticket sales close on 31st May or as soon as each train is full!

Still undecided? – take a look at some of what you would be missing here:

 

If you don’t want to buy online then send your order, cheque and SAE to the address on Page 52 of the February Bulletin.

Don’t miss out – book today!

8 Mar 2017

2017 annual DVD

2017-03-09T16:44:48+00:00March 8th, 2017|Shed Notices|Comments Off on 2017 annual DVD

A small number of members (less than 30) have reported problems with their DVD, either failure to read at all or failure to read all tracks.  A sample of faulty DVDs have been analysed by the replication factory and have been found to be physically damaged.  The damage may not be visible to the naked eye but will have occurred in transit, most probably as a result of an attempt to fold the package in which they were delivered.

The DVDs were tack glued at Warners by machine to the front cover of Bulletin and the DVD was not visible through the foil.  This was intentional but may have been inadvisable as anyone handling the package will have been unaware of the contents.  I collected a quantity of DVDs from Warners and personally tested over 20 DVDs at random.  None exhibited any problems, which reinforces my view that the DVDs received by Warners were in good condition.

Please can I therefore ask members to test their DVD within the next 10 days and report any issues to Warners.  Replacements are available, but the Association will incur a cost for every one supplied, so please don’t request one just in case yours is faulty, do test it first.  Warners will inform me of any replacements made.  If sufficient DVDs need replacement, a further supply will be arranged from the replication supplier, but I need to know now how many to order, hence the request to test your DVD as soon as possible.

Warners can be emailed at 16mmNGM@warnersgroup.co.uk or phoned on 01778 392016.  Telephone lines are open 8 am – 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am – 5pm on Saturdays.  Please quote your membership number or post code when you contact them.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

25 Feb 2017

Membership renewals at the National Garden Railway Show

2017-03-09T16:44:36+00:00February 25th, 2017|Shed Notices|Comments Off on Membership renewals at the National Garden Railway Show

In response to questions regarding the possibility of renewing membership at the Arena on 8th April, I can confirm that it will be possible between 09:00 when the Atrium opens and 13:00 when I depart to prepare for the Annual General Meeting. Renewals will be accepted in cash or cheque in Pounds Sterling drawn on a UK bank. Members wanting to renew using a credit or debit card need to do so directly with Warners as the Association cannot process these payments at the show. I do however encourage members to renew in advance using one of the various methods the Association has put in place. Surely spending your time enjoying our fantastic 40th anniversary show is better than queuing to make a payment which could so easily have been made in advance.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

4 Feb 2017

Association branded clothing

2017-03-03T13:41:40+00:00February 4th, 2017|Shed Notices|Comments Off on Association branded clothing

Updated 3 March 2017:

Pre-orders for clothing have now closed. If you placed an order Rod will be in touch shortly to update you on the price and pre-payment arrangements for those that want to “click and collect”.

A small selection of the clothing and other items will be available to buy over the counter at the Association sales stand on Market Street at the National Garden Railway Show.

 

Following the recent Board meeting it has been decided there will be a selection of Association branded clothing available to buy at the National Garden Railway Show from a dedicated Association stand on Market Street.

In order to firm up prices I could do with an indication of likely demand ….

  • Short sleeved Polo shirts Navy, Burgundy or Bottle green – Estimated price £15 each
  • Long sleeved fleece, same selection of colours – Estimated price £20 each
  • Potentially long sleeved sweat shirts if there is any demand (price to be confirmed)

All branded with a 16mm NGM 40th Anniversary logo in the left breast position
Sizes: Medium, Large, XL, XXL (other sizes if pre-ordered & may be a different price)
Base garment by “Fruit of the Loom”
Sorry but no personalisation (i.e.: your name / railway name) will be possible

  • Baseball caps with the standard logo, potentially in green, navy or burgundy depending on demand – estimated price £5

If you want to express interest / pre-order drop me an email to publicity@16mm.org.uk with your requirements which can then be bagged up and ready for payment (cash or cheque) and collection on the 8th April.

Please note that it is not the intention to return to offering a mail order service; this will be a one off chance to buy at the show.

Rod Nipper, Marketing and Publicity

25 Jan 2017

Online subscription renewals – 2017/18 membership year

2017-02-01T09:02:52+00:00January 25th, 2017|Shed Notices|3 Comments

The emails inviting members to renew their subscriptions online are scheduled to be sent out by Warners on Monday 30th January.  As usual, these invitations will be sent only to members who have elected to renew online, or who joined online and didn’t take out a Direct Debit at the time.

I’m pleased to advise that the renewal process has been simplified considerably this year.  Each member will receive a bespoke link which will take them to a Web form with their name, membership number, subscription amount and membership type prefilled – note that membership number, subscription amount and membership type cannot be altered.  They will need to enter their billing address, which will be carried forward to the payment screen, use a button on the form to copy billing to mailing address and finally enter the email address to which they want payment verification sent.  Then they’ll click a Buy Now button take them to a secure SagePay payment page accepting Visa and Mastercard, credit, debit, Visa Electron and Maestro.

As usual, a means for each member to verify the authenticity of the mail will be provided – clearly I won’t elaborate here on what this is.

I will continue to work with Warners to develop the renewal process – we will for example look for opportunities to prefill more data where possible.

The process has been tested in a range of environments but clearly we cannot replicate the myriad web browsers and devices in use across the world, so if you have problems, please contact Warners in the first instance and they’ll do their best to help.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

5 Jan 2017

Christmas Quiz 2016: Winners and Answers

2017-01-25T18:56:21+00:00January 5th, 2017|Shed Notices|Comments Off on Christmas Quiz 2016: Winners and Answers

We are very pleased to announce that the following are the winners of the Association 2016 Christmas Quiz, set by Laurence Smith.

Place Prize Winner
1st Prize A ‘Summerlands Chuffer’ for your locomotive, kindly donated by Chris Bird of Summerlands Chuffers, plus a year’s Association Membership for 2017 William High
2nd Prize A ‘Summerlands’ Chuffer for your locomotive, kindly donated by Chris Bird of Summerlands Chuffers Stuart Timms
3rd Prize (randomly selected entry) A year’s Association Membership for 2017 Barry Nixon

Well done to all of you.

The answers to the quiz have also been published.

Richard Huss, IT Officer

31 Dec 2016

Subscription Rates

2017-05-22T17:37:48+01:00December 31st, 2016|Shed Notices|8 Comments

We’ve been able to hold subscription rates at their same level for all categories of member for four years and for UK members for nine years.  Costs rose during this period, but we were able to introduce efficiencies or obtain more competitive prices for key deliverables, so were able to avoid passing them on.  However, we are now facing increases which we cannot absorb.  The paper used to print 16mm Today and Bulletin is sourced in Continental Europe and paid for in Euros.  A weaker Pound means that this costs more now than a year ago.  Mail costs have also increased, driven to some extent by increased fuel costs, which UK residents have seen rise as the Pound has weakened.  The membership rates which we’ve held for so long no longer cover the cost of fulfilling each subscription, so with regret the Board has decided to increase them.

The cost of each membership category rises by £1 from the previous rate as follows:

Membership category Rate
UK – Full £18
Family – Full £19
Junior £9
Overseas – North America £28
Overseas – Europe £29
Overseas – Rest of World £30

These rates have been implemented in our web site and in Warners systems and apply from now for new subscriptions and renewals for the 2017/18 membership year.  This change will be communicated to members who renew via Direct Debit in advance, per the Direct Debit terms.  Members who renew online will be requested to renew at these rates via a streamlined renewal process in early February 2017.  Any member who wishes to renew in advance of the normal invitation, which accompanies February SMT, may do so by contacting Warners on 01778 392016 (outside the UK: +44 1778 392016). Lines are open 8 am – 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am – 5pm on Saturdays and Bank Holidays (UK time), excluding Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

The Board feels that membership of the Association continues to be very competitively priced compared with other societies supporting garden railway scales.  16mm Today, at 76 pages per issue, compares very favourably on a per issue basis with commercial offerings covering the garden scales.  The Board hopes that this small increase will not put members off renewing and that they will continue to view membership of the Association as good value for money.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

23 Dec 2016

Christmas Quiz 2016

2016-12-30T22:07:49+00:00December 23rd, 2016|Shed Notices|4 Comments

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

30 Nov 2016

New web site

2016-11-30T14:45:14+00:00November 30th, 2016|Shed Notices|Comments Off on New web site

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

11 Nov 2016

November SMT and Bulletin

2016-11-11T11:16:18+00:00November 11th, 2016|Shed Notices|Comments Off on November SMT and Bulletin

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

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