Shed Notices

Preparations for publication of November SMT and Bulletin through Warners are almost complete. Printing and distribution are scheduled for the end of next week, meaning that members will start receiving their magazines from W/C 16th November onwards. As usual, the reverse side of the address carrier sheet used to mail the package will provide you with an opportunity to review your data. The format is the same as in previous years, but with the move of subscription management to Warner Group Publications, the place that you supply changes to has changed, so please follow the instructions on the form. Great care has gone into migration and subsequent review of the data, but I nevertheless strongly recommend that you review it to confirm accuracy and completeness.

Please also note that a Direct Debit mandate is included for UK residents wishing to renew their membership for another year in 2016. If you choose to use this facility, please note that the payment will not be requested from your bank account until the start of the new subscription year, i.e. 1st March 2016. Also, like any Direct Debit, it can be cancelled by you at any time. I hope that many of you will find this new facility convenient and useful.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

The list of Frequently Asked Questions about the changes to subscription management, as mentioned on the address carrier sheet with your copy of the Modellers’ Guide to the Festiniog Railway, is now available. It will also be included in the November Bulletin.

Click here to download the FAQ.

I am pleased to advise that the Modellers’ Guide to the Festiniog Railway plus the Help and Advice DVD, as one package, are scheduled for collection by Royal Mail from our mailing house today. Those being delivered to UK addresses will as usual be sent first class and those going to non-UK addresses will be sent by air mail. UK residents can expect to start receiving their packages from tomorrow onwards, but overseas deliveries will take longer and vary by country.

There is an important message for all members concerning changes to subscription management on the back of the address carrier sheet used to deliver the package. Your attention is drawn to this letter using what we hope is an unmistakable red banner containing bold white text on the front cover of the carrier sheet, just below the mailing address. I ask all members please to spend time reading and digesting the letter and its contents.

You will see that the final paragraph of the letter commits to a frequently asked questions list being made available on our web site and in November Bulletin. I unfortunately am experiencing a severe eye infection which is limiting my ability to type, so whilst I have started writing this, it will be a few days before this appears on our web site. I very much hope that this will be available during next week, subject to sufficient improvement to my vision. My ability to read and respond to emails is also limited, so please bear with me pending a return to what I hope will be normal operation.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

I’m very pleased to announce that after a long wait, the Modellers’ Guide to the Festiniog Railway, which focuses on its early years, goes to print today. It’s taken longer than anyone wanted, volunteer editor Andrew Charman especially, to get this out, but I’m sure that this 84 page guide will be greatly appreciated when it arrives and that we’ll again be singing his praises for a high quality publication. The printing and distribution cycle generally takes a couple of weeks, so UK members should expect to start receiving it from the end of next week and overseas members will start receiving it from the week after (W/C 25th).

I’m equally pleased to advise that our membership count has reached the same level as that where we ended 2014, namely 4,425 full and affiliate members. We are therefore poised once again to report net growth for the year, which will be at least the 7th year running that we have achieved this. We reached this milestone over the weekend, when two new members joined and three lapsed members rejoined. Members who join or rejoin the Association before the end of the year will also receive the Festiniog Guide, which we hope will support continued strong recruitment for the rest of this year.

A member phoned me over the weekend and asked how the Association was. My reply was “in rude health”. I hope you agree.

Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary

My last message on this topic set expectations that the guide would be completed by the time of the W&LLR gala at the end of the first weekend in September. As it was being finalised, Andrew recognised that new copies of two important pictures were needed. His editorial view, which I respect, is that these are needed to complete the guide to the desired standard. The pictures have been requested and the guide will complete as soon as they have been provided by the owners. Hopefully this should not take more than a week or so. Shed Notices will be updated as soon as the guide has been signed off at the printers.

Alan Regan, Chairman

I’m pleased to advise that August SMT & Bulletin will start to arrive with UK residents from tomorrow, Thursday 20th August. Suzanne and Gareth got both magazines finished early in the month and the printers and mailing house have pulled the stops out to get them quickly on their way. Overseas recipients will from experience receive them during the next two weeks, depending on where in the world they are. Thanks to all for getting both publications to members before the coming UK holiday.

I have been with Andrew (Charman – editor of the Festiniog Guide) on the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway today and he tells me that the guide will be signed off with the printers before the W&LLR gala which takes place 5th and 6th of September. It will then take between two and three weeks to print and distribute, so a realistic expectation is that it will be received by members towards the end of September. The Help and Advice DVD, featuring some of the demonstrations from the 2014 National Garden Railway Show, will be included with the guide.

Alan Regan, Chairman

We have added a number of child protection policies to the website. These can be read on the policies page – please scroll to the bottom of the page to see the policies. Members who might have contact with children at events and shows are urged to read these documents.

On a few occasions the Association has been contacted by members who are experiencing difficulties in receiving goods they have ordered from suppliers. While the Association is not a trade policing body, nor is it setting out to be a consumer arbitration organisation it recognises that there are a handful of occasions when its members have problems when dealing with traders. The Association will not get involved in individual cases of dispute between members and traders, however it has  produced a document as a means of advice where things go wrong. You can read the document on our policies page.

Following the election of Colin Slight as Company Treasurer at the AGM on 11th April, a hand-over process has been taking place between Colin and Carol Regan, the former Company Treasurer. This has now been completed and Colin will now formally take over from Carol. Carol will continue to serve on the Board as Trader Co-ordinator, responsible for trader attendance at the National Garden Railway Show.

I’m pleased to confirm that the May issues of SMT and Bulletin are being packed by the mailing house and will be collected by Royal Mail later today. UK members should receive their copy before the end of the week. Mailing to overseas members is by air mail and does vary by country, but I would expect most to receive their copy during the first week in June. As usual, contact the membership secretary at membership@16mm.org.uk if you have any concerns.

Alan Regan, Membership Secretary

Rob Guinness writes:

It is my sad duty to record the passing of my good friend and 16miller, Rob Bilsborrow, after a short, sharp battle with cancer, at the age of 64, on 12th May 2015.

Rob worked in science through his life, finally at Daresbury Labs in Runcorn. He had varied interests, having won awards for brewing beer from scratch, none of this kit rubbish! A great fan of curries, he often concocted his own creations. Astronomy was another interest, as was model aircraft. I believe it was after one expensive crash too many that he decided to stay on the ground with railways.

A confirmed steam fan, Rob laid his Mossala Hill Railway to 45mm gauge, with a Colonial theme, and a strong Indian influence. The line was typified by Garratt-hauled trains of curry sauce tankers, and the Madras Mail, with his coal-fired Bangalore Belle. In recent times, he developed an interest in things German, and had collected some LGB Saxonian stock to run with his IIIK.

Rob was a competent model engineer, and helped most of our local MAWLAG’s with repairs, or know-how. We both built the Association Victory loco, and modified them in different ways. His Colonial interests led to his occasionally turning up at an unknown small line with a loco that was not comfortable. He then spent a good deal of time crouching down to tweak things, to the amusement of onlookers.

It was typical of his character that, while at hospital in March, waiting for his scan, he perused Facebook and found a cancelled Roundhouse Stanley. He promptly bought it, and had it delivered the following day. I visited a few days later and we ran our Stanley twins together.

Rob was unable to make the journey to the Peterborough show, so I took his Victory for the parade. When I arranged to return it, I found he was admitted to hospital on the day. During this final stint he was on the smartphone again, negotiating another loco purchase, and planning mods to it. Sadly this was not to be.

Rob was actively supported in his ferrinequinology by wife Maria, who manned the buffet car on his open days. A friendly, helpful guy, he will be sorely missed by all at the Mersey And West Lancs Area Group.