Page 9 - May June 1998

TIMETABLE
JUNE 1998
NMRA Membership Cards needed for all Region Meet Entry.
Early Summer Meet 1998
Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st June at Ulverston
Late Summer Meet 1998
Sat. 22nd & Sun. 23rd August at Weston, nr. Derby
Extra Winter Meet 1998
Saturday 5th December at Benson, Oxon
NMRA (BR) CONVENTION ‘98
23rd, 24th & 25th October Moat House Hotel, Bournemouth Details and Booking Form on p11.
Spring Meet 1999
Saturday 6th February at Weston-super-Mare
LOCAL GROUP/DIVISION DETAILS ...SEE HEY THERE! OR DIRECTORY
ANNUAL DUES:
National Regular $32 pa to HQ Chattanooga by VISA/MC
British Region Dues £10.50 pa Payment due by 1st April each year
APPLICATIONS for Membership, Changes of Details, address etc. to:
REGION REGISTRAR: Vernon Stone, Capilano, Moneyrow Green, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 2NA.
Tel. 01628 627537
See DIRECTORY for all other Officers and Dues Information.
The Views expressed in ROUNDHOUSE are those of the Individual Concerned, and not necessarily those of the EDITOR, OFFICERS or ASSOCIATION.
CARS...
(All items by the Editor unless otherwise credited)
abusive when asked to show their cur- rent BR membership cards. This is total- ly unnecessary and unacceptable. The ladies who sit in cold doorways collect- ing entrance money also make the meals, sell raffle tickets and help us in all sorts of ways. With a membership now exceeding 700, nobody on the door can be expected to recognise everybody personally, so when requested to show your card (as indicated in the meetings information material published in Roundhouse) please do not vent abuse on the volunteer helpers.
If you have some kind of problem, come and see one of the BOD so that things can be sorted out in a civil manner.
Vernon Stone writes...
The Swiss Railways Society (Bristol- Bath Branch) would like someone to undertake an illustrated talk on (an aspect of) American railways. The venue is in Bath on a Friday evening sometime between October 98 and June 99. Maybe a recruitment opportu- nity? Also our members may attend their lectures by invitation.
Contact: R Ellis, 9 Ellyot Court, Marina Gardens., Fishponds Bristol BS16 3YF
Call me a killjoy or a nitpicker...
...but I cannot for the life of me see the rationale behind “models” like the Franklin Mint NYC Hudson, advertised in, for example, July 1997 TRAINS mag- azine, possibly a sequel to their approx- imate Southern Ps-4 of some years ago maybe? (This is purely my personal opinion, I hasten to add.) For nearly $300 you get a kind of upmarket diecast HO semi-toy that might have been a good standard and value at about £8, forty years ago.
Okay, you also get a polished wood base, with an engraved nameplate on it,
and a length of very average-looking set track. The loco is fully finished, as far as it goes, but compared with even an old- ish brass model it is crude beyond com- pare. Neither is it comparable to the equally crude, but at least collectible, Hi-rail diecasts like Lionel, where there is a certain history and nostalgia involved.
I’m not telling anyone how to spend their ‘hard-earned’, nor am I telling companies what to produce, but I can’t see why anyone should want to part with near-brass prices for a “Tyco-level” model - in fact that might be a slur on Tyco. And to add insult to injury, I hope nobody tries to run the loco as shown in the ad.’, as whoever assembled the model doesn’t know a lot about valve gear. Or is that eccentric crank and rod this month’s deliberate mistake!?
p.s. By sheer coincidence, last October. the TV “Watchdog” programme had an item on Franklin Mint, but relating to some other item, I believe a clock of some sort, for which the customer had paid over £140, to be told by some expert it was worth about £15. Their advice was “if you really like the prod- uct, then buy it by all means, but don’t expect it to appreciate or even retain its purchase value.”
Sir Walt’s Roanoke
An item in our Daily Something or Other happened to mention that Sir Walter Raleigh founded Roanoke (it also said this was the first British settlement in the New World - can that be right?? ) Anyway, thanks very much, Sir Walt, you were obviously the first N&W fan - pity there wasn’t an N&W back then. I wonder what he would have made of NS on the march nowadays? (It also said he named Virginia after Queen Elizabeth I - work it out for yourself.)
John Wright’s Westmoreland roundhouse can be seen at the NMRA (BR) Early Summer Meet at Ulverston on 20th & 21st June.
Achievement
Program News...
Steve Park announces
the following recent awards:
GOLDEN SPIKE awards go to:
Richard Insley
Peter Pedlow
Rob Funnell
Barry Peacock.
Certificates in the
“Association Volunteer” Category have been awarded to:
Ted Smale Richard Insley
Bob Phelps Chris Hopper George Gregory
JUNE 1998
9
YARD LIMIT