Page 11 - November December 1998

TIMETABLE
DECEMBER 1998
NMRA Membership Cards needed for all Region Meet Entry.
Extra Winter Meet 1998
Saturday 5th December at Benson, Oxon
Winter Meet 1999
Saturday 6th February at Weston-super-Mare
Spring Meet 1999
Saturday 27th March
at Brunel University (Surrey)
Early Summer Meet 1999
Sunday 20th June at Rainhill
Late Summer Meet 1999
August at De Ferrers School, Burton-on-Trent
NMRA (BR) CONVENTION ‘99
22nd, 23rd & 24th October Moat House Hotel, Peterborough Full details later.
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)
and many stock items are American brands not usually found here.
John’s “local” is on the A27 near Jct. 9 of M27 near Fareham, Hants. Hobbycraft are also in Ferndown, Bristol, Tamworth, Gloucester, Greenford (Middx.), Preston, Southampton, Northampton, Bolton, Sheffield and Nottingham. Lines include imported matte medium, brush-on latex for rock moulds etc., Sculptamold, Rub and Buff, and a whole range of modelling tools and accessories, smooth and textured paint (hundreds of acrylic shades and finishes alone.) Best of all, prices are competitive, not automatically based on the $1 = £1 formula.
John disclaims any business connections with these outfits except as a regular customer! He also says they are great places to take the family, often having free activities for children. Some Hobbycraft stores are co-located with Haskin’s Garden Centres.
Mike Walker, of “SPV Railroad Atlas” fame...
...reported in October 1998’s “Railfan & Railroad” that the UK’s “EW&S Rwy.” (otherwise known as Wisconsin Central) placed an order with GM for at least 250 3200hp double-ended 75mph freight diesels. This order has two claims to fame. It is the largest single export order ever received by GM, and it is WC’s first ever order for brand new locos.
Additonally 30 faster B-B diesels have been ordered for 125mph hotshot/mail service. These have US power units but will be built in Spain. Virgin Trains ordered 36 similar, but single cab, locos for the new Bombardier-built tilting trains. Mike points out that the WC order indicates how far U.K. freight railroading has been turned around since denationalisation. Obviously it helps when you run a business that looks after the customers’ needs rather than just your own convenience.
At the same time, “Railpace” and other magazines...
...were displaying a lot of photos of P32’s, the lower-powered Genesis look-alike. GE has developed a family look for its passenger haulers and they do grow on you, especially when seen in the “flesh”. I didn’t like the ‘safety cab’ freighters at first, nor the Genesis “washing machines”, but now I find them all very impressive when going about their business. I never did like F40PH’s anyway. But the E8?.. ...now there’s an engine!
“Squires of Bognor Regis” ...
This excellent craft tools and bits-&- pieces stockist has changed premises and phone number. They are now at 100 London Road, Bognor Regis, W.Sussex PO21 1DD, on tel: 01243 842424. Unlike the previous address, where planning
restrictions prevented anything other than a mail order operation, the new store will have a retail counter from around now (December 1998).
Paul Doggett...
...mentioned reading that Birmingham Southern SD9’s can be operated by a man on the ground with a “control box”. Does that sound familar? asks Paul. I mentioned back to him that in the TRAINS video “Conrail’s Chicago Gateway” there is a sequence in a steel works where switchers are similarly operated. The engineer-cum-brakeman wears the controls round his neck like an old-time cinema icecream girl with her tray. He controlled the loco both from the ground and from its walkways. Might make a novel model figure - man, in hard hat, on walkway, with box hanging from straps round neck. Okay till it starts raining, I guess.
Paul also says, “I put a couple of ‘Want Ad.’ lines (for Ulrich gondolas) into ‘Bulletin’. Received 2 phone calls, 10 letters, 3 free gondolas, and made a new pen friend. Where else could you do that but NMRA?”
(“Heart to Heart” columns maybe? - Ed.)
Red Cab Roofs...
Peter Crooks surmises that maybe this was a way of spotting where locos were, in a crowded yard, from a switch tower which could be half a mile away. A properly fired hard-coal loco, idling amongst possibly 500 boxcars of a similar height, would emit very little smoke. No problem at night with headlights and back-up lights in use. Just a thought!
A further comment
on Liquid Nails...
...this product is showing up all over the place now. I spotted some on special offer in Sainsbury’s Homebase recently.
Ken O’Shea...
...‘phoned to admit to a little over- enthusiasm in his description of the forth-coming Plymstock meeting. He said his term “extravaganza of overseas railways” might be misconstrued. In fact the group will be showing 2 American layouts, a Continental one and a handful of British outline. Still sounds like a good mix to me, so go along and support him if you can, on 19th December.
At the Bournemouth Convention...
Toad Spratley asked me to print his thanks to Jean Grant (Hotelink) for her hard work in securing last year’s Convention rates and arrangements at Cheltenham. He feels that the 1997 committee could not have negotiated such a good package themselves, and relations with the hotel were so good that they would like us back there sometime.
Correction...
In the Half Year (April 1998) business meet minutes (printed Roundhouse October 1998), it was stated that the 1999 Brunel University meet would be at the Reading Campus. It should have read the Egham Campus.
And finally...
At an officers’ meeting during the Bournemouth convention it was decided that the Editor would soon work with a new PC equipped with modem and fax. Directly this is achieved, and I have full details of e-mail and fax numbers, these will be published and you
can all inundate me with electronic rubbish. I have a good supply of tranquillizers on hand.
YARD LIMIT
11
DECEMBER 1998