Page 4 - July August 2005

President's Car...
NobbyClarke
I seem to have hit a chord with my June "President's Car", as several of you wrote and e-mailed me on the subject of the layout badges and how best to publicise ourselves. The one thing that kept coming up time and time again was to hold a Model Rail- way show sponsored by the British Region for the public.
I could not agree more with this, as it could be one of the best ways for us to show prospective members what we are about.
So instead of us sitting around talking about it, I say "let's do it", and with that in mind I am in the middle of talking to my local school, where I hold the Northamp- ton model railway show every year, with the view of holding our first public show. I am hoping this will be September 2006, which seems to be one of the best times of the year.
The format will be on the same lines as every public show across the country, apart from its all-North American railroad content.
I intend to have a mix of layouts from Z to Gauge 1, with a mix of traders to suit and hopefully demos on DCC etc (that's down to you; let me know if you are interested in putting on a demo).
I hope the show will not only be a show- case for BR, and American modelling in general, but also informative for those who come along! Plus I cannot think of a better way to end the 60th Anniversary celebrations. So watch this space for the date and more information.
Spring meet
Rainhill was a great success and enjoyed by all of those who attended, with every room having something to look at and spend pennies on. I would like to thank the team for a great job well done, and to cap it all they have agreed to do the same again for the spring meet 2007. The only drawback was that yet again there wasn't a quorum at the business meeting. I think
we would be far better served with just the AGM at the convention, but we should then hold an informal "officers' meeting" at least once a year in place of the HYBM. I believe it's very important that the BOD and officers are kept in touch with the wishes of our fellow mem- bers.
Competitions and Achievement
Program at Region meets
I have asked the Contest Chairman, Keith
Webb, to look into holding some form of
contests at Region meets, starting with next year's Winter meet, 21 Jan 2006. We could start this off with a simple popular vote contest of models on display, with a small prize for the winner at the end to keep it fun! And then, who knows how it may grow if enough of us show interest.
I have also asked the Achievement Pro- gram Chair Steve Park to look into doing much the same for members who wish to enter AP or who would like to find out more about the Achievement Program. I for one know very little about the AP how to enter or what standards are required to do so, and I believe this puts people off entering — I know it has me!
It may be a good idea if, at a meet, there could be a display or demo on what is required to enter with, say, a few models that have already been through the pro- cess so we can see first-hand how it's done! It seems a shame that we only hold contests and hear about winners of the AP at the convention. I think it's time we made more of Region meets than just layouts and traders. We have a wealth of knowledge within the Region and it would be nice if we could pass some of this on through demos and so on!
Meets booked
We now have all of next year's meets arranged, starting with the Winter meet, 21 Jan (London Div), Spring meet 20 May (Black Diamonds), Summer meet 1 and 2 July, Derek Milby. And with the spring meet of 2007 being taken by the lads of the Calder Northern, I am only looking for
two Divisions to arrange the Winter 07 and the summer meet 07 — any takers!?
Atlantic Director
I am pleased to announce that Steve Park was voted in as Atlantic Director for a two-year term, and wish him well in his endeavours. I am also very grateful to John Webb and Des Norman who stood as the Region's candidates but who were un- successful this time — thank you, gentle- men.
Slip-up!
I owe an apology for waiting until now to say thank you, to the four gentlemen of the international committee of the BOT, Dave North, Steve Park, Clark Kooning, Frank Gerry, through whose hard work on the New Deal we find ourselves as a Region in a better place today. So to you gentlemen I say, on behalf of the BR, thank you.
Polo shirts
You will find an order form in this issue as promised, for the 60th Anniversary polo shirts. If you don't wish to ruin your copy of RH, a photocopy will be fine, but please make sure it's readable, then all you need to do is send it along with a cheque.
Modelling
Well I have finally found myself with room to build my first home layout, now that two out of my three children have moved home and I have room to spare! So the "Sweet Water & Blue Grass sub of the Santa Fe" has got off the drawing board and is now becoming reality. I built an exhibition layout several years ago but I found that's not the same — enjoyable, but not the same.
I have been reminded just what a great hobby this is, what with the fun of looking through magazines for ideas and possible track plans, to sitting down at night with a blank piece of paper, writing down a wish list, and finally having the possibility of being able to run all those locos stored away for just this moment; "World's Greatest Hobby" — I could not agree more!
Keep it Real!
4 ROUNDHOUSE