Page 4 - NMRA Roundhouse September-October 2019

Spreading the Word
I have given considerable thought as to what I would like to achieve as President over the next two years.
You may recall that in my ‘From the Head End’ in the June edition of Round- house, I described how important it is to have those face to face conversations. I experienced this myself at Alexandra Palace in March and I would like to take this forward into the next two years.
We all collectively need to have those conversations, but only if you are comfortable to do so. If possible, where members exhibit a North American lay- out, consider having someone ‘out front’ who is free to talk to members of the public about our wonderful hobby.
Increasing our membership can only
be a good thing for our hobby and the Region. If possible, tell potential new members about our mobile app that can be downloaded and installed from the Apple Store or Google Play.The app has a link to our website to join online.
Let’s see what we can all do to spread the word about our great organisation.
Victors Model Shop
In addition I would like to focus on a par- ticular individual who in my opinion made a significant contribution to our hobby for a considerable length of time.That person is Bernard (Bernie)Victor.
As a fourteen or fifteen year old teenager, I joined a model railway club in Acton, West London. I was modelling British Southern railways and I also had an interest in European models, particularly
Victors Model Shop photo by Rod Welch
French railways. However, there were two or three members at the Club who ran Rivarossi American locomotives which hauled long freight trains. It was seeing these freight trains hauled by Mallets and other locomotives which prompted me to switch to the American scene.
Bernie behind the counter with two customers, the man on the far right is Paul deBell photo by Rod Welch
As I recall, a Club member told me that there was a shop in London called Victors, located in Chapel Market, near the Angel station on the Northern Line, part of the London Underground, which sold Amer- ican railroad equipment. One Saturday, I took the train into London to visit Victors having decided that I wished to switch
to American model railroading. I found Chapel Market to be a very interesting part of London with an eclectic mixture of shops and street stalls representing the period of the sixties. I located Victors to find that the major part of the shop sold records with the model railway section located in a small wedge shaped room
at the back of the shop.Although it was small, it was well stocked with American
model railroad equipment and my first purchase was a Roundhouse Rio Grande 50’ boxcar painted in yellow and silver which I still own. Later, the railroad part of the shop was moved upstairs into a much larger room.
I don’t recall exactly when but the rail- road business moved to 166 Pentonville Road, London N1, a few minutes walk from Kings Cross Station.The premis-
es were substantially larger and Bernie stocked a wide variety of American and Continental equipment together with a selection of brass locomotives. My first brass locomotive came from Victors, a Southern Pacific GS6 by Westside. I al- ways found it a pleasure to visit the shop, mostly on a Saturday afternoon.
There would be Bernie behind the counter with one of his assistants ready to answer questions, make sales, and order in anything you required for your model railroad. All good things have to come to an end and this was the case with Victors. Bernie decided to retire and regrettably the shop closed. So, the point of this President’s Car is to say ‘thank you Bernie’ for all you did for the hobby for many years and the memories so many of us have of you and the shop and all that it epitomised.
Charles Hendy
President NMRA British Region
NorthWest Short Line Press Release For Immediate Release 19 August 2019
NorthWest Short Line is pleased to announce that the entire line has been acquired by an NWSL employee, effective 3 September 2019.
All existing back orders will be filled, and NWSL will be open to new orders as soon as the new websites are rolled out; the primary website nwsl.com will carry forward as the primary contact point.
The line is expected to carry forward largely unchanged although the compa- ny will no longer offer phone support. NWSL will be headquartered in Kila, Montana, located near Kalispell, and the new address is PO Box 219, Kila, MT 59920. Email contact is through the website.
Contributing to Roundhouse
If you have an idea for an article or have a story to tell then please, please, please send your comments, ideas, club or division news and announcements to editor@nmraroundhouse.co.uk
4 ROUNDHOUSE - September/October 2019
PRESIDENT’S CAR