BRANCHLINE. Australian Model Railway Association WA Inc

Transcription

1 BRANCHLINE Australian Model Railway Association WA Inc Vol 41 No.8 November 2018 Issue 252 ISSN Scene from Charging Moose Mining Co, an On30 layout seen at NMRA Convention 2009

2 PRESIDENT S PIECE Hello Everyone, By the time you read this we will have had another ModelRail and I am sure, with the efforts of Trevor Burke and his helpers, it will have been a very successful event for our club. Thank you, Trevor, for your efforts, our members appreciate all you have done. This year s Christmas BBQ will be on Saturday the 24 th of November. The club will be providing ALL the normal provisions for a successful BBQ. Please let Lynn, our secretary, know if you will be attending, so we know how many to cater for. Send an to secretary.amra.wa@westnet.com.au or leave a note in the Secretary s tray at the club rooms. If neither of those two methods are available, ask a fellow member to pass on that you will be attending and how many with you. This month s First Monday of the Month meeting was well attended and those there found out lots of information about HobbyTech for Toys. Craig and his son Jordon gave the members present a very good presentation about where they have come from and the future of the hobby from their points of view. The invitation for other retailers to do a similar presentation is still open and we hope they will take the opportunity so that we at AMRA WA know who they are, what they have and visa-versa. You may have noticed at the club-rooms that the level of activity has increased. If not then maybe you should come along and check it out. Not only do we have lots of activity on the existing layouts for running trains, but you can also check out what has been changed recently on the various layouts. The level of activity is envisaged to increase over the next few months as there are two new layouts being prepared by two different groups ready for the 2019 exhibition. One layout will be in S scale and is headed by Murray Hartzer. The other will be in O scale and Danny McMahon will be heading this group. Danny and Murray are always looking for others to help and support the building of these layouts. Please see them at the club-rooms and lend your support, I am sure you will be most welcome. From the CoM of AMRA WA we wish you all a fruitful and busy time coming up to the end of year celebrations - no matter how you enjoy them. John Maker President AMRA-WA CONTACT US President: John Maker - president.amra.wa@westnet.com.au Vice President: Martin Kalkman- vp.president.amra.wa@westnet.com.au Treasurer: Don Henderson - treasurer.amra.wa@westnet.com.au Secretary: Lynn Nicholls - secretary.amra.wa@westnet.com.au Committee: Ron Fryer - committee.member.1.amra.wa@westnet.com.au John Gartner - committee.member.2.amra.wa@westnet.com.au George Hewitt - committee.member.3.amra.wa@westnet.com.au Tom Stokes - committee.member.4.amra.wa@westnet.com.au Davo Hunter - committee.member.5.amra.wa@westnet.com.au Branchline Editor: Neill Phillips - neillphillips100@gmail.com BRANCHLINE DEADLINES December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 Sat 1 December Sat 5 January Sat 2 February The views and opinions expressed by contributors in this publication are not necessarily those of the Australian Model Railway Association Western Australia Inc. 2

3 S SCALE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP The October 2018 meeting of the S Scale group saw 40 members and guests in attendance in what was a very enjoyable evening. The meeting was scheduled as a general Bring and Show followed by a much anticipated talk by wellknown railway historian Jeff Austin, on the topic of Railway Station Buildings of the WAGR/MRWA. Graham Watson called the meeting to order at precisely 8:15 and welcomed all those in attendance. In particular Graham welcomed our invited guests Anne Murray, Jeff Austin and Simon Barber. Apologies were received from Cassidy Newland and Ally Kelly. Trevor Burke reminded members that ModelRail 18 will be held on Sunday 11 November, which is Remembrance Day of course. Trevor continues to organize the day which is one of the major highlights on the AMRA WA calendar. It really is a wonderful day for us to run Swan View and see our other 15+ layouts in action. Neil Blinco also called on AMRA WA members of the S scale group to help run our layout and/or help out by supporting the Management Committee in some way in order to make the day a success. John Maker, our President, advised members to pick up their brand new AMRA WA badges and ID cards at the end of the evening. The colour of the ID cards for the 2018/19 is red and the colour will change each year. John announced that Graham Watson is now a 50 year life member of AMRA. Murray Hartzer reported that the application for funds, to build an S scale layout of East Guildford, has been accepted in principle by the Committee of Management. The sub-committee of the S scale group will proceed with its construction. Stuart Mackay advised members that he has spoken to Cassidy Newland recently and learned that Cassidy has had to take a position in Collie which will limit his S scale activities for a month or two. Cassidy has a Facebook site and he is intending to honour all orders of his F class DE locomotive. He also has quite a few locomotive jacks for the MSA and other steam locomotives available. Stuart will advise members with any updates at the November S scale meeting. The usual Bring and Show followed. Bill Gray was first to show his patterns for the ladies toilet block for the first Perth station and reported the brick paper he is developing is proceeding steadily. (Refer to the September meeting notes). Peter Edwards showed the progress he is making on his 3D printed kit-model of a WAGR Fs class steam locomotive. We had 57 of this class on the system and it will fill a big gap in the locomotives we have available within the S scale group. The early prints show great promise and hopefully Peter will keep us up-to-date with his project at future meetings. Early 3D print of Peter Edward s model of a WAGR Fs locomotive 3

4 Kieran Wright showed that he has not forgotten how to assemble models while he has been on leave from paid work by showing the progress he is making with three GA Models of a W class bogie van with its distinctive platform ends, two GA models of the E class cool storage 4-wheel wagon and an X class Models example of a JA tank wagon. (See photo below) Jon Majer showed how proficient he can be with his heavily modified Australian HO scale models of two rail motors and a van with a black beetle power unit to propel the smaller one of them. Though not in S scale the models looked very nice and ran well on Jon s home layout. Stuart Mackay showed three examples of his WAGR K/KW or MRWA PA all-steel, 4-wheel wagon kit he has been assembling from his X class Models kits. They were not painted in order to give members an idea of what they looked like in raw Barnes white Easycast urethane. Stuart explained that the Easycast was fresh from a new batch from Kirkside but if left in the bottles the liquid tends to yellow so is best used within a few months. Unlike a good red wine it does not improve with bottle age. Three examples of the WAGR/MRWA K/ Kw or PA All steel wagon A very interesting presentation by Jeff Austin on the station buildings of the WAGR/MRWA continued the evening s program. It followed on from what is now a series of excellent presentations by Jeff on WAGR turntables and WAGR water columns. Jeff began his presentation with a list of ten Eras which Jeff has identified during his research into the construction of railway buildings on the WAGR/MRWA systems. These Building Eras are listed below. They help in the classification of station buildings in what is a long and complicated history of such structures s English Heritage (WAGR and MRWA) 1891 C.Y. O Connor : NZR 1 st, 3rd - 6 th, Special Class Goldfields Stone & Brick 1902 Goldfields GCI 1902 PWD Standard Cabins 1907 GSR Brick 1910 Traffic Office Standards 1930 s One-Offs 1960 s Modern Brick. Jeff showed a map of the system showing the main trunk routes in red which was where the main and more permanent stations were built. The secondary, or cross country lines, were shown in blue. The secondary lines had more modest and less permanent buildings and they depended on the funding available, and the needs and traffic of the particular locations. 4

5 Era 1880 s MRWA) English Heritage Some Examples (WAGR/ York, Claremont, Walkaway, Beverley (stone); Watheroo (brick);weatherboard Moora, Gingin (weatherboard) 1891 C.Y. O Connor NZR 1st, 3rd - 6th Special Class Geraldton, Bunbury, Midland, only 1st class stations; Meckering, like Hindon NZ; Bridgetown, Busselton Goldfields Stone & Brick Kalgoorlie, Menzies (Stone); Boulder (brick) 1902 Goldfields GCI Cue, Leonora, Gwalia 1902 PWD Standard Cabins Branchlines: Out of sheds, Passenger shelters (many variations) Telephone rooms, 1907 GSR Brick Narrogin, Wagin, Katanning, Beverley 1910 Traffic Office Darkan, Dumbleyung, Bowelling (brick); Northampton (stone) Nungarin Standards Kulin, Margaret River, Muckinbudin, Wyalcatchem, Pingelly, Lake Grace, Denmark s One-Offs Brunswick, Merredin, Dardenup, Byford s Modern Brick Replacements for Moora, Three Springs Benger station on the SW main line Pingelly Station on the former GSR Nungarin, a variation on the Traffic Office, in weatherboard and iron The October meeting was a another informative and interesting one for AMRA WA S scale modellers. Thanks to Jeff Austin and Anne Murray for all their research and help. Thanks also to Simon for getting over the glitches with the AV technology and thanks to all who attended. The S scale special interest group meets on the second Monday of every month at 8pm at the AMRA clubrooms in Moojebing St, Bayswater. New members and visitors are always welcome. 5

6 N SCALE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Gremlins - Are They Real? Recent experience on the N scale West N Ridge layout at the club makes me think they are real. Reports that everything is working well are met with the same issue manifesting itself, after modifications were made a day ago and all worked as it should. Speculation is that we have a power activated stepping switch that steps once each time the layout is powered on, thus selecting a new defect/feature. As silly as this is, the only other explanation is gremlins! How do you get rid of gremlins? Suggestions of a bonfire are becoming more frequent, possibly because of the temporal proximity to Guy Fawkes night, but these are being hosed down more frequently. Diligence and a coordinated approach to fault finding should work the gremlins into a corner so eventually they leave the layout. Stay tuned. George Hewitt LARGE SCALE GROUP Jim Gregg had a successful procedure inserting stents and has made a full recovery. He intends to be at ModelRail 18. Progress on the extensions to the exhibition layout are proceeding, additional points have been purchased, boards are being supplied and work should commence after ModelRail 18. The outdoor layout is still attracting interest when live steamers are operating. John Gartner EXHIBITION 2019 This is an appeal to members to please indicate that you are willing to help at the 2019 AMRA WA exhibition. At this stage we are in the preliminary stages of checking to see what tasks need to be performed at the exhibition and what members we have to do those tasks. Once we have a timetable of tasks you will be asked to help where you can to make the exhibition a success. The dates to look at are: Setup: Thursday, 30th May between Friday, 31 st May between Exhibition: Saturday to Monday, 1st - 3rd June between Dismantle: Tuesday, 4 th June between Please contact Ron Romero if you can help. The best way is leave a note in the office President s tray or send an to: amra.wa.exhibition.manager@westnet.com.au with your name, contact details and possible times you are willing to help. Ron Romero Exhibition Programming Manager 6

7 Australian Model Railway Association WA Inc AMRA WA Annual Exhibition Staff Volunteers Availability Form Please fill in the following information: Name:... address (or phone number):... Position: Manager (previous page):... General Staff (below): Please mark your preferences: Duties Yes No Duties Yes No Front entrance (inside) Front entrance (outside) Exit Door Ticket Booth U-drives Kitchen/Meals area Staff entrance (early start) Maintenance (general) Advice Centre Book Sales Availability to perform duties: Saturday Sunday Monday Members will also be needed before the exhibition to help in having the equipment ready to go to the venue, receive the equipment at the venue and help have it ready for the return to the club rooms on the Tuesday. If you can help on these days please indicate below: Yes No Yes No Wednesday (club rooms) Thursday (club rooms) Friday (venue) Monday evening (venue) Tuesday (club rooms) 7

8 BUILDING A BETTER AMRA President s Report to Members of AMRA Inc for 2018 I was elected President of the Australian Model Railways Association Inc in November 2017 on a platform of Building a Better AMRA. At that time, I was unclear what that entirely meant, but I committed to work with members to define that objective. At the AGM, I workshopped the idea of a new structure for AMRA Inc. The conclusion, which had general agreement from those present, was that AMRA should move to an affiliation model, with State based AMRA organisations working together towards a common goal of a Building a Better AMRA. I developed that model in discussions with members via regular s and received quality feedback generating support and suggestions. It is now history that the remainder of the AMRA committee frustrated, disowned my model and ultimately expelled me, mainly because they didn t accept the members wishes to reform AMRA Inc. Those actions of the remainder of the committee were unconstitutional. It is only because I refrained from taking them to court to account for their actions that they are still in control of AMRA Inc. In short, my money and yours was better spent on enjoying our hobby. What has been achieved:- New State based AMRA organisations have been established in Western Australia and Queensland and has been approved by members in New South Wales. There has been no reform of AMRA Inc, resulting in no effective leadership to develop the model railway hobby. AMRA has been fractured. There are only two ways to recover, one is to work cooperatively together, the other is to continue the fracture to the detriment of the hobby. The remainder of the committee of AMRA Inc have achieved exactly what they set out not to do. They wanted no change, but it has happened despite them. Their outcome has been to Build a Poorer AMRA. There is some debate about membership numbers. The debate arises because many former members paid for multiple year memberships. I understand that there were perhaps 1100 members of AMRA Inc at the commencement of Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales formed state based organisations with combined memberships of around 750, leaving AMRA Inc about 350 members - however it probably has about 500 members on its books, but that will decline in the next two years as the effect of multi year memberships declines. I expect in 2020 membership of AMRA Inc to be around 300 members, mostly from Victoria. In addition, Queensland and Western Australia have been successful in recruiting new members. The new state based AMRA organisations are demonstrating the benefits of retaining members funds. More activities involving members, more engagement of members and more recruiting has resulted in more dynamic organisations. This in contrast to the previous arrangement were there was declining interest, declining membership, little value for money from Journal and other services of AMRA Inc, and little or no engagement of members by AMRA Inc. What is the future for AMRA Inc? There are three options for AMRA Inc future:- They will become increasingly isolated and irrelevant and will, over time, disappear. They will morph into AMRA Victoria which will then inherit the funds and other assets of AMRA Inc. or They will reform for the benefit of members and the hobby. This requires recognition that the remainder of the committee of AMRA have injured the members and the model railway hobby. 8

9 This ends my report to you as members of AMRA Inc. It also ends my involvement with AMRA Inc. My future will involve working within AMRA WA to build the model railway hobby, enjoy playing trains, the fellowship of members and travel with my wife. I wish members well in enjoying their model railway hobby. While it has been an uncomfortable year for me, I thank the members for their support. John Gartner Elected President of AMRA Inc Donations LIBRARY NOTES Thanks to the following for donations to the library:- Ron Fryer, Don Henderson, Niels Kroyer, Ronald Richards and Harry Rossiter. Apologies but thanks to anyone I may have missed. New Library Acquisitions Check out the New Items shelf for some of the DVDs recently acquired by the club. General News Currently we have almost 200 books waiting to be catalogued. Not all will be suitable for inclusion into the library, so keep your eyes peeled for bargains on the For Sale shelves. The Library is open when the club rooms are open, see the Duty officer if there s no one behind the desk. I can be contacted by on library.amra.wa@gmail.com if you require further information. Des Edwards Club Librarian. NR47 is leaving Kewdale yard with a mixed freight in

10 AMRA-WA Programme of Events November 2018 to January 2019 Where we meet and when All meetings and running sessions, unless otherwise stated, are held in the Clubrooms at 24 Moojebing Street, BAYSWATER (opposite Paddington Street). The Clubrooms are OPEN for meetings and sessions as indicated in the Programme of Events below. Evening Meetings: from 2000 to 2230 (as scheduled below, Monday to Friday) Daytime Sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays: from 1000 to 1500 Afternoon Sessions on Saturdays: from 1330 to 1700 The Clubrooms are CLOSED on Good Friday, Christmas Day and over the period of the annual Model Railway Exhibition on the June Long Weekend. The Committee may decide on other Closures as warranted by circumstance. The entry fee for members on every attendance at the Clubrooms is $2 which goes towards the general operating expenses of the facilities. Payment by gold coin is requested. Members and visitors are welcome to a free hot drink and a biscuit or two at meetings and sessions. Cold drinks are available at a modest price. Visitors are welcome at all sessions, but for a general overview of our facilities and layouts it is best to come during either a Tuesday daytime session or on a Saturday afternoon. Please make yourself known upon arrival and a Committee Member will proudly show you around. The evening Special Interest Groups also welcome visitors, and the focus of these sessions is as their name suggests. November 2018 Sun 11 Daytime ModelRail All Members Mon 12 Evening General Activities - S Scale Modellers' SIG Tue 13 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters 13 Evening General Activities - Large Scale Modellers SIG Thu 15 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Fri 16 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers' SIG Sat 17 Afternoon General Activities - All Members Tue 20 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Wed 21 Evening General Activities - Everything Electrical - All Members Thu 22 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Fri 23 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers' SIG 23 Evening General Activities - S Scale Modellers' SIG Sat 24 Afternoon General Activities - All Members 24 Evening Club Barbeque - All Members Tue 27 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Thu 29 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Fri 30 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers' SIG 10

11 December 2018 Sat 1 Afternoon General Activities - All Members Mon 3 Evening General Activities - First Monday of the Month : Part 2 of Ian Bannister's Presentation on Australian Steel Mills Tue 4 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Thu 6 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Fri 7 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers' SIG Sat 8 Afternoon General Activities - All Members Mon 10 Evening General Activities - S Scale Modellers' SIG Tue 11 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters 11 Evening General Activities - Large Scale Modellers SIG Thu 13 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters 13 Evening Committee of Management, monthly meeting Fri 14 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers' SIG Sat 15 Afternoon General Activities - All Members Tue 18 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Wed 19 Evening General Activities - Everything Electrical - All Members Thu 20 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Fri 21 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers' SIG Sat 22 Afternoon General Activities - All Members Tue 25 Daytime Christmas Day Thu 27 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Fri 28 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers' SIG 28 Evening General Activities - S Scale Modellers' SIG Sat 29 Afternoon General Activities - All Members 29 Evening Club Barbeque - All Members 11

12 January 2019 Tue 1 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Thu 3 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Fri 4 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers SIG Sat 5 Afternoon General Activities - All Members Mon 7 Evening First Monday of the Month Meeting All Members: Bring along what you received for Christmas. Tue 8 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Evening General Activities - Large Scale Modellers SIG Wed 9 Evening General Activities - Everything Electrical - All Members Thu 10 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Evening Committee of Management, monthly meeting Fri 11 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers SIG Sat 12 Afternoon General Activities - All Members Mon 14 Evening General Activities - S Scale Modellers SIG Tue 15 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Thu 17 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Fri 18 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers SIG Sat 19 Afternoon General Activities - All Members Tue 22 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Thu 24 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Fri 25 Evening General Activities - N Scale Modellers SIG General Activities - S Scale Modellers SIG Sat 26 Afternoon General Activities - All Members Evening Club Barbeque - All Members Tue 29 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters Thu 31 Daytime General Activities - Daylighters 12