Another old steamer

Saturday 16 August 2008

A touching ceremony at the clubhouse yesterday, as another member was inducted into the Hall of Fame, reserved for those who have completed six decades of life and are confidently looking forward to at least several more. The event was marked with a presentation, of sorts, of a few small souvenirs of his recent gala event at Hesketh Bank.

Rallying round at Woodvale

Monday 04 August 2008

Out of a sense of duty to the plane-loving public, and a driving need to publicise the exhibition by any possible means, we attend the Woodvale Rally each year. The railway tent is a mixed bag of models of all sorts and sizes, not necessarily a place to show off your best modelling efforts, particularly if it’s typical August weekend weather. This year it was reasonably sunny but also reasonably windy, and one thing an airfield doesn’t have is much in the way of windbreaks. However we braved not only the elements but also the beer tent, and a moderately good time was had by all. A rota system was enforced so that no-one had the privilege of attending both days, not without paying at least once, anyway.

Some photos are here. Sharp observers will notice two or three examples of the modular layouts currently under construction, in conditions of considerable secrecy by SMRS members, ready for a triumphant unveiling at the exhibition in October. If they ever get finished, that is.

A detached des.res.

Tuesday 29 July 2008

Interesting little episode at the clubrooms tonight. Apparently a lady phoned the deputy chairman recently to say she occupied an identical house to ours in Duke St., the next road along the tracks towards Birkdale. A little further back from the permanent way (enough room even for a trampoline in the garden) but the same basic design. Perhaps a few years later in build. Tonight her daughter arrived to take some photos and be shown round the premises, which the d.c. did with his well-honed diplomacy skills turned up full. Best experienced from a distance.

Peace, harmony & Hesketh Bank

Saturday 19 July 2008

Just once in a while, it’s good to get away from all the frantic modelling and hectic exhibitioning, and just play trains. And so a select group of six members booked themselves in to the West Lancashire Light Railway, to pamper themselves with the railway equivalent of a health spa. I say six, but the chairman, showing a woeful lack of leadership now that the committee elections are safely out of the way, backed out before even any steam was raised. Apparently an allegedly better offer had been received regarding corporate hospitality at the Open Golf, taking place barely a twelve-iron from the clubrooms. The fact that it was his spouse making the offer apparently made it non-refusable. All the more trains for us to play with, and he did pay the appropriate cancellation fee, restocking expenses and refreshment charge. Not to mention loss of deposit, and VAT.

The concept was delightfully simple, West Lancs provided the train complete with driver, fireman and guard. We watched and learned whilst steam was raised, and then pootled up and down their short length of track until our cup of pleasure overflowed. And there was no nonsense about healthy diets either; lunch was hotpot and apple pie, served with the unexpected luxury of separate plates.

Although the railway was closed to the public, to allow members to soak up the relaxing ambience without interruption from the busy world outside, inevitably one or two rolled in to the car park to see what we were up to. One such turned out to be an ex-member of the Society, in a time-span well before even our longest-serving members. He was promptly awarded day membership and permitted to join us for a ride.

By late afternoon we could take no more and reluctantly took our leave, grateful for a revitalising experience and for the fact that it wouldn’t be us who had to grovel under the loco to empty the ash-pan, or reach into a hot, dirty smokebox to clean out the tubes. Good company, too.

Some photos are here.

Care in the community

Monday 07 July 2008

Just occasionally, the grown-up railways in this part of the world risk a glance sideways and realise that there is other railway life around them, and they wouldn’t catch anything too nasty if they outstretched a hand in its direction. And so it came to pass that we were invited by Merseyrail to participate in a community railway weekend. This involved marking the (near) completion of improvement works at Southport station, and the first-time-for-ages running of Preston to Ormskirk trains on a Sunday, courtesy of Northern Rail.

Binns was used in its established role of nostalgia-provoker and crowd-puller, at Southport station on the Saturday and at Ormskirk on the Sunday. Alongside it was our new set of display boards, advertising the club’s various doings. We also opened the clubhouse to visitors on the Saturday, as a reminder that Chapel St. was not the first station building to serve Southport, fancy new roof notwithstanding. One of our members also ‘did something’ at Meols Cop station, but to date has not reported exactly what. Use of a bulldozer to facilitate starting again would be my option.

And... we won a trophy! Best display out of all those at the various stations betwixt Southport and Wigan. Would have preferred ready cash, but never mind.

The AGM - in the open at last

Saturday 31 May 2008

A boisterous electorate prepare to do battle

At last the day of reckoning arrives, as we all knew it would. The committee throw one last, desperate strategem by holding the meeting in the garden, hoping that the combination of noise from the adjacent Merseyrail operation and the evening chill would curtail the free and frank discussion that everyone was ready for. However democracy was not to be outdone, and the meeting was one of the longer AGMs in recent years.

And the content? The committee were voted in unopposed, everyone congratulated everyone else on a successful year and we got stuck in to the beer and sausage rolls, before repairing to the lounge for a showing of a video on the Darjeeling railway. Bit disappointing, really.

A worried committee considering last-minute ploys to save face and keep their careers intact.

Teddy Bears R Us

Sunday 11 May 2008

Just once in a while, an event occurs which chimes with the inner soul of SMRS members - a reason for doing all that we do in the model railway field. The West Lancashire Light Railway Annual Teddy Bears Day is just that event. No less than ten members, at least three wives and a dog all attended in various capacities. Six layouts were exhibited and assorted books and soft toys sold for good causes, not all of them our own. The weather was initially hot enough for us to feel a little smug at being in the cool of the workshop, and latterly wet enough for us to feel a little smug at being in the dry of the workshop.

The audience at this type of event is a fairly uncritical one, the average age being well down in single figures. At long as it looks like a train and moves, it passes the test. Exhibitors can therefore show off their newest and most incomplete layouts knowing their reputation will only be enhanced by doing so. The only thing which didn't show us to advantage were the display boards, which are beginning to show their age, in both style and content. A little word in the hon. treasurer's ear perhaps, once the takings from the next exhibition are safely gathered in, and budgets are being prepared for next year. Investing for the future, as the chancellor might well describe it.

Some photos are here.

Binning it at Liverpool show

Saturday 03 May 2008

Just returned from a day assisting with the deployment of Eastbank MRC's Binns at the Liverpool MRS exhibition. And yes the toothache has abated a little, thank you for asking.

Binns has a somewhat colourful history, having been built in the early 60's as a shop demonstrator for Gamages of Leeds, and ending up (via a short stay in an industrial skip) in the tender care of the Eastbank club. After restoration it has made an exhibit of itself at the Southport show and at the Frank Hornby Experience at Maghull parish hall and again at Liverpool cathedral (only the best venues for Binns).

And what has this to do with Southport MRS I hear you ask? Only that our member Alan is the driving force behind the Binns rescue, that's all.

A description and photos of the layout are here and some photos of it in action at Liverpool are here.

Working days are here again

Sunday 27 April 2008

One of the harbingers of spring is Our Chairman exhorting his followers to Get Stuck In to some much-needed clubhouse maintenance. Last Saturday was the first of what are threatened to be many this year, weeding the garden, refitting the doors, adding new lights, etc., etc. One more unusual job was the renovation of an old brick outhouse, probably a coal store in past lives, hoarding fuel perhaps ill-gotten from the supply intended for the motive power of the time. Over the years it has acquired a false floor two or three feet deep, composed of assorted rubbish and vegetation in various states of decay. Much of this was energetically consigned to the spare land over the back fence, for the better growth of the weeds that annually try to swamp us from the rear.

The resultant clearance revealed a cosy nook that any self-respecting monk would seize on as a perfect hermit habitation. The enthusiastic way the Chairman handled spade and fork to gain access suggested he had other ideas; a punishment cell perhaps, for the better correction of members guilty of insubordination or otherwise speaking out of turn.

Not the Annual General Meeting

Friday 25 April 2008

Shock, scandal and horror - the AGM, that eagerly-awaited opportunity to tell t'committee exactly what we think of them, before voting them all back in again, has been postponed. With only days to go, with all bribes, backhanders and favours collected and counted, the chairman and his deputy call it off. Some unconvincing pretext is offered about urgent unforeseen appointments elsewhere, but the membership is not fooled. Running scared they are, of a crushing defeat by the electorate, and desperately in need of more time to rig the results back in their favour.

Whether this unimaginative ploy will succeed only time will tell. In the meantime, an emergency chairman has been appointed to carry the club through the precarious interregnum before the AGM Mark II is held at the end of May. The choice of Pebble (the deputy chairman's dog) was both unanimous and popular, on the basis that being non-human he is not only incorruptible but also impartial - he is prepared to love anyone who will feed and/or stroke him.

New, improved website

Thursday 17 April 2008

Well different, anyway. The idea for a spring makeover was precipitated by the webmaster acquiring, at modest expense, the rights to use Rapidweaver web software on his whizzy, supercool Mac. Playing around with the templates was a temptation not to be resisted, and SMRS had just the website to try them out on. Much to his surprise it works, more or less. The manual is still being studied, so expect even more whizziness in the future.

All change for the exhibition

Friday 21 March 2008

To start off, a shock to match the best that Eastenders can manage. Well perhaps not quite, as we've not had a murder on our patch lately. A summons from Our Leader to an Extraordinary General Meeting, at a mere ten minutes notice. No time for speculation, perhaps deliberately so, although the facilities manager did manage to launch a rumour that the deputy chairman was about to announce his departure to the Congo, to fight for the rebels. Against whom, and in support of what, was not revealed.

The truth was almost as surprising. After more than twenty years of patronage, our use of Meols Cop school as our exhibition venue has come to an end. The departure was by mutual agreement, as all the best football clubs say nowadays. We had outgrown the facilities, and like a hermit crab with a cramped shell, we needed something bigger.

In conditions of great secrecy, our committee had scouted round for alternatives, inspecting other schools that claimed to satisfy our stringent specification. Headmasters in plain clothes were interviewed at anonymous locations. Sports halls were measured with an industrial-strength tape measure. Catering facilities were examined with a long-handled spoon. Tender documents were scrutinised in triplicate. Finally a winner was announced, Birkdale Secondary, in the rather oddly-named Windy Harbour Road. Its main advantage was space, for more exhibits, more traders and more parking.

My immediate concern was - would our exhibition match up to the new upmarket location? Birkdale is allegedly the domicile of several Liverpool footballers - would we live in fear of rogue Everton supporters hurling abuse at our modest efforts? Time will tell, but for now we need to be bold, follow the brave advance of Our Leader and Embrace Change Enthusiastically.

SMRS blogs, you see if it doesn't

Monday 17 March 2008

Why create one blog when you can create five? Such was the logic of starting this one, after sleepertripper, 2008 sleepertrip, project 2010 and tranquillity baseboard. An everyday story of modelling folk, perhaps. The rest of the website describes the activities of the SMRS, wisely not going into much detail. This is the unwise bit.