The latest club newsletter

Felixstowe Area “N” Gauge Group
JUNE 2019 NEWSLETTER

MEMBER’S ROUNDUP

John C - As usual I feel that the exhibition was a great success, well done to all who organised and helped on the day.
As for Clayhills, on its first outing, a mixed result. There are electrical problems that need sorting and just half the main lines could be used.
However, what worked ran well and the public appeared to like the layout. I was able to run a lot of stock for the first time and was happy with the result.
It was a rush to get the layout ready for the exhibition and there is still a lot of work to be done.
Many thanks in particular to Chris S who has spent a lot of time trying to sort out the electrical problems and to Mike S who helped run the layout on the day.
On another matter, I desperately need to know who will be prepared to help on the 20th. July for the WWG convention.
I need a couple of volunteers to help on layouts, someone to take money at the door and a couple of kind souls to serve tea and coffee.
So far, I have Mike S, Alan, Chris Shum, Trevor, Chris and Kevin, Sam and George who are all running layouts Mike W and Peter for something as yet to be planned.
I also need to have numbers so that I can order lunches. Please let me know, if you haven't already, if you will be helping at the convention.

Mike W – I invited “Everything Felixstowe” to the show (they have nearly 6000 followers) and they very kindly gave us a plug the day before the event.
Alan Boyle came along and did some filming, and uploaded a short video to his page.
You can see it at www.facebook.com/everythingfelixstowe.co.uk but you’ll have to scroll down to 7pm on June 8th to see it, as a lot has been posted since.

Kelvin F - I would like to thank all of the lads who helped me on Saturday at the exhibition, it was very much appreciated.
As this was the last time that I shall be exhibiting a layout, I would like to thank you all for your help over the years.
I will miss meeting the general public as well as other modellers, especially the rivet counters!. I think everyone should be able to express themselves, and if it pleases them, great.
I hope to see you at the monthly meetings as long as I can, I might just give the odd piece of advice ??.
Therefore I am selling “Anywhere “, and I would be open to offers. As I would like to see it be kept in the Group if possible, and go to a good home.
Please email me if anyone is interested.

Trevor B – Exhibit update
Firstly, I’d like to thank all those who helped at the exhibition this year. It was very good to see some new layouts making their first public appearances.
I appreciate that with withdrawals of earlier planned layouts due to date clashes, and a late cancel due to illness, we had a higher number of our own layouts which meant we were rather stretched regarding manpower.
I will try to avoid this in future years.
As always, I would appreciate feedback from members regarding both what went well and what could be done better. Also, any ideas for other things we can do at shows.
This year we did do a couple of things slightly differently.
Firstly, we made the sandwiches in house. The aim was to provide something of better quality than previous ‘budget’ bought sandwiches and reduce costs.
Personally, I was very happy with what I had and using sandwich packs labelling looked professional. Thanks to Richard / Chris for sorting this.
Secondly, I borrowed some model display stands to show members models. Along with a couple of display units from the clubroom we put on a good display of models.
I think it would be fairly simple to make our own display stands with a protective screen that we could use in the future for both exhibitions and open days.
Finally, we need to look forward to next year’s show. I try to have some new layouts each year, so would like to encourage members to either offer their own layouts or help with building
modules / finishing group layouts currently under construction.

Mike W – I had to take on lighter duties at the show this year, so I ran the club stand and second hand stall.
The displays were very well received, and we could have sold Trevor’s and Kevin/Chris’s beautiful models many times over to folks who thought that they were for sale!
My buildings went down well, and I even got praise from Trevor for them, which is high praise indeed…..
As Trevor has already mentioned, a more professional looking display stand for next year, behind glass, would be a big improvement.
The second hand items did really well. Most of the sales were George’s and mine, but then we did both bring a whole load of items for sale!
Total sales were nearly three hundred quid, which resulted in a nice little earner of twenty nine pounds for club funds.

WHERE TO SEE US NEXT;
Saturday 22nd June – Ipswich Transport Festival, 35 Cauldwell Hall venue IP4 4QG - Group Modules

PHOTOS FROM OUR 2019 EXHIBITION by Chris H