As agreed at a previous meeting, there was a change to the advertised programme with today’s theme on the circuit now being East of England and Scotland stock. Paul W ran a proper train of five coaches hauled by his Class 37 and later Steve ran his Class 52.
A number of Sentinels appeared and Fred ran his bargain basement Peckett 0-4-0 which he had picked up for £50 and then spent probably the same again restoring it. Anyway, a good job done and it ran very nicely around the circuit.
David L and Tim continued working on Queen Charlotte Dock and David demonstrated the turnout operating system that he proposed to adopt on this layout. Paul W and I sorted out a couple of DC controllers for the layout and earlier Fred had brought in some ideas he had mocked up for the occupation arches. Roger brought in the station building he was working on, and we discussed the depth of the building which we decided to increase to give it more presence. Later I worked on the high-level track work and agreed the length of the platforms.
Over lunch I read out the usual notices and mentioned the Dapol special offers that David Gr had pointed out. John B raised concerns about the club’s finances and our ability to continue building layouts. In response, I informed John and the meeting that while our bank balance was less than we would wish.
The Committee had met recently to consider the situation and had agreed the way forward.
We will maintain a rolling forecast of income and expenditure to ensure we know what to expect over any twelve-month period and what we need to do or not do in the light of that.
Only Queen Charlotte Dock is being worked on at the moment and is due to make its debut at the Maidstone show at the end of December. Lenham is currently on hold as we focus on getting Edington ready for Warley, and the micro-layout which has largely been financed by Tim so far does not need much to make it exhibition ready. On that subject
Doug said that he would like to include it in the next Faversham show and was referred to Roger our Exhibitions Liaison Officer.
The Treasurer reviewed the history of the club and said that costs are continuing to rise and we need to ensure they don’t exceed our income. Historically we had had a large income from sales but that is not the case now. We also need to be aware that there may be a structural issue with the hall and if that is so we will have to take account of that.
Accordingly, we expect to increase the annual subscription, which is very low compared to some other clubs, at the AGM.
David Ho was back form holiday to provide us all with teas and coffees and after lunch we carried on running stock on the circuit and working on Queen Charlotte Dock before packing everything away and heading off home. Chris
