I have to start on a sad note. We learned today that Bob Steward died just before Christmas. Geoff the Pres will organise a card for anyone who is with us on the 28th to sign. Bob has been getting less and less well for a few years, and we have seen little of him since he and Colette sold their house on Stradbroke Ave. He has, however left his mark on our new layout even though he never got to see it. He built the station building that is now at John's Falls. The 3 unit DBB EMU, and the single car DB diesel railcar were both donated by Bob. And it is now time to come up with a new name for Gingin.
We were also short two Geoffs today. The Pres had to leave early (before I arrived late) to attend a sister who had fallen off a horse. I have sat on horses twice that I can recall, and the ground looks to be a long way down. The Sec has back trouble that goes beyond it not wanting to leave the bed. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to all.
What did we actually do? Derek made a lot of noise and mess, but the outcome is that we now have places to plug in throttles around the outside of the layout. And the mess got tidied away. David unpacked a host of cars that we got at mate's rates from Christine at the show. Finding somewhere to park at John's Falls is now a problem. And he is still looking for some tray trucks and a fire truck. Dale and I unpacked an host of Scaledale buildings that also came at mate's rates, and planted these here and there. Some have relevance to as yet unlaid tracks in the Sayer yard. Jack came late, and played trains. So did Dale, later, although he pretended that he was checking out the new loconet panels that Derek installed. George, Martin and Rod did something on the other side of the divider, Judy tidied up various loose ends with Dale, and Helen supplied us with coconut macaroons. One should have been enough for anyone, but I had to have two.
Over tea we talked about our show. The Show itself made a reasonable profit and should cover our expenses over the next 12 months. We walked away with less than that, because Dale could not resist mate's rates, but we would have spent that money anyway out of our bank account, so the swings took care of the roundabouts in overall terms. Attendance was down a bit, and George suggested that we missed out on the wives and kids who escape from Dad at the Kustom Nationals. Last year, same weekend, this year not. We are trying to dig back through history to see if there is a correlation before we lock in our dates for 2019.
We have had an invitation to the Grampians Club show, on 7th & 8th July. They always support us very well, so, can anyone go? Either to take Bald Mountain, or a layout of their own. Last year Judy F and I took Bald Mountain, and a couple of years ago I took Zillerbahn on my own, but this year I expect to be away. And if anyone is building a portable layout, please tell Martin about it. George is, but it won't be ready, and he is otherwise engaged so that's no help this year. By next year, we hope to have the "This is how you step up from Thomas" layout ready to go - but that is next year. Let me know, we need to give Colin an indication within the next couple of weeks.
'Til the 28th
Peter
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