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Romney Marsh Model Engineering Society Company Limited |
Recent News of the Society
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The 2018 Evening Meetings
started with Andy Nash showing a selection of pictures from the late George
Barlow collection and also some early video of the RH&DR. A very interesting evening. The February meetings were both
well attended with Colin Cox sharing some of his experiences of driving
Garratts in Rhodesia in the 1960s and Andy Hardy giving an update on the P2
Project, a massive undertaking. The first March meeting saw
Richard Linkins giving a very interesting talk on the Simplex type
locomotive, dating from World War One and wild animals and railways in South
Africa. The winter meetings finished
in the usual way with a ‘Products of the Winter Workshop’ evening. 34 members attended the Annual
General Meeting at the end of April.
The new Social Secretary is Andy Dale and Bob White was elected as
Safety Officer. Officers and Committee
can be found on the ‘about’ page. Summer Track Meetings are now
well under way with numerous models to be seen on all the tracks. The Open Day in May was a great success, no
doubt partly due to the weather. A lot
of visitors turned up and 19 locos were run on the main track and five clubs
were represented. Five RMMES members
also ran their engines. There was also
quite a bit of activity in the garden railway. A couple of days later, CUP
Alloys came along to Rolfe Lane and gave a talk and demonstration of their
products, solder and equipment etc. A
good attendance with a chance for members to purchase items afterwards. The Small Loco Rally at the end
of May was held in bright sunshine with ten 2˝" gauge locos to be seen
in the steaming bays. A better
attendance this year for this event and several locos were run during the
day. The beginning of June saw the
annual visit to the Boatyard Railway with over 40 members and friends
enjoying a very pleasant afternoon.
Despite a brief heavy rain shower, the rest of the day was dry and
warm and a number of engines were to be seen on the tracks. A few days later, the yearly ‘Fish
& Chip Special’ on the RH&DR to Dungeness and back was held. Nearly 60 members and friends were on the
train that was hauled by ‘Typhoon’ with Simon Batten driving. Another very successful evening. The Wednesday Gang still meet
on a regular basis. The new loading ramp/traverser
for the steaming bay is well under way and it is hoped to have it operating
before too long. Also our Chairman is
working on the hydraulics for the future operation of the swing bridge which
should make it far easier to operate. The
air lines and power cables have been installed recently between the
compressor house and the swing bridge.
Part of the upper section on the garden railway has been renovated
where it had started to sag, and the new boards and track are now in place. The
current issue of the RMMES 'Newsletter', No. 188 dated April 2018,
is now available. Please contact the
Newsletter Editor if you would like a copy posted to you. Our President, Bobby Jones, was interviewed some time ago about his involvement with railways, full-size and miniature and also the RMMES, on the local radio station Romney Marsh FM. You can hear a recording of the interview if you click here (might take a minute to load). |
Some recent activity
at Rolfe Lane.
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5" gauge 0-4-2 'Gladstone'. |
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'G' scale |
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2˝" gauge LNER 2-8-2 'P2'. |
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5" gauge 'Class 59' at the Open Day. |
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