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Romney Marsh Model Engineering Society Company Limited |
Recent News of the Society
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Nearly 40 members, family and friends went to the 2ft gauge ‘Richmond
Light Railway’ in September. A most
enjoyable day in the warm autumn sunshine and a couple of days later, the
Autumn Track Meeting and Barbecue was well attended. The ‘Polly Owners Club’ Rally at the
end of September was sadly marred by the rain in the morning but it did
brighten up later in the day. However,
it didn’t deter the group members and over 20 turned up at Rolfe Lane and
they came from as far afield as Nottingham, Farnborough, Burton-on-Trent,
Bridgend, Huddersfield and even the South of France. They brought ten Polly locos between them
and Neil Mortimer from the Harrow club braved the weather and was first on
the track with his ‘Dolgoch’. He was
soon followed by other members and a total of five locos were steamed and
run. The club had a stand as usual at the
Folkestone Model Railway Exhibition at the beginning of October. A busy day on the Saturday but not so busy
on Sunday. Track meetings continued until the
end of October with members enjoying the warm autumn sunshine most Tuesdays. The winter meetings started with an
interesting talk on CAD by member John Shrubsole
and there was a full house in December for Andy Hardy’s talk on his
involvement with railways over the years. The year ended with the customary
events. Nearly 40 attended the
Christmas lunch at Dymchurch and almost 30 went to the Wednesday Gang lunch
at Greatstone. It was almost full for
the Christmas social afternoon in the clubhouse with plenty to eat and drink
and Sheila Percival baffled most of us with her usual quiz. January 1st 2019 was
bright and sunny for most of the day for a change and a large number of
members and friends attended the annual New Year’s Day track meeting. It must have been a record with 13 locos
run on the track and a few in the garden railway. On the main track, there were a couple of
‘Sweet Pea’s’, a GWR 2-6-0, a ‘River’ class, a 3½"g. ‘Lucky 7’, a ‘Pacific’, a ‘Jinty’ and a ‘Springbok’.
The electric locos included a ‘Warship’, a ‘Western’, a class 04, an 08 and a class 66. The first evening meeting of the
year saw a record attendance for Andy Nash’s showing of vintage miniature
railway films. Richard Linkins hosted
the next meeting by showing some pictures and video of numerous narrow-gauge
railways that he had visited over 50 years. 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. The hydraulics for
the future operation of the swing bridge which should make it far easier to
operate, is now finished and has been working well. Peter Gallon and gang have been renovating
some of the seats and giving them a new coat of paint. A 56-page book to
celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Society has recently been published. Containing lots of pictures and details of
the club since its formation in 1969, it is a most interesting read and
copies are available from the Newsletter Editor, John Wimble. Contact John on 01797-362295 or email johnwimble@aol.com if you would like a
copy. The latest issue of the RMMES
'Newsletter', No. 190 dated December 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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2½" gauge LNER
2-8-2 'P2'. |
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5" gauge 'Class
59' at the Open Day. |
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