“Please read the notices before you leave the shed.”
Alan Butcher of the North East Norfolk Area Group asks us to communicate that “Aylsham Minor” will not be running at the Bure Valley Railway this weekend (5th/6th October 2019). The Aylsham Model Railway Exhibition is taking place as advertised on Saturday 5th October.
Dave Gordon, Bulletin Editor
“Model of the Month” and “Photo of the Week” are among the most popular sections of the Association web site – a great way for potential members to see what we are about, and for us to share what we have been up to recently.
But we’re short of material for both sections just now.
Do you have a model you’d like to write about for a “Model of the Month” article – doesn’t need to be long? Locos, carriages, buildings, structures and trackwork: whatever it is, do get in touch at webmaster@16mm.org.uk
Or, do you have a photo you’d like to send in for “Photo of the Week” – maybe of a recent steam-up event you attended, maybe a scene on your own railway, or a model you’ve built? If so, again please get in touch at webmaster@16mm.org.uk
Richard Huss – IT Officer
Please be aware that there was an editorial error in the latest edition of GardenRail magazine – the Yorkshire Garden Railway Show is of course on SATURDAY 28th September, and not Sunday.
It is a one day show and at Elsecar Heritage Centre this year. Details can be found in the Events section of this web site.
Rod Nipper, Publicity Officer
As UK members receive this month’s mailing with its new format address carrier sheet, note that the eight-digit number prefixed with an E on the last line of your address is your Subscription Number on Warners Group Publications systems. For some members this is also their Association membership number, for others, their membership number is separate and all numeric, up to five digits. Either can be used when communicating with Warners, for example, to make postal or email address and phone number changes.
There will be a second number present, in some cases followed by three stars. These were generated as part of the mailing process for ordering purposes and are not your membership number.
I anticipate the the Subscription Number will also appear after the last line of the address for overseas recipients of the mailing but cannot confirm this. I do not expect any further numbers or characters to follow the Subscription Number.
Alan Regan, Chairman & Membership Secretary
Warners Midlands have confirmed that the August mailing of SMT and Bulletin has completed and will be collected at 15:00 today by Royal Mail from Bourne. Mailing to UK addresses is first class and to members overseas is by Air Mail. Some of us will receive our magazine on Saturday but the vagaries of the post will mean that others don’t until Monday or Tuesday and overseas somewhat later.
The address carrier sheet will look a little different this time as we’re trialing a new mailing process which we anticipate will reduce postage costs. The carrier sheets are printed in bulk and the delivery address is applied during the mailing process, which will also reduce the risk of individual addresses being missed. I’ll report on the outcome of the trial in November SMT.
Alan Regan, Chairman and Membership Secretary
Following requests from members at the National Garden Railway Show earlier this year, the following have been added to the range of Association branded clothing available:
Mike Riley, Company Secretary
We have received the following request for help from the Southern Federation of Model Engineering Societies, to which we are affiliated. If you would like to offer help or to find out more, please contact SFMES directly using the contact details below.
Mike Riley, Company Secretary
SUPPORTING YOUR HOBBY!
The Southern Federation of Model Engineering Societies is a voluntary association that supports clubs affiliated to it by representing their needs in matters such as boiler testing, health and safety, providing a place for discussion and news announcements and events and more. (see the web site: www.sfmes.co.uk).
All of the work is carried out by a few volunteers and there is now a need and opportunity to seek more volunteers for maintaining the present services and meeting future opportunities. There are two roles immediately required and we hope that some club members will want to assist by applying for these. They are unpaid, although out of pocket expenses are remunerated:
Newsletter Editor:
This is to prepare four newsletters per year, including assembling and preparing material from respondents, attending four board meetings per year and generally contributing to discussions, and arranging for the emailing and posting as necessary of issues. There is opportunity to develop the style and content. Contact Bob Polley (bobpolley@sfmes.co.uk) to find out more or to apply.
Computer Support:
As the web site becomes more functional, there is a need to complement the developers with support functions to assist users to address any problems they have with access or communication. This requires someone with ICT expertise to understand problems and suggest solutions and work with the web site manager on changes and improvements. Attending board meetings would be useful although not essential. Contact Martin Baker (martinbaker@sfmes.co.uk) to find out more or to apply.
This afternoon I signed off the address carrier sheets used to deliver May’s mailing, so we’re on schedule for collection on Friday 17th by Royal Mail from Warners Midlands in Bourne. Mailing to UK addresses is first class and that to members overseas is by Air Mail. Some of us will receive their magazine on Saturday but the vagaries of the post will mean that others don’t until Monday or Tuesday and overseas somewhat later. They’re all collected at the same time and there’s no pattern to when deliveries occur, so please be patient if yours takes a few days.
The data used to perform this mailing was extracted late last week. Anyone who joined or renewed their subscription during last week will receive their magazines but it will be probably be Wednesday 22nd May before they’re dispatched, because we need to wait for the extra copies of both magazines to be received in the Subscriptions department.
This is Bulletin Editor Dave Gordon’s first issue. We had a Board Meeting last Saturday and Dave told us that he was pleased with what he’d created. I’ve no doubt that he’ll have done us and himself proud. And the SMT Editor’s own garden railway features in his magazine. It’s a long time since that happened.
Finally, your personal copy of the new Public Liability Insurance certificate is on the back of the address carrier sheet. We’re working on making this personalised copy downloadable next year, so this may be the last one you receive in this manner.
Alan Regan, Chairman and Membership Secretary
Our web hosting company inform us that they will be moving our server to a new data centre, overnight on Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 May 2019. Their new data centre facility offers improved network speed and resilience, with their own support staff on-site 24/7.
While the server is being moved, our web sites will be unavailable, and email to @16mm.org.uk addresses will be queued for later delivery once we are back up and running. The maintenance window starts at 6pm on Saturday 11 and ends at midday on Sunday 12 May; however they don’t anticipate that the work will actually take this long.
Richard Huss, IT Officer
Renewal reminders will be sent out in the next 48 hours to those members who have not yet renewed their subscription and for whom we hold an email address. If you’ve very recently renewed your subscription you may still receive a reminder, because the data used to populate the renewal process is extracted at a point in time and renewals still occur after this happens. Likewise if you’ve taken out a Direct Debit to renew then it may be in the set-up process, which takes a few days and requires human input. In both cases, if you already have confirmation from the subscription system that your renewal has been accepted, you can safely ignore the reminder.
Please read and carefully follow the instructions in the invitation. They differentiate how members who have used the system in the past should proceed as opposed to those who’ve never used the system before. If you nevertheless encounter problems, please contact Warners in the first instance, either by phone (details are in the invitation) or at 16mmNGM@warnersgroup.co.uk. It may take up to two days for a response, but if you don’t receive or aren’t satisfied with the response, please contact me at membership@16mm.org.uk. Please note that invitations are sent in bulk and copy invitations cannot be provided individually.
If you plan to attend the Annual General Meeting at the National Garden Railway Show on 6th April please complete your renewal before the Show, so that we can accurately verify membership status as you enter the AGM. It will not be possible to renew in person by cash or cheque at the Show. I plan to have a laptop computer at the Show which members may use on a self-service basis to renew by credit/debit card, but this will only be available during the morning.
Alan Regan, Chairman and Membership Secretary