Club evening September 2026.
Our chairman started the evening with some requirements for our stand at the exhibition, as we would like display model descriptions of consistent design as per a recently circulated template. There was some more club business and after that we move not to our speaker for the evening, Kevin, who was to talk about his working life and his occupation in the production industry performing the tasks of precision grinding.
Many of us including me had no idea what this was to be about! Kevin started telling us about his apprenticeship at Mercers and how the group of apprentices spent much time at the training school and his latter transfer to learning how the grinding machines worked. There were several types, and Kevin worked his way through them to fully understand the equipment he would be using in his later work.
Kevin showed us how the machines worked and just how precise the finished product was, which surprised many in the audience. There were continuous questions asking for clarifications as he went through his presentation. The evening had been booked and postponed several times over the last couple of years and also Kevin thought it was just a 20 - 30-minute talk. It went on for well over an hour, such was the interest generated. Kevin was very authoritative in his presentation and confidently answered many questions along the way.
So, as the general organiser of club evenings I had a second talk and a filler ready to fill the evening. On consulting with the chairman, I did the filler with one of my model boats leaving the other item for a proper amount of time, probably for November. The model boat I brought along was a small ferry that crossed the border between Canada and the USA over the River St. Lawrence, which was the boundary marker for the two countries. The ferry service was running from the mid1930s until the river was re-engineered into the St. Laurence waterway in the early 1950s. This now gave access to ocean going ships via locks for 2300 miles as far as Lake Superior.
The ferry boat could carry up to a dozen cars (?) not so sure about that due to its dimensions. The fare was a one-dollar fare across and then a free return. The ferry was working between Morrisburgh in Ontario and Waddington in New York State. The model is 1:43 at which scale there are many cars and figures available.
I have declared a date for the model of the 4th. August 1937 which was Bank Holiday Monday so a public holiday. There are 19 travellers on the model with a couple of families all on holiday. The lorry is a French model doing a delivery into USA. The drivers Maurice and Gaston have only a 15-minute journey time and are in the bar having a 'swift one' and remain unseen! There are 3 crew in the blue jerseys.
I went on to explain how the model was held together as discretely as possible and the general workings.
This took us to 10 o/clock when time was called and all cooperated in clearing the hall and replacing the tables and chairs. Thanks as always to Neil and Jack for organising the tea break and all the others that make our evenings enjoyable.
Next month it is history around Willesden Junction and locos. If anyone wants to bring in locos large and small, we shall try to include a show and tell session as well.
Regards to all.
Roy
15th. September 2026