Report from the Gauge One Model Railway Association AGM and Trade Show on 14 October 2017.

The Business Meeting:

I interpret the following as a Live and Let Live mandate from the entire G1MRA membership:

• The G1MRA President’s Cup was awarded to Chris & Sandra Tolhurst for what the citation called their Magnificent batch of King Arthurs.
• Despite stirring up all this (sometimes controversial) stuff all summer, I was elected to the G1MRA Board (to my astonishment) unanimously.
• During the business meeting, I got an informal opportunity to speak off-the-cuff from the platform about what we are doing here. I said:

1. we seek to help people find the place in G1 they’ll be be most comfortable;
2. that we would not be tainted by the whiff of condescending superiority sometimes attributed to Finescalers elsewhere;
3. anyone who wants to pursue the hard road of Finescale will get the support of the G1MRA Committee.

This got warm applause at the time, and many kind thanks afterwards.

The Trade Show:

Almost everything we planned (see Newsletter 2) came off, the only absence being Cliff Williams’s eye-and-ear-popping DCC demonstration, which we had to do via YouTube: https://youtu.be/-QMSJXaXD1A https://youtu.be/ULtiAJvJYLE Remember, this engine is 2-rail.

I am most grateful to all who exhibited with us, from the left hand end of the display:

• Cliff Barker, who lent us Dungeness Siding, the superb backdrop for vehicle pictures,
• Simon Castens, Steve Cook, Bob Hunter, Fred Phipps, who brought 'Cottage Industry' traction & rolling stock.
• Lawrie Loveless who brought superb commercial brass stock, plus Cliff Williams's DCC on video,
• Pete Insole & Son with Bagshot Station,
• Chris and Sandra Tolhurst with some of the award-winning King Arthurs,
• Peter Rogers with his superb coaches,

and of course Derek Pollard, whose brainchild this awe-inspiring display was twelve months ago, and who has put most of it together.