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Worth a post on the main site . It will be interesting to see if there is any response

ha ha! Its the icon that is applied when you save a website url to desktop on pc or mobile device. As shown above the main site icon has the Live Steam lozenge but it is oversize. maybe you didnt apply this if so it has applied itself automaticaly somehow. The committee site has a peculiar image of somthing else. It'll keep you busy!!

About 80% of this articel describes how 'Hornby got it wrong'. I'm very tired of hearing that now.

Noted to this point

It worked Chris, I got an instant notification of your comment! NW

Noted to this point

Well done Nick, great job. See you at Gaydon this coming weekend. Val x

Wading and treacle come to mind. Don't let any potential trip to a museum get in the way of our collecting the spares. The sooner the better and I;ll volunter to help. We MUST get a photo for publicity when we collect - our securing these spares is a big new story. AsI say the sooner the better and I have my car keys in my hand.

No doubt this is one for the AGM, but I think it's worth going back to consider why we sell locos. For that matter, why we sell serviced locos. For me, the aim is to get locos back into regular use by our club members at a fair and reasonable price. I don't think we should be selling locos in order to maximise club funds. I would suggest that we only need a modest profit in order to fund other club activities (eg roadshow, new shop parts etc). We do need to somehow take account of market conditions, but I would suggest that is done through the price we pay (our cost), rather than our selling price. Given the time taken for servicing, that always means we will be lagging the market, but that's OK isn't it? It should help to stabilise prices.

I for one, having never dared disassemble one of my precious locos would love something to practice on guided by club videos. Not necessarily get it going but just to give me the confidence to service mine.

Charles making an insincere apology and then immediately carrying on with more accusations does not really work. For the benefit of other committee members I will again explain it in detail after each extract from your comment (in italics) Eg I have only been aware of incomplete financial statements last dated Sept 2nd The Treasury Report spreadsheet is updated once a month in arrears. The September file you were viewing is the latest that Eric has posted as complete. The report is a live link to the file posted by Eric. Occasionally the link does need a prod to update it and having just prodded it is displaying a few more entries, up to 7th October with the total being £7,838.84, less that the 2nd September. This is a glitch that I am trying to fix but although I do prod it on a regular basis it can occasionally lag a little till I get around to it. Which is precisely why I quite reasonably requested access to the Google drive to gain a full picture of where as a club, we were all about. To be clear . . . you, as Club Chairman, have had view only access to the Google drive since the 1st October 2023 – 25 days Not an unreasonable request when the air is full of rumours about apparent lack of funds and quite worrying amounts going apparently on purchasing. Let’s not pretend . . . the only person spreading rumours is you. Also, it was information Chris could quite easily have made available on the drive IN "READ ONLY FORMAT. The information has been available via links from the committee website ever since the Google drive was set up Also, in answer to your persistent demands you, as Club Chairman, have had view only access to the Google drive since the 1st October 2023 so could easily view the master spreadsheet.   The bluebell collection . . .  After I had spoken to David Foale on the Saturday I told you that as Nigel was not there I was going to make him an offer on the Sunday, once I had worked out a fair price. You then went to look at the collection and told me over lunch the Papyrus locos were rubbish and not worth more than £450 tops. I said as an individual you were free to make him an offer if you wanted but in line with our fair price policy I would be offering more. https://membership284.wixsite.com/ools-com/forum/policy-discussions-decisions/ools-loco-sales-policy For the record we paid £750 each for the Papyrus locos and have already sold one for £975. Deliberately keeping me out of the picture. – Not true I told you the Bluebell shop had locos for sale, told you as an individual you could make them an offer and even told you how much we would be offering. I also consider it highly unethical to ask a member of the club to put up 4k as loan to purchase the said lot. If anything Chris should have approached myself (as the Chairman) direct to fund the deal. Again, incorrect information .The club bank account has a withdrawal limit of £2000 per day. The 11 loco, 2 controllers & rolling roads deal came to £4,520, more that we could withdraw over the weekend. Whist negotiating with David Foale over the problem Andrew kindly offer to make the payment with the club refunding him over three days. Charles – for clarity, Andrew was there whilst I was trying to agree a solution with David and so that we didn’t lose the deal offered to help. I did not approach anyone to fund the deal and if I had intended to as we had already completely disagreed about the value of the locos what would have been the point in approaching you.  

Further comments from the WhatsApp group Adrian Campbell When the big stock Hornby spares issue emerged I checked the website for available cash and was shocked it had down so much. £21k to under 10. Also the "locos for sale" was empty. What had happened? Clearly we'd bought everything we could despite a log jam putting them on sale. I have no doubt they will eventually bring a profit but have we over-extended. In business this is called "Overtrading". In future I think Nigel needs to ask for authority from the Treasurer if a purchase opportunity emerges. Nick Beard I think you’ll find he already does!! It’s not like he holds a cheque book!! Adrian Campbell Fortunately we've got the spares for free but we might have missed an opportunity I don't see a request on the Committee site to spend and then an authorisation like I do from Chris and Nick. Am I looking in the wrong place. It really needs Eric to reply here. Val Price Have you all forgotten the Bluebell weekend and how many hours were spent checking, phoning around, discussing and checking again before the second loco purchase was made? We knew the club cash level would drop, but all agreed it was within acceptable limits. We knew there was a long queue for servicing, but agreed it was an acceptable wait before they could be sold and cash recovered. Everything was done properly and openly by a majority of committee members, treasurer & loco sales manager. This was an exceptional one off opportunity to benefit a charity and the club with a fair purchase price. Eric Fenwick The rules for making a purchase were clearly laid out several years ago. They’re on the club members web site I think. I’ve been continually servicing locos for Nigel and returning them to him. I’ve just completed another 5 and will get more from him at the end of the month. Working as fast as I can to do that. Nick Beard So there you are! No major problems at all. We have merely, as a not-for-profit organisation, turned some of our excess cash into product that will bring a much bigger return in due course! Last year at Bicester, out of a haul of 7 locos bought in as a deal, one of the locos, a Papyrus sold for almost half the cost of the total haul! Andrew John The club has been in the unprecedented and fortunate position to buy 2 large batches of engines at an advantageous price, they will be resold and funds used to further the aims of the club. Furthermore we dont need £21k in club funds how are we going to spend it? If we only have 2 roadshows remaining then £5k is enough! Im happy that the appointed officials of the club are using the funds for a good purpose, if they weren’t then the rest of the comittee can hold them to account. Adrian Campbell Are the rules being followed Eric?  If so then your misgivings Charles are misplaced.   I do think we could improve transparency though not because the rules are not being followed but it is a bit of a trawl to access all the appropriate web pages. Eric Fenwick The rules are very simple. Have a read and ask yourself if you followed them. Especially rule 3. I Adrian Campbell Rule 5b and 5c seem to apply here. So, Charles if Nigel has posted a request on the Committee forum or got approval from Eric directly then the proper procedure has been followed.  From a personal point of view in future for such large sums I would propose that a request should always be made in the committee forum Eric Fenwiick That’s what the rules say, and for any value