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Hi Chris.Things seem to be getting a bit jumbled up on this site. Firstly. I will be attending the Farewell party. Secondly: Are the Live steam items listed for sale: I personally have not seen any list referring to the sale of the Walter K Wigham Loco. Have I missed something?

Ampara and her daughters have let me know how much Maurice enjoyed being a member of the club and that should anything happen to him he wanted his railway collection to be donated to the club and put to good use in helping the club prosper. Although I had thought to arrange collection at the same time as the wake Joanna informed me that every time Ampara walks into the railway room memories of Maurice beavering away in there upset her so they would like to clear the room as soon as possible.. Like Maurice, once a decision had been made the family do not hang around and have asked me to arrange to pick up the collection as soon as possible so I have arranged to travel down to London next Tuesday, stay in a hotel overnight and collect all the items. Once they are back in Glossop I will catalogue all the items so we can then have a discussion about how best to use everything for the benefit of the club.

What about the pricing of non-Hornby items? Water? Live Drive? Our own produced chimneys, tools, bogies etc. I know it is classic (a con?) marketing but lots of organisations have 'insider' or 'member' prices. I think it's worth considering setting and listing "Retail" prices on the public part of our website with a 'discount' for members only accessible through the members part of the site.

A bit overwhelming. I don't envy you Chris. Maybe we should arrange an extra day around the AGM and all muck in to test and classify just what we have here.

Well done Chris but AC models and our friend from South Wales will likely be sniffing too so I suggest again that a personal visit would benefit our relationship or at least a message to Simon Kohler to reinforce the contact. I'd happily volunteer to go.

Definitely be there Nick B

Since Chris's trip to London is on club business and will be a substantial benefit to the club I suggest that Chris should claim for hotel and fuel expenses.

Just to note that it is a complete waste of Chris's time having to answer these accusations when he could have spent his time much more productively - e.g. servicing locos !!

Adrian - taking your points one by one Our constitution begins "To Help Members Running Live Steam..." but that ignores the elephant in the room, the many thousands of OOLS owners who are not members whose once precious masterpiece of model engineering is approaching something close to scrap. And they don't know it. The key word here is ‘members’. The many thousands of ‘not members’ are just not our problem. Put OO live steam into any search engine and you will find the club, join for free and information is readily available. We are a virtual club so if you are not on the internet we are not in a position to help. We appear to be concluding that locos not run for a very long time and especially the large number "never run" could be damaged if running is attempted and at the very least will be seized. My experiences in dealing with new locos sold via the Engine Shed indicate that once the oil has degenerated it starts to act more like a glue. The club offer a three month guarantee so to protect our good name when we advertise a loco we tell people about the problem and offer a free service if required. Part of the process of service we provide “To Help Members Running Live Steam..." Most "New" and "nearly new" models sell via eBay, salerooms, dealers etc. and bypass us. True . . . but if they did some research the club and the information they need are both there and readily available. We need to tell owners about this (it might even be a legal duty) It isn't and we need a plan to tackle practically the emergence of long unused models 1. Put a strong "IMPORTANT" message on our website home page and explain the issue. Not a bad idea. I will put something together for committee approval 2. Research the extent of the problem by surveying the experience of recent new owners. Completely impractical. The only new owners that we know about are already club members and if they have problems they already have access to help. Data protection rules mean that auction sites and eBay sellers are not legally allowed to pass on buyer information to third parties. 3. Write and advise 3rd party retailers and auction houses about the evolving issue. Retailers and auction houses will not want to advertise or pass on information that might well put the buyer off making the purchase. 4. Send a message to sellers on eBay advising them of the issue Sellers on eBay will not want to advertise or pass on information that might well put the buyer off making the purchase. 5. Appeal to members who own "brand new un-run" models to submit them for test. If a member has a problem they already have access to information and if required the OOLS Service Scheme 6. Offer video advice to owners who feel competent to test/dismantle/free-up their own loco Not a bad idea – I will look into putting something together that can be accessed by club members 7. Look into how we might expand our service work commercially. If there was a commercial opportunity then someone would already be offering the service. We have neither the will nor the resources needed to even consider this. 8. Use the imminent 20th anniversary as an opportunity to generate publicity about the issue ⦁ Articles in model railway magazines (not just about this issue) This would need time to put articles together and get committee approval. Given magazine lead times it’s probably already too late to hit the anniversary target. ⦁ A video on social media platforms We already have a social media platform con Facebook where people having problems can access help. ⦁ Offer to mount presentations in the 'seated lecture theatres' at the big shows in the autumn Live steam is very niche market. The number of people thinking of buying is even smaller. I don’t think there is actually a demand. ⦁ a practical demonstration on our 'help desk' That is what we already do . . . but it is usually only to one or two people. ⦁ Pop-up banners that members could take to model railway shows and erect with permission. If you advertise a problem you also need to suggest a solution . . . back to the resource issue. Alternatively we can ignore the elephant in the room (presumably because we don’t have the resources to solve the problem) and let new owners having spent a lot of money find out the hard way. Nailed it . . . We do not have the resources. One of the advantages of being in a club is access to information . . . as already mentioned any internet search will find the club (we are a virtual club - not on the internet then we can’t help). If people can not, do not or will not put effort into researching OO Live Steam, finding and joining the club then to be fair . . . given the limited resources we have . . . they are not our problem.

Wholeheartedly agree Charles, We as a club have served the OO Live Steam community very well for the last 10 years at least. Our particular models are now falling into the ‘vintage’ sector and as such need a certain duty of care and common sense approach. I feel we have covered this well with the instruction and tutorials series, which is to be extended i might add. All I would add is ‘Caveat Emptor’!!!! All hail the Messiah!!!!! "He's not the Messiah,, he's just a Naughty Boy!!!!

Sounds good George ! Parts are not at Margate so a bit nearer to home. We can do Margate as a OOLSC collective in November as suggested.

No problem Boss 😊