A Little About GEM, EMRC & Us
We are about to officially change the club name to Ellesmere Model Railway Club to reflect the current members and our aims.
The Group of Ellesmere Modellers in Ellesmere, North Shropshire near the north Wales border (between Oswestry, Whitchurch and Wrexham) was first formed by three founding members ( David, John & Trevor C ) in 1998, initially to sail electric powered model boats in the local area and for model railways.
David was a professional model maker in TV & Film Sci-Fi but is also into all areas of modelling including railways, having worked professionally with them at the Dapol exhibition for many years. He became a professional studio photographer, assistant film editor and model maker for 20th Century Fox; there he had occasion to work with Derek Meddings at Pinewood Studios and Sylvia Anderson at many conventions; on Doctor Who as a Dalek operator (it runs in the family), prop restorer/manager at the (now closed) Doctor Who Experience in Llangollen, as well as a model designer and layout builder at Dapol's now long lost railway exhibition. He still has some involvement as a part time story/script writer.
David's love of 1950's & 1960's westerns influences his own choice of model railways, and the TV western series BONANZA introduced him to Nevada's Virginia & Truckee Railroad.
He joined the highly popular Bonanza related website BONANZA BOOMERS and is now a moderator for the History Forum, writing historical articles. If you have an interest in Bonanza, the actors or the history of the wild west and their railroads, have a look at www.bonanzaboomers.com They are a friendly group, always happy to welcome new members, and have a world wide following.
John is interested in model railways and sci-fi / fantasy models and at the time, boats too. Trevor C was a model boat enthusiast, creating boats to museum exhibition standards. The Club grew rapidly over the first few years and was well supported by the Countryside Rangers, having regular sailings on the Mere and giving shows and demonstrations to the public.
In more recent years, Trevor C and the boating members decided to move their sailing to Gresford near Wrexham; then Trevor C retired from modelling totally and moved away. Others drifted away too, then Trevor J and a couple of others who wanted to pursue only model flying set up a new club just for themselves based in Whittington.
The club now consists of David with treasurer Chris, Dave A and on occasions his son Lewis, and more recently club secretary Ian and Peter as core members along with Jack, another retired ex-Dapol railway man. John has now semi-retired from main stream building but fills in with some general modelling to keep his hand in.
We have decided to pursue our love of model railways and relevant kit construction. David, the driving force behind the group, also has other friends such as Kevin, Sandra and husband Tony who used to work with him at the same Dapol exhibition, and they occasionally join in the fun.
More on our models on later pages.
We welcome anyone who is interested in model railways to contact or join us. We do meet regularly on a Monday morning at the workshop to work on the layout, and a general meeting on the first Tuesday of every month and are very informal; to date we do not have membership subscriptions but pay £2.50 per monthly meeting towards costs. We do however share any costs if they arise when we do any local exhibitions.
We welcome anyone who wishes to participate, pass on skills or even those who need advice or help in model building, even you ladies out there!
Anyone wishing to join, or even to attend a meeting please feel free to contact us.
CONTACT David at [email protected]
2014 Show Date - Latest News
Following 2013's successful show, we will hold another exhibition again in 2014 at Ellesmere Town Hall, so if you would like to come again or would want to exhibit with us, please get in touch.
Dates are confirmed to be the weekend of 13th & 14th September, with setting up starting on Friday 12th after 4 pm.
2013 Show
We had a wonderful time over the weekend of 14th & 15th September, our 15th Annual Model Show held at Ellesmere Town Hall. Some photos have been uploaded to a new page; others will follow shortly along with some more in depth information.
Thanks to all of you who exhibited your layouts and trade stands. You helped make the weekend the great success it was, and the feedback from the towns folk and visitors has been fantastic.
-----------------------------
This year we are worked in association with the Ellesmere Festival Committee to help make their long established Festival weekend extra special for visitors all around the area to come and enjoy.
This being a dedicated model railway show, we had booked guest layouts to appear alongside our ongoing restoration of our famous N gauge "Ellesmere" layout.
Guest exhibits for GEM 2013 show
Though some booked exhibitors did not turn up, we still had a great show including Simon Smith's OO gauge DCC "STOKE CITY" with authentic sound effects, George Nutter with his unique "SCENERY BY RECYCLING" who
gave great demonstrations to the visitors. Also showing were Graham Betts with his N Gauge American layout "BELDMAN", Martin Rich and crew with their 0-16.5 Narrow Gauge layout "NEARLEIGH WORKS". N Gauge Society Chester Groups layout "CRAG MILL", Telford Railway Modellers Group N Gauge layout "BEWDLEY STATION", as well as stands from "GLYN VALLEY TRAMWAY TRUST", Llangollen's "6880 BETTON GRANGE GROUP" and "LLANGOLLEN DIESEL GROUP".
Peter Sanderson and Steve Milns also displayed their superb 5" gauge live steam locomotives.
We also had Tim & Pauline Bubb with a superb selection of used model railway items, a good collection of secondhand & out of print related books supplied by Julie Gerrard and "BUFFER BOOKS", and "DAME STUDIOS" wonderful paintings & drawings by renowned local artist Graham Andrews.
Nigel Thomas displayed artwork of the Doctors from the BBC TV show DOCTOR WHO, as part of the 50th Anniversary
Tom Roberts & Son exhibited their fantastic large collection of working Mamods and Meccano displays, which won the Best Of Show Display, chosen by Ellesmere Festival Committee Chairlady Mrs Pat McLaughlin.
Our show supported the British Heart Foundation and the Stroke Association, and we have just presented them with cheques for £400.00 each from the donations made on the weekend.
Any inquiries about our 2014 show including exhibiting your own layout or a trade stand are more than welcome.
The Group of Ellesmere Modellers in Ellesmere, North Shropshire near the north Wales border (between Oswestry, Whitchurch and Wrexham) was first formed by three founding members ( David, John & Trevor C ) in 1998, initially to sail electric powered model boats in the local area and for model railways.
David was a professional model maker in TV & Film Sci-Fi but is also into all areas of modelling including railways, having worked professionally with them at the Dapol exhibition for many years. He became a professional studio photographer, assistant film editor and model maker for 20th Century Fox; there he had occasion to work with Derek Meddings at Pinewood Studios and Sylvia Anderson at many conventions; on Doctor Who as a Dalek operator (it runs in the family), prop restorer/manager at the (now closed) Doctor Who Experience in Llangollen, as well as a model designer and layout builder at Dapol's now long lost railway exhibition. He still has some involvement as a part time story/script writer.
David's love of 1950's & 1960's westerns influences his own choice of model railways, and the TV western series BONANZA introduced him to Nevada's Virginia & Truckee Railroad.
He joined the highly popular Bonanza related website BONANZA BOOMERS and is now a moderator for the History Forum, writing historical articles. If you have an interest in Bonanza, the actors or the history of the wild west and their railroads, have a look at www.bonanzaboomers.com They are a friendly group, always happy to welcome new members, and have a world wide following.
John is interested in model railways and sci-fi / fantasy models and at the time, boats too. Trevor C was a model boat enthusiast, creating boats to museum exhibition standards. The Club grew rapidly over the first few years and was well supported by the Countryside Rangers, having regular sailings on the Mere and giving shows and demonstrations to the public.
In more recent years, Trevor C and the boating members decided to move their sailing to Gresford near Wrexham; then Trevor C retired from modelling totally and moved away. Others drifted away too, then Trevor J and a couple of others who wanted to pursue only model flying set up a new club just for themselves based in Whittington.
The club now consists of David with treasurer Chris, Dave A and on occasions his son Lewis, and more recently club secretary Ian and Peter as core members along with Jack, another retired ex-Dapol railway man. John has now semi-retired from main stream building but fills in with some general modelling to keep his hand in.
We have decided to pursue our love of model railways and relevant kit construction. David, the driving force behind the group, also has other friends such as Kevin, Sandra and husband Tony who used to work with him at the same Dapol exhibition, and they occasionally join in the fun.
More on our models on later pages.
We welcome anyone who is interested in model railways to contact or join us. We do meet regularly on a Monday morning at the workshop to work on the layout, and a general meeting on the first Tuesday of every month and are very informal; to date we do not have membership subscriptions but pay £2.50 per monthly meeting towards costs. We do however share any costs if they arise when we do any local exhibitions.
We welcome anyone who wishes to participate, pass on skills or even those who need advice or help in model building, even you ladies out there!
Anyone wishing to join, or even to attend a meeting please feel free to contact us.
CONTACT David at [email protected]
2014 Show Date - Latest News
Following 2013's successful show, we will hold another exhibition again in 2014 at Ellesmere Town Hall, so if you would like to come again or would want to exhibit with us, please get in touch.
Dates are confirmed to be the weekend of 13th & 14th September, with setting up starting on Friday 12th after 4 pm.
2013 Show
We had a wonderful time over the weekend of 14th & 15th September, our 15th Annual Model Show held at Ellesmere Town Hall. Some photos have been uploaded to a new page; others will follow shortly along with some more in depth information.
Thanks to all of you who exhibited your layouts and trade stands. You helped make the weekend the great success it was, and the feedback from the towns folk and visitors has been fantastic.
-----------------------------
This year we are worked in association with the Ellesmere Festival Committee to help make their long established Festival weekend extra special for visitors all around the area to come and enjoy.
This being a dedicated model railway show, we had booked guest layouts to appear alongside our ongoing restoration of our famous N gauge "Ellesmere" layout.
Guest exhibits for GEM 2013 show
Though some booked exhibitors did not turn up, we still had a great show including Simon Smith's OO gauge DCC "STOKE CITY" with authentic sound effects, George Nutter with his unique "SCENERY BY RECYCLING" who
gave great demonstrations to the visitors. Also showing were Graham Betts with his N Gauge American layout "BELDMAN", Martin Rich and crew with their 0-16.5 Narrow Gauge layout "NEARLEIGH WORKS". N Gauge Society Chester Groups layout "CRAG MILL", Telford Railway Modellers Group N Gauge layout "BEWDLEY STATION", as well as stands from "GLYN VALLEY TRAMWAY TRUST", Llangollen's "6880 BETTON GRANGE GROUP" and "LLANGOLLEN DIESEL GROUP".
Peter Sanderson and Steve Milns also displayed their superb 5" gauge live steam locomotives.
We also had Tim & Pauline Bubb with a superb selection of used model railway items, a good collection of secondhand & out of print related books supplied by Julie Gerrard and "BUFFER BOOKS", and "DAME STUDIOS" wonderful paintings & drawings by renowned local artist Graham Andrews.
Nigel Thomas displayed artwork of the Doctors from the BBC TV show DOCTOR WHO, as part of the 50th Anniversary
Tom Roberts & Son exhibited their fantastic large collection of working Mamods and Meccano displays, which won the Best Of Show Display, chosen by Ellesmere Festival Committee Chairlady Mrs Pat McLaughlin.
Our show supported the British Heart Foundation and the Stroke Association, and we have just presented them with cheques for £400.00 each from the donations made on the weekend.
Any inquiries about our 2014 show including exhibiting your own layout or a trade stand are more than welcome.
Monday 28th October 2013 - GEM presents cheques for £400 to both the British Heart Foundation and the Stroke Association.
BHF Furniture & Electrical store manager Darren Hall receives the cheque from GEM's founder David. Jodie Smith, Regional Fundraiser for the Stroke Association is presented their cheque by GEM treasurer Chris.
A scale model of Thunderbird 2 escorted the cheque delivery and made sure the Hood didn't interfere!
BHF Furniture & Electrical store manager Darren Hall receives the cheque from GEM's founder David. Jodie Smith, Regional Fundraiser for the Stroke Association is presented their cheque by GEM treasurer Chris.
A scale model of Thunderbird 2 escorted the cheque delivery and made sure the Hood didn't interfere!
Club Layout "ELLESMERE" Restoration
The club's N gauge layout of the Cambrian station "Ellesmere" is undergoing some much needed upgrading and running repairs for both this and next years show. Built by John over 15 years ago and now donated to the club, it saw some local shows and became a well loved layout in the Dapol exhibition in 2000; featuring in model railway magazines, it was badly damaged during the exhibitions closure. Several damaged points have just been replaced and new features including the milk transfer dock have been added after some researching of old photos of the original station and yards.
The club's N gauge layout of the Cambrian station "Ellesmere" is undergoing some much needed upgrading and running repairs for both this and next years show. Built by John over 15 years ago and now donated to the club, it saw some local shows and became a well loved layout in the Dapol exhibition in 2000; featuring in model railway magazines, it was badly damaged during the exhibitions closure. Several damaged points have just been replaced and new features including the milk transfer dock have been added after some researching of old photos of the original station and yards.
009 Gauge "Kwitchabliaikin" Overhaul
John's other main layout was under restoration and upgrades to allow the full 36 foot length to appear at the show in September. When originally built for the Dapol exhibition in 2000, time constraints restricted the layout to be completed to his satisfaction.
Unfortunately after many months of new ideas and work including passing loops have gone into bringing the layout up to John's standards, major water damage has recently caused problems which may mean the end of the layout.
John's other main layout was under restoration and upgrades to allow the full 36 foot length to appear at the show in September. When originally built for the Dapol exhibition in 2000, time constraints restricted the layout to be completed to his satisfaction.
Unfortunately after many months of new ideas and work including passing loops have gone into bringing the layout up to John's standards, major water damage has recently caused problems which may mean the end of the layout.
Thank you to those who helped with our 2013 Show
A big thank you to...
John Pickering at Eezyink limited for his continued support of the club and our shows.
Check out his website for printer ink cartridges and photo paper at www.eezytrade.co.uk
Eezytrade, Unit 8 Ellesmere Business Park, Oswestry Road, ELLESMERE, Shropshire, SY12 0EW, United Kingdom
Phone: 0845 6449 428
Fax: 0870 0056 904
Email: [email protected]
to the Ellesmere Festival Committee for their support and help in advertising our show this year.
Also our truly grateful thanks to Fullwood Ltd, Grange Road, Ellesmere, Shropshire, SY12 9DF
for their continued support of the club, without which this years show may not have been possible.
We would also like to express our grateful thanks to the wonderful companies below for the
superb prizes donated for the Ellesmere Town Shop Window competition...
Cambrian Heritage Railways for their Drive a Train Experience voucher
Maestermyn Marina at Welsh Frankton for their Day Boat trip
Welshpool & Llanfair Railway for their family ticket
T & G Builders for their £50 voucher
Llangollen Railway for their family ticket
Ellesmere Chamber Of Commerce for their £50 gift voucher
Bala Lake Railway for their family ticket
Rainbows of Ellesmere for their retro toy selection
John Pickering at Eezyink limited for his continued support of the club and our shows.
Check out his website for printer ink cartridges and photo paper at www.eezytrade.co.uk
Eezytrade, Unit 8 Ellesmere Business Park, Oswestry Road, ELLESMERE, Shropshire, SY12 0EW, United Kingdom
Phone: 0845 6449 428
Fax: 0870 0056 904
Email: [email protected]
to the Ellesmere Festival Committee for their support and help in advertising our show this year.
Also our truly grateful thanks to Fullwood Ltd, Grange Road, Ellesmere, Shropshire, SY12 9DF
for their continued support of the club, without which this years show may not have been possible.
We would also like to express our grateful thanks to the wonderful companies below for the
superb prizes donated for the Ellesmere Town Shop Window competition...
Cambrian Heritage Railways for their Drive a Train Experience voucher
Maestermyn Marina at Welsh Frankton for their Day Boat trip
Welshpool & Llanfair Railway for their family ticket
T & G Builders for their £50 voucher
Llangollen Railway for their family ticket
Ellesmere Chamber Of Commerce for their £50 gift voucher
Bala Lake Railway for their family ticket
Rainbows of Ellesmere for their retro toy selection
And now to 2014...
Following the success of last years show, we have already booked the Town Hall in Ellesmere for our next model railway event during the weekend of 13th & 14th September 2014.
Watch this space for more details!
We have just launched our new website for Ellesmere Model Railway Club.
Use the button below to visit us there.