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We had a good turn out at the club on Wednesday night. Nobody came down the week before because of Australia Day so I think everyone was keen to come back. Even Peter Tullis turned up — back from his travels around the world over the past couple of months, although it might take him a few days to recover fully! Its good to see some activity down the club again following the traditionally slow Christmas period.

The N‑Scale crew finally finished dismantling the old ‘Redwintul Park West’ layout — and Weepee Junction — and stacked the old modules neatly in a corner so that construction of the new N‑Scale layout can commence in earnest; the HO boys appear to have finally got the wiring for the new DCC boosters sorted out so you don’t get intermittent shorts when driving from section to section on the HO layout; and the daylighters are in the process of cleaning out the outdoor pond following the discovery that the refilling mechanism had failed.

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The February 2011 AMRA Branchline is available here: AMRA Branchline Feb 2011

Image: Quarry/mine on the old N‑Scale layout as it looked at the last RailFest.

New Email address

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The club’s old email address is still not fixed (although we are still working on it), so we have set up a new permanent address for the club.

Please update your address book(s) with the address on the contact page.

[Email address subsequently removed from this blog post to limit spam.]

Image: Cars at a level crossing at Yoting on the Gunyidi HO layout

Email problems

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The club’s normal email address has died and due to the time of year, we are not able to find out what is going on and get it fixed for a few days.

In the meantime, a temporary GMail address has been set up as a backup. Please use this email address until advised otherwise.

[Address subsequently removed to limit spam.]

RailFest 2010

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RailFest is on again!

Sunday 31st October 2010, 10am ‑5pm, FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY. Tours of the Museum, activities for kids, sausage sizzle and much more.

This is a fun filled day for rail enthusiasts, the community and families. Explore grand steam and diesel locomotives, wander around the Exhibition Hall. Visit the Model Railway. Get a taste of the history of Railways in Western Australia collected and restored by passionate volunteers since 1959. Plenty of fun for the kids and so much more!

Image: NR103 — one of several guest locos at RailFest 2004

Albany Hobby Expo 2010

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Our good friends, the Albany Model Railway Association are once again holding the bi-annual Albany Hobby Expo in the Albany Centennial Hall Pavilion (Lockyer Avenue, Albany), on the 9th and 10th of October 2010 (the last weekend of the school holidays). Opening times are 10am to 5pm on the Saturday and 9am to 4pm on the Sunday. [These dates were originally going to clash with RailFest, but RailFest has now been postponed to 31st October.]

For general enquires about the exhibition, please contact Peter Pocock on 0419 967 991 or Chris Winton on 9841 8136.

The Albany Hobby Expo is always an enjoyable, relaxed exhibition. Although the WAMRC has exhibited the past two times it has been held, this year we are unable to make it unfortunately.

Image: Cow reflected in a stream on the WAMRC N‑Scale exhibition layout at the Albany Hobby Expo 2008

Dry-cell Battery Recycling

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With the explosion of electronics in use in Model Railways in recent years, the club is finding itself going through more and more dry cell batteries. Peter Tullis recently obtained a ‘Dry Cell Battery Recycling Container’ and has placed it in the library for anyone to use.

When replacing dead batteries, please put the old ones in the container rather than throw them in the bin. You can even bring them in from home as well! The types of batteries accepted include:

  • AA and AAA cells (single use & rechargeable batteries)
  • C and D sized batteries
  • Button batteries (e.g. from watches)
  • 9V batteries
  • 6V batteries (e.g. lantern/torch batteries)

Any broken, damaged, leaking or corroded batteries should first be placed in a zip-lock bag (use one of the old mug bags).

Once the container is full, it will be returned to the recycling depot. From there, the batteries are sorted into single use and rechargeable types. Single use batteries are sent to NSW for recycling (by AusZinc), while the rechargeable types have to be sent overseas (France or Singapore) as Australia currently has no recycler for these battery types.

Lead acid batteries (both sealed rechargeable and vehicle batteries) cannot be placed in the container. These types of batteries should be disposed of at Household Hazardous Waste depot, or directly with a scrap metal dealer.

For more details, see the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council’s Household Battery Recycling page.