The WAMRC really could not be located in a better position! Not only are our clubrooms in the heart of the Railway Museum, but we are also right alongside a live railway siding leading to UGL Limited’s Bassendean locomotive workshops. It is not uncommon to witness locos entering or leaving the workshops while at the club as these photos courtesy of Garry West show.
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Saturday 16/04/2022 saw a surprise visitor to the club, Richard Davies Managing Director of Hattons Model Railways in the UK dropped in to see the club. He was in Perth visiting relatives.
He was very interested in our decision to demolish the HO layout and rebuild, as well as its affects on membership applications. He was also very interested in the full size steam locos on display in the Railway Museum, photographing the makers plates of several (all manufactured in the UK).
Sadly the annual WA Model Railway Exhibition at Claremont Showgrounds over the June long weekend has been cancelled for the third year running (due to uncertainty surrounding public health restrictions), so Rail Heritage WA in conjunction with the WAMRC are taking the opportunity to hold a ‘Mini Model Railway Expo’ on Sunday 5th June.
This event was a big success last year and is sure to be even better this year!
You can now book tickets through: https://www.trybooking.com/BYQDI
Demolition of the old HO layout has now been completed to make way for the new one. Latest photos of progress are now available on the Main HO Scale Layout page for your viewing pleasure.
Construction of the new HO layout is full steam ahead at the WAMRC! The HO layout page has been extensively updated to document progress as it occurs.
Keep checking back to view progress as it occurs.
This photo is over 10 years old now (!) and shows the construction of the club’s new N Scale layout beginning to take shape. It was about time we updated the web site to reflect the changes so the Layouts page has undergone quite a revamp!
Read more about the club’s current N Scale layout on the N Scale Layout page.
With the sad cancellation of the annual Perth Model Railway Exhibition for the second year running due to COVID-19, Rail Heritage WA in conjunction with the WAMRC and several other model railway club will be holding a “Mini Model Railway Expo” at the Rail Transport Museum in Bassendean on Sunday 6th June 2021.
For more details, please see the poster below.
Our sister club, the Edmonton Model Railroad Association (https://www.emra.club/) has once again sent us one of their excellent calendars for 2021. They produce this calendar every year using photos taken by their own members.
In a letter from their President (Tim Walker) accompanying the calendar, it sounds like their past year has been considerable more difficult than ours. We are so very lucky to have been as minimally affected by COVID-19 as we have!
This year has been unlike any other preceding it. With the COVID pandemic, we made the decision to suspend operations back in March. We had some relief from August to November when we able to access the building and work in small groups on projects. Unfortunately, at this time we have had to suspend operations until the new year. I’m sure this is like what you have been experiencing. Our model railroad community is small, and we have been trying to keep communication open between our members by hosting various online video events. Hopefully with the vaccine rolling out in Canada, we are nearing the end of these strange times.
Tim Walker, President — Edmonton Model Railroad Association
Thank you very much for the calendar EMRA and we wish you a speedy return to normal operations!
The layout room is beginning to look much better after the laying of the first set of floor tiles yesterday. It has taken months to complete removal of the layers of old, tired carpet in the room — painstakingly moving shelves, cupboards and progressively lifting the legs of the layouts to get the carpet out. Then weeks of back-breaking work to remove the old glue from the floor!
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