Bristol Area Group
The Bristol Area Group still meet weekly at member's houses. There are no plans to build a group layout, as we could never agree on anything; there is too diverse a range of interests. At the last count it included: Somerset & Dorset, Great Western (Broad and Standard gauge), The Highland, Industrials, Kent & East Sussex, Continental (H0 only) and 5" gauge. However there is a lot of interest within the group about DCC, so with a bit of encouragement, we might persaude one of the members to produce a circular test track so we can really start to "fine tune" our locos.
One of the main functions of the group is to get out and have some fun with trains, so we attend exhibitions as visitors and assist at exhibitions on various members' private layouts: this takes us all over the country. Also there is the encouragement and competition that emanates from a group. It is much more fun to create things and then show them. At the last count there were four working layouts amongst the group, but one of these could be going to a new home or maybe into a skip.
Finally, there is more to life than railways. (There is? No one told me.) So the social side is not neglected and includes going out for curries and even playing skittles against other scale societies.
We are always keen to welcome new members in the local area, so please either email bristol at scalefour.org or contact Gordon Ashton, or Tim Venton via the Blue Sheet if you would like to join the group, or just come along and say hello.
Blue Sheet