Belleville Model Train Show

A NEW LOCATION AND GOOD ATTENDANCE. This year, the Belleville show moved to Centennial School where it really did fill the school's two vast gymnasiums ........... and the club took good advantage of the space available. I don't know how many boats we had on display but certainly there were several new builds and some that had not been out from the yard for quite a long time.

Clair's "Titanic" was his first build (but not quite as far back as 1911) and he finally had his stick-built paddle wheeler finished. It's complete with an all-wood shaft and bearings for the rotating paddles. Dirk was in full competition mode with his stick-built features for an oriental garden (no boat for it yet, but who knows what comes next). John McC's first scratch built launch (from "Model Boats" plans) looked great. Peter's model Bantam tug was put through further changes to the hull, and the kitchen rudder was replaced by conventional power and steering, and fitted with a larger propellor. Earlier sailings at the pond showed that floating debris was too easily caught in the kitchen rudder, i.e. the boat became "useless!!!!

It was good to see a fair number of young folk at the show and even better to get involved answering questions about the boats and Don's model battleship drew a lot of interest.

All in all, the club had a good turn out, the facilities were well set up, we enjoyed ourselves and had the opportunity to meet with other model enthusiasts and spend some time with the many vendors (who were, of course, happy to receive our financial assistance).

As the snow begins to settle outside, it's time to set up the yards and get to work on the next projects. With luck, we'll get a sneak-peak at the club's next meeting.