Arakoola Heading To The UK in 2016

Some Exciting News

The Arakoola team would like to let Aus7 members be the first to hear something very special. We are taking the layout to the U.K.

For almost twelve months we have been having discussions with the executive of the Gauge O Guild about the possibility of exhibiting the layout at the annual Guildex exhibition in Telford in the U.K. and we have just been informed that their February Board meeting has invited us us to attend the sixtieth anniversary show in 2016.

Telford is regarded as the premier O scale event on the U.K. modelling calendar and attracts exhibitors and visitors from all over the U.K. and indeed the world so this will be a real opportunity to show them something quite different to the usual British, European and American prototype layouts they are familiar with.

This is a huge logistical and financial challenge for us. The shipping arrangements alone are complex and very expensive and preliminary arrangements have already been made. Each of us will be making a significant financial investment in the venture and we are grateful to the Guild also for some generous assistance. We will also be undertaking some fund raising activities starting as soon as they can be arranged. The first of these will be the raffle of a Model O Kits/DJH AD60 Garratt kit.

To let you know more about it we have set up a Blog at https://arakoola2telford2016.wordpress.com where you can see how this all came about, track our progress, leave comments, ask questions and maybe take part in some of the fund raising activities including how to go about purchasing raffle tickets. There will also be an article in the next issue of 7th Heaven.

Due to the need for some upgrade work on the layout we will be limiting our exhibition appearances this year, with Liverpool being the only possible. However we are planning an open day similar to the one we had in 2013 so keep checking the Blog for details.

Finally, we want to thank John Birch, our good friend and Aus7 member in the U.K. for his representations to the Guild on our behalf and his assistance with arrangements at that end and also Guild Overseas Representative John Drago for his encouragement when it all seemed too hard.

Paul