The Gauge O Guild

A secure online voting facility has been developed which will operate via the members section of the Guild website. This system will be available as a method of voting on the resolutions put before the members at the forthcoming AGM. Proxy voting will still be available for members who prefer it.

The electronic voting system will open in early August when the Gazette and Guild News are being delivered. The Annual Report, the Notice of the AGM, the agenda and proxy voting forms (and an SAE) will be enclosed with the mailing in the normal way.

The closing date and time for electronic voting will be the same as the date and time for the delivery of proxy forms to be received. Electronic voting will close at 13.00 hours on Friday 28th August 2020.

A link to the Electronic Voting section will appear on the website home page when it goes live. This will take you directly to your voting form and the candidates' CVs.

The voting this year will be by poll vote on each resolution.

Completing the online voting is simple and you can use the refresh button to establish how many resolutions you have voted on so as not to miss any.

Finally, you confirm your vote by submitting it with a confirmation button at the bottom of the form.

Your vote is counted automatically using the electronic voting facility, the system adds up the votes as they come in and records who has voted for the purpose of the records. The system does not record how you vote. Using the membership database, the system will check that you are a member at the time of voting. It will not allow anyone to vote more than once.

Electronic voting may not appeal to all. Those who prefer to complete a proxy voting form can do so in the usual way. On that page there will also be a downloadable proxy form which can returned by post, or overseas members can email it to the provided email address.

This is a huge step forward and it is hoped as many of you as possible will take advantage of this method of registering your vote securely and safely.

On behalf of the Management Committee 

John Kneeshaw Guild President

Tim Humphreys Interim Guild Chairman

                                                                                                                                     Richard Clark Guild Secretary                              

July 2020

Annual General Meeting arrangements for 2020.

Guildex 2020 has been cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will therefore not be possible to hold the 2020 AGM in the normal way.

We do not wish to delay the transaction of some statutory business, the voting on necessary motions, nor the election volunteer members of the Management Committee. Arrangements have therefore been made to hold the Annual General Meeting of the Gauge O Guild Ltd on the 30th August 2020 at 13.00 hours in the following way:

The AGM will take place as per the Notice to Members and will follow the meeting agenda circulated with the August 2020 Guild News. The AGM will be a closed meeting attended by the President, Chairman and Company Secretary. Other members will not be able to attend because of Covid-19 restrictions. All members will receive the Annual Report of the Company which will contain full information on all the resolutions put before them. Members will be able to vote in advance of the meeting on all resolutions on the agenda and on the election of officers. Members will be able to vote either electronically or by using the supplied proxy form (an SAE will be provided). Overseas members will also be able to return their proxy vote by email to the address provided in the documents if they choose not to vote electronically.

The Directors have appointed Nigel Nelson (1299) as the Returning Officers to oversee all voting returns in all formats and to report the results to the AGM Chairman.

Any members holding undirected proxy votes will be contacted after the closing date so they can give the Returning Officer their decision on the proxy votes they hold.

The results of all of the votes cast by members on all resolutions, including the election of officers, will be communicated via the Guild website, an email to members and an announcement in the November Guild News. Arrangements will be made for newly elected officers to take over from retiring officers as soon as possible following the announcement of the results.

No other business can be conducted at the 2020 AGM.

On behalf of the Management Committee                                                                                                                   

Tim Humphreys Interim Guild Chairman

John Kneeshaw Guild President

July 2020

Report from Events Committee concerning actions following cancellation of Guildex 2020. Guildex update 1 July 2020.pdf

All traders and societies who attend Guild shows have, on Monday 29th June, been sent the Management Committee announcement informing them that Guildex 2020 has been cancelled.

They have also been reminded about our Virtual Show on October 31st 2020 which is progressing well. More news on that next month

Traders and societies who had specifically booked and paid for stands in Telford this year have all been asked if they would like a full refund of money paid including deposits or, if preferred, they can have a credit towards advertising or a credit towards 2021. Without exception, the traders and societies, who have responded so far, feel that the decision taken by the Guild Management Team to cancel this event, despite the TIC wishing to continue with their 'wait and see' approach is the correct approach to have been taken.

Steve Robinson, Guildex Show Manager has been contacting the layout owners and demonstrators. Nick Dunhill has contacted the competition layouts and they have all been offered the chance to attend in 2021 if they wish. If space permits further competition entries will be accepted in 2021.

In addition, Richard Mills has confirmed that the hotels in Telford have cancelled all preliminary bookings. No money had been transferred and there are no financial penalties for releasing the rooms which had been reserved.

The Telford International Centre (TIC) are still discussing our cancellation with the Group CEO and the legal team and as promised by the Management Committee, we will keep you informed of any developments as soon as we hear anything.

Jackie Kneeshaw

Gauge O Guild Trade Manager - On behalf of the Events Team

Message from the Gauge O Guild Directors

Guildex cancel announcment.pdf

Further discussions with the Telford International Centre about Guildex 2020 have taken place today, and a decision about whether to hold the show is expected next week.

Guildex 2020 update.pdf

Latest news of cancelled show for 2020 and new show for 2021

Doncaster show update.pdf

In the 1950s and 1960s some heavy users of rail freight services would stick posters on the sides or doors of vans or containers carrying their products. These were an everyday sight on British Railways in the steam and early diesel periods, and almost every main line and pick-up goods train of the period showed at least one example. 

Hollar Models posters represent the originals as accurately as the imperfect photographic record allows.  Many of them are based on dimensioned sketches done at the time, but others have been produced by eye using photographs. 

The whole 7mm range is available now to be downloaded free of charge from the Gauge O Guild website, for members and non-members. 

Find them on the main website in the dropdown menu under ‘Services’ on the menu bar.

Hollar Model Posters.pdf

There has been a lot of interest in having a ‘virtual’ O gauge show especially because the Covid-19 restrictions have resulted in many exhibitions being cancelled.

Regardless of whether Guildex 2020 goes ahead or not, the Events Team, together with some of our website IT experts are planning to pilot a virtual exhibition on Saturday 31 October 2020.

This is currently in the planning stages and further information will be available soon. This report describes current plans and gives contacts for further information and expressions of interest in participating..

Virtual show.pdf

virtual competition.pdf

• Small Layouts - sales of Volume 3 skyrocket - Volume 2 reprinted
• Publications now available for sale on the web site
• Guild video and slide library updates

See Guild Publications Update 6 June 2020.pdf ​​​​​​​

It is with great sorrow we have to announce that the Bristol O Gauge show 2021 will not be able to go ahead because the venue has become a Nightingale hospital. The UWE admin have cancelled our booking and can not give us a new date. Once the hospital is out, the building will be redesigned for tutors and social distancing, and will not be suitable for shows in the future.

We would like to thank the Guild and all the trade, clubs, societies, our friends and you the visitors for all the support over 30 years from Temple Meads to UWE. We will look for a suitable site but at present there is no other venue of this size available. We will post any news of our search. We may come back smaller. Plus the need for social distancing gives us a challenge. We are leaving our web site www.bogg7mmexhibition.com active in case people want to use our trade index. This is correct at present and you can go straight through to each web site where applicable. Thank you.

Bob Taylor, Alan Neale and Bob Savage