Last April 4th, 2004.

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The beginnings.

Obviously he was not alone as was evidenced by the appearance of two adverts in the British Model Railway press: one by Jim Jones looking for some Hornby Dublo items; the other by George Harrop offering to sell a Hornby Dublo Duchess (which, incidentally, Jim bought and still has though somewhat modified).

Jim wrote to them both about the idea of forming an Association for the exchange of ideas with the result that they formed a national group with members from coast to coast: Jim Jones in Halifax; me in Ottawa; and George Harrop in Vancouver.

Jim contacted Cyril Freezer, then editor of the Railway Modeller, and to S.W. Stevens-Stratton, editor of the Model Railway Constructor and asked if they would announce this newly formed group in their magazines. A very nice mention appeared in both magazines and they started getting members at a remarkable rate growing from 3 to 39 by December 1968.

It was not until November of 1968 that the current name for the group was selected by the members from a choice of five with BRMNA getting more than twice as many votes as the second choice.

Subsequently the JOURNAL has been edited by Geoff Rowe, Chris Vernell, Calman Szombathy and, currently, Graham Parsons. Each of them has been responsible for improving the quality of the JOURNAL with today's professionally printed versions being a far cry from the first efforts on the old Gestetner!

Credit for much of the change is due to the combined efforts of Graham and our previous printer for many years, Ted Steel. They put countless hours of their own very precious spare time into making these improvements which we know from comments made when annual dues are sent in have been much appreciated by the members. Incidentally, each issue of the JOURNAL is put to bed by people who are more than fully occupied with their own jobs and demands of their families which is why, occasionally, they may be late.

From September 1969, the JOURNAL began to sport a cover - still on a Gestetner however. This first cover was the map of North America over which was superimposed a locomotive (a Jinty) which has become our logo. By the end of 1973 we went to a printed JOURNAL and then in October 1975 a change was made to the cover, a rectangle appearing on the first page framing a large question mark and entitled "What is it?". The editors comments enlightened everyone as follows: "Readers wondering about the odd title page this month can blame Geoff Rowe (BC) former editor and gadfly. Mr.Rowe proposes the Journal use pictures on its front cover. The editor concurs, especially since Mr.Rowe has backed up his suggestion with three years worth of cover photos. This month's picture is a very smokey engine in a very dark tunnel hence the total obscurity. But for November we will get down to business seriously." And, as promised the November 1975 sported the first photographic cover with the appearance of a 57XX pannier tank outside the shed at Neath.

Towards the end of 1975 Ted Steel took on the printing of the JOURNALs at which point the front cover was redesigned to incorporate a larger photograph. In February 1979 Graham Parsons took over as Editor and under his guidance the JOURNAL has progresses to today's professional appearance.

And this trend seems to continue today with members joining and invariably remaining as members, which speaks volumes for the value that members feel they receive for their annual membership fees.

One important thing that has been done over the years is to have reciprocal memberships with other clubs. BRMNA makes them honourary members and sends their editor the JOURNAL and they reciprocate by sending BRMNA their magazine. This has resulted in a very healthy exchange of articles between clubs with benefits accruing to more than just the members of the club to which the contributors belong.

Two other very good things have taken place since those early days. First, several other clubs have been spawned both here and abroad with varying degrees of affiliation with BRMNA. Vancouver has a very active group, Top Link, as does Toronto with the Platelayers. Overseas, the British Railway Modellers of Australia and the British Railway Modellers of New Zealand also had their genesis in BRMNA.

The other is the increase in the number of members who operate as dealers who now handle UK items at very competitive prices and without the considerable delays that can still accompany overseas orders. Although still somewhat distant from many of their patrons they have taken on the look of ones "local" hobby store and provide a first class service.