The Society’s Annual Awards at the 2026 AGM

The Society’s Annual General Meeting was held at Derby’s Museum of Making on Saturday and following the formal business, we had the presentations…

The Trustees earnestly hope that the awards detailed here will not only inspire other Members who excel in what they do supporting the objectives of the Society, but just as importantly,  that every single one of the membership will appreciate that they too can nominate those they recognise as contributing in this way. All it takes is an email to the Chairman or any Trustee.

The Chairman’s Cup is a longstanding tradition, awarded to the model(s) exhibited at the Meeting which most “catch the eye”. This year, the Chairman placed responsibility for judging in the hands of the Members in attendance, with ballots cast for their first and second choice.

Another innovation this year is the President’s Award. Nominally to ensure the non-modellers in the membership also receive recognition, the nominations come from the wider membership and so reward contributions to the objectives of the Society which are “above and beyond”. Being newly instituted, members were still finding their feet with the Award this year and so we only received one valid – but exceptionally worthy – nomination, meaning a ballot was not required.

Chairman’s Cup

The Chairman’s Cup was awarded to Kevin Lock. As well as taking home the trophy, in recognition of his achievement the Trustees will waive Kevin’s membership subscription for both 2027 and 2028.

In Kevin’s  own words:

The two models are built in 4mm scale (EM gauge) and depict the progression of the Johnson 0-4-4T locomotives from the 1532 class (No. 1636) to the later 2228 class (No. 2626). Whilst both engines look very similar on first impressions there are in fact 24 visual differences – answers on a postcard ! I initially made CAD drawings, which in turn were sent to a commercial etching company, who produced the various parts onto brass and nickel silver. The ‘kit’ parts were then assembled in the conventional fashion. The benefit of producing my own drawings is that exact dimensions can be replicated in 4mm scale and therefore the finished model is precise. I spent hours upon hours poring over drawings and photographs to ensure each model was as accurate as records show. Coupled with my passion for attention to detail, the engines are a faithful reproduction of the prototype and some parts have pushed the limits of working in 4mm scale. Various add-on parts were either scratch built, 3D printed, or from a few commercially available components (e.g. chimney, dome and safety valve cover; albeit filed down at the bases to avoid an un-prototypical step).

Chairman Adrian Tester commented that this illustration of historical detail is precisely what the Society promotes and the end result is exemplary.

There were a total of six entries on the day and John Tuckett was the runner-up was for his pair of brake vans.  John’s reward is that his membership subscription will be waived by the Trustees next year.

The President’s Award

Turning to the President’s Award, also as it turns out a modeller and past winner of the Chairman’s Cup, this was another justly deserved recipient in Paul Clarke. The citation is a direct quote from the email the Trustees received from the Member who nominated Paul, and the sentiment it conveys could not echo the intent of the Award more perfectly. As a reward for his outstanding contributions to the Society, Paul’s membership subscription will be waived by the Trustees for the next two years.

Our thanks and congratulations to Paul, Kevin and John for their achievements and for their awards.

[Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified which of John Tuckett’s two entries were judged as Runner Up].