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on the 64th trials event held at York Model Engineers, Dringhouses, York, 11th September 2019

Associated PDF Downloads: –

This report …
Official results ….
Analysis of results ….

PRESIDENT – J.A. BONES
CHAIRMAN T.H.JONES

HONORARY SECRETARY/TREASURER – E.GIBBONS

It is now over twenty years since a new host invited us to run our trials event at their track site, so it was with pleasure that we accepted the invitation to run the event at the Dringhouses site of York Model Engineers, close to the centre of the City of York.

I had visited the track at their old site near Chaloners Win many years ago, but for some reason I hadn’t got round to a visit to this site. Malcolm Lummas who has entered the trials on a few occasions recently, proposed the venue and took it upon himself to persuade the York committee that they should stage the event.

Son Joe and I made a visit in July with a couple of engines to see if the venue was suitable and ran both tracks. Deputy Chairman Richard Gibbons, who had been tasked with organising the event, welcomed us and we discussed the arrangements for the trials and answered his many queries to his satisfaction.

Most of the requirements for the event had been considered and we were able to see how York were going to load the trains and many of the other trials logistics. I therefore had no problem in recommending we accept the invitation.

So Sunday 11th September saw us gathering at the York track. For the previous two weeks, the weather forecasters had been predicting a dry sunny day, but what we got was overcast and there was the threat of rain. Fortunately the rain held off until late afternoon when we were packing away the equipment and locos, but the down side was that with the tracks being largely through trees, conditions for photography were far from ideal.

York has two tracks, and the trials for 5″ and 3 1/2″ locos was to be held on the raised track as usual. The ground level track was to be used for 7 1/4 entries only and since this was a different track these entries were not eligible for the Stephenson Trophy and the runners up trophy as provided in the rules of the competition.

The raised track is constructed from steel bar mounted directly on concrete piers, much as the track at Workington and is 1047 feet long. There are two rising gradients, the first starting at 1 in 1322 (in the North Easter Railway style) increasing to 1 in 94 on a 53 ft radius curve (more on this later).

Once over the summit the railway runs drops at 1 in 197 into a 38 ft radius curve followed by a climb increasing to 1 in 128 leading to the starting point on a slightly falling gradient.

When we arrived, a little later than anticipated after negotiating a lengthy diversion through housing estates due to roadworks on the normal access road, our first runner was already steamed up and ready to back down on his train.

Run 1 As usual a member of the host society was our first runner. Malcolm Lummas had entered his LBSC designed “Duchess of Swindon” a 4-8-2 of with clear ancestry in Swindon locomotive works.

This was LBSC’s idea of what the Great Western Railway would have built after WW2 to handle what was expected to be a huge increase in traffic on cessation of hostilities. Malcolm had elected to take a load of 588lbs made up of single passenger car, the driver and two precast concrete track supports secured by ratchet straps.

Malcolm ran quite quickly and consistently and clocked up a over 11 laps a distance of 3998 yards. Having used 24.27 ounces of coal Malcolm’s score put him in a disappointing eighth place.

Run 2. The Great Northern Railway atlantic of Joe Gibbons, Tyneside SMEE, was next to run. The locomotive was loaded to 750lbs on a single passenger car. We have come to expect exciting running from Joe and 1418 and we were not disappointed, with an excellent continuous run covering 4570
yards in the allotted time of 20 minutes. The fast run was reflected in the coal consumption of 21.83 ounces, producing a score that placed Joe third overall.

Run 3. Last year’s winner Stephen Duncan of Sunderland once again had his BR Class 7 No 70000 “Britannia” with a load of 773lbs. Stephen started his train without difficulty and was soon lapping at a consistent 7.5 mph, a fraction slower than the previous competitor, accumulating 4415 yards in
twenty minutes. Coal consumption was just 11.39 ounces putting him top of the leader board, where he remained till the end of the trials. Stephen was awarded the Stephenson cup as overall winner and the 3 1/2″ gauge shield for the best placed 3 1/2 ” gauge locomotive.

Run 4. Eddie Gibbons (Yours Truly) was next to the track with His LNER A4 No 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley. The load was again increased to 820llbs spread over two passenger cars, and was started easily by the pacific. Once round the first curve at a leisurely pace it soon became apparent the speed was falling on the slight gradient and by the time the 1 in 94 was reached the gradient and the curvature brought the train to a stand from which it was impossible to restart.

My fault entirely, forgetting the steepest part of the railway was also on a sharp curve, a novice mistake from a veteran of around forty trials. After backing up to the start of the incline, some time was taken to recover boiler pressure and a second attempt made ending in another failure to reach the summit.

Again the train was reversed, this time to the beginning of the curve before the incline so that the engine was able to gain some speed before tackling the gradient. All this used up about two thirds the running time but some swift running was in order and 1284 yds were covered before the horn went for the end of the run. Coal used was 20.92 ounces putting me in a shameful ninth place.

Run 5. Next up was trials stalwart Wilf McHugh of South Durham with his Alice Class Hunslet, Ransome. Originally built as an 0-4-0ST Wilf has added leading and trailing pony tucks to stabilise the loco and stop it from leaping off the railway when running.

With a trailing load of 994 lbs Wilf made good progress for a time until forced to stop to recover steam. Completing almost eight circuits of the
track, 2692 yards for the consumption of 22.19 ounces of fuel Wilf was placed 6th. It might be noticed that this was not as the original issue of the results as Wilf had noted the load shown was 608 lbs when it should have been close to 1000.

A check by the Judge at York John Chambers revealed there had been an error in the transfer of the data and the weights of Wilf and passenger cars had been omitted from the calculation.

The calculation was remade with the correct data and Wilf was elevated to sixth place from eighth.

Run 6. Tom Jones our Chairman had approached the Furness Model Railway Club at Barrow to see if they would be interested in hosting our trials event at some time in the future. Dave Fuller the Chairman of the model engineering section decided he would join us at York to see what it was all about before committing to having us at their track in Barrow and brought his Simplex 0-6-0T as his entry.

Dave had said to me that he didn’t often drive the loco, since when he brought it to the track, other members were invited to drive it, particularly the youngsters, so he didn’t expect to do well.

With a respectable load of 1031lbs, Dave started his run in good order but soon needed to stop to regain pressure. With later stoppages the loco completed just over 5 laps with a coal consumption of 18.1 ounces. This was sufficient to place Dave 7th at the end of the day.

Run 7. A nicely finished GWR 1500 class 0-6-0PT, Speedy to most of us, driven by a young member of the York Society, Charlie Bauckham, was our next runner. Charlie had elected to take a moderate load of 930 lbs.

Initially Charlie seemed to have trouble keeping steam, but soon had things under control and started lapping consistently building up a total distance run of 2549 yards, something over 7 circuits. The coal consumption of 16.83 ounces was the second lowest in the event and put Charlie in 4th position, a creditable effort for a first timer.

This result gave Charlie the President’s Shield, awarded to the best placed newcomer on the day.

Run 8. Our Chairman, Tom Jones of the West Cumbria Guild of Model Engineers has been a regular runner in the trials over many years, with lots of credits for his excellent BR class 2-6-0. Tom’s load was 1115lbs and whilst his run wasn’t continuous, with a short stop at the start of the back straight to recover steam or water at one point, the pace was good and a total of 2718 yards was clocked up in the running time. Coal consumption was 18.91 ounces resulting in Tom being placed second overall,the highest placed 5″ gauge locomotive.

Tom took away the TSMEE trophy for the runner up and the Rocket trophy for the best 5″ gauge runner.

Run 9. Another of our regular runners David Davies of West Cumbria was our final entry in the trial for the Stephenson Memorial Cup. His locomotive, a Sweet Pea 0-4-0ST “Lady Stephanie” made a good run with 1133lbs on the drawbar and completed over 9 laps of the track (3240 yards) on 28.36 ounces of coal, the highest of the day, putting David in 5th position overall.

A separate trial for the 7 1/4″ gauge was run on the ground level track. This is 520 yards long with a ruling gradient of 1 in 75. There is an inner loop line at the north end of the site leading to the station, but for the purposes of the efficiency trial the trains were to run on the mainline only. We had hoped to have two entries for the 7 1/4″ gauge trial , but Dave Henderson had transport problems in the week before the event and had to withdraw leaving Nick Wright a certainty of the trophy if he could complete his run.

Nick’s loco No 534 is a 1/8th scale version of the popular 3 1/2 gauge 0-6-0T Rob Roy described by Martin Evans a Caledonian Railway dock tank which won the 7 1/4″ trophy last year on the home track at Sunderland. Nick’s defending run was made concurrent with that of Charlie Bauckham’s on the raised track as time was getting on and the weather looking as if it was changing for the worse.

With a load of 2355 lbs Nick ran steadily with two stops, one to recover the boiler pressure and water level and the other for an unexpected derailment of a passenger car on the turnout for the loco shed. Whilst there was no obvious cause for this the Judge decided that an extension to Nick’s running time of one minute was appropriate.

With a total running time of 21 minutes the train ran a distance of 2302 yards for 25.43 ounces of coal. Nick was awarded the 7 1/4 Trophy Richard Gibbon announced and presented the trophies as follows

The Stephenson Trophy for the overall winner and the 3 1/2″ gauge Shield to Stephen Duncan of CoSMES

The TSMEE Cup for the runner up and the 5″ gauge (Rocket) Trophy to Tom Jones TSMEE

The 7 1/4″ gauge Cup to Nicholas Wright of CoSMES

The President’s Shield for the best placed newcomer to Charlie Bauckham of YDMES.

My thanks to Richard Gibbon and his members for hosting our 64th trials event. Thanks also of course to the people who did all the work, organising the event, stewarding, and clearing away at the end of the day, with a special mention of Malcolm Lummas who started the ball rolling and John Chambers who was time keeper and a very fair and unbiased judge for the day.

The official results and analysis are attached at the end of this report

Next year we have been invited to the railway of the Furness Model Railway Club who’s 3 1/2 and 5″gauge track is in “The Park” at Barrow. It is a quarter mile long and looks from the videos to have somelong straights and plenty of sweeping curves for us to enjoy.

The proposed date for your diary isSaturday 12th September 2020. Sadly there’s no 7 1/4″ so those of you wanting to run your big locos will have to wait till 2021 when South Durham will once again host our trials.

Photographs from the day follow.

My Thanks to Joe Gibbons, Tom Jones and David Davies for their
contributions. Photos not by them are from my camera.

Results and analysis are attached as separate documents

Wishing you All the Best for the coming season and hoping to see you at Barrow next year.

Now the photographs.

The Awards

And on a lighter note

return to top of post ….

Preamble

I’d planned to have something out in October, a respectable three months on from the previous issue, but life has an irritating habit of getting in the way of things. As Edmund Blackadder so eloquently put it – “The path of my life is strewn with cowpats from the Devil’s own Satanic herd”. Be assured, however, that I’ve swept up and what follows is wholly fragrant ….

Around and About the Club

Big things have been happening out on the grass of late as work has progressed steadily with building the new Carriage Shed for the raised-track riding trucks. Many cubic metres of soil have been excavated to prepare the ground for the floor-slab (6m long by 2m wide by 10cm deep) which sits several centimetres below the surrounding ground level. Four courses of blockwork are raised on this to roof-eaves level. A door-frame and sill have been fabricated in steel which occupy the full width of the track-ward end. Provision is made in the floor to bring in mains electricity.

Whilst the ground works for the carriage shed were underway, the area in front of the locomotive shed was also prepared to accommodate the new dual-gauge traverser and the slab for this was poured at the same time.

Work also continues with improvements to the track signalling and point control systems. Receiving attention now are the points between the station loop and main line so that these cannot be operated whilst a train is in transit. Additional train-detectors have been installed in the track and associated cables laid-in back to the Signal Box where a new cabinet houses the extra circuitry required.

Creosote Day, Saturday 7^th September, witnessed a good turnout of willing helpers to get this annual maintenance job done. Both ground-level and raised tracks were thoroughly treated using a combination of spray-guns and brushes.

If you’ve visited the TSMEE website recently, you’ll have noticed a quite radical change in appearance and content. John Rowley has taken over the job of webmaster and is keen to stress that it is, presently, very much “work in progress”. User feedback and constructive comments are welcomed.

Events …

Open Weekend 27^/28^th July

This annual two-day event was not blessed with particularly good weather. It rained on-and-off on the Saturday and Sunday was dry but overcast. Nevertheless, there was a respectable turnout of both TSMEE members and visitors, the latter hailing from as far afield as Scotland, Cumbria, York and Leeds.

Visiting locomotives were :– in 3-1/2” gauge  BR “Britannia” 4-6-2, Great Central O4 2-8-0, Freelance 4-8-2 – in 5” gauge  “Chub” 0-4-0 Tank, BR Standard 4 2-6-4 Tank, NER Q6 0-8-0, NER B2 4-6-0 – and in 7-1/4” gauge  GWR 14XX 0-4-2 Tank .

Saturday lunch was Fish ‘n Chips and on Sunday our Catering Stalwarts laid on their usual splendid buffet.

Trip down the Tyne 31^st August 2019

Six members joined our party on the “Fortuna” for a cruise down to Tynemouth from the Quayside in Newcastle. The weather was reasonable, even allowing for the blustery wind, and we all enjoyed the trip.

There is a full and very informative commentary on the way to Tynemouth. I have made the trip a couple of times over the years and I am amazed by the way that Tyneside industrial heritage has disappeared in a comparatively short time. It used to be the remains of ship yards, dry docks and associated industries all the way to Tynemouth. Now much of the bank-side is wooded and under modern housing. It all looks very different.

The remaining working areas are impressive and Tyne Dock is massive. The Fish Quay and Tynemouth with the Harbour Lights, like much else of the riverside, are becoming tourist attractions. That’s progress, so we all went to the bar and drank to the past.   Malcolm Phillips

Trip to see the G5 at Shildon and the P2 under construction at Darlington, 7th October 2019.

Another enjoyable day out, perhaps more related to model engineering. Volunteers at both sites were very helpful and thanks are due to Phil Work who kindly arranged tea and biscuits at Shildon.

The G5 is not quite an engine yet, but most of the parts are ready to go together. The frames, boiler, cab and plate-work just need finishing touches. The bogie for the 0-4-4 and one set of driving wheels have been finished but the crank axle has yet to arrive, as manufacture of parts and machining is all done outside. The group has been working to original plans and has had to make many patterns, some of which are placed beside the finished castings.

From Shildon we proceeded to Darlington. The P2, to be named “Prince of Wales”, is a truly impressive machine. Like the G5 it has yet to go onto its wheels, all of which have had their tyres polished to a mirror finish.  Cab and smokebox are on the frames and the boiler cladding is set up on frames beside the locomotive as the boiler is yet to come from Meiningen.

We were told about some of the technical problems – the wheel flanges have been computer designed to ease passage round curves on Heritage Railways and steam distribution will be by poppet valves.

The original Gresley design was not too successful so the designers have used the designs evolved in America after the war which were better. Boiler design has been modified by experience with Tornado and their boilers are interchangeable.

I do not know what will become of the polished wheels – one of the volunteers told me that the painters were upset because on its first trip to York of thirty miles, their beautiful paint finish was spoiled by excess grease and oil coming out of the axle boxes!

The NELPG shops were closed so we completed the trip with a visit to the Head of Steam Museum across the way from the Hopetown works. This is a nice museum with exhibits of Stockton and Darlington and NER origin. Hackworth’s “Derwent” and “Locomotion” are well displayed and there are some interesting small exhibits.   Malcolm Phillips

For your diary …

Public Running Day – Santa Special – Sunday 1^st December

Christmas Tea – Sunday 22^nd December

Something a bit different now – Gordon Bullard has very kindly submitted the following rather interesting article…

An Automatic Cylinder Drain-cock

Back in the 1980’s over a pie and a pint in a local hostelry, a friend and I were discussing the pros and cons of cylinder drain cocks and associated linkage to the cab of a miniature steam locomotive. 

The locomotive he was building had two sets of Stephenson’s valve gear and an axle pump between the frames, together with lubricator linkage which left little room for direct drain- cock rodding.   We discussed the possibility of automatic drain cocks and I suggested that a small inverted safety valve type of arrangement might be possible.

A set of small valves was made and fitted, each consisting of a stainless ball which was held on its seat by a small bronze spring.  The valves performed well but they looked like upside-down safety valves, which is, of course, exactly what they were.

Clearly, a horizontal arrangement was required which would be more prototypical of full sized practice. So, another set of valves was made in a tee configuration with basically the same internal arrangement but in a horizontal orientation.

These valves worked reasonably well. They certainly cleared the cylinder condensate very efficiently but for some reason when the locomotive was running slight puffs of steam were occasionally noticeable. 

Closer observation showed that one of the valves seemed to be working well with no visible leakage whilst the loco was running.  With the expectation that the poor sealing of the three sub standard valves was probable due to poor workmanship on my part,  all of the valves were disassembled for examination.

I was amazed to find that I had forgotten to put a spring in the valve that worked perfectly.  The valves were quickly reassembled without springs and found to all work perfectly.  Since then I have fitted this type of valve onto three of my locomotives with no failures.  The last loco was to LBSC’s “Maisie” design and has run on the club track on numerous occasions.  The attached drawing shows the design of the valve which is made of bar material with a silver-soldered joint.

 It took a while to work out how the valve worked without a spring.  When the locomotive is stationary any condensation in the cylinder drains down into the valve where the ball is resting on the bottom of the chamber so any water can drain away via the front hole. 

When the regulator is opened a combination of condensate and steam enters the valve where the ball is unable to seat properly due to the turbulence in the chamber.  A combination of water and steam exits the valve due to this turbulence until all of the water is displaced, which leaves the chamber full of steam which in turn forces the ball onto its seat.  It’s as simple as that.

You may well ask what the reduced diameter on the rear of the valve is for.  It is purely there to improve the fitting visually, disguising the fact that it is just a piece of simple bar material.  For members who follow full size practice and require drain piping to the locomotive’s buffer beam,  the front of the valve seat could have a small ME thread machined onto it to take a nut, nipple and associated pipe.

In conclusion, this simple valve is easy to produce, is fully automatic in operation and requires no linkage to the cab.  It would be easy to say that I had a light bulb type of moment concerning this valve’s conception but in reality it came about more by accident than design.

Postamble

As I remarked in the previous issue, a Newsletter requires News, and this one would have been a rather thin affair but for the contributions of Malcolm Phillips and Gordon Bullard. My thanks to them both.

Membership Subscriptions will be due for renewal at the end of the year. The cost remains at £35 Single and £45 Family. Our Treasurer Ian Spencer will take payment in cash or cheques (payable to “TSMEE Ltd”).

Contact info …

Newsletter Editor – Mike Maguire ~ mike.maguire@btinternet.com

Club Secretary – Linda Nicholls – lindanic@sky.com ~ 01 670 816072

Website – John Rowley – webmaster@tsmee.co.uk ~ 07970 164 967

For your information – a PDF copy of this News Letter can be downloaded here ….

External Policy Notice

The Data Protection Bill 2018 embodies the requirements of the EU General Directive on Data Protection and comes/came into force on 25 May 2018

This document describes our approach to the protection of your personal data as required by law

This Society is a small business and is entitled to use the derogations for micro organisations as set out in the law.

As a member of the society, we keep information about you to support you as a member and to support the operation of society activities and for health and safety records

As a member of the public, we keep information about you only as part of Health & Safety incident records.

The above information is classed as our legitimate interest.  We keep personal information about any person who contacts us for any reason as the decision by you to contact us requires we retain your personal details so we may respond and maintain a record of that response.

We have procedures to ensure the timely removal of this data but you do not have the right to require the removal of this data at an earlier date.

If you provide us suitable proof of your identity at the time, you may request a copy of the information we hold about you.  It will be delivered to you electronically. 

You may request we consider corrections you feel are necessary.Please contact our committee member with lead data protection responsibility if you wish to see the data we hold about you.

We do not receive personal data from external parties.  If this situation shall change in the future we will review our Data Protection Policy.

We are affiliated to the SFMES.  We do not share personal data from our records with the Southern Federation of Model Engineering Societies.  

If you are involved in boiler testing as examiner or as owner/carer of a boiler being tested, the records thereof are completed by us for and on behalf of the SFMES and we shall retain a copy of this information.

Preamble

Earlier this year Stuart Davidson stood down as Newsletter Editor, having held the position for a decade. Our ever-beguiling Secretary asked me if I would like to take over the role and I agreed to give it a shot. After a few weeks, I’m finding out just what a fine job he had done – sourcing editorial content, cajoling contributors and doing all the work necessary to compose the finished article. So, thank you again Stuart.

Around and About the Club

There have been several significant developments at the site over the last six months or so.

Peter Newby and his dream-team of helpers (principally John Lazzari, Norman Blacklock, John Rowley and Dave Nesbitt) have been busy with a number of projects. The most obvious of these are the new flagged patio area and associated retractable awnings. These offer a useful outdoor space for those days when the sun shines and outdoor activities beckon, but grass underfoot is unsuitable.

Excavation of the patio area produced several cubic metres of a rather poor mix of earth and rubble. This was sieved and the good soil distributed around the site. The turf was re-used to tidy up the ground adjacent to the Garden Railway track. The rubble was skipped.

As the awnings could not be attached directly to the building, a steel frame consisting of three uprights and a single horizontal beam was constructed from rectangular-section tube. This is concreted into holes in the “moat” at the bottom and tied back to the roof with straps near the top.

Anchor points have been cut into the patio to secure tie-downs to prevent the wind (an ever-present problem at the site) from lifting the awnings overmuch.

An ingenious arrangement of pulleys and ropes assisted the task of raising the (heavy) assemblies into position and securing them in place. The reverse can be quickly rigged should they ever need to come down for attention.

Elsewhere, the completion of the Carriage Shed and Signal Boxhave much improved the operation of the ground-level track and rationalised some storage issues. The fitting of shelf brackets inside one Carriage Shed wall allowed the relocation of various “long” materials which had hitherto been scattered around the site.

Operationally, another coach (using the bogies from the old “disabled” carrier) has been added to one rake and two Guard’s Trucks constructed. Apart from freeing up two coach seats, these provide Guards with a much better view along their train and are fitted with a brake.

Robin Evans has initiated a programme of improvements to the track signalling and point control systems. The point by the “Tin Hut” which gives access to the Station loop now benefits from additional train detectors installed in the track to lock it whilst a train is in transit. Track-circuit reliability has been improved by welding short stainless-steel strips into the railheads opposite the detector contacts. The associated circuitry is in a new cabinet in the hut. Similar improvements are to be made to the two points leading from the Station loop to the main line.

Three of the four outside benches have been repositioned to improve the seating arrangement in front of the Club House. Being much better aligned, this has also simplified installation of the temporary “chaining” which is used to cordon off the public area on running days.

Our gardeners Jim Scott and Malcolm Phillips continue to keep the grounds looking trim and decorous, and visitors to the site frequently remark on how nice it all looks (better than Exhibition Park !).

Finally, the Club House received its annual clean-and-spruce-up, all done behind the scenes and without fanfare. Kudos to those involved !

Future Works

To further improve operational and storage matters, a few projects are pipelined for the near future.

The Club’s 7-1/4” gauge electric locomotive has been fitted with new batteries after its performance was beginning to fade, but the hoped-for improvement did not materialise. The reasons for this require further investigation.

Another Carriage Shed to accommodate the raised-track riding trucks is to be built adjacent to the swing-bridge that gives access to the steaming bays. This will eliminate the clart-on of railing them every time they are needed and get them out of the “Tin Hut”, freeing up much-needed storage space. Construction will be similar to that of the Signal Box.

The Locomotive Shed (“Bunker”) is to have its door widened so a 5” track can be laid beside the existing 7-1/4” rails to accommodate the Junior Engineer’s 5” gauge electric locomotive. A small traverser will be installed just in front of the door to provide the dual access.

Also proposed is the construction of some 5” gauge carriages for use at ground level.

Both ground-level and raised tracks employ timber sleepers beneath the rails, and timber requires regular treatment to maintain its integrity. It is proposed to organise a working party to get this done, possibly on a Saturday (with lunch provided) to minimise disruption, and preferably sooner rather than later whilst everything is still reasonably dry.

Events…

Public Running Days

These continue to attract good attendances and are a welcome source of additional revenue. They also “fly the flag” for engineering, stimulating conversation and, maybe, inspiring future generations.

Workshop

It has always been the intention that the Workshop be available for members to use the machines in pursuit of their projects. To this end, Steve Lowe, Workshop Manager, conducted some basic instruction in Workshop Safety and Procedures. Potential users were asked to record any previous experience as a basis for further one-to-one instruction as and when appropriate.

Doncaster Model Engineering Show

TSMEE continued its tradition of exhibiting at Doncaster this year. Linda and Brian Nicholls and Peter Newby were in attendance on all three days manning the stand. The response of visitors was generally very favourable, and why shouldn’t it be? On offer were …

John Rowley’s 3” Fowler R3 Road Locomotive, Brian Nicholls’ 7-1/4” gauge Koppel, Sean Bowler’s 5” gauge LNER A3, Keith Pardy’s 5” gauge LNER A4, Eddie Gibbons’ 5” gauge LNER K3 & GNR H4, Gordon Bullard’s 3-1/2” gauge “Maisie”, Jim Scott’s 5” gauge Terrier, Joe Gibbon’s 5” gauge GNR Stirling chassis, Michael Jordison’s 1/16thscale K1 Garratt, Peter Newby’s 16mm scale DeWinton “Alice” & Finger Plate Clamp and the Junior Engineer’s kit-built 16mm scale Roundhouse “Lady Anne” with a rake of wagons built by Robert Hopper, Ethan Morrison and Sam Yeeles.

Elsewhere, on the Competition Stands, was Ian Spencer’s recently completed 5” gauge LNER V2, which won him a Silver Medal in the “5” Gauge & Up” category. Well done and well deserved !

Photographs of the show can be viewed on the TSMEE website under the tab “Events” and you can read about it in articles in “Model Engineer” and “Engineering in Miniature”.

I Mech E Day

This annual event for I Mech E members was blessed with fine weather and attracted a good attendance of individuals and families.

Plenty of locomotives were to be seen on all the tracks – Garden Railway to Ground-level – and there was a fine static display showcasing a wide range of engineering and modelling skills. Rides were on offer on the main line with Dave Henderson’s “Angkor Thom” in charge, and hospitality was completed by a splendid buffet lunch provided by the catering stalwarts Liz Evans, Mary Tomlinson and Helen Yeeles.

Hoppings

When the Hoppings is in town, the City Council provides for the schooling of the Showmen’s children. TSMEE hosted two groups of youngsters – fifteen Nursery and Reception (3-5 years old) and twelve Key Stage 1 (6-7 years old) together with several accompanying adults – providing them the opportunity to see and interact with some aspects of Club activities.

The very young ones were only present for around fifteen minutes, just long enough to give them all train rides.

After a Safety Briefing and Introduction from Linda Nicholls (using Christopher Vine (“Peter’s Railway”) material), the Key Stage 1 children were divided into two groups. One group watched and helped Dave Henderson fire “Angkor Thom” in the steaming bay whilst the other watched Jim Scott and Stuart Davidson prepare “Lady Anne” on the Garden Railway track. Several of them also had a go at the controls.

Ironically, the children are too young to go on most of the Hoppings’ rides so they thoroughly enjoyed trips behind “Angkor Thom” and the Club’s electric loco in the care of Dave Henderson, Robin Evans, John Lazzari and Brian Benton. The whole event lasted around one-and-a-half hours.

The hosts were impressed by the good behaviour of the youngsters, who showed a keen interest and enthusiasm despite the cold !

AGM

At the conclusion of the 2019 AGM, the Committee is composed thus …

Chairman – Jim Stephenson, Secretary – Linda Nicholls, Treasurer – Ian Spencer, Site Manager – Peter Newby, Workshop Manager – Steve Lowe, Programme Manager – Malcolm Phillips, Lay Members – Brian Nicholls, Stuart Davidson, Robin Evans, Brian Benton, John Lazzari and Norman Blacklock

Stuart Davidson took over from John Bolter (to whom belated thanks for past services) as Librarian, with Helen Yeeles as Assistant. Mike Maguire took on the job of Newsletter Editor.

Other Stuff

Boiler Inspectors are presently Ian Spencer, Brian Nicholls, Eddie Gibbons, Stuart Davidson and Gordon Bullard. Anyone requiring their services are asked (firmly!) to make their requests with reasonable prior notice so the work can be sensibly scheduled.

Steaming Bays – operators of locomotives are reminded (again, firmly!) that they must clean up and dispose of any mess arising from using the bays.

Park Access – in an attempt to manage the growing amount of vehicular traffic using the roads in Exhibition Park, the Council has installed a controlled barrier (one of the two original iron gates) at the Park entrance on Claremont Road. Operation is by number-plate recognition, so only those who are registered with the Council (in our case, via TSMEE) are admitted. There appear to be teething troubles presently, with the gate permanently open, but don’t count on it remaining so. If your car is not yet registered, you can do so by contacting the Secretary. The other rules about safe and courteous road usage within the Park still apply. Remember that access is a concession, not an entitlement, and malpractice could have dire consequences for us all.

New Member – A warm welcome is extended to Tim Macdonald who recently joined the Club. Tim has a rather fine 5” gauge GWR 14XX 0-4-2 Tank Engine.

Postamble

Newsletters don’t write themselves – they require input. Acknowledgement and thanks are given for contributions from Peter Newby, Robin Evans, Linda Nicholls and Stuart Davidson.

As this is my first effort, it’s entirely possible that there are errors and omissions. If so, please point them out and I will address them in the next issue.

Contact info …

Newsletter Editor – Mike Maguire – mike.maguire@btinternet.com

Club Secretary – Linda Nicholls – lindanic@sky.com– 01670 816072