Table of contents for Issue 4716 in Model Engineer

Oldest Mountain Railway Any claim of ‘biggest’, ‘smallest’, ‘oldest’ etc. is bound to be challenged in time and Roger Backhouse's assertion that the Gornergrat railway (M.E.4714, April 7) is the oldest electrically powered mountain railway in the entire world has already met its own challenge. Remarkably, this challenge comes from very close to home, even the British Isles. Reader Warwick Casey, a Manxman, points out that the Snaefell Mountain Railway, which is electrically powered, has been operating since 1895, beating the Gornergrat railway by three years. I checked and this is indeed so! What would Mr Gornergrat have to say about that? He would claim, of course, that Snaefell is not a mountain. A Manxman would reply that it most certainly is, as witnessed by the very name of the…

All dimensions are in mm Tolerance for all parts in the article unless otherwise stated Non-functional (i.e. parts that do not fit all match) ±0.1mm Functional (i.e. parts having to match) ±0.02mm Final assembly and valve setting Refer to the three views (figs 1,2 and 3) given in part 2 (M.E.4699, September 9, 2022). Notes: Eachpartshould be lubricated sparingly with a trace of light lubricant as it's assembled to another. Aftereachpart is secured it should be checked for freedom of movement, whether it be sliding or rotation. Ifanystiffness is detected the reason should be found and rectified before continuing. Followingthesepoints is essential if ANY mechanical item constructed of multiple parts is to stand a chance of running smoothly after assembly. Someofthe fixings required will need their overall length reducing as…

By the early spring of 1985, a merry band of railway constructors had finally finished cutting, bending, drilling and Yankeescrewdrivering all the track panels and pointwork needed for a new railway at the Bentley Wildfowl Park in East Sussex. We rejoin them as they emerge, blinking and bent double, from their long winter's labour. Mind the gap Paul, it turned out (although you wouldn't know it to look at him) was a closet bridge builder. While the rest of us longed to lay track, Paul ached to build buttresses and where we saw topographical obstacles, Paul saw prospects. And, as we began the long task of laying, levelling, ballasting and tamping our new track in its new home, Paul would periodically excuse himself, wander over to the ditch between the…

Introduction Following interest expressed in this topic, a series of introductory articles to Computer Aided Design (CAD) is presented. The various parts of an engine called Basic Oscillator Steam Engine or BOSE (no relation to the well-known high-end sound system) will be created. It is a recreation of an old model that I had access to, from which dimensions were taken. Figures 1 and 2 show the final engine in its isometric and exploded views. It has only 11 different parts, which makes it a good choice for a simple design. You can also watch a short film on YouTube by searching ‘BOSE LT’ or accessing it from your mobile phone or tablet via QR Code 1. I will give instructions on how to create all the parts. Then assembly…

May 3 Bradford MES Talk: Reliable Injectors, Bob Bramson, Saltaire Methodist Church, 19:15-22:00. Contact: Russ Coppin, 07815 048999 3 Bristol SMEE Talk: Tower Clocks, Begbrook Social Club BS16 1HY, 19:30. Contact: secretary@bristolmodelengineers.co.uk 4 Sutton MEC Bits and Pieces evening 20:00. Contact: Paul Harding, 0208 254 9749 5 Rochdale SMEE General meeting, Castleton Community Centre, 19:00. See www.facebook.com/RochdaleModelEngineers 7 North Wilts MES Public running at the Coate Water Railway, 11:00-17:00. See www.nwmes.info 7 Taunton Model Engineers Public running, Vivary Park, 14:00-17:00. See www.tauntonme.org.uk 9 Taunton Model Engineers Club evening, Vivary Park, 18:00-21:00. See www.tauntonme.org.uk 13 Bromsgrove SME Open Day — all gauges welcomed, 5, 3½, 2½, G1 and 16mm. See www.bromsgrove.co.uk Contact: Doug Collins, 01527 874666 13 Polly Owners’ Group Rally and AGM at the Andover and District MES, from 10:00.…

The train section of the KMYCA (Koninklijke Model Yacht Club Antwerpen), Belgium or translated, the Royal Model Yacht Club Antwerp, was founded in 1905 and in 1986 built a raised miniature railway in 5, 3½ and 2½ inch gauge in the Rivierenhof in Deurne, near Antwerp, Belgium. In 2010, however, the Province announced that new sport fields would be constructed and we had to accept that the plans that were unfolded before us no longer included our railway track. This was the starting point of negotiations with the park management. After 24 years, our presence in the park was a kind of acquired right – the many visitors with grandchildren helped as well and the park management was soon convinced of the added value of the miniature railway track for…

The rods in general There is a little deviation from the original when it comes to the coupling and connecting rods for the model (fig 6). The coupling rods are very long and slender and would not have survived very long on our track so they were beefed up a fraction. The same was done for the connecting rods but this was more to get proper bearing surfaces at the ends. The additional material is very subtle and out of plane when viewed from the side so the model will look very much like a perfect miniature. The manufacturing of the rods does require a certain amount of accuracy. The coupling rods will be used to fit the frames to the boiler so they need to match each other and…

The weather is doing what the weather does in January. I am waiting for a kitchen to arrive having ripped out the old one three days before Christmas. We have history of this in the Joseph Family – Dad commenced re-decorating the lounge 10 days before Christmas and this included lining the walls with insulation. He did it too! Acquisition And I am idly browsing eBay, ‘5 inch loco’ and variations on a theme. I came upon a cheap battery electric locomotive just crying for a home, for someone to take care of it, love it, adopt it even. The body was tatty but the mechanicals looked robust, really robust, robust to the point of 141lb all-up weight, 74lb just being the chassis. ‘Oh, come into my care’ I cried,…

Continuing with my visit to Harrogate, I can report that Saturday was the busiest day for attendance, the snow having cleared somewhat which enabled more people to get out. There were still quite a number of clubs and societies I did not cover in Part 1 so I will do my best to report on the remainder. I will start with the Spenborough Model Engineers' presentation which provided a good range of models from stationary engines to locomotives. A very nice 2 inch scale Allchin traction engine took a prominent place in the display (photo 29). All were of an excellent standard and attracted many visitors. Right next to Spennymore was The Edinburgh Society of Model Engineers with a wide range of built and under construction models. This club was…

Published by Steam Workshop Publishing, 2022 ISBN 978-1-7396417-0-2 £45, 354pp, hardback This book is effectively the second edition of Building 5 Inch Gauge Wagons originally published in 2017 by the Historical Model Railway Society. The layout and contents follow the same pattern as the original but the text has been extensively revised. Although the book is about five-inch gauge wagons that part was underemphasised in the original edition because so much of the book was relevant to wagon builders in all scales. It has served to awaken many historical modellers to the world of accurate prototypical construction of wagons. The whole philosophy of creating wagons which can so easily be mistaken for the full-size equivalent runs right through this work. The book would be a fascinating read for any railway…

FLYING SCOTSMAN The ashpan is one of those parts that needs to be made to fit both the area between the frames and the shape of the foundation ring. Designer Don says as much but also says that if all other parts are to the drawing then what he has drawn should be a perfect fit. With this in mind, I felt confident that the basic shape could be made according to the drawing and where it will differ is in the area around the foundation ring. I say ‘differ’ - there's not that much difference but the possibility of things being different had to be considered. Now I say all this even though once again I relied on John Baguley's excellent CAD drawing experience so that the various stainless-steel…

The morning of the Harrogate MEX dawned bright and clear, with the sky an impossible shade of cerulean. (Azure? Bless you!) There was only one little problem; the 15cm of snow impeding the Firth Park State Coach from gaining the King's Highway. The obvious solution, that the King should remove the frozen detritus forthwith (well, it is his highway!) to allow his subjects to proceed. Now, to be realistic in that there will be other keen readers of M.E. wishing to do the same, he might find himself with a logistics issue, to say nothing of the H&S guidelines covering the service of Kingly personages in the pursuit of their lawful activities. TCALSS, we simply drove out of it like a rat from an aqueduct (it's a Volvo with FWD)…