Table of contents for Issue 4721 in Model Engineer

Federation Rally This year the Federation of Model Engineering Societies (FMES) rally is being held at Frimley Lodge Miniature Railway in Frimley Hampshire, on Saturday the 16th of September 2023. Set in woodland and within a country park, the railway includes a kilometre-long multigauge (3½, 5, 7¼ inch) ground level track and a raised track for owners of smaller locomotives (2½, 3½ and 5 inch). Over the winter the organisers, the Frimley and Ascot Locomotive Club, have invested a great deal of time and effort on the infrastructure for the rally and they are looking forward to welcoming visitors to this event. The layout of the track with technical notes can be found on the club website (www.flmr.org or use QR code). Who can attend? The rally is open to…

Continued from p.25, M.E.4719, June 16 Slotting tools – standard tools The ones in photo 12 were obtained second hand. These tools are usually too big as the ISO standard for shaft minimum diameter relative to key dimensions is given in table 3. Slotting tools – short tools See photos 13 and 14. As most of the keyway slotting is for a short length, I've used standard HSS square bits of the right width, set in a bit holder giving the 3 degree clearance angle. The bit protrusion is adjusted to just slightly more than the slot depth, see fig 38. The problem is to find the good width for the HSS bits as they are usually slightly undersize (by 0.05mm). I was fortunate enough to find some just 0.01…

Continued from p. 100 M.E.4720 June 30 Exploded views Now you have completed the engine assembly, let's see how to create an Exploded View. It often helps understanding the drawing, hence its importance. As an introduction, I recommend watching the video you will access by scanning QR Code 13 or searching the Internet for ‘onshape exploded view’. Everything will be as if there were no Mate Connectors, but don't worry because when we close the Exploded View screen, everything goes back to normal. Step E1 – Start from the Assembly and open the Exploded views window (fig 79). Step E2 – Drag (left mouse button) the cylinder and cover. Click on the cylinder and the Triade Manipulator appears. Drag the cylinder in the desired direction. Release the cylinder and select…

I've bought a locomotive! Well, a part of one … It's a Ruston 48, standard gauge, serial no. 393303, which is now being restored at the North Norfolk Railway. It's not often a chance like this comes along so I cast my engineer's mite for good or ill. See Lawries Mechanical Marvels, on YouTube. Right! Having burned the midday oil, I shall now proceed to turn my misspelled gibberish into the mellifluous prose you see before you. In this issue: faking it, a beam engine, a mine with a doppelganger, be gentle with them…, a disappearing Titanic, surgery on a switch, a traction engine driving day and a 6th plinth. The North York Moors railway celebrated its 50th Anniversary on 1 May. A great line, which has dealt with huge…

I was invited to the Melton Mowbray Society to enable me to cover the official opening of their new track extension. This society is tucked away in rural England, at Whissendine in Rutland, the smallest county in England and they have enjoyed a track in the grounds of the Whissendine Sports and Social club for over 40 years. In the early days, members erected a raised track which had been donated by one of the then new members. This track served for a short while before members began the construction of the ground level 5 and 7¼ inch gauge track. This ground level track was officially opened in 1983 by Jennifer, Lady Gretton, president of the Society. Being a well organised and active club, members decided that after all this…

Continued from p.93 M.E.4720 June 30 What I described in Part 1 is fine for my model turbine but what is needed is a model generator to match better the speed of a piston steam engine I had previously made, a Stuart 1 OH. Once again Cringle Model Engineering provided a design and castings to make such a machine (photo 15) – a generator with a rotating 6 pole magnet and 12 stationary pickup coils fixed around it. These castings are also in aluminium so construction is straightforward. Starting with the base, the casting requires some cleaning up by hand filing before being mounted in the mill to level the base and mounting surfaces (photo 16), taking care to get the bearing mounts parallel with each other. Several changes of…

Continued from p.79 M.E.4720 June 30 In 1999, after twelve years of enforced idleness, Elidir crossed the ocean and washed up in a basement in New Jersey. Having decided that she would be finished with the same suite of tools with which she was started, her new surroundings, while having far fewer windows than before, appeared comfortably reminiscent of her previous home in the Sussex weald. Picking up the pieces With the lathe in place, the workbench finished and a voltage-compatible drilling machine bolted securely to the floor, work on Elidir finally restarted in her new subterranean home after a twelve-year hiatus and, over the course of the next few years and with the competing demands of work and domestic life to contend with, progress continued at a slow but…

July 14-16 Brandon and District SME Weeting rally, Weeting track. See www.brandonanddistrictsme.com 16 Bradford MES Public running day, Northcliffe, 13:30. Contact: Russ Coppin, 07815 048999 16 Canterbury MES Public running. Contact: ginapearson@btopenworld.com 16 North Wilts MES Public running at the Coate Water Railway, 11:00-17:00. See www.nwmes.info 16 Taunton Model Engineers Public running, Vivary Park, 14:00-17:00. See www.tauntonme.org.uk 16 Warrington and District MES Running day at the club track. See www.wdmes.org.uk/events 19 Bristol SMEE Film: The Opening of the Ashton Court Railway, Begbrook Social Club BS16 1HY, 19:30. Contact: secretary@bristolmodelengineers.co.uk 21 Rochdale SMEE Models running night, Springfield Park, 19:00. See www.facebook.com/RochdaleModelEngineers 21-23 City of Oxford SME ‘Dreaming Spires’ rally at Cutteslowe Park. Contact: Denis Mulford at denis.mulford@btinternet.com 23 Canterbury MES Public running. Contact: ginapearson@btopenworld.com 23 Guildford MES Open day, 14:00-17:00. See…

This is a follow up article on building my version of Ellie, the Steam Tram. The first part of two instalments of the original article being published in Model Engineer on 28 January 2022. This article continues the description of the construction of the model to its first steaming and the modifications made to improve performance and ease of use. The first article described the designing and making of a single cylinder, double acting steam engine that was fitted with a reversing system to replace the single cylinder, single acting engine with no reverse of the original version as described by Andrew Allison in his book, Ellie the Steam Tram. The article ended with the model consisting of a chassis with a finished engine, a gear and chain drive to…

The following notes should be read in conjunction with the track diagram given in Part 1 (Fig 1, M.E.4716, May 5). Continued from p.90, M.E.4720 June 30 SIGRs These operate signals by either energising a solenoid for semaphores or changing aspects from red to green for colour-light signals. They require track circuits clear, points in their correct position and motor-control relays down, and no conflicting or opposing routes in use. As the signalling is all two-aspect and signals are at danger until a train has passed the previous signal, SIG Rs also check that the next signal's SIGR is down. Stick relays (xyzSRs) A stick relay is an ordinary relay with one of its make contacts round (i.e., in parallel with) transitory controls in its pick path. A good example…

Continued from p.104, M.E.4720, June 30 I realised that this may create a little controversy in the camp, but I decided to flt my 4MT with atomisers and in commissioning my engine under the auspices of Eddie Gibbons he seemed to think they were quite amazing. You can of course bypass the atomisers by just making them as dummies. Whatever you do, they need to be on the engine as they are quite a distinctive item around the front of the engine. (So why don't you make them work!) What the atomisers do is to feed the oil into the cylinders under live steam. Having discussed them with Eddie he seemed to be most impressed with them. I don't know whether I would have fitted them on my 4MT but…

OBITUARY If Ivan were to have a headstone it would read ‘Ivan Law – Lifelong Model Engineer’. Being a Lifelong Model Engineer by definition means starting at an early age. Ivan's father, Fred, although not a founder member, was a very early member of the Sheffield Society of Model Engineers and he used to take young Ivan along to the meetings. However, the event that really inspired Ivan was a memorable visit to a member's workshop where he was surrounded by machinery. Ivan missed a lot of school when he was younger as he suffered from chronic asthma and was very poorly at times. When I was clearing out his house I came across Ivan's school reports which made interesting reading. It was obvious from these early reports that Ivan…