july/aug 2017 steaming ahead ahead/st… · press date is the second tuesday of the month. events...

July/Aug 2017

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Steaming AheadSteaming Ahead

Sutton Coldfield Model Engineering Society

Sutton Coldfield Model Engineering Society

President Bill Colman Chairman Peter McMillan Secretary Paul Green Treasurer Chris Greene Directors

Brian Clarke John Cope Mike Bentley Mark Dale Adrian Linnecor Tony Critchly Len Ingram

Front Cover: Visiting LNER Tank Locomotive from Erewash Valley MES.

Events July 2017 Saturday 1st Visit by Wolverhampton SME. 10-00am onwards Sunday 2nd Steam Up. 10-00 am onwards Sunday 16th Garden Party. 11-00am onwards

Tuesday 25th BBQ Evening. 7-00pm Sunday 30th Private Function. 2-00pm - 4-00pm

Editor:

Dave Edwards E Mail address [email protected]

Events August 2017 Sunday 6th National 2½” Gauge Rally. 10-00am onwards

Saturday 12th Visit by Sutton Coldfield R S. 11-00am onwards Sunday 20th Birthday Party. 2-00pm - 4-00pm Tuesday 22nd Visit by Sutton Coldfield Autistic Support Group. Monday 28th Bank Holiday Steam Up. 10-00am onwards

Press Date is the second Tuesday of the month.

Events September 2017

Saturday 2nd Narrow Gauge Weekend. Sunday 3rd Narrow Gauge Weekend. Sunday 10th Birthday Party. 2-00pm - 4-00pm Sunday 17th Birthday Party 2-00pm - 4-00pm Tuesday 26th Video & Slide Show Evening. 7-30pm

The Hole in the Wall.

Episode Two

The Conclusion.

Dave Martin and a number of other people, including Mark having a go at

welding under the watchful eye of Steve, have completed the fitting of the inside

doors. These are secured by a steel cross member wired into the alarm system. Thanks

Peter for arranging and fitting the alarm system.

Outside Dave and Martin have fitted a sliding door, again manufactured on site

by the same team.

Then we had the problem of the hole in the wall. Who was qualified to cut it

out? Someone with a brick saw was the answer. After some thought it was decided to

call upon “Big Ron the builder” who not only had the tool for the job but also the skill

to do it. With the inside of the workshop sheeted off and other items covered to avoid

as much dust as possible it was time for the hole in the wall. On a very wet Tuesday

morning Ron arrived with his brick saw and suitably masked and protected the inside

was cut leaving the place in a cloud of dust. The team then chiseled out the inside

block work.

After lunch when the rain had stopped Martin, Allen and the rest of the team

tackled the outer brick work and by late afternoon there was the hole in the wall

suitably propped up and safe.

On the following Sunday the steel liners were fitted around the hole. These

were welded in place by Steve making the whole job secure. A big thank you to all

those who helped to carry out the job.

Brian Dale

What Are You Doing Brian?

Well since my last report the Bank Holiday or Whitsun as we used to call it, has

been and gone. All visiting members of the public who came to see us seemed to enjoy

themselves and many complements and thanks were received.

Allan has worked very hard on the complex to the carriage shed and work shop,

fitting check rails and diamond crossovers, spending long periods of time on his hands

and knees welding and grinding rails to fit. The whole layout looks very technical and a

work of art. Many thanks Allan for what is in my estimation a very professional job

well done.

Meanwhile Dave and Martin have been concentrating on the exit for the L & B

loco. Myself I have been (yes you’ve guessed) concreting again with the help of Tony

and Jack of course. We have also moved the petrol storage and other items stored along

the fence side of the path back down towards the shed. Prior to things being moved the

ground has been dug out and a number of slabs laid on top of ballast to help with the

drainage problems in this area. I have also laid some kerbstones along the path at the

side of the pit in readiness for the next pad of concrete

For all those members who are concerned about the large set of rollers that

stood by the fence and have not been used for a number of years, these have been

moved by Andy Walton to his workshop unit and under cover. We will still have

access to them as and when required.

Brian Dale

Allan at work on the diamond crossing

Lynton and Barnstable Locomotive Project.

Those members who attended the recent AGM will have seen for themselves the

latest state of the project.

Getting it out into the fresh air (shame about the rain!) was a revelation to all of

us. It revealed a number of areas where adjustment was necessary to achieve

satisfactory clearances. Many of these have been corrected, the rest are receiving

attention.

By the time of my next report we hope to have the valve gear in place. Most of

the parts are already machined, but again we are aware that adjustment will be

necessary on some components.

My congratulations go to the “hole in the wall gang” for virtually finishing their

project in time for the AGM. I believe that the access track is now complete following

adjustment to some check rails and crossovers, and the door just needs a final coat of

paint.

Mike Brophy and Steve Whitson have made a start on the L & B tender, which

will also serve as a driving truck for the club Bridget and Paddington locomotives.

Chris Greene

Building a Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 tender locomotive.

Part Four

The Body. What do we need to complete the loco? The cab, firebox and smoke

box parts are all included on the etch and the footplate was part of the laser cut pieces.

This leaves the boiler and its associated mountings needed to complete the job.

The footplate was bolted to the chassis and the cab was fabricated and fixed to

the footplate using the slots provided to position it in the correct place. The firebox

and smoke box were then formed and temporary fixed in place so that the length of

the boiler could be calculated. Alan and Mark then set about producing four boilers

from copper tubes as can be seen in the photographs. The firebox fronts were milled

from solid brass by Brian Clarke, Dan turned the chimneys from steel and Mark

produced the brass domes.

Now that we have all the parts it is time to begin assembling them.

Cab temporary fitted to

chassis for measuring

purposes.

Silver soldering one

of the boilers.

All four boilers being pressure

tested.

Turning one of the chimneys.

Milled firebox fronts.

Finished chimney

temporary in place on

smokebox.

Dave Edwards

Visit from Erewash Valley MES June 4th 2017

Erewash Members doing what Model Engineers do best.

Visiting LNWR Tank Locomotive

On the Starting Line

Visiting War Department Train on the SM32 Track

Birthday Party June 11th 2017

A Note from our new Secretary

Hello, I understand that the club secretary is invited to provide an

offering for the Steaming Ahead.

Firstly, may I thank all those who had the faith to elect me, and

that I will endeavour to fill the position as efficiently as Mark, Eric and

all their predecessors ……… a mammoth task indeed.

There is as you would expect little for me to report after such a

brief time in the post. Hopefully the transition from the previous

secretary will be as seamless as possible, mainly due to Marks excellent

training and him leaving the post in good order

I would like to give my thanks to Mark the rest of the board and

our new President for the kind words and assistance they have given

me.

Paul Green

Bonfire Night Organisation

Bonfire Night is getting nearer and Board have been planning towards

making the event a success as in past years.

Adrian Linnecor is Co-ordinating the event and as Safety Officer I will be

working closely with him.

It is the event that brings in the most revenue to the club but it is also the

event that has to be safe for over 500 visitors and for our members. To this end we

rely on key club members to run and co-ordinate different areas for us. They in turn

rely on their team to turn up and carry out their duties during the day and on the night.

Also the following day clearing up.

We will be asking members for their help soon so that, with plenty of notice,

commitment can be given to the event.

The Board will be grateful for all offers of help to make the event safe and

pleasurable to both us and visitors.

Bonfire Night is on Saturday 11th November.

Thank you very much.

Mike Bentley Safety Officer and Vice Chairman.

2017 Midlands Federation Rally

This year’s rally was held on 11th June and was hosted by the Burton-upon-Trent

society at their Bass Meadow track-site. The rally was well attended, and there is an

excellent pictorial report on the Burton website for those who are interested.

Congratulation go to our member David Osborne for winning the Addenbrooke

Trophy with his “Vale of Rheidol” coachset in SM32 gauge. This is the second year

running that David has won this trophy having won it last year with his very fine 5”G

LMS coach.

Peter Mc / June 2017

Ah, that’s what it

is!

(and they talk

about men!)

What has amused the

ladies?

Chairman's Chunter

Well, the AGM is finally behind us and we now have a full complement of board

members to carry on the necessary work of actually running the society. Paul

Green has now been appointed as a director and has settled into the secretary’s

job. Len Ingram has formally been appointed as a director and is championing the

grounds maintenance side of things. Bill Colman steps into the president’s role

and yours truly formally takes on the role of chairman.

As an experiment to try to increase the number of members attending the AGM,

this years event was held on a Sunday afternoon. It appears to have been a

successful move and the plan is to do likewise next year. However, we would be

interested to hear the views of you the members. The BBQ afterwards was well

received and many thanks to those who toiled to provide this.

A lot of time at the July board meeting was taken up discussing the organisation

and planning of our major events. In short, we are having difficulty finding

volunteers to take on the fundamental planning for our major events. Without

these events we would lose a large proportion of our income which would have an

adverse affect upon our finances. This in turn would mean that we would not be

able to fund the ongoing development of facilities at Balleny Green and would

inevitably lead to a significant increase to our annual subscriptions. Arrangements

for this year’s Garden Party and Bonfire Night are covered, but we still need a co-

ordinator for this years Santa Special and for next years events. If you are able to

help then please speak to one of the board members.

It was great to see the L&B chassis rolling around the track at last with no major

snags revealed. It was Brian’s ambition to achieve this by the time of the AGM.

Despite the axiom that everything takes a lot longer than you expect it to, great

credit is due to Brian and the team for making it happen. An interesting comment

was how much smaller it looks when out on the track.

I have been asked to mention a slight problem we are having keeping Balleny

Green clean and tidy. It seems that from time to time piles of scrap appear from no

-where which we are then having some difficulty ourselves in disposing of. Would

members check that bulky items are actually wanted by the “works” team before

bringing onto site please.

Peter McMillan

(Chairman)

7th July 2017

Engine Inspection Pit Nearing Completion

july/aug 2017 steaming ahead ahead/st… · press date is the second tuesday of the month. events...

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