No.81 DECEMBER 2009

INDEX

Meccano Revival? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Society Meeting 23rd August, 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Society Meeting 22nd November, 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Secretary’s Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The Menstrie Challenge 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 This Scone is off! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Meccano and the Design Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

The ‘Special Edition Mechanical Workshop & Other ‘New’ Sets . 12 Private Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Berwick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Darlington ‘09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Cathcart 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Greenock2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Among the Model Builders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 A Meccano Historical Curiosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Meccano on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Society meeting, Smith’s Museum, Stirling . . . . . . . 24th January Society meeting, Smith’s Museum, Stirling . . . . . . . 28th March Balado (to be confirmed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8th/9th May Constructors Day and the Menstrie Challenge . . . . 22nd May Skegness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2nd/4th July Society meeting, Smith’s Museum, Stirling . . . . . . 22nd August Annual Exhibition, Scone . . . . . . . . . . . . 11th /12th September

MECCANO REVIVAL?

It is probably just the time of year, but one could not help but notice a whole shelf of Meccano in Maplins on a recent visit and there seems to be a large number of different sets for sale on Amazon. It is all the modern (made in China) stuff, of course. Nevertheless one wonders if the recent James May program will result in a spin off of increased sales.

The program was interesting to Meccano enthusiasts, showing as it did the manufacturing process for 49 hole Angle Girders. Not in its entirety, surely. Are they not galvanised after being punched and bent? The impression was given (to this viewer at least) that the Angle Girders were taken straight from the punching/bending processes and loaded into the van which took them to Liverpool.

The existence of non-Meccano parts in the bridge itself could also be questioned. Where did they come from? -and why use them anyway? What was wrong with standard Flat Plates? Holes in the wrong place or (heaven forfend!) not strong enough in tension and/or shear? Then the whole concept of the “bridge” seemed flawed. What on earth was the point of having a semi-bascule and a rotating cantilevered platform? A good engineering solution to the canal crossing it was not. What it did do was to provide a stage for Mr.May to be seen by a large crowd. And, talking about good engineering, how are we supposed to interpret the stunt of standing under the car which was allegedly suspended from four Meccano strips? Either:-

(a) a tensile test had been carried out beforehand in the Liverpool University Mechanical Engineering Department to determine the yield stress of such strips

or (b) the chains had been re-attached before James May was pictured under the car( i.e it was a con; we did not see the suspension method when May was shown underneath the car) or (c) the man is a complete idiot and both he and the programme makers are in breach of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act Any way around this program gave seriously flawed messages about Meccano. What is worse is that any youngsters getting Meccano sets for Christmas are likely to be seriously disappointed both with the quality of the parts in the set and with the models they can build from it. Not unlike, when you come to think of it, those boys of yesteryear who got a No1 set with a picture of SM4 on the cover of the manual. They at least got high quality parts and a manual giving them 10 - 20 models to build.

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Society Meeting, 23rd August 2009 The meeting was held in the Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling at 14:00 hours. Members present were Douglas Carson (Secretary), Alan Macdonald (Treasurer), Desmond Smith and helper, Jackie Inglis, Jim Gregory, Bill Jack, Angus Plumb, Dick Martin, Jim Berrie, Ken McDonald, Bert Hutchings, Margaret Tattersfield, Bobby Middlemass, Tim Edwards (Webmaster), Gordon MacMillan, and Alistair Nicoll (Newsletter Editor). Apologies were received from Jim Wood, Angela Goodlet and Alan Blair. Also present was Andy Knox who owns a large quantity of Meccano and was interested in learning about the Society. Correspondence: the Secretary reported that emails had been received from:

1. Ms Catriona Nicol of Aberdeen requesting help in disposing of her late father’s Meccano collection. This comprises a silver/yellow/blue No 10 set and some red and green parts. The Secretary had replied with some general advice and an offer to inform members of the contents off her email. Any member who wishes to contact her should ask the Secretary for her email address.

2. Mr Tom Wilson of Stirling who wished to donate his Meccano to the Society. The Secretary had collected this, mostly nickel, collection on his way to the meeting and suggested that Bert Hutchings sort it out and make it available for sale to members at discount prices in aid of MSS funds. Bert agreed to do this.

The Secretary asked members present to confirm their email addresses as this method of communication is increasingly popular. Treasurer: Alan Macdonald presented the 2008/09 Society accounts and balance sheet. These showed a deficit of £303 for the year, leaving a current bank balance of £251. The deficit was largely caused by having to pay two public liability insurance premiums in one accounting year and a net loss of £166 on last year’s annual exhibition at Scone. The Secretary proposed that the accounts be accepted and this was accepted nem con. The Treasurer then presented his budget for the year 2009/10. This showed a further annual deficit of £36 before any potential loss on the annual exhibition was taken into account. This would leave balances dangerously low and the Treasurer proposed that the annual subscription for the year 2009/10 be increased to £20 from £15. This would raise an additional £230 assuming no change in membership. There then followed discussion on this proposal. It was generally accepted that if we wished to continue to mount an annual exhibition then the subscription needed to be increased. Some members thought the increase should be limited to £18 with the option of a further increase next year. Others felt that £20 for membership of any club or society was not unreasonable these days. After discussion it was proposed that the Treasurer’s recommendation be adopted and this was agreed unanimously by a show of hands. The Treasurer will update the membership form and the Webmaster will do the same for the form on the website. The Treasurer was asked how many members had not renewed their subscriptions and what the procedure is when that happened. The Treasured reported that three members had not renewed their subscriptions last year. In these cases the members concerned received one further copy of

the Newsletter along with a reminder and a warning that if they did not pay their subscription they would be deemed to have resigned their membership of the Society. The Treasurer reported that he had been in communication with Mrs Bert Love and had received the President’s medal from her. This was shown to members, many of whom had not seen it before. The Secretary stated that now we had the medal in our possession we could consider if we wished to fill the position. Bert Hutchings said that it would be very difficult to find someone in Scotland of similar standing in the Meccano world to Bert Love and that it might be better to leave the position vacant. Ken McDonald said that although that was true, it did also mean that we could consider whether any of our own members might be recognised. The Secretary asked that any members with ideas on the subject contact him and undertook to solicit the views of the wider membership and present a firm proposal to the next meeting. Newsletter Editor: Alistair Nicoll distributed copies of the August Newsletter to those present. Webmaster: Tim Edwards requested that members with photographs from Balado, Menstrie or Skegness send them to him. Exhibitions: Douglas Carson, Ken McDonald and Alan Blair had taken two tables at Skegex in July thus providing a MSS presence for the second year in a row. Angus Plumb had also displayed some models and helped man the tables over the three days of the exhibition. Bobby Middlemass and Margaret Tattersfield visited. Several members had exhibited at the charity exhibition in Auchterarder in July. Jim Gregory reported that £107 had been raised although the turnout had been disappointing. Berwick on Tweed: This exhibition will take place on 29/30 August. North East Meccano Society (NEMS) will also be exhibiting. Bert Hutchings has been coordinating arrangements and Ken McDonald, Margaret Tattersfield and Angus Plumb are also planning to attend. Scone: Our annual exhibition will take place on 12/13 September at the Farming Yesteryear show organised by the Scottish Vintage Tractor Society. Although Alan Blair was not present it was reported that he has everything under control. Margaret Tattersfield had offered to help with transport but will not be available on the Saturday. Bert Hutchings will bring the table covers from Berwick on Tweed. Rob Mitchell, John Ozyer-key (both Sheffield Meccano Guild), Joe Etheridge and George Roy (both NEMS) are expected as guest exhibitors. Cathcart: This model railway exhibition takes place on 24/25 October but no formal invitation has been received. The Secretary undertook to chase this up with the organisers and coordinate arrangements. Douglas Carson and Alistair Nicoll are able to be present on both days should an invitation be forthcoming. Alan Macdonald could do one day and Tim Edwards could do the Sunday. Bobby Middlemass offered to lend his models if required. Darlington: NEMS will be holding their annual exhibition on 24 October (which clashes with Cathcart). Ken McDonald is exhibiting and Desmond Smith also plans to attend.

Greenock: We are definitely invited to exhibit at the model railway exhibition in Greenock on 7/8 November. Douglas Carson, Alistair Nicoll, Tim Edwards and Bert Hutchings plan to attend. Future Meetings: The Treasurer confirmed that bookings have been made for meetings at the Smith Gallery, Stirling for 22 November 2009, 24 January 2010, 14 or 28 March, 22 May (Menstrie Scout Hall), 22 August and 22 November. Annual Competition: This will take place on 22 May, 2010 in Menstrie. Bill Jack presented a proposal for a race for Meccano Magic Motor powered vehicles over a distance of 18 feet. Discussion then ensued and it was agreed that the rules should explicitly state that Meccano compatible parts be permitted, that proxy entries be permitted and that competitors shall start their motors and then hold and release their entries on the starting signal. It was also agreed that the competition will take the form of a league with each entry racing against every other entry with points awarded for a win or a draw. Bill Jack agreed to present amended rules at the next meeting. Other business:

1. Alistair Nicoll reported that he had given a talk to fellow volunteer guides at the Transport Museum in Glasgow on the history of Meccano, illustrated with models of Super Model 1 (car chassis), a meccanograph utilising every Meccano gear and a modern IR remote control car.

2. He had been asked if it were true that Frank Hornby had made Meccano strips for his children from copper from a local works? General consensus was that this was indeed the case.

3. Desmond Smith displayed a small model he had recently made. 4. Margaret Tattersfield reported that she had visited the Museum of Power at Maldon, Essex.

Although there was no Meccano on display it had been a most interesting display. 5. Bert Hutchings reported that he had exhibited at Ironbridge earlier in the year. Apparently

his display of low loaders in various colour schemes has been reported in Constructor Quarterly.

6. Tim Edwards reported that he had been visited by Tony Parmeer. He also reported that his online Meccano index is being extended to include the Meccanoman’s Journal and the Meccano Engineer magazines. In addition all non Meccano photographs from the Meccano Magazine are being indexed. Tim is also working on an analysis of Meccano manuals.

7. Bill Jack reported that an A4 Pacific locomotive in steam was in Stirling Station that afternoon.

The meeting closed with a reminder from the Secretary that the new subscription of £20 was now due.

Douglas Carson, Secretary

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Society Meeting, 22 November 2009 The meeting was held in the Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling at 14:00 hours. Members present were Douglas Carson (Secretary), Alan Macdonald (Treasurer), Andy Knox, Margaret Tattersfield, Bert Hutchings, Gordon MacMillan, Jim Berrie, Ken McDonald, Dick Martin, Tim Edwards (Webmaster), Gordon Stewart, Alan Blair, Desmond Smith & guide, Angus Plumb, Jim Gregory, Jackie Inglis, Bill Jack, Bobby Middlemass and Hamish Davidson. Apologies were received from Jim Wood, Angela Goodlet, Robert Jones, Rodney Bessent and Ed Rebecca. 1. Correspondence: the Secretary reported the following correspondence:

1. An invitation from Telford & Ironbridge Meccano Society (TIMS) inviting members to their Exhibition on Saturday, 1 May – Monday, 3 May 2010. Members requiring further information should contact the Secretary or refer to the TIMS website.

2. A set of information sheets from the Southern Federation of Model Engineers. These cover a variety of subjects including the protection of minors, boiler certificates and health and safety. The Secretary passed a copy of sheet No 5 (Insurance Claims) to the Treasurer.

3. A letter from the Mission Aviation Fellowship thanking the Society for the £120 donated to Angela Goodlet at Balado in May to support her volunteer work in Tanzania earlier this year.

2. Honorary President: At the last meeting the Secretary had undertaken to seek the views of members and present to the next meeting a firm proposal. The Secretary reported that he had contacted almost all active members (those who attend meetings or exhibitions) and that the unanimous view was that it would be appropriate to ask Jim Berrie if he would accept this position. Jim indicated his agreement and the Secretary was delighted to present Jim with the Honorary President’s medal. A photograph of all members present was taken, with Jim wearing the medal. 3. Jim Finlayson Memorial Trophy: This trophy is awarded each year at the Annual Exhibition by the previous year’s winner. Because this year’s exhibition had been cancelled this had not been possible but Joe Etheridge (last year’s winner) had been able to return the trophy and supplied his nomination in a sealed envelope. The Secretary duly opened the envelope and announced that Joe had nominated Ken McDonald as this year’s winner. 4. Treasurer: Alan Macdonald stated that due to the cancellation of this year’s Annual Exhibition he would arrange to have a suitable plaque placed on the Society’s Shield. 5. Webmaster: Tim Edwards requested that members with photographs from Balado, Menstrie or Skegness or other exhibitions send them to him. 6. Exhibitions (Past):

a) Berwick on Tweed, August 2009. Bert Hutchings, Ken McDonald, Margaret Tattersfield and Angus Plumb had attended and shown models. Bert reported that approximately one thousand people had attended and that he had been able to negotiate travel expenses at the rate of 40p/mile.

b) Cathcart, October 2009. Douglas Carson, Alistair Nicoll, Alan Macdonald and Margaret Tattersfield had attended and shown models. Douglas reported that this year we had returned to a prime location on the stage and that as usual this was a well attended exhibition. He was confident of an invitation next year.

c) Darlington, October 2009. Ken McDonald, Angus Plumb and Desmond Smith attended the North East Meccano Society (NEMS) annual exhibition and showed models. It transpired

later in the meeting that Ken McDonald had been awarded the Frank Beadle Trophy for his ball roller. This trophy, like our own Jim Finlayson Trophy, is awarded each year by the previous year’s winner.

d) Greenock, November 2009. Douglas Carson, Alistair Nicoll, Bert Hutchings and Robert Jones had attended and shown models. Tim Edwards had unfortunately had to withdraw due to a recent bereavement. Douglas reported that the organisers had been generous with their expenses and a surplus of £30 had been passed to the Treasurer for Society funds. He was confident of an invitation next year.

7. Exhibitions (Future):

a) Steam in the Park, Balado, 8/9 May 2010, date to be confirmed. It is assumed that we will again be invited to this event. Contact will made with the organisers early in the New Year.

b) Skegness, 2-4 July 2010. c) Farming Yesteryear and MSS Annual Exhibition, Scone, 11/12 September 2010. Alan

Blair took the opportunity to update members on the background to the cancellation of the Farming Yesteryear event this year. The decision was sadly inevitable and many groups including the Tractor Society had been left significantly out of pocket. We are fortunate that our Society was not one of them. On a more positive note, the Factor at Scone Palace has agreed to subsidise the cost of improvements to the drainage of the field at Scone, this work to be carried out by members of the Tractor Society. It is hoped that this work will prevent recurrence of similar problems in the future.

d) Cathcart, 30/31 October 2010. e) Greenock, 13/14 November 2010. Date to be confirmed.

8. Future Meetings: The Treasurer confirmed that these are 24th January 2010, 28th March, Saturday 22nd May at Menstrie Scout Hall, 22nd August and 22nd November. 9. Annual Competition: This will take place on 22nd May, 2010 in Menstrie. Bill Jack presented revised rules for a race for Meccano Magic Motor powered vehicles over a distance of 18 feet. After discussion it was agreed that Rule 1 be amended to include wording that, “All four wheels shall remain in contact with the ground”, and that Rule 11 be deleted. All other questions were answered by Rule 13 that “In the event of a dispute the Secretary will arbitrate”. The subsequently revised rules will be updated by Tim Edwards for publication on the website and copied to Alistair Nicoll for inclusion with the next newsletter. 10. Other business:

a) Desmond Smith showed a small model he had made from a £4.99 set now available from Boots and other retailers. He also showed some French manuals dating from the 1960s.

b) Jim Gregory reported that the sweet shop in Auchterarder now had a Meccano model of a children’s roundabout in their window display, said model provided by Jim along with a Hornby Trains circle with wagons loaded with sweets. Jim also reported on various shops in Perthshire currently stocking Meccano.

c) Gordon Stewart showed a very nice Meccano Steam Engine (1920’s version) that he had purchased on the internet for “several hundred pounds”. Gordon had made his own burner for the engine and asked how closely it followed the prototype. General opinion was that the burner was very well made and any deviations were minor.

d) Bert Hutchings had sorted out the donation of Meccano from Mr Tom Wilson. This was mostly of 1916 vintage and Bert gave an interesting talk on the short lived part no. 64

“Funnel”, two examples of which were in the collection. Members were encouraged to purchase parts with proceeds going to Society funds and very few were left at the end of the meeting.

e) Alan Blair reported that he and Bobby Middlemass will be giving a talk to the Scottish Vintage Tractor & Engine Society on Meccano.

f) Angus Plumb had been to a toy auction in Ilkley and acquired some Meccano Magazines from the 1950s and some early editions of Constructor Quarterly some of which he was willing to part with for cash. Angus had also been active in the North East investigating opportunities to display Meccano.

g) Jim Berrie had constructed some model mechanisms for use by Alan at his talks. h) Tim Edwards reported that he is now working on a comprehensive analysis of Meccano

Manuals from 1936-81 which will be added to his existing online indexes. Clive Weston is helping him in this work.

i) Alan Blair requested that the Secretary notify other Meccano Societies of our meeting dates. The Secretary agreed to do this.

j) Andy Knox had brought along some very interesting mechanisms utilising both traditional and modern Meccano parts as well as Metallus parts. These included harmonic and epicyclic gears, a syncromesh gearbox, a winding mechanism and a crane grab. In addition, Andy had the tower and gear ring for a model of the Finnieston Crane which is currently under construction. All these pieces generated much discussion after the meeting and it is understood that some of them will be the subject of an article in the Newsletter.

Douglas Carson, Secretary

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SECRETARY’S NOTES What should have been the highlight of our year, our Annual Exhibition in September, had unfortunately to be cancelled due to the field at Scone being flooded a week before the Farming Yesteryear show was due to take place. With the weather forecast being, at best, indifferent it was sadly inevitable that our hosts, the Scottish Vintage Tractor & Engine Club, were forced to make the decision to cancel the event. This in turn meant that we were unable to present our usual awards, namely the MSS Shield (donated by Bobby Middlemass and awarded each year to the maker of the best model as voted by exhibitors at the Annual Exhibition) and the Jim Finlayson Memorial Trophy. However Joe Etheridge of North East Meccano Society was able to return the Jim Finlayson Trophy which he won in 2008. It gave me great pleasure to announce at our November meeting that Joe, in turn, had awarded the Trophy to Ken McDonald. Joe’s letter said, “Having had more time to consider my nomination for the Jim Finlayson Trophy, my nomination this year is to a club member, who not only supports the Meccano Society of Scotland, but also travels down into England, to Darlington and Skegness. I think this nomination is long overdue, and having had the Trophy for the past year I find it hard that my nominee’s name is missing. His models are always great crowd pleasers and always attract a lot of attention. So my nomination this year is Ken McDonald.” This made it a double for Ken as he also won the Frank Beadle Trophy at the NEMS exhibition at Darlington in October.

----------- As most members will know, the position of Honorary President had been vacant since the death of Bert Love in 1999. Ten years on, and having obtained the return of the President’s medal it seemed appropriate that we should turn our minds to finding a suitable replacement. The position had been created specifically for Bert Love in 1989 and carries no formal duties or responsibilities so we had complete freedom in our choice of successor. I undertook to ascertain the views of active members and it quickly became apparent that all whom I consulted were of one mind: that Jim Berrie should be our new Honorary President. Jim is our sole surviving founder member of what was originally called the Central Scotland Meccano Society and even a cursory examination of early MSS Newsletters shows the enormous amount of work he put in to establishing the Society as a continuing feature of the Meccano world. Jim was the first Secretary of the Society, a position which he held from 1984 until 1990. During this time, as well as organising and attending numerous exhibitions, Jim gave many talks to civic societies, church groups and other clubs and societies. He also appeared on radio and television; notably on “Down Your Way” with the late Brian Johnstone, “MacGregor’s Gathering” with Jimmy MacGregor and “Cartoon Cavalcade” with Glen Michael. Jim’s models are always popular and one that I wish I could have seen was the Irn Bru Factory which was the first winner of the Jim Finlayson Trophy at our Annual Exhibition in 1986. This model, Bert Love wrote, “was a maze of conveyor belts and ropeways on 6 inch pulleys, conveying the soft drink cans around the ‘factory’. Scrap pieces of old Meccano were hoisted by an electro-magnet and fed into the bowels of the factory, from whence emerged the ‘end’ product!” This model was brought to the attention of AG Barr, the manufacturers of Irn Bru, and the Managing Director attended our annual exhibition of that year to see the model. This led to Jim (and the Irn Bru Factory) being invited by AG Barr to take part in a charity promotion in London later that same year. I was very pleased when Jim indicated to me his willingness to accept the position of Honorary President and at our November meeting this appointment was agreed by all members present. With great pleasure I presented Jim with the President’s medal and photographs were taken to record the occasion.

----------- In my last Notes I said that I intended to explore some ideas about how our Society might consider the most effective ways of achieving our objectives in the current age. The first idea that comes to mind is to make greater use of electronic communications, i.e. email. The benefits are obvious; speed and zero cost to the Society. Those members whose email addresses I have, will, I hope, have already noticed increased communication from me in this regard. I emailed the minutes from our September meeting to those on my list and the two (!) members who responded thought this worthwhile. In this way, I hope to be able to communicate to members what has been discussed at meetings rather more quickly than relying on the Newsletter, which will of course, remain our journal of record.

Douglas J Carson, Secretary * * * * *

THE MENSTRIE CHALLENGE 2010 Rules and Parameters

1. The competition this year is to build a four wheeled vehicle to sprint in the fastest time between two lines 18ft apart on the Menstrie Scout Hall smooth wooden floor. Note that all four wheels must remain in contact with the ground throughput the run.

2. The only power is to be one Meccano Magic Motor. No gravity, elastic or other assistance

is permitted.

3. Only Meccano or Meccano compatible parts to be used. 4. The entrants name must be prominently displayed and be visible from above (e.g. a sticky

label). This is to assist commentators, scorers, and reporters writing up the event. 5. Entrants may enter more than one vehicle.

6. Practising between the floor lines will be permitted during the early course of the meeting

but each sprint heat for real will be run only once, about noon.

7. The race starts with the nose of each vehicle on the first line and finish with the noses crossing the second line.

8. At the start of each race the competitors will hold their vehicles stationary with the motor

engaged until the starting gun goes off. 9. Vehicles will have to run reasonably straight to avoid colliding with each other. There shall

be no contact with vehicle after it has started. Vehicles deviating from the straight and hindering the progress of others will be disqualified.

10. The competition will be run on the league system with competitors racing against each

other in pairs.

11. In the event of a dispute the Secretary will arbitrate. 12. Proxy entrants welcome.

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THIS SCONE IS OFF!

by

Rob Mitchell At Skegness 2008, Ken MacDonald casually asked if we would like to go up to the MSS annual bash (the best part of the SVTEC rally, but I’m biased) at Scone Palace near Perth in September. Mindful of the distance between Maltby and Perth, I replied along the lines of ‘We’ll think about it.’ We did then did, arrangements being made with organiser Alan Blair who also promised good weather as the event had never before suffered from sideways rain, hail, fog, sleet, drizzle or any of the other late summer weather Scotland is rightly famed for. Last year’s show, however, was somewhat muddy due to heavy rain beforehand- the sign of things to come! Anyway, this year Ken was bolstered by Alan at Skeg to double the arm twisting for September and Alan again promised- more than once, I’ll have you know- that ‘the sky tanks would be empty’ and a return to a fine weekend for the rally would resume. Wanting to make a holiday of it, we arranged for a stay in Pitlochry for the week before. We set off on Saturday 5th September with car crammed with luggage, hill walking gear and a fair amount of Meccano which included the Auto Lift (its last trip it’d be a year old in it’s working condition AND I’d installed a programmer ready for the event), Matchbox Manipulator, four Bernard Périer models, extended 0-2-0 ‘train set’, clockwork walker called ‘Lenny Leggit’* ready for Bedale in January and a load of other stuff. North of Perth on the A9, Lesley was evidently getting fed up (despite me enthusiastically pointing out we’d just crossed the Highland Boundary Fault near Dunkeld, marked by the change to Dalradian schists and igneous intrusions) and started messing with the accursed mobile phone. ‘Look- I can get e-mails!’- then saw the words ‘SCONE CANCELLED’ sent from Alan. Oh dear- we were only a couple of miles short of Pitlochry at this point! Luckily, there was a computer place in there but was closed (too late) and wasn’t open on Sunday but we let Alan have an e-mailed ‘message received’ on Monday. Alan & co. had inspected the field behind Scone Palace that Saturday morning and found it was standing in water thanks to heavy rain in the preceding days and, being only a few feet above a loop of the Tay, the water wasn’t in any great hurry to drain. So, after years of good weather, Mitchell rolls up once and it’s a quagmire. Second time and it’s flooded- coincidence? Should an invite for the third time be wantonly dished out, I’ll try to submerge the place under the newly formed Loch Scone…. The week before the 12th. was fine, warm and sunny- i.e. excellent evaporation conditions for H2O- so we had a faint vestigial hope that maybe the show could be ‘on’ again. Oh no- it takes at least three weeks to dry out according to Alan. So that was that- we headed off home again on Saturday 12th. via Alan’s place in Crieff on the promise of tea, sympathy and a tour of the Meccano room. He also suggested a word or two for NEMSQ (Scone is well supported by a sizeable NEMS contingent) so you can blame him for this brief missive as well. * Since joined by Sprintin’ Sid…..

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Meccano and the Design Museum

Construct a Perfect Partnership

Meccano is reaching out to a design conscious generation through an innovative partnership programme with the Design Museum, one of the world’s leading museums devoted to contemporary design. As one of the UK’s leading construction toys with an emphasis on problem solving through play, the Meccano partnership with the Design Museum will promote the synergy between the two brands. Meccano is pleased to sponsor the hands-on ‘Get Creative’, Sunday workshops for children, directly inspired by the Design Museum’s exhibition programme. Children will have the opportunity to work with a range of plastic and metal Meccano sets to test their creative design and construction skills during workshops throughout November and December inspired by the architectural exhibition David Chipperfield – Form Matters which runs from 21 October 2009 – 31 January 2010. The Design Museum’s Development Manager Julia Strong said: “At the heart of our Learning programme is the ambition to inspire a lifelong interest in design and nurture the next generation of creative professionals. When Meccano approached us, we were excited by the opportunity to work with a company that has inspired many of today’s most successful designers.” The ‘Get Creative’ workshops are especially developed for children aged 5 to 11 and take place in the stunning riverside design studio, offering exciting opportunities for budding young designers to develop their skills. Workshop leader Sion Ap Tomos said: “We will ask the children to design and create Meccano frame buildings. One of the great things about the toy and perhaps the very spirit of Meccano is the way we can improvise with the pieces to come up with alternative solutions and surprising designs.” Meccano remains a very versatile constructional medium. Just about any mechanical device can be built with it, from structures, to complex working cranes, automatic gearboxes or extremely accurate clocks. Meccano is frequently used to prototype new ideas and inventions. Sue Barratt, Country Manager of Meccano UK, said: “Meccano has come a long way from the nuts and bolts construction sets many parents today remember from their childhood. We have taken leaps and strides forward to develop new products incorporating flexible parts, remote controls and other electronic elements while staying true to the essence of the brand. The great thing about Meccano is that you are only limited by your own imagination and ingenuity. “Working with the Design Museum provides us with a great platform to reach design conscious parents and children in a fun and engaging way. We want people to see how far we have come and to realise that Meccano remains at the forefront of challenging construction play today.” The careers many people chose were influenced by their experience and knowledge gained from using the product such as the inventor of the Mini, Sir Alec Issigonis and Nobel prize winner Sir Harold Kroto to name but two.

Described by the Guardian as “the temple of cool” and by the Financial Times as “the premier advocate and judge of good design in the UK” the Design Museum is one of the world’s leading museums devoted to contemporary design in every form from furniture to graphics, and architecture to industrial design. Founded by Terence Conran in 1989, the Design Museum has built an international reputation, and remains at the forefront of celebrating and promoting design. The sponsorship package will target the 250,000 visitors a year to the museum, and 2.6 million unique users a year on the Design Museum website.

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The ‘Special Edition’ Mechanical Workshop Set & Other’ New’ Sets

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Ron Frith If I may I would like to continue our Secretary’s theme from the August 2009 Newsletter and give my impressions of the Mechanical Workshop Set & also the ‘Dual & Single Motor Remote Control Sets. Unlike Douglas I paid almost the full price for my set after reading in CQ that Dave Taylor though this was one of the best sets to come out of Meccano France for some time. Sadly I don’t think it is; like Douglas I also found the Set rather disappointing, not so much with the contents, but with the poor Manual Models portrayed. Of the 25 models depicted in the Manual, no more than half a dozen are realistic representations of everyday machines. You may recall that a couple of years ago I purchased the M&S Christmas Meccano F1 Set. Well this F1 Car is one of the models depicted in the Mechanical Workshop Manual & I paid the same price for the F1 Set from M&S as I did for the Mechanical Workshop Set AND the F1 Set only has instructions for ONE Model. Comparing the two Manuals the F1 Set manual states ‘Mechanical Workshop’ Set 7500 on the front cover, whereas the Mechanical Workshop Set is numbered 0532. The Mechanical Workshop contents show a few additional parts and a few parts in greater number than the F1 set but not many. A number of the smaller Set 0532 models could be built from the F1 Set & so could have been included in the F1 Manual. The Mechanical Workshop Set is therefore better value for money than the F1 Set in this instance. Having already built the F1 Racing Car I had also met similar problems to Douglas. However Douglas has achieved something I didn’t – I couldn’t get my motor to run for more than 2/3 seconds before it locked itself solid. After reading Douglas’ report I opted to build the Helicopter on Pg 103 to complement my growing Meccano Air Force. I encountered the first discrepancy at Diag. 2 - mounting the gearbox support plate to the 6v motor. ⅜" bolts are specified and pass through ½" Angle Brackets, a 1½" x 1½" Flat Plate, then Black Plastic Spacer Washers & finally through the 6v Motor casing. Unfortunately ⅜" bolts are too short, finishing flush with the inside face of the motor casing with no thread protruding for the nuts. ½" Bolts should have been specified. At this stage I then found most of the small Brackets & small 3 hole Double Angle Strips to be bent at less than 90deg necessitating a trip to the workshop to bend them to the correct angle. Building then continued up to Diag. 9 – assembly of the ‘Engine’. This is represented by 3 x 3 hole Orange Plastic Spacers revolving in a framework supported by 5½" Angle Girders fixed to

Angle Brackets, Except it didn’t revolve, as the front orange spacer was fouled by the Nuts & Bolts fixing the Angle Girders to the Angle Brackets inside the frame. Moving the Angle Brackets & thus the nuts & bolts outside of the framework allowed the ‘Engine’ to revolve. The drive to the ‘Engine’ is at 90 deg from the Motor by Multi-Purpose Gears which did not mesh correctly. The drive mechanism was via a non-connected ½" Rubber Tyre Clutch which fell apart when power was applied due to the incorrect meshing of the gears. The Multi-Purpose Gear on the ‘Engine’ shaft was too far forward and meshed virtually over the top of the Motor Gear. As it was already just clearing the fixing bolts by a whisker it couldn’t be moved any further back. What was required was to move the whole ‘Engine’ assembly back from the Motor assembly. This required the dismantling of the ‘Engine’ framework and inserting a set of Washers between the Angle Brackets on the Motor Flat Plate and the Double Angle Strips of the ‘Engine’ unit, then reassembling the engine framework. The Multi-Purpose gears now meshed correctly and the drive from the 6v Motor worked fine. It was at this stage the next problem arose. Initially I tried to resolve the meshing of the Multi-Purpose Gears by other means rather than dismantle the motor/engine framework. I tried using a Short Coupling on the Motor Shaft to give a ‘connected drive’ however the vertical triple-flat axle connecting the main rotor drive wouldn’t fit into the Short Coupling. I then found that it was such a tight fit in the 5 hole Plastic Spacer Strip supporting the Axle that I couldn’t turn it. At first I thought it wasn’t aligned properly and loosened the bolts holding it but I still couldn’t turn it. I tried a different Axle from the set and that wouldn’t turn either so I tried an axle from the Super Construction Set and that worked fine. I could only conclude that the axles were ‘out of spec’ Other minor construction problems appeared & were overcome during the assembly of the rest of the model until Dia 24 – assembly of the tail and rear rotor when once again ⅜" bolts proved to be too short to pass through the 4 parts being assembled and I had to resort to ½" bolts from my collection. It was here that I also found the triple flat axles wouldn’t go through the centre hole of the small 3 hole Double Angle Strips either. Again I used axles from the other set that worked fine. On to Diag. 28- assembly of the tail rotor, where the 1½" Contrate Wheel fouled the bolts fixing the 2½" Curved Strips to the Perforated Strips forming the tail rotor frame & preventing the Contrate from turning. The only way around this was to dismantle the whole of the tail assembly and rebuild using double washers between the Double Brackets/Angle Brackets and the Perforated Strips forming the tail unit. This increased the space between the strips and allowed the Contrate Wheel to be positioned clear of the bolts. Of course this in turn meant the fixing of the tail & rotor assembly to the body of the model had to be reconfigured. And finally for this model, when completed it was Tail Heavy. I had to resort to bolting 5 Wheel Discs to the front underside of the trapezoidal nose plate as a counterweight! And so we come to the Dual & Single Motor Remote Control Meccano Sets 8541 & 7531 purchased in December 2008 after reading Douglas’ report on this set in the December 2008 Newsletter. The following is taken from a letter sent to Meccano FRANCE in January 2009 & March 2009 to which I have yet to receive a reply. The Fig No’s refer to the Instruction manual diagrams.

There is a lot of flash left on most of the plastic parts from the manufacturing process which is quite sharp.

50% of the Washers will not fit onto the Triple Flat Axles. The Washers will however fit onto Triple Flat Axles from earlier sets. This suggests the axles are not to specification.

The small plastic pinion (Part A313) will not fit on the Triple Flat Motor Spindle (Fig 14). These parts normally are a firm push fit. In this case brute force was required to locate the pinion on the motor shaft & is almost impossibleto remove.

Similarly the Plastic Pinion/Adapter (Part No A313) would not fit on the second motor spindle or the Triple Flat Axle without brute force (Fig 6) & was very difficult to align correctly.

The 7 hole & 3 hole D/A Strips (Part Nos A348 & A248) are all bent out of shape ( See photo attached).

The plastic Screwed Rod Adapter (Part No C135) would not fit on the Triple Flat Axle without brute force. This caused the Screwed Rod, Adapter & Axle to be out of alignment preventing correct operation of the sliding boom

The 3/8” Bolt would not go through the fixing holes in the Remote Control Receiver Units (Fig 28). The holes required careful reaming with a fine round file.

The following Design defects where also brought to Meccano’s attention.

A standard bolt with two standard washers is too short for fixing the 3 hole D/A Bracket at the end of the fixed jib (Fig 10-2).

A Washer is required along with the Spacer fixing the end of the 7 hole Strip to the 15 hole Strip (Fig 8) otherwise the the 15 hole Strips are not parallel.

Two black spacer Washers & a ¾” bolt are required to space the 1” x ½” Angle Bracket to the cab assembly (Fig 23) otherwise the Flexible Strip mudguard does not lie parallel with the cab.

Set No 7531, the Single Motor Remote Control Outfit is as yet unbuilt but with the following similar defects.

7 of the 10 Washers supplied do not fit the Axles.

The Plastic Pinion/Adapter (Part No A313) will not fit on the motor spindle or the Triple Flat Axle without brute force.

The plastic Screwed Rod Adapter (Part No C135) will not fit on the Triple Flat Axle without brute force.

A 3/8” Bolt will not go through the fixing hole in the Receiver Unit.

Two 5 hole & one 3 hole D/A Strips (Part No’s A448 & A248) are bent out of shape (see photo attached).

All in all a sad reflection on current Meccano Outfits & Model strategy.

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PRIVATE EYE

MSS Secretary, Douglas Carson, came across this cartoon in an edition of Private Eye earlier

this year. He contacted the publishers and asked for permission for us to include here. The

permission was readily given and is gratefully acknowledged.

You might like to have some fun reflecting on which three members of the Society are

represented by the three adults in the cartoon - but please keep your conclusions to yourself.

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BERWICK

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Angus Plumb Four members of the Society were pleased to accept an invitation to mount a display at a model railway exhibition in Berwick-upon-Tweed on Saturday and Sunday 29th and 30th August. The Exhibition was part of the Stephenson 150 Festival, commemorating 150 years after the death of Robert Stephenson, son of the possibly more famous George and responsible for much of the railway and engineering development in Northumberland and Tyneside in the 19th Century. The ulterior motive for the festival is to put Berwick on the tourist map. Like so many places Berwick has suffered from the loss of much of its former industry and is now looking to attract tourists as a means of restoring its prosperity. The exhibition made good use of two spacious sports halls in Tweedmouth, on the English side of the Tweed. There were twelve layouts, half a dozen Trade Stands, a local Railway Preservation Society and a stand mounted by the North East of England branch of the Institution of Civil Engineers. The standard of railway modelling was very high, although space does not allow a detailed description of the layouts on show. Our colleagues from NEMS had a good display. John Herdman’s centre piece was a collection of his tram models with a decent length of track to run them on. He also had a model of Hedley’s 0-8-0 loco, very much resembling a stretched Puffing Billy. It had required five ‘Rocket’ sets to get matching wheels for this attractive model that ran well all week-end. John had a slightly incongruous yellow Deltic running alongside his trams. He had a number of other models including two military vehicles in army green parts. He was also offering a selection of recent sets and parts for sale. John had an Angel of the North, in unpainted parts, just like the prototype. He has already sold one and fixed a deal on this one during the show. Consequently he was pleased to be offered a bag of what most of us might regard as junk as he can strip the paint of what is usable and set about another Angel. I suspect he recouped his costs on this lot as I amongst others had a fruitful rummage, securing some aircraft parts, a few nickel parts, some single tapped wheels and what might be some Erector to add to my collection. Joe Etheridge presided over his Colliery Complex to which he had added a Dockside Crane and a Cargo Vessel in red. He also had some items for sale, in particular some plastic sets. He had a few models made up from recent sets including a radio controlled car. Ian Mordue was only able to attend on the Saturday. He was his usual ebullient self, expounding his experiences with James May and the Meccano bridge over the canal in Liverpool. Ian had also brought his version of Harrison’s first chronometer for the determination of Longitude at sea. This is a fine example of the way Meccano can be used, Ian has taken a great deal of trouble to get an accurate resemblance to this historic subject. Our Society was represented by Bert Hutchings, Ken McDonald, Margaret Tattersfield and myself. Bert had his low-loaders through the ages, showing the same model in the various colour schemes of production at Binns Road. He also had his War Bonds display, his nickel crane for kids to

experiment with, some literature demonstrating the hey day of the Meccano Magazine and a tray of parts for sale. Ken had brought his Cliff Railway for a last outing before it is dismantled. He has decided that keeping such large models in the attic is no longer practicable. This is a bit of a shame as the model attracted much interest, many of the visitors being familiar with the system at Scarborough. The soft brush was in action again. No doubt Ken has something up his sleeve that will maintain the interest. His Intermittent Motion gave nearly faultless performance the whole week-end and continues to fascinate visitors. There was a bit of rivalry between Ken and Ian Mordue over the reliability of their respective models, Ken won by a short head over Ian’s Harrison Chronometer. Margaret had a selection of recent models including a couple of radio controlled ‘boy racer jobs’ which certainly catch the eyes of the younger visitors. However much we may enthuse over the examples of traditional Meccano we must continue to present models to which modern youth can relate. Margaret and Joe Etheridge took opportunities to run their respective models on the floor of the hall, though the limitations of the single channel required some caution in this activity. Margaret had a few more traditional models including a Fork Lift Truck and a small Windmill. I had brought along my as yet not fully functioning Outfit 10 Combine Harvester. I was informed that the colour is wrong as machines of that period would probably have been Massey Harris (red), New Holland (yellow) would have been later than my model. Perhaps I will re-build it in red during the winter. I suspect that fine tuning the mechanisms is going to involve a substantial re-build anyway. I also had a selection of small models including blue/gold sports cars, medium red saloon, yellow bus, a dark red tractor based on a No.1 Clockwork Motor, John Herdman’s ‘Useful Roller’ which I find is popular with the visitors and a selection of models from recent offerings from M&S. Like Bert, I am trying to show Meccano through the ages and also I feel it is important to show models that the beginner can relate to. About 1000 people came through the door over the two days, not a bad figure for a small and relatively isolated town such as Berwick. The hall never appeared busy, but partly that was because there was plenty of space, the layouts were not cramped together as can happen at some shows in less spacious halls. I hope the organizers were pleased with the event. I hope they are considering future similar events. I would rate the weekend as a success. There was a good level of interest in our display, several questions along the lines of ‘can you still get Meccano?’ It may have been a trip down memory lane for grandpa, but grandsons were responding positively and sets were selling. As I observed regarding our display at Mauchline earlier in the year we must keep the hobby alive in all parts of the country and must take every opportunity to take a stand at shows outside our central belt habitat. Maybe we didn’t make any new members at Berwick, but if we have a few kids pestering their parents come Christmas we have succeeded.

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DARLINGTON ‘09

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Angus Plumb Our friends and neighbours of the North East (of England) Meccano Society held their annual show this year a few weeks earlier than has been the custom, on Saturday 24th October at the now usual venue of St Cuthbert’s Church Hall, conveniently situated close to the centre of Darlington and adjacent to the Market Square. Apparently the hall could have been available for the regular date but as we could not have used the car park, due to a wedding, it would have been inconvenient for the exhibitors and dealers. John Herdman, the Exhibitions Secretary, has also received some complaints about the later date, the cold and the journeys in the dark being off-putting for exhibitors who come some distance. The hall was well filled, John having to make some adjustments to his table layout to accommodate late comers. The Meccano Society of Scotland was represented by Ken McDonald and myself. I have visited before, but decided to exhibit this year as Bert Hutchings was unavoidably prevented from making his customary visit. NEMS support our shows and have been most helpful to us in many ways. It is only fitting that we should make some effort to return the compliment. In an ante room off the entrance lobby John Thorpe once again defied the rumours of his retirement from the hobby with an extensive range of parts and good quality reproduction manuals for sale. John was accompanied by a large display of die cast models, mainly trucks, mounted partly as an advertisement for a forthcoming swap meet in Chester-le-Street. In the main hall Mike Rhoades was trading under the sign of the Girder Frame with his customary range of Binns Road products and not a few rarities, including gold Shafting Standards at a matching price. I picked up a pair of 4¼″ Road Wheels (187b) in red and grey which I have not seen before. Brian Ashton had a selection of Arcade Games, Racing Car, Bagatelle, Shooting Gallery, Steady-As-You-Go and See Saw. These were all working and entertained the visitors, dispensing sweets to the successful. Brian is a somewhat under-rated modeller, at least he does not seem to figure in the prize lists as often as his skill would seem to warrant. He was telling Ken he often visits Scotland, staying at Lochearnhead, which is not too great a distance from Scone so we may hope to get a visit from him at a future show. Mike Hooper’s Helipad, from NMMG News Mag for July 1991 shared the tables with and was just a little dwarfed by Brian’s display. None-the-less the Helicopter was doing its stuff, ably competing for the attention of visitors.. George Roy, a regular at Scone and Skegness, and just about every show he can get to, displayed the Mobile Stone Crusher he had with him at Skeggie this year. I suggested that he should be crushing Lego bricks with it, he must have thought the same way as he was able to tell me it didn’t have the power, a larger and more powerful machine would be too unwieldy to take to shows, and some of the components, such as wheels, would be difficult to model. George also had a fleet of modern aircraft, the Spitfire, Hawk, Sopwith Camel and Harrier, all from recent sets. The Harrier is a current offering and looks well.

John Bader specializes in Nickel, showing two excellent sets in their oak cabinets alongside a model of a WWI HMS Revenge, a version of which appeared in early instructions books. He also displayed a Penny Farthing and Rider, Knife Grinder and a particularly impressive Windmill in more modern colours. The Windmill was running on a PDU powered by a standard battery pack (the long red one) and ran faultlessly most of the day, it was the last model left running after the power was switched off and everyone was packing up at the end of the day. My display was a selection of small models illustrating the various colour schemes of the Binns Road era. In addition I had a tableau of typical parts of the various colour schemes, the 21 part ‘MECCANO’ I had put together for our own 21st anniversary, some examples of plastic Meccano and a few recent M & S offerings. I also had a recently acquired made up Aircraft Constructor model. I have to admit to being somewhat in the shadow of Ken with his Tower Ball Roller. Although it had been transported in an unaccustomed horizontal position it took minimal adjustment to get it running and, apart from spilling the odd ball for no obviously accountable reason, it gave an excellent display all day fascinating the visitors and arousing much discussion amongst the modellers. Stefan Tokarski’s version of Boerdijk’s Super Meccanograph was next, giving rise to almost as much fascinated comment as Ken’s Ball Roller. Stefan was prevented by incapacity from attending in person. His model formed part of another display which also included a Veteran Car in an autumnal setting complete with acorns and squirrel, and a representation of ‘Tornado’, the recently completed main line 4-6-2 steam engine to an ex-LNER design. Richard Bingham of Sheffield Meccano Guild presented a Climbing Man, a clever use of cord and pulleys, driven by an E020 motor through Hornby Transformer and Resistance Controller, together making a fine display of the range and capability of Meccano products. The ‘cricket ball’ motor has recently come in for some criticism on ‘Spanner’, but Richard appeared to be making good use of its capabilities. Tony and Lewis Staples had a display centring on the MS Nausea, a development of a standard book model of a Ferry Boat which is eventually intended to have the vessel rolling on a Meccano sea. The representation of the distressed passengers is under consideration! No doubt there will be much use of green parts. (Ken did a similar model on a smaller scale a few years ago.) They also had a model of a Pacific Steam Loco from a 1929 instructions book. Rob Mitchell had his usual selection of sets and parts alongside his Automatic Lift which came to Scone when he visited our show, a Jazz Band, a clever use of concealed mechanisms, and the ever popular Unicyclist. William and Samuel Scott, two of the most junior members, presented a table of small models, similar to those on offer in the stores at Christmas time. It must be hoped that as the years go on we will see increasingly more complex models from this pair of budding Meccanomen. Harry Harker had built a very impressive Farm Tractor around a No1 Clockwork Motor, in red plates, complete with Trailer and rustic setting.

Geoff Rowlinson had a Fairground Ride, a Jazz Band on a stage and an example of an Escapement Mechanism. David Smith presented a Railway Breakdown Crane, a Supermodel built from the 1930’s No7 Set which retailed at £22, which would have been several weeks wages for the average worker at the time. John Herdman is into trams in a big way. His display included Imperial Tramways, a Wolverhampton Single Deck Car, a Cardiff Single Decker and a Parisian Double Decker, all mounted on G scale track. Brian Robinson was displaying a Cable Car, a Lorry Mounted Crane using a non-Meccano body and a selection of small models assembled by his grandson Logan Wood, another hope for the future of the hobby. Logan was present and vociferously displayed his keenness and his interest in the displays in the hall. Roy Etheridge had his Colliery Complex, a very appropriate model for the history of the North East. He also had ‘Catch-a-Thief’, a ball-roller, and a Lorry and Trailer from an Outfit 9. Dennis Edward presided over a fine model of the ‘Turbinia’, Charles Parsons ‘Ocean Greyhound’. This fine vessel was well modelled, very clean lines being achieved by good use of flexible plates and a simple colour scheme being used. Ian Mordue, as usual, showed a large crane, this time, as a break from block setters he had a Liebherr 36T CBW Crane, mounted on a travelling gantry and modelled on a prototype at the container port of the Saigon Newport Co.. I have to admit to not being taken by the non-standard plates, to my mind a crane should have a lattice structure, it makes more sense not to have metal where it is not needed, but Ian had photographs to prove he was true to his prototype even if it meant some mutilation of parts. Fred Thomson had a Burrell Scenic Showman’s Engine, a classic Meccano subject. He also had a Ferris Wheel and, to continue his interest in steam, a Double Fairlie Locomotive, Sans Pareil in blue parts and an A-frame Beam Engine. Brian Chaffer presented The Juggler, a Ball Roller centred on a large version of the Tommy Cooper style figure. Brian’s inspiration was a similar side show he had seen at Blackpool. The model took a bit of time to set up but was most impressive once it got into its stride. Barry Richardson displayed the Penguin Staircase after an original be the late Keith Cameron. Working from such an authority he can be excused non-standard (cardboard) penguins. The model is a great crowd puller and most amusing to watch. Barry also had an Oil Well Pump, a Heisler Loco, one of a number of designs produced to run on lightly laid track in American commercial woodlands. It’s a pity we never saw such machines working on say the Lochaber Light Railway, road transport has always been favoured by our Forestry Commission. He also showed a more conventional use of the Tommy Cooper type model as Wally the Wizard, never-the-less a fine display model with good crowd interest. David Williams had modelled the Crake Hall Water Mill. The original is on a site mentioned in the Domesday Book which has been restored from derelict in 1977 and is still in working order. David showed a Fairground Divebomber and he had his Balleveyor Mk 3.

Ian Perrins displayed a Coffee Pot Scammell Heavy Tractor. Maybe someone with more knowledge of heavy haulage can enlighten me on this one. Of MSS members visiting, I noticed Desmond Smith with his companion. Desmond had some examples of his recent model building with him. Their visit was somewhat rushed as there was engineering work on the East Coast main railway line so they were late arriving, having come via Carlisle, and had to be early away to get back to Edinburgh in time for tea. At the end of the show John Herdman, ably assisted by Sally Etheridge, tallied the votes of the exhibitors and announced:

1 Brian Chaffer for The Juggler 2 Barry Richardson for his overall display 3 David Williams for his Ball Roller (Balleveyor)

Geoff Rowlinson, as last year’s winner, was called upon to judge the award of the Frank Beadle Cup. He nominated Ken McDonald for his Ball Roller. In my opinion Ken was a worthy winner as his model was one of the more complex and one of the most reliable on display, it was also virtually free of non-Meccano or mutilated parts. In his acceptance Ken expressed his admiration of Frank Beadle and his honour in receiving the award. Junior prizes were presented to Logan Wood, Samuel Scott and Lewis Staples. Meccano is most definitely still alive and well in the North East of England and Darlington looks set to remain a date in the calendar for some time to come.

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CATHCART 2009

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Alistair Nicoll

The last weekend of October found MSS represented once again at the Cathcart Model Railway exhibition. This year we were restored to what had become, until two years ago, our normal position at the front of the stage in the main hall at the Couper Institute. The Society was represented by Douglas Carson, Alistair Nicoll, Alan McDonald (Saturday) and Margaret Tattersfield (Sunday). As usual business was brisk with much interest being shown in all the exhibits by a constantly changing audience of all ages.

Alistair Nicoll’s display

Margaret Tattersfield with her display

Alan MacDonald had Alan Blair’s vertical marine steam engine which performed flawlessly for both days. He also produced a constructed Empire State building with the original Erector box. Alan spent some time on Saturday constructing an orange R/C car. He had received the set as a Christmas present in 2008.

Alistair Nicoll produced three Meccanographs, a block setter, and an IR controlled line inspection vehicle which was rather temperamental, the control system suddenly and inexplicably failing from time to time.

Margaret Tattersfield (seen on the right with her display) showed a number of small models mostly made from current sets. They attracted a lot of interest from younger members of the audience, notably the fork lift truck and the (hand operated) wind- mill.

Douglas Carson’s operating machine shop Douglas also had a collection of various cars built from modern sets. One of these was from the infamous Mechanical Workshop Set which he reviewed in the last edition of the Newsletter, a review that is augmented by Ron Frith’s article in this edition.

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GREENOCK 2009

Once again MSS was represented at the Greenock Model Railway Show. On this occasion however, our mainstay at the event, Tim Edwards, was absent due to a family bereavement. The show was, as ever, very well attended and we were kept busy on all of both days. Alistair Nicoll and Douglas Carson exhibited the same models as at Cathcart and they were joined by Robert Jones who produced some demonstration mechanisms including an Ackerman steering model and a complex combination epicyclic gear and intermittent drive based on mechanisms that have appeared in Newsletter “Among the Model Builders” features in the past. He also had a comprehensive display of Meccano literature. Bert Hutchings was also present on both days with his comprehensive display of Meccano through the ages as shown in a series of lorry models made in the various colour schemes. He also had his “hands on” crane, a spitfire and a model steam loco. Tim was much missed, both his Braiding Machine and Beyer Garret locomotive being asked for by disappointed by visitors. Our attendance at this show is evidently much appreciated both by the public and by the organisers. The latter gave us an invitation for next year and double the amount we asked for in expenses enabling these to be covered for the four exhibitors and a contribution to be made to Society funds as well.

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Douglas Carson had his Falkirk wheel and operating machine shop. The latter is apparently steam driven and you have to look quite closely to realise that an electric motor is hidden in the roof and drives both the work shop machines and the steam engine. The steam engine is on the right in the photograph and the electric motor is out of picture on the top left. Like the Falkirk wheel, this model worked flawlessly on both days.

AMONG THE MODEL BUILDERS

COMPOUND GRAB HOISTING AND OPERATING GEAR FOR BLOCK SETTER

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Andrew Knox During the construction of a model based loosely on SML4 (Giant Block-setting Crane) the option of using a grab instead of the Fiddler’s block-setting gear was included. Whereas the block-setting gear uses only a single cord (with an overall mechanical advantage of 8:1, achieved using 4 pulleys on the Fiddler’s gear and 5 pulleys on the traveller), the grab requires 2 cords: one for raising or lowering the grab and the other to open or close it. To preserve the stringing arrangement for the hoisting element the 8:1 reduction ratio was kept. However, the grab operation does not require such a reduction and a ratio of 2:1 was chosen. In terms of operation, preferably a single winding action should simultaneously adjust the length of both cords in the ratio of 4:1 such that the grab does not open or close as it is raised or lowered. A different winding action should open or close the grab without adjusting its position. Finally, both actions should be available concurrently to preserve as closely as possible the prototype’s operation. The remainder of this article describes the author’s attempts to tackle this well-known problem.

Figure 1 – the compound winding drums.

Figure 1 shows the solution chosen to meet the design requirements. There are three main components to this – all mounted on a single 8" rod (p/n13a). These are: the drum to control the height of the grab (left), the drum to control the operation of the grab (centre) and an epicyclic gearbox to set the rotation ratio of the pair (right). The rod’s journals are each formed from a pair

of brass wheel discs (p/n24) bolted to a pair of corner gussets (p/n108) which in turn are bolted to an 11 hole angle girder (p/n9). The drum to control the height of the grab is shown on the left of figure 1. This is formed by a sleeve piece (p/n163) for winding the cord on, and the side pieces to retain it are 2½” face plates (p/n109). The sleeve is centred on the rod by the bosses of the faceplates via a pair of short socket couplings1 (p/n171a) which fit neatly inside the sleeve piece. Each faceplate is secured to the rod by a keyway bolt (p/n231) and the sleeve piece is fixed relative to the pair of socket couplings by the use of long grub screws (p/n69b) that protrude through the sleeve piece and also secure the faceplates to their respective socket coupling. Thus the whole of the left hand drum is secured to the rod and rotates with it. Power is transmitted to the rod by means of a 1½” sprocket wheel (p/n95a), also secured to the rod and visible between the LH journal and LH drum. The sprocket wheel’s boss is towards the drum. Keyway bolts were selected because they are perfect fit to the slots in the socket coupling and short enough to fit inside the sleeve piece when tightened to the rod. Shoulder bolts (p/n140z) from a universal coupling (p/n140) also fit. The second major element is the epicyclic gearbox, shown on the RH of figure 1. The ring gear (p/n187cm) is from a Meccano multimodel set, otherwise known as a “geared 1¾" inch road wheel”. Working from right to left, power is applied indirectly to the ring gear by a second 1½" sprocket. This is secured to a 12 hole 2½" circular plate (p/n146h) using 4 bolts at 90° intervals (3 x ⅜" allen bolt (p/n111c) and 1 x ¾" allen bolt (p/n111)) with the boss on the sprocket facing towards the ring gear (it passes neatly through the centre hole of the circular plate). The sprocket and faceplate are separated by using small plastic spacers (p/n38b) between them on each bolt to provide clearance for the chain. The circular plate has a further two ½" allen bolts (p/n111a) secured to it such that in total there are three bolts protruding from the plate at 120° intervals to engage with the matching holes in the ring gear, shown in figure 2. This sub-assembly is free to rotate on the rod.

Figure 2. Ring gear, main journal and connector between sprocket and ring gear. “bottom out” on the inside face of the ring gear. Take care when assembling the epicyclic gear to ensure the planet pinions mesh smoothly with both the sun and ring gears. If the parts do not rotate easily relative to each other, remove the ring gear and spin the planets using the sun gear mounted on the rod then try again.

1 These parts are available from Ian Evans meccmanbinns@hotmail.com. He also has a shop on eBay.

The “sun” 19T pinion (p/n26) is secured to the rod. A bossed 12 hole 2½" circular plate (p/n109b) is used as the planet carrier: a further 3x 19T pinions (the “planet” gears) are mounted on it at 120° intervals using 9/16" allen pivot bolts (p/n147d). A washer (p/n38) is placed on the rod between the sun gear and the ring gear to ensure the planet gears only mesh with the ring and do not

The third major element is the drum for controlling the operation of the grab, located on the centre of the rod. A washer spaces it from the left-hand drum. Its construction is essentially the same as the hoisting drum; however, this drum is free to rotate on the rod. As before, the sleeve piece is secured to the socket couplings with long grub screws which also secure the couplings to the bossed 2½” faceplates. The bosses of the faceplates provide the journaling on the rod. Drive is applied to this drum by the planet carrier in two distinct ways: 1. If the drive controlling the operation of the grab is braked then as the hoisting drum rotates, this in turn rotates the sun gear at the same rate. With the ring gear fixed the epicyclic provides a 4:1 reduction in the same direction on the planet carrier (i.e. if the hoisting drum is turning clockwise then the grab drum also turns clockwise but at a quarter of the speed. Similarly for counter clockwise.) 2. If the drive controlling the operation of the hoist is braked then the sun gear is also braked. When the ring gear rotates, the grab operation drum rotates in the same direction but with a 4:3 reduction ratio between its 1½" drive sprocket and the drum. Since there are two separate drives to the assembly, both can be used concurrently and the relationship between the drums depends on the relative speed and direction of each drive. A useful feature of this particular configuration is that it is easy for the power inputs to drive the drum but it is more difficult (because of the step-up gearing) for the drum to drive the inputs. Hence a separate brake for this drum will probably not be required.

Figure 3. “Exploded” view of winding gear components.

Thus the design criteria have been met in a compact unit which operates quietly at high torque. By way of further explanation, figure 3 shows the constituent parts placed on a long rod to illustrate how the assembly fits together.

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A MECCANO HISTORICAL CURIOSITY

by

Bert Hutchings

Recently the Secretary told a meeting of the society at Stirling that somebody had donated a boxful of Meccano. Well, I took it away, and spent a number of enjoyable hours dividing it up into various desirable little lots at knock-down prices for club funds. There was some post-war stuff, but a lot of it was from around 1916, and those readers who are history-minded may have found one or two obsolete items of interest. One in particular will, I hope, interest everybody. There were two sheets of red tinplate, quite badly squashed and scraped, which I could recognise as having been the rather short-lived early part no. 64, “Funnel”. Battered back in to their original shape they look as shown in Figure 1.

Fig.1 The two funnels (shape restored) showing the fixing method

View showing the pattern of the adjoining edges

The idea was to spring-fit them around one-inch pulleys, which had been fixed in the usual disgraceful way by tightening their set-screw on a bolt passed up through the deck plate (which, naturally, I’ve done here with bolts which were no good anyway). From 1914, there were two of these funnels in every outfit, except for outfit 0, but they were dropped in 1916.

Then in 1919 part number 64 was re-used for the threaded boss. You’ll see that one edge of the sheet is cut straight, and the other edge in a sort of square zig-zag, making tabs, which can be fitted over and under the straight edge, to keep the cylinder in a closed shape.

Now here’s the surprising bit: one of these two specimens has four tabs with three spaces, and the other one just three tabs with four spaces, so you can see that they were making a single

The assembled funnels as originally sold

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MECCANO ON THE INTERNET

The Spanner newsgroup has been notable recently for the amount of non–Meccano postings: this in direct contravention of the group’s philosophy. However at the very end of November came an interesting post regarding the number of nuts and bolts used in a model. George Illingworth (he of fire engine fame) has come up with a formula to relate the number of parts in a model and the number of nuts and bolts. Here is what he had to say in reply to someone who questioned the origin of the formula.

___________ You asked for an explanation. The analysis is in the attached Excel spreadsheet, but the gist of it is that if I analyse five models of mine where I have a detailed parts count and total all the parts (ignoring any washers used solely to protect paintwork) the percentage of Nuts and Bolts is remarkably similar and averages 31% and 28% respectively. The Number 10 Set of 1977 provides significantly less than that at 25% and 23%, but no one (except Bert Love) wished to use every part simultaneously. Looking at three 10 set models which used most of the Nuts and Bolts the percentages are very similar to mine at 32% and 29%, suggesting that more Nuts and Bolts might have improved the models by allowing more of the parts to be incorporated, which is what people like Tony Parmee have experienced. Finally SML4, The Giant Block-setting Crane, full of gears and girders but with few plates, uses 29% and 28% so it is in the same ball park, but Ralph and Sue's Funicular Railway which as Ralph says:

zig-zag cut do double duty. That would have been perfectly good sense if the cut had eight zig-zags, to give four tabs on every funnel; but no, it’s only seven zig-zags, so half of these funnels have four tabs, and the others only three. Jim Gamble has confirmed by e-mail that, in the analysis of an authentic 1915 outfit 4 on page 66 of the “Meccano System” book, this is exactly what is meant by the cryptic phrase “different types of lugs” found against this part.

"was deliberately over-engineered and made mainly from strips and angle girders." does use a higher proportion of Nuts and Bolts at 37% and 36% Your suggested set contains 172 parts not including Nuts and Bolts so using 31% and 29% (because they total 60%), the 172 is 40% and you require 133 Nuts and 125 Bolts if you are to have the possibility of using all the other parts. QED (my rule of thumb was a bit high!

__________

Editor’s comment; - I do not think it works at all. Take any models at random from the supermodels series and see how you get on. I tried SM14 and SM20. Of course my arithmetic might well be wrong but I came up with ratios which were miles away from 0.3

RATIO OF NUTS AND BOLTS TOTAL OTHER PARTS

Model Total nuts Bolts Ratio Ratio

Illingworth Models Dennis F12 2342 702 622 0.30 0.27 Lancaster 11134 3422 3128 0.31 0.28

Scammell 1:12 4333 1324 1084 0.31 0.25 Tiger Moth 1132 339 313 0.30 0.28

X wing fighter 3397 1184 1050 0.35 0.31

Average 0.31 0.28

No.10 Models No.10 set 1977 2904 730 680 0.25 0.23

10.1 Railway Service crane 2147 723 634 0.34 0.30

10.4 Cargo Ship 2257 730 680 0.32 0.30 MP150 hydraulic Platform 2171 730 620 0.31 0.26

Average 0.32 0.29

SML4 Giant Blocksetter 2449 713 683 0.29 0.28

Funicular railway 3708 1360 1332 0.37 0.36

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ELECTRONIC CONTACT ADDRESSESS

Officials of the Meccano Society of Scotland can be contacted by e-mail at the following addresses: Secretary:- secretary@meccanoscotland.org.uk Newsletter editor:- editor@meccanoscotland.org.uk Web master:- webmaster@meccanoscotland.org.uk

The Society’s web site address is:-

http://www.meccanoscotland.org.uk