CLUB/TRACK NEWS
AS UK tracks increasingly get up and running again, our counterparts in other parts of the world are facing up to and navigating more trying times...
Latest round-up
Welcome to the latest round-up from around the clubs and various miniature tracks, and it’s pleasing to see that it has been another month of plenty of activity, including such revived major events as the Sweet Pea Rally, held at the Hereford SME and fully reported by John Arrowsmith elsewhere in this issue, and the opening of the York ME’S new workshop which we feature over the page.
It’s also always good to hear of any expansion on the club scene, and on this occasion it’s at the smaller end of the scale gauge and in the editor’s bit of the UK! Steve Terris has been in touch to let us know that the Gauge One Model Railway Association have agreed to the setting-up of a Mid Wales Group. Steve is the contact for the new group and will be staging the first garden meeting at his home on 26th September, from around 11am.
Steve adds that members or non members of G1MRA will be welcome but he would appreciate intending visitors getting in touch with him first, on 01650 521800 or by email at steveterris@hotmail.co.uk.
We offer best wishes for future success to this new group – as we’ve often said before a great deal of impressive model engineering goes on in the smaller scales.
We also pass on congratulations to EIM contributor Andrew Strongitharm, builder of the 5-inch gauge ‘Dougal’ that we featured in the magazine from April 2018. Perusing Facebook we noticed that Andrew had passed out as a driver on the Beer Heights Light Railway and has since spent much of summer crewing trains on the extensive 7¼-inch gauge line at the Pecorama model centre in Beer, Devon. Well done Andrew, but we reckon that might slightly slow down your next model build!
Of course August is traditionally the time of holidays in the UK, which is possibly why the ever varied selection of club magazines and newsletters arriving at EIM Towers this month have a definite slant towards the global...
Still challenging times
What comes across from reading these newsletters is the effect that Covid is still wreaking across the world, and while the easing of restrictions and progress back towards some sort of normal in the UK might have convinced us that the pandemic is coming to an end, it’s certainly not the case elsewhere in the world, especially in Australia.
The latest edition of the newsletter from the Sydney Live Steam Locomotive Society features on its front page a well-loaded train at what is described as the club’s “fairly (Covid) normal May Running Day”. This day was apparently looked forward to as being less restrictive following lockdown, but in the newsletter editorial John Lyons comments that “how quickly things change...” The successful May running day was followed by a washout in June and then within a week lockdown had returned, with the situation becoming more severe since depending on which local government area Sydney members live in. “I hope that all those in employment have not been disrupted too much and that the rest of us have been able to make use of the isolation time in our workshop,” John adds, and we say amen to that.
Nonetheless, the Sydney newsletter paints an optimistic picture, showing lots of work carried out in recent weeks by members both at the track and in their own homes, while also offering lots to inspire.
Your editor particularly enjoyed the piece on lining locomotive wheels, one of those many techniques that can make or break the finish of a model.
Staying in the south Pacific we’ve been perusing the newsletter of MEE Auckland in New Zealand, a publication which I don’t think we’ve seen at EIM at least in recent times. This is another club that appears to undertake a range of model engineering that belies its size – the newsletter reports eight attendees at the most recent meeting held at a member’s home, but in its 10 pages also describes much activity.
Auckland member Ray Brown is apparently making excellent progress
with his Fowler ploughing engine, while fellow member Graham Bell provides an interesting insight to a range of vintage hand tools, mainly chisels and saws, that he has acquired. With two clocks, precision tools and a 3-inch Foden road engine among other projects underway this is clearly a most active club.
Popping onto a Transatlantic flight like far fewer people are doing these days and we get to the Richmond Hill Live Steamers, 45 minutes north of Ontario in Canada, the latest edition of the club newsletter Ontrack reportsing that restrictions are starting to lift and “we are better able to get back to our hobby and enjoy being with our friends once again.”
Birthday party events appear to be a major revenue earner for this club, and the front page of the newsletter shows member Bruno with his enormous Canadian Pacific diesel locomotive ‘Big Red’, pondering how many passengers the loco may have pulled over the years – they certainly do things bigger over there...
Richmond Hill is another busy club, working on an extension to its track site amongst other things, while also dealing with more basic issues – club member Alan Robinson for example forced to overhaul the signalling system which he suspected had been struck by lightning, damaging some of the circuits.
“There are many aspects of model engineering, not just the railway side, and it would be nice to see all these lovely models on a regular basis...”
Pickling the answer
Club newsletters are also a prime source for useful model engineering, or not so model engineering but still highly handy, tips. In Ontrack member Ed describes taking out his Sweet Pea loco after two years residing in the back of the garage – and remember in Canada they suffer from somewhat more significant frosts than do we in the UK...
Anyway on checking the loco’s plumbing Eric discovered that a valve in the pump was clearly stuck open, and said pump not at all easy to remove for dismantling. So he simply left a quart of 10 per cent vinegar in the tank overnight. Voila, valve duly freed and after a couple of gallons of water were pumped through to clean it, the loco was ready to head for the club track...
Across the Atlantic again, to the busy model engineering nation of South Africa and while the latest Maritzburg Matters newsletter from the Pietermaritzburg ME in Natal reports a very successful return to operations and running days, it also notifies members of the passing of club president Harry Chalmers. Harry is described as a true gentleman, loyal and good friend to the club, “who had an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things interesting!” Our condolences to all who knew Harry.
The Maritzburg newsletter also demonstrates how small the world is really, with one of the more interesting articles in the latest issue describing the location of the wreck of the ‘Resurgam’, the world’s first steampowered submarine. This sank in 1880, off the north coast of Wales, near Rhyl...
Coming back to home shores, and a single paragraph in the latest newsletter from the Ryedale SME is very telling; “Good to see the chairman riding around on his loco, not a sight we see often enough...” A salutary reminder that those who accept official roles in our societies often find themselves so busy with organising and running things that they get rather less time to simply enjoy the hobby, something we should all remember and appreciate!
The Ryedale club’s Gilling track has been busy with members’ running days in recent times but the newsletter admitted to some trepidation as the club prepared for its first post-covid public running on 25th July. “How would people respond to the railway starting to run rides?” the report asked. “Would we have any passengers? Would we be rushed off our feet with large numbers? Would people be wearing masks?”
Such concerns were not necessary it seemed as warm and sunny weather and a steady stream of passengers, “some desperate for us to reopen,” ensured a good day. “It was just about right for the first day running,” the report concludes – good to hear.
The latest edition of the B&DSME News from the Bournemouth SME reports on the disappointment at not being able to hold a planned model engineering exhibition for members to display their creations. But chairman Peter Burton insists that the exhibition has not been cancelled but merely postponed, the club committee very keen for it to go ahead and to become a regular event.
“There are many aspects of model engineering, not just the railway side, and it would be nice to see all these lovely models on a regular basis,”
Peter says, adding; “From model aircraft engines to clocks, stationary engines and traction engines, the list is almost endless.”
Absolutely – model engineering is a very wide vocation and you don’t
have to favour rail steam to be a part of it or in our pages – we would very much like to be featuring more of the wider aspects of the hobby, but we need readers to tell us about them!
A notable point from editor Brian Merrifield in the Bournemouth newsletter is the loss of Australian Model Engineering magazine, which has ceased publication apparently blaming people using social media rather than paying for a magazine. “It brings home how quickly circumstances can change, losing a professionally published magazine dedicated to one’s hobby is a big loss, which is unlikely to be filled by social media,” Brian writes, adding; “It reminds me of the old saying if you don’t want to lose it, use it”. You won’t be surprised to find us agreeing with those sentiments...
The chair man
Another newcomer we think to the publications received by EIM, the e-bulletin from the Norwich SME includes in its latest issue a feature on the efforts of member Robert Bailey. He’s described as “some sort of artistic genius crossed with a metalworker,” and has a passion for creating chairs, full-size ones, from whatever comes to hand. Illustrated are a chair made from metal tubes, one from lengths of chain, a nautical one, another from a banjo... Certainly innovative...
The Norwich club held its first post-pandemic members meeting at its Eaton Park track on 11th August, a club summer barbecue that included the unveiling of a commemorative plaque to recently passed-sway member Neville Gower. The plaque is in the form of a bridge plate on the track tunnel, as the newsletter states “a dignified commemoration of a member who was responsible for much of the NDSME site in the park, most latterly, of course, the tunnel.”
Another club back in action is the Worthing & District SME, which ran its first public trains for many months on Sunday 25th July. Editor Dereck Langridge admits the day was not an unmitigated success, due to the overcast day and heavy showers keeping many prospective passengers at home. But he adds; “It was great to be doing what we were good at once again – a very good turn-out of willing members to assist made my job a pleasure.”
Dereck concludes; “we achieved what we set out to do and apart from one or two minor hiccups we proved that after a long lay-off, we and our infrastructure are still up to the job. “Can’t say fairer than that...