Table of contents for Issue 4727 in Model Engineer

125 Years In this issue we include two special features to celebrate 125 years of Model Engineer. Percival Marshall founded the magazine at the start of 1898 and, on page 498, Ron Fitzgerald begins his life story. On page 489 Roger Backhouse looks at the beginnings of the magazine and examines its broad scope in the early years. Skills Concern is often expressed that we, as a country, are losing the engineering skills vital for our economic success (see Postbag, page 504). It turns out that this is not a new concern. Ron Fitzgerald tells us that part of Percival Marshall's motivation in starting this magazine in 1898 was a growing concern in Britain that a shameful neglect of adequate engineering training for engineers was destroying its competitive advantage. Ron…

Continued from p.444 M.E.4726, 22 September With all the components manufactured and the painting having been completed we enter the final stages of the project and one of the most demanding; a scratch from a misplaced spanner, screwdriver or a poorly positioned section will destroy months of work and really stress the builder, so carefully… carefully was the order of the day. The tender frames were fitted with the axleboxes, keeps, wheels, buffers, steps, brake shoes, links, cross beams and pull rods as shown in photo 112 which shows the frames from the underside. Photograph 113 shows the top of the water tank and the filler cover ready for assembly with the tender body. The three-quarter rear view of the tender is shown in photo 114 and clearly shows the…

Continued from p.431 M.E.4726 September 22 This is yet another type of radial gear, invented by Henry Greenly, a respected model engineer from the early days of the 20th century (born 1876, died 1947). It comes in two varieties for mounting outside the frames (fig 53) or inside (fig 54), although one could fit the inside gear outside if one were so inclined. These drawings are copied from sources shown in the captions, with a bit of artistic licence. Figure 55 is a generalised schematic so that the various pins/points can be identified. Starting with the outside version, the reader will notice that it bears a marked resemblance to Brown/Heywood gear as described in part 8 of this interminable series (M.E.4725, September 8), the difference being that the slide, drive…

Model Engineer is a remarkable survivor. Surprisingly few magazines founded in the 19th century are still published in the 21st, surviving when such large circulation publications as Punch, The Illustrated London News, Daily Sketch, John Bull and Titbits have folded. Founder Percival Marshall must have realised the right formula for success. Remarkably, it has continued as a niche publication, still including variations on the same type of articles published in the first issues. An emphasis on making engineering items in home workshops and advice to readers remains. Even today articles in the earliest issues could still be useful, though of course new methods and materials have come into use. It began as a monthly costing just 2 pence (photo 1). Model Engineer and Amateur Electrician soon spawned large exhibitions and…

Published by Pen and Sword Transport 2023 (www.pen-and-sword.co.uk) ISBN 978-1-39909-264-7 £25, 182pp, hardback Besides the intrinsic interest of steam locomotive history this book is fascinating because it demonstrates early rail technology evolution. The period from 1825 to 1835 featured rapid technological progress. Though Stephenson's Rocket is best known for its part in the Rainhill Trials and early work on the Liverpool and Manchester it was soon out of date. As with computers in our own time progress was fast. Anthony Dawson has already written about steam locomotives before Rocket and the locomotives of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, establishing his place as a knowledgeable chronicler of early railways. This book enhances his reputation by adding accounts of how steam locomotive technology spread to Europe and North America. Planet was the…

Continued from p.449 M.E.4726 September 22 Galvanic corrosion This primarily occurs where there are two dissimilar metals connected together in the presence of an electrolyte such as water. Initially it would appear that, since the two parent metals being silver-soldered together are the same, there should not be any galvanic corrosion. This would be the case had the parts of the weather-vane been held together with stainless steel fasteners or rivets, or by welding. However, as there is a filler metal present in the form of the silver solder, galvanic cells can easily be formed between the surfaces being joined. This is discussed by Takemoto and Okamoto (ref 7, part 1, M.E.4726, September 22), where they conclude that corrosion of joints in silver-soldered 300-series (austenitic) stainless steel components is bimetallic…

Continued from p.464 M.E.4726 September 22 The crosshead pump The crosshead pump and clacks are one of the few places where I deviated from the large scale a little. Originally these components had flange connectors with the pump gland the normal (flanged) compression type. This would not fit on the model (literally). In fact, it didn't fit on the large scale either and the builders had to cut off large sections of both flanges to clear the connecting rods and reversing rod. With the power of hindsight, I took the morally questionable route of changing the flanges to standard ME compression nuts, which gave me all the space I needed to clear the components that would have otherwise clashed. I don't think the original builders would have minded! The sizing…

October 4 Bradford MES Talk – Graham Astbury, ‘Twist Drills’, Saltaire Methodist Church, 19:30. Contact: Russ Coppin, 07815 048999 4 Bristol SMEE ‘On the Table’ evening, Begbrook Social Club BS16 1HY, 19:30. Contact: secretary@bristolmodelengineers.co.uk 5 Sutton MEC Bits and Pieces evening 20:00. Contact: Paul Harding, 0208 254 9749 5 Warrington & District MES Projects/natter night, St Mary Magdalene Church, WA4 3AG, 20:00. See www.wdmes.org.uk/events 6 Rochdale SMEE Models competition night, Castleton Community Centre, 19:00. See www.facebook.com/RochdaleModelEngineers 6 Warrington & District MES Night running at the club track. See www.wdmes.org.uk/events 7 Tiverton & District MES Running day at Rackenford track. Contact: Chris Catley, 01884 798370 8 Bradford MES Public running day, Northcliffe, 13:30. Contact: Russ Coppin, 07815 048999 8 Bristol SMEE Public running at the Ashton Court Railway BS8 3PX, noon17:00.…

Ron Fitzgerald looks at the life of our founder and first editor. For 125 years the Model Engineer has been the cement that has held the craft of model engineering together. With The Autocar, founded in 1895 and the Railway Magazine, started in July 1897, it shares the distinction of being amongst this country's longest surviving printed periodicals for enthusiasts. From January 1898, it was first published monthly, followed by fortnightly, then weekly from January 1903 up until 1962, when it reverted to a fortnightly circulation. The Model Engineer has never missed an appearance throughout this century-and-a-quarter, notwithstanding the twice destruction of its premises by bombs during the Second World War. Percival Marshall (photo 1), the architect of this remarkable achievement, was born on the last day of 1870, the…

Continued from p.453 M.E.4726 September 22 The main spring, barrel and stop work A further use for the test rig which I thought of later – was to provide an estimate of how much spring torque we might need to run the clock reliably, without over- or under-powering the escapement. The small metal weight I was using to power the test rig weighed 57 grams and was suspended from a string wound round a 16mm spool on the arbor, therefore the torque applied was 57g at a radial distance of 8mm, or a torque of 45.6g-cm, or 0.00447 newton metre. This amount of torque produced a very definite pendulum action and would pick up the pendulum to a steady ticking from the point of being almost stalled. In fact, it…

Mike Denman brings us the latest. Model engineers in societies with their own grounds will know that there seems to be as much time civil engineering as mechanical engineering. Cardiff Model Engineering Society is no exception. They are currently future-proofing maintenance tasks as much as possible. New powder coated metal fencing is replacing wooden that needs repair and painting and an impressive stone wall is an eye-catching feature. A steel front door and frame has been constructed by a member and that is also going off for powder coating. Another member has created a stylish laser cut logo for this smart new entrance. The new steel signal gantries, also powder coated, have been completed with rebuilt semaphores for use on running days (photo 1). Two extra storage sheds have been…

To continue from the end of last issue's column, ho hum, nothing to see here, move along please. The writing of that column took ages because newsletters only trickle in. Very much the same state of affairs prevailed again with this one. So much so that the later publications were fallen upon with glee and spirited off to a quiet place where I could wring the last ounce of copy from them, cutting through the missives like a hot knife though concrete. Regarding my electric locomotive Deborah, it has a motor reversing switch, which jammed in use. Inspection revealed that the mechanism had become deranged and was preventing movement. So, I took it apart, cleaned it and reassembled it. This repair lasted about 10 minutes, so back to the workshop.…