Table of contents for Issue 4732 in Model Engineer

Merry Christmas! All of us at Model Engineer would like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas. Many of us may feel that there is currently not very much to be merry about and there is no doubt that we are approaching the end of a year fraught with problems. Some of these problems seem to have little prospect of a resolution any time soon and, for most of us, we feel quite powerless to do very much about them. We can only observe events and hope that things will get better. Perhaps the best we can do is put these worries aside for a little while and enjoy the company of our friends and families. Times were not much easier 75 years ago, towards the end of…

PART 3 Chris Walter builds an engine described in Model Engineer 100 years ago. Continued from p.753 M.E.4731 December 1 Cylinder I had a good look around for some decent cast iron for the cylinder block (photo 43) and eventually found a firm who could supply me with a 7 inch length of 3 x 3 inch square Meehanite. In addition, I ordered some other sizes for the valve chests and cylinder covers. Most of my supplies have to come by mail order and the postman was singularly unimpressed as he struggled up my long drive with the parce containing these lumps of cast iron. I found the Meehanite to machine beautifully with just a very thin, easily removed hard skin. I cleaned up all the faces using a fly…

Julie Williams reports from this year's Lowestoft Model Engineering Exhibition. Diversity – no, not the street dance troupe that won BGT in 2009 (was it really that long ago?) – the noun diversity, which begs to have so many adjectives like considerable, remarkable, or talented (to name but a few) attached to it - especially applicable when visiting the eighth LOWMEX exhibition, held for the second year running at the Energy Skills Centre at Lowestoft's East Coast College, on the last weekend in October. The exhibition was sectioned into four zones, along with an outside area (dependent on weather) and a large working Fun Fair layout in the separate 6th Form building. In addition, there was also the large main hall, which was the exhibition focal point for, what might…

PART 33 – YET MORE ON CAB FITTINGS Doug Hewson presents an authentic 5 inch gauge version of Thompson's B1 locomotive. Continued from p.764, M.E.4731, December 1 I have used the photographs of 61264 for the purposes of illustrating the B1 steam brake valve as it is much easier to make than the original one which is shown on 61306 Mayflower. The other thing is that Adam Cro makes just the correct steam brake valve. I think he still makes all the castings for it but doesn't provide the machined set of castings at present. Photograph 241 shows a lot of detail but mainly the steam brake valve which takes centre stage at the top of the picture. Also, you can follow the black pipe down from it to the…

PART 5 Martin Gearing discovers how to make these rings himself. Continued from p.758 M.E.4731 December 1 Note: imperial dimensions follow metric dimensions and are in brackets. References are listed in part 1 (M.E.4728, October 20). Testing Having allowed a small amount extra on the width to deal with any variations that may have occurred I made up an aluminium cup bored to the finished cylinder diameter, 0.5 (0.020 inch) less than the finished width that also confirmed the gap was acceptable (photo 31). This was then used to lap the width of the ring on a sheet of ‘wet and dry’ laid on a small surface plate one side at a time until the width of the ring fitted the groove in the piston with the correct clearance (photo…

PART 18 Luker builds a five inch gauge model of a Welsh slate quarry locomotive. Continued from p.737 M.E.4730 December 1 Introduction I nearly never made the tender for Fire Queen (photo 188). It's an odd looking tender that doesn't match the engine (at all!) and is a little small in five-inch gauge to be a ride on. Then I thought about it and those very qualities changed my mind. Making it a rideon is a challenge and all the idiosyncrasies of the design, or mismatch to the engine if you like, add character to the build and series. In the end it deserves a little more than a footnote, so I added it to the Fire Queen's build as a miniconstruction series. Before I jump into the design (and…

Geoff Theasby reports on the latest news from the clubs. In a box of miscellaneous items from the auctions, I found some 1950s model train speed controllers by H&M, which were highly regarded in their time. One was mains powered but did not provide a negative 12 volt output for reversing. I discovered that the transformer was not wired as I thought but I did think that a quick and easy variable 12 volt supply might be useful on the bench so I rebuilt it, replacing the selenium rectifier, and it works fine. Electrically, it is a variable transformer - a moving contact varies the voltage out, like a Variac - but the transformer is double wound for safety and operates at 12 volts only. In this issue: pictures, suds,…

Jon Buck equips a 5 inch gauge A4 locomotive with prototypical couplings. The intention was to build up the second coupler as a test bed for the torsion spring development, leaving the coupler on the A4 tender unmolested until I had a good spring worked out. While this was underway, Covid-19 intervened and access to my father's workshop disappeared for quite some time but with access later restored, I gradually got to making the remaining parts and eventually found myself back in the dreaded situation; I was going to have to make the torsion spring. In my absence, the trusty ML7-R had been rather substantially upgraded by the addition of a screwcutting gearbox, which I anticipated would make winding springs considerably easier. The idea was simple. I needed to wind…

PART 15 – OUEST VALVE GEAR Duncan Webster sheds light on what is often seen as a complex subject. Continued from p.747 M.E.4731 December 1 This is the last one, honest. I wasn't going to model this one but it wouldn't go away and I needed a task to learn a new (to me) CAD package as Draftsight is no longer free. This gear (figs 85 and 86) was used by at least two French railways in the 1880's. I have been unable to track down the designer, who must therefore remain anonymous. I would guess it was for use on inside cylinder locomotives. It belongs in the Walschaerts family because it has the combination lever driven directly by the cross head and an expansion link that rocks to and…

PART 2 John Arrowsmith reports on the display classes. Continued from M.E.4731 December 1 I covered part 1 with the club stand winners and some of the other displays which made up the 2023 Exhibition. Hopefully, I can complete the rest of the presentations on show here in Part 2. One of the features of the whole show is the outside activities of the Fosseway Steamers (photo 25). This group of regular participants can always capture the sounds and conditions of steam operated road vehicles which so many people enjoy. They did not disappoint this time either with some good-looking engines and demonstrations which provided endless entertainment for the whole show. I never fail to be amazed at the build time of some of these engines, which I know these…

December 15 Bristol SMEE Zoom meeting – your questions answered by wise men, 19:30. Contact: secretary@bristolmodelengineers.co.uk 14 Newton Abbot & District MES Mince pie night at Rydon Community Hall, Kingsteignton. See nadmes.org.uk 15 Rochdale SMEE General meeting, Castleton Community Centre, 19:00. See www.facebook.com/RochdaleModelEngineers 17 Canterbury MES Public running.Contact: ginapearson@btopenworld.com 17 North Wilts MES Public running at the Coate Water Railway, 11:00-dusk. See www.nwmes.info 17 Taunton Model Engineers Public running – Santa Steaming, Vivary Park, 12:0015:00. See www.tauntonme.org.uk 17 Warrington & District MES Running day at the club track. See www.wdmes.org.uk/events 19 North Wilts MES Public running at the Coate Water Railway, 11:00-dusk. See www.nwmes.info 19 North Wilts MES Public running at the Coate Water Railway, 11:00-dusk. See www.nwmes.info 20 Bristol SMEE Ordinary meeting, Begbrook Social Club BS16 1HY, 19:30. Contact:…