Table of contents for Issue 4760 in Model Engineer

Garden Rail Show Martin Evans can be contacted on the mobile number or email below and would be delighted to receive your contributions, in the form of items of correspondence, comment or articles. 07710-192953 MEeditor@mortons.co.uk Bradford Cup The Bradford Cup is awarded to the author of the best article or series, by popular vote, published in Model Engineer during the previous year. Last year's winner was Ron Fitzgerald, for his series on the stationary steam engine, who was presented with the cup at the Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition last October, by Mike Chrisp, president of the Society of Model and Experimental Engineers. The organisers again invite nominations for the award of the trophy, to be submitted to the editor of Model Engineer by the end of March 2025, which should…

Continued from p.88, M.E.4759, December 27 With the reverser dealt with it is now time to take a look at the reach rod, but before doing so, I decided it would be wise to do some checks on the reverser's position, to make sure it was correct, as the length of the reach rod is very dependent on where the reverser sits. I needed to check a few things such as that the boiler was in its correct position. To do this I needed to temporarily fit the cab and the smokebox to see, when added, how the boiler sat in relation to the rear main drivers, the ashpan and whether the smokebox was sitting in its correct location on the saddle. I found that the cab was very tight…

Continued from p.114 M.E.4759 December 27 The final bits The last bits we need are the simpling valves for thefirst two cylinders (photo 84) and the cylinder drain valves (photo 85 - these are miniature versions of the try-cocks on my 1905 Merryweather fire engine). Photograph 86 shows an exploded view of a simpling valve. Since both connections to the valve chamber are parallel, it is necessary to make the valve in two sections, which can be individually screwed into the casting, then connected together with the olive and nut. The olive can be screwed in and out to line up with the seat in the elbow, then locked with the nut when the connection is tightened. The upper connection links up to the incoming steam supply within the valve…

Adrian Newson invites entries for this years LittleLEC. LittleLEC Tiverton club LittleLEC is a light-hearted annual locomotive efficiency competition for coalfired model steam locomotives weighing less than 50lb dry and is open to all. New contestants are welcome. All the information about LittleLEC can be found on the LittleLEC website www.littlelec.co.uk/home The Tiverton and District Model Engineering Society is pleased to announce that they will be holding this year's Annual LittleLEC on September 13th & 14th 2025. About Us The club was founded in the 1960s at Blundell's School, Tiverton. It moved to its current location in 1986 near the village of Rackenford which is about 8 miles from Tiverton. The Club is fortunate and owns our 1.25 acre site known as Worthy Moor which on the edge of Exmoor…

Continued from p.74 M.E.4759 December 27 The cylinders are similar to Rob Roy, with just a few minor changes, and so a set of Rob Roy castings is the next materials purchase. The cylinders assembly is shown at fig 20. I've shown ‘O’-ring seals, as it's a neater job and ‘modern’ but I have to say they are a high friction solution. To reduce this and for less wear I've shown capping rings of PTFE where there's space. I specify Viton ‘O’-rings as they have the closest match of properties for our requirement. Nitrile rubber is not sufficiently temperature resistant and silicone rubber not oil resistant. Viton rings are easily obtained these days and if our usual suppliers can't provide the sizes then there are plenty of sources on the…

How do I begin this column? Well I wouldn't start from here… “Start at the very beginning”, said the Red Queen, “and go on until you reach the end, and then stop.” So I did, and lo! there did issue forth another Club News for your delectation. In this issue, ‘Thomas’, internet meeting place, granite, a steep railway, a US inventor, a poor boiler and Frank Whittle. Sydney Live Steam Locomotive Society, Newsletter, November, opens with James Sanders who built a ‘Thomas’ for his granddaughter. After a lengthy resumé of the recent week's activities, profusely illustrated, James asks the question, ‘Why Thomas?’. The short answer is that his little girl wanted a Thomas themed birthday party. Making the crank axle first, it showed only a few ‘thou’ runout, so that…

Continued from p.96 M.E.4759 December 27 The cylinder end cover (fig 29) castings were pretty rough but once centred as well as possible in the four-jaw chuck they were centre drilled to allow tailstock support. That way, even if the chuck's grip isn't that secure, they can't work loose. In photo 179 the outer surfaces and the chucking spigot are being turned. With the turned spigot gripped in a collet the flange was brought to thickness and the cover turned to fit the bore (photo 180). The covers were drilled for the piston rod and the rear one counterbored to give the piston locknut somewhere to go at the rearward end of the stroke (photo 181). In the next three pictures, it's difficult to see but the chucking spigot is…

Continued from p.85 M.E.4759 December 27 Drilling in the lathe To drill a precisely central bore that is perfectly aligned to the cylinder wall, the lathe cannot be surpassed. It is the engineered slideways of the lathe that underpin such precision and also enable a quick setup time. Apart from the difference in orientation, the procedure for drilling metal on the lathe is quite similar to drilling using a pillar drill or a milling machine. The method described here is, in fact, applicable when using most machine tools for drilling. To drill a component in the lathe, the drill bit can be held either in a chuck (collet chuck or jaw chuck) mounted onto the lathe spindle and more commonly in a Jacobs chuck or a quick release chuck positioned…

Ron Fitzgerald takes a look at the history and development of the stationary steam engine. Continued from p.752, M.E. 4757, November 29 It is difficult to estimate accurately the total number of high-pressure engines that were working by the beginning of 1805 but it must have exceeded one hundred and the future held promise for many more. By the nature of the arrangements that Trevithick had made the income that he and his two partners in the patent received was entirely derived from premium payments rather than manufacturing. In theory, the patent revenue should have been substantial but this proved to be far from the reality. Andrew Vivian's account book, made up to November 1804, showed only £1250 in received premiums (ref 368). From another source it is known that…

Glyn Davies invites entries for this year's competition Oswestry club Northern Association Oswestry MES and Shrewsbury DMES amalgamated under the name of Oswestry and North Shropshire MES in February 2015 and now invite competitors to our track for the 2025 Narrow Gauge Locomotive Efficiency Competition. The competition will be held on 28th and 29th June at the Oswestry Show Ground SY11 4AB. This year, some 27 years since the first event was held at the Show Ground, Oswestry and North Shropshire MES invite you to enter your 3½ or 5 inch gauge industrial/narrow gauge locomotive. This event is a challenge to win the NAME trophy for the most efficient drive on the day and also the 3½ inch gauge trophy. A load made up of slate wagons would be selected…

Continued from p.103 M.E.4759 December 27 This time we will start with a couple of views of two of the Class 4s in action – well, the second one is hardly in action as it was undergoing overhaul at an unknown location, but most likely at Eastleigh. Anyway, photo 74 is 76110 with a very short train on a pick up goods working with an acid tank and eight BR 16 ton mineral wagons and brake van. Photograph 75 is the idle one as described above. Injector carrier First of all, I am going to describe the injector carrier which has two injectors side by side mounted thereon. However, you will need to buy your injectors before you can make much progress with these as you will need them to…

Despite being home lovin’ types, Mr. and Mrs. Backhouse ventured abroad once again, this time to Austria's Tirol on a Great Railway Journeys holiday. A trip on the Zillertalbahn (ZB) from Jenbach to Mayrhofen was a highlight (photo 1). History The Zillertalbahn opened in stages from 1900-1902 along 32km (20 miles) of the Ziller Valley from Jenbach to Mayrhofen. It was built to 760mm gauge (2 foot 6 inch), a gauge the military required for minor non-electrified railways in the former Austro-Hungarian empire. Railways built to the same gauge included the Belgrade to Dubrovnilk line, completed later by the Yugoslavian Government. Sadly, many minor railways were closed In the 1950s and 60s with privately owned railways generally surviving better than their state-owned counterparts. This 760mm gauge was the same as…

Published by Mainline & Maritime, 2024 ISBN 978-1-91379-726-3 56pp, softback,£11.95 Miniature railways have always appealed to a wide cross section of the population and this book tells the story of how their magic was used to revive the spirits of the nation after the second world war. The struggle to raise funding to build the line was as hard in those days as it is today and so this book should inspire modern day builders to follow their dreams and find ways to overcome all difficulties. The text describes the design and construction of one of the lesser-known British lines about which very little has been written, so this book is a very welcome and fascinating read. It is full of a wealth of technical details and background information which…

The Fareham IMLEC website The Fareham club website The 55th International Model Locomotive Efficiency Competition is to be held at Fareham and District Society of Model Engineers on Friday 20th, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd June 2025. Fareham and District Society of Model Engineers (FDSME) was formed in 1971 by a group of twenty model engineers and has 130 members. The club hosted IMLEC 2006, our first IMLEC event, when Les Pritchard won the competition driving his LandY 0-6-0 Class A Aspinall with an efficiency of 1.641%. We are looking forward to this year's event and are pleased to host IMLEC 2025 - I am sure we will see new and familiar faces. FDSME Club Our interests consist of numerous model engineering disciplines including steam, electric and ICE locomotives, marine,…

The hour had changed, the nights were pulling in, the weather was gloomy but dry and the schools were on half term; time for the LOWMEX weekend. Organised by a subcommittee of the Halesworth and District Model Engineering Society (HDMES) the ninth Lowestoft model exhibition, the largest in the East of England, had become even bigger and better than before as an all-encompassing model exhibition with (very) few trade stands, rather than a trade exhibition with a few models – and no more than half the price of other model exhibitions. There were the usual trains, cranes, traction and stationary engines, boats, planes, steam and R.C. lorries. There was a nod back to the Steam Punk days and then forwards to futuristic robotic dogs, daleks and droids – as well…

Atremendous display of excellent model engineering and associated skills were to be enjoyed on all the club stands and outside displays at the MMEX in 2024. There were over 30 club displays and combined with the Fosseway Steamers outside, together with flying displays by the Association of Helicopter Aerosports, there really was something for everyone. The competition for the Best Club Stand is always keenly contested and it has a long standing tradition that the stand holders themselves consider and then vote for the best. This year was no exception and the award for the Best Club Stand display went to the Hereford Society of Model Engineers who had a very wide range of exhibits covering most disciplines (photo 1). In Second place was The Harlington Locomotive Society who provided…