Gazette No. 469 January 2013
Page 2 St Albans & District MES
From the Editor - Roger S
Happy New Year to you all and I hope father Christmas brought you all the modelling goodies you hoped for. It is club subscription time again so the renewal form is on page 4 of this issue. If you don’t want to cut up your Gazette you can always photocopy it. Either way, please pay your subs to Baz promptly either at the January club night or by post. The sooner your subscriptions are in the sooner we can stop pestering you to pay up!
Chairman’s Letter - Michael D
A very Happy and Prosperous New Year to all our members. I hope that we can look forward to another year of interesting activities. No doubt the plans for our enlarged stall at Alexandra Palace show are well in hand, and Baz has his list of models for the CMRA show at the Alban Arena in St Albans. I was sorry to miss the social evening in December, which I understand was a great success, and thanks to Nick S for organising it.
On a very personal note, I have been, once again, touched by good wishes sent to me by members following my recent confrontation with a bollard and the pavement in Watford, and I thank you most sincerely. My mobility is very limited at present and the stairs rather like the north face of the Eiger!
Club Website - www.stalbansmes.com Chairman
Michael D - Email: [email protected] Secretary
Roy V - Email: [email protected] Treasurer
Mike G - Email: [email protected] Committee Members Den B Alan H Ashton M David S Terry W Membership Secretary:
Baz B - E-Mail [email protected] Model Boiler Testing: David S
Exhibition Manager: Terry W Gazette Editor
Roger S - Email: [email protected] Gazette Deputy Editor
Secretary’s Letter - Roy V
Happy New Year to you all. I hope that not too many of you went down with the colds going around, I have had some of it and hope it will be gone by the time we meet again. Our Chairman is not so well but mending at home. Your get well soon card was delivered to him the same evening.
We had a splendid Christmas evening hosted by Nick and his mum Kate. It is nice to have someone else come forward to take this kind of evening and it was all done very well. I counted about 57 altogether, which is also a good turnout. We had catered for 65 but the numbers were down due to medical reasons but the up side was that there were "seconds" for all. An excellent evening and we had David A with us as our guest.
January sees payment of subscriptions for this year as a reminder they are £27 for full members and £24 for concessions Junior at £3.00 and Associates at £1.00. Our erstwhile Membership Secretary, Baz, will be collecting your subs at the January club evening. We should have completed our model lists for the two exhibitions we go to this month and I hope to have tickets for Alexandra Place Exhibition for distribution at the January meeting. I wish you all a good year doing what you want when you want and hope you will again put a few hours to one side during the year for the Society and its' endeavours.
Kind regards to all and take care. Roy
NOTICE BOARD 1
If you wish to put an item on the ‘Notice Board’ just send it to the editors and, subject to available space, we will include it in the next issue of the Gazette. Ed.
Gazette back numbers - a message from Tony M
Every month our printers kindly produce a few extra copies, which I keep. However space is not unlimited and I have now decided to maintain these ‘overs’ for just 12 months from publication in the future. So if any members desire a copy, or copies, if I have them, of any Gazette going back to December 2003 (the date of my first edition as Editor) then please contact me via my phone number or email on page 2.
The grand chuck-out will take place at the beginning of February 2013 so let me know by the end of January 2013 and I will arrange for them to be available for you at the next club evening, or you can collect from my house in St Albans. Alternatively you can always access issues published from January 2011 onwards via our website.
Steam on the Met - an update from Tony M
Following my note in last month’s Gazette, further and more detailed news of the events in January and May have now become available. Firstly the locomotive, Metropolitan E1 class 0-4-4, which will be used to pull the historic trains through London’s Underground tunnels in January has passed its steam tests, been fully painted and lined and in fact has begun its preliminary trials on the lines beneath London’s streets. At the time of writing this went well, although further “high speed” runs will take place before the actual commemorative runs on 13th January and 20th January. The actual runs are not expected to exceed 30 mph.
The restoration of the Metropolitan ‘E’ class has cost £250,000, so it was decided that to help recover some of this, tickets would be available at £180 for first class and £150 for second class. Demand was expected to be heavy so a ballot was arranged and a computer decided who the successful applicants would be. The offer was quickly sold out.
The 7.5 mile return journey on the District and Circle lines will be from Moorgate to Kensington Olympia. Apart from the steam hauled trips there will also be runs behind Metropolitan Railway electric locomotive No 12 ‘Sarah Siddons’ and these fares will be less, at £80 and £50. A full rehearsal will take place overnight on 9th and 10th January. Provided you have a valid ticket for travel on the Underground system you may watch the trains and photograph them, but flash photography is strictly prohibited anywhere on the Underground system, presenting a challenge for any but the most experienced photographers!
There are a number of further treats to celebrate the 150th world anniversary of travel by Underground, which are included in this timeline as follows:
9th and 10th January - Rehearsal Trips on the Circle and District and Circle Line between
Moorgate and Kensington Olympia
13th and 20th January – Commemorative passenger hauled trips on the Circle and District
and Circle Line between Moorgate and Kensington Olympia
19th May - Rickmansworth Festival
25th to 27th May - ‘Steam on the Met’ elsewhere on the system – no details yet but in the past
operations have centred around the surface lines of the Metropolitan Railway
3rd, 4th and 7th August – LT Gala at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre 31st August – LT’s Neasden Depot will be open to the public
8th September – Amersham Show
Page 6 St Albans & District MES
Building S.S. Great Britain, with apologies to Mr I K Brunel: Part 3
by Alan H
5.3. Rigging.
Two types of rigging are used on sailing ships, standing rigging and running rigging. The standing rigging comprises shrouds and stays, which are used to support the masts and transmit the wind forces created by the sails into the hull. On SSGB the standing rigging was originally steel cable, so I used black fishing line to simulate it on my model The running rigging comprises the lines and halyards used to hoist and lower the sails the sails and the sheets (which are actually ropes) used to trim the sails to the wind. For the running rigging I used some white fishing line and some hemp coloured rigging cord.
Creating the ratlines, which are the cords tied horizontally across the shrouds to form
ladders up the masts is the most difficult and time-consuming task in rigging a model sailing ship. Photo 10 shows the jig which I made to hold the shrouds whilst tying the ratlines. Two pieces of scrap ply taped together at one end and clamped across the shrouds prevented them
from being pulled together and spaced the ratlines accurately (see photo 11). I used black synthetic sewing thread for the ratlines and "locked" all the knots on the rigging with thin superglue.
6. Deck fittings.
6.1. Bridge & Funnel Assembly (see photo 12).
The frame and top rails of the flying bridge were fabricated from 1/
16 inch square brass
tubing silver soldered at the joints. All joints including the mitred corners being reinforced internally with brass bent and filed to a sharp right angle for the corners. I used 1/
32 inch
diameter brass wire for the intermediate rails passing it through holes drilled in the uprights and fixing it with superglue. The bridge was decked with 1/
16 inch ply with plank lines
pencilled on.
Photo 11: The blue thing is two scraps of plywood I used to hold the shrouds at the correct spacing whilst tying the ratlines across them.
An access ladder to the bridge was glued up from scrap1/
32 inch ply and the funnel was made from
32mm aluminium tube salvaged from a vacuum cleaner hose. It just happened to be the right size. Building boats from scratch makes me a collector of a lot of peculiar bits and pieces of wood, plastic, metal, etc, which amuses my wife no end. The whole assembly is fixed through the deck by a single screw hidden under a dummy hatch. The piece of deck on which it sits is the main access to the hull and is held down by the same screw. 6.2. Skylights.
SSGB has one large skylight over the engine room, eighteen smaller rectangular skylights and one circular skylight over the passenger areas. Photo 13 shows the engine room skylight and grating made from1/16 inch ply and1/32 inch
Perspex windows.
I vacuum moulded the circular skylight from 10 thou thick clear plastic sheet. First I made a female mould in wood, clamped the sheet over it,
heated the plastic with a paint stripping hot air gun until it began to sag into the recess, then sucked the air from the recess with my workshop vacuum cleaner. Not as easy as it sounds! The wooden frame of the skylight was simulated by strips of 10 thou thick styrene sheet backed with double-sided adhesive and painted brown to look like mahogany (see photo 14 which also shows the ships wheel).
Photo 12: The bridge and funnel assembly. The hand rails and stanchions were made from from brass tube and wire.
Photo 13: The engine room skylight is the largest of 20 skylights on SSGB.
Page 8 St Albans & District MES
The bodies of the eighteen small rectangular skylights I made from blocks of balsa covered with1/
32 thick ply. The penthouse shaped glass roofs with 16 panes in each presented a
problem due to their small size. I drew the roofs on Autocad and printed them onto 10 thou thick styrene, which I then backed with double-sided adhesive. To cut out the sixteen panes I used an instrument screwdriver ground to a chisel edge (see photo 15). The finished frames were then painted brown and stuck to 10 thou clear plastic sheet (see photo 16).
6.3. Companionways. Balsa blocks and1/
32 ply were used for the 4 deck companionways, one of which I modelled
with the door open so that I could add an emerging passenger later. 6.4. Windlass & Anchors.
I made the windlass (used to haul up the anchors in real life) from some scrap gears from a defunct VCR and various bits of brass and aluminium. The Trotman anchors were carved from scrap aluminium complete with their pivoting flukes and detachable stocks. I eventually super-glued the flukes in a fixed position when I mounted them on the model as they tended to flop around and I removed the stocks which I mounted in a cradle on the forecastle-deck. 6.5. Steering Wheel.
I could not find a 10 spoked ship’s wheel at the right size (¾ inch dia) so I had to make my own. I used a piece of aluminium tube for the rim and I turned a hub and shaft in one piece from aluminium bar. I needed to drill 10 equi-spaced holes for the spokes (1mm brass wire) through the rim and into the hub but I had no dividing head or rotary table. However, I did have a Meccano-style worm gear and matching 50 tooth gear, so 5 turns of the worm would give the correct spacing between adjacent spokes. I used these to make up a crude dividing head which I could mount on the milling attachment on my small lathe (see photo 17).
Photo 15: The roofs of the 18 small skylights were cut out from 10 thou styrene using a sharpened instrument screwdriver as a chisel.
6.6. Ship’s boats.
SSGB carried 7 iron clinker built lifeboats, one on deck mounted upside down on a kind of bedspread and 3 each side near the stern on davits.
The late Allan H taught me to make how to make realistic ship’s boats from paper. This is done by carving a solid male model of a boat from wood, covering it with cling film as a release agent and then "planking" it with narrow strips of gummed brown paper tape. The finished boats must be waterproofed with paint (see photo 18). I have had two boats made this way on my Bustler tug for several years without problems.
I started by pinning a transom cut from thin card to the stern of the carved model and them building up several layers of the paper planks to produce a light and surprisingly stiff hull. To date I have only made the one to mount on the deck. The other six will come later and will be only used for exhibition purposes. They would be too vulnerable hanging on davits for
sailing. In fact, I may try vacuum moulding again.
7. Radio Control.
The model is controlled using five channels of a six channel transmitter. The channels are used for the following functions
Speed control of the electric motor. (I chickened out of trying to fit a steam engine).
Rudder
Rotation of the square sail yards on mast 2 via a small sail winch.
Control of the fore and aft sails on mast 1.
Control of the fore and aft sails on masts 3,4,5 and 6.
(to be concluded next month) Photo 17: To make the 10-spoke ships wheel I had to make my own crude dividing head. It incorporates a Meccano style worm gear and matching 50 tooth gear.
Page 10 St Albans & District MES
Gresley A4 Pacifics to be reunited for 75th anniversary of Mallard’s
world speed record breaking run.
This year promises to be a good one for fans of Sir Nigel Gresley’s A4 Pacific locomotives. To help celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mallard’s world speed record breaking run two foreign A4s have been repatriated, arriving aboard the MV Atlantic Conveyor at Liverpool Docks on October 3rd after almost 50 years in North America. These locomotives will be in the UK for two years before returning to home. The arrival of No 4496/60008 ‘Dwight D Eisenhower’ and No 4489/60010 ‘Dominion of Canada’ gives LNER fans the mouth watering prospect of all six surviving A4s on display together at the NRM, York, in July. The other four are: No 4488/60009 ‘Union of South Africa’, No 4464/60019 ‘Bittern’, No 4498/60007 ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ and of course the star of the show No 4468/60022 ‘Mallard’ herself. There could be other events at both the NRM’s York and Shildon sites but details are not yet confirmed. (We will try to put any events we hear of in the Gazette - Ed)
‘Dominion of Canada’ is at the NRM’s Shildon workshops being converted back to her 1937 form of Garter Blue with a valanced single chimney, complete with Canadian bell and chime whistle. ‘Dwight D Eisenhower’ is currently at the NRM workshops in York having her existing BR Green livery refreshed and ‘Mallard’ has been given a fresh coat of Garter Blue paint in preparation for the anniversary celebrations. It is assumed the other three A4s, all of which are operational, will retain their current liveries (‘Bittern’ is in LNER Garter Blue, ‘Sir
Nigel Gresley’ is in BR Blue and ‘Union of South Africa’ is in BR Brunswick Green).
In case you don’t know, ‘Mallard’ holds the world speed record for steam locomotives at 125.88mph (202.58km/hr). This was set on 3 July 1938 on the slight downward grade of Stoke Bank south of Grantham on the East Coast Main Line.
NOTICE BOARD 2
If you wish to put an item on the ‘Notice Board’ just send it to the editors and, subject to available space, we will include it in the next issue of the Gazette. Ed.
Society Mugs - only 20 left
Robot boat fails to cross the Atlantic - Seymour W
You may not have heard of the Microtransat Challenge but it is a serious competition to sail an unmanned sailing boat across the Atlantic ocean. Only five teams took up the challenge in 2012: three from France, one from Norway and retired NATO scientist Robin Lovelock from Sunninghill, Berkshire. His entry is basically a 1.2m metre (4ft) long Marblehead model yacht with sails based on an International One Metre No3 storm rig. It weighs about 14kg (31lb). The boat does have some pretty sophisticated electronics on board which includes a guidance system programmed with the start and end locations and way-points in between, a GPS system so the boat knows where it is, a control system (using standard RC servos) to steer the boat along its intended route and a transmitter so that the boat’s position can be tracked remotely. The electronics is powered by a 5V NiMh battery and solar panels. The whole thing cost Robin about £450 - probably a lot less than any of the other teams’ boats which range from 0.9m to 4.3m long and 15kg to 350kg in weight.
Page 12 St Albans & District MES
Terry W’s Old Photographs - No 31
Terry acquired these photographs from a secretary who asked him to take on her late father’s collection. He was called Sam A Webster and he must have been an important man because he became a chief engineer for the BR Southern Region. Most of the official photos were done for his job as inspector of breakdowns, etc, but there were many private photos of loco-motives in general. Additional information was researched by Derek W.
Maunsell ‘Lord Nelson’ Class 4-6-0s
In No. 15 of this series (Gazette 453 September 2011) reference was made to a future article which would deal with the later history of Maunsell's Lord Nelson Class 4-6-0s.
Before proceeding with this history, notes on the accompanying photos follow. The first shows No. E856 Lord St Vincent at Stewarts Lane (the location is easily identified). The engine is in virtually original condition the smoke deflectors having been fitted a year or two after entering service.
The second is of No. 863 Lord Rodney with Bulleid large diameter stovepipe chimney. The livery was new in November 1938 but the smoke deflectors are not lined out, a feature added in June 1939. This enables the date to be fixed somewhere within this 7-8 month period. The headcode is for a Victoria-Folkestone boat train but the location is not identified.
Photo No. 3 shows No. 864 Sir Martin Frobisher also with Bulleid stovepipe chimney (fitted January 1939) and Flaman speed recorder part of which can be seen on the rear coupled wheel. The name on the signalbox in the background is infuriatingly unreadable; the headcode is misleading as it was only used on secondary and branch lines and is probably purely cosmetic (the 'SPL' gives the game away). These two factors combine to make the location unidentifiable.
Continuing the history of the class, in March 1927 a further 10 were ordered (Nos E851-860) and these emerged from Eastleigh between June 1928 and April 1929. The original intention was that they would join E850 on the Eastern Section but during assembly five were re-assigned to the Western Section. A further five were authorised in March 1928 (Nos E861-865) and these entered service on the Westen Section between September and November 1929.
From very early on problems were encountered with steaming. These arose for a variety of reasons probably the most significant being the split level grate which required skillful firing. The small number of locos in the class meant that firemen seldom had the opportunity to fire them on a daily basis.
Over the years Maunsell tried a host of modifications in an attempt to rectify the situation but it was only when Bulleid arrived on the scene that the poor performance was eliminated. In 1934 Maunsell fitted twin Kylchap blastpipes and a double chimney to No. 862 Lord Collingwood. However, loading gauge restrictions meant that the proper proportions of the draughting assembly were compromised. There was little improvement to steaming but a higher fuel consumption resulted.
In 1936 Maunsell decided to gain experience with a large round-topped boiler and firebox fabricated in nickel steel and had one built at Eastleigh to a design prepared earlier for aborted classes of goods 4-8-0s and passenger 4-6-2s. This was fitted to No. 857 Lord Howe which carried it until withdrawal in September 1962.
Bulleid's first task after appointment as the SR's CME was to examine the state of the company's passenger locomotives. He found that the Western Section was well-served by the King Arthurs, Schools and even the mixed traffic S15 4-6-0s which were quite capable of handling the expresses. The situation on the Eastern Section, however, was dire: the heavy
Page 14 St Albans & District MES
Night Ferry invariably required a pilot even when a Nelson was employed and other boat trains rarely ran to time.
It was necessary, therefore, to look at the Nelsons and, never being a slave to convention, Bulleid fitted a large diameter stovepipe chimney to No. 863 Lord Rodney as a preliminary to installing a Lemaitre blastpipe. At the same time a second Kylchap blastpipe which had been in store since 1934 was fitted to No. 865 Sir John Hawkins. Comparative trials were undertaken for a few months on the Waterloo to Salisbury and Bournemouth main lines then on to Exeter after which the pair were transferred to the Eastern Section for the Continental boat trains. The results were conclusive: the Lemaitre equipment was far superior to the Kylchap system and 863's performance was equally as good as the LMS Royal Scots and the GWR's Castles and Kings. It was then decided to modify the other members of the class including the two fitted with the Kylchap blastpipe; the stovepipe chimney was replaced by one in a more conventional style.
Bulleid now turned his attention to the cylinders. As originally built the piston valves had a diameter of 8"; these were changed for ones of 10" diameter. At the same time the angular steam passages were smoothed into curves. The first to be so modified was No. 857 in October 1939. The war slowed down the modifications on the rest of the class, the last being No. 30853 Sir Richard Grenville in December 1951 only No. 863 not being treated.
The cessation of boat trains brought about by the war saw the whole class being concentrated on the Western Section where they remained for the rest of their lives. They were almost exclusively used on Waterloo-Bournemout-Weymouth expresses and performed brilliantly.
Once the Bulleid Pacifics had been rebuilt in the late 1950s available work for the Nelsons diminished. They were all stationed at Eastleigh and worked goods and van trains and minor duties formerly carried out by King Arthurs. Withdrawal commenced with 30865 in May 1961; 30861 Lord Anson and 30862 Lord Collingwood survived until October 1962 before being scrapped. As previously reported, 30850 Lord Nelson was set aside for preservation as part of the National Collection.
In summary the Nelsons were probably the least successful of Maunsell's designs which must have been frustrating for him. Their full potential was recognised by Bulleid whose modifications achieved what Maunsell had been unable to do.
AFTERWORD
This being the last in the series on the Samuel Webster collection now is the time for general observations on his photographic work. Most of his working life was spent at Ashford and it is here or nearby that most of the photographs were taken. He would have known the locomotives and locations intimately and probably thought that detailed information was not necessary particularly as they were for his private collection; dates or even years he may well have thought to be completely unimportant. Of course, he may have prepared separate notes but these are presumably lost which leaves us to approximate years and remain in the dark about locations except where the former can be attached to a well-documented incident or event or, with the latter, they are easily identified.
His period at Ashford was during the Maunsell and Bulleid eras. That he was a great admirer of Maunsell's work (not without good reason) is evidenced by the large number of his locomotives captured on film. Another aspect worthy of mention is that Ashford was somewhat of a Cinderella when compared with Eastleigh and Brighton in terms of the number of published photographs at the three locations. In this respect the photos of so many different classes at Ashford make the collection almost certainly unique.
The dearth of new Southern locomotives and the rarity of 'foreigners' at Ashford meant that fewer photos were taken in the late 1930s. The wartime ban on railway photography seems to have been adhered to and so it is the early postwar years when the few remaining photos were taken. These were of major events or incidents which he attended.
For this writer the study and research of the collection has been most satisfying and thanks are due to SADMES, Roger S and Tony M in particular for the opportunity given to him. Derek W
Page 16 St Albans & District MES
The St Albans & District Model Engineering Society cannot accept any responsibility for the condition or suitability of items advertised in the Society’s Gazette. Opinions contained in articles are not necessarily those of the Society.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Note: Members meet at the small lake in Verulamium Park on most Sunday mornings (subject to weather). All are welcome to sail electric and steam boats or yachts.
2013
January 9th Club Night: Frank B’s Vintage Film Evening
January 12th/13th CMRA Model Railway Exhibition, Alban Arena, St Albans January 18th-20th London Model Engineering Exhibition, Alexandra Palace
February 13th Club Night: ‘Miniature Magic’ - David A
March 13th Club Night: Club Auction with our auctioneer Peter H April 10th Club Night: AGM and Work-in-Progress Competition
April 20th & 21st Vintage Vehicle Rally - Colne Valley Railway, Essex
May 8th Club Night: Paper Making at Frogmore Mill - Peter B
May 27th Model Engineer Exhibition - Colne Valley Railway, Essex
June 12th Club Night: To be arranged
July 10th Club Night: Model Boat Building - Mike G August 14th Club Night: To be arranged
September 11th Club Night: To be arranged October 9th Club Night: To be arranged
November 13th Club Night: EGM and Members’ Evening December 11th Club Night: Christmas Social
