March / April 2016 Steaming AheadSteaming Ahead · Events May 2016 Monday 02 May Bank Holiday...

March / April 2016

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Sutton Coldfield Model Engineering Society

Sutton Coldfield Model Engineering Society President Allan Leary Chairman Bill Colman Secretary Mark Bradley Treasurer Chris Greene Directors Brian Clarke John Cope Mike Bentley Mark Dale Peter McMillan Chris Greene Dave Osborne

Front Cover: Bridget back in service.

Events April 2016 Sunday 03 Members Steam Up. 10-00am Sunday 10 Birthday Party. 2-00pm to 4-00pm. Saturday 23 Sutton Coldfield Railway Society 10-00am - 5-30pm

Sunday 24 Exhibition at Bishop Walsh School 10-00am - 4-30pm

Events March 2016

Sunday 06 Members Steam Up 10-00am Sunday 20 Birthday Party. 2-00pm to 4-00pm. Monday 28 Easter Monday Steam Up. 10-00am

Editor:

Dave Edwards E Mail address [email protected]

Events May 2016 Monday 02 May Bank Holiday Steam Up. 10-00 am

Press Date is the second Tuesday of the month.

Tuesday 12th

April Evening Talk.

On Tuesday 12th April at 7.30 there will be a talk by Martin Goad who is Chairman

of Walsall Group of Advanced Motorists.

The Group runs driving courses to match a wide range of needs for motorists wishing

to improve their driving, improving confidence, supporting older drivers and to

enable all drivers to be better informed and safer on the road.

You will be given the opportunity to book a free evaluation drive the first step to

more enjoyable driving.

Mike Bentley

Sutton Coldfield Model Engineering Society.

My participation during the last 41 years. (Part Two)

Three of us had been dealing with the planning problem. Dick Pearce

was looking after the formal paper work going to Lichfield District Council;

Ken Little was lobbying various councilors on our behalf, and I was dealing

with the Water Authorities. Severn Trent now assured me, that our next

application would not be opposed, so in it went. It was immediately rejected

again by the Council. The reason given by the Council was because South

Staffs had lodged the same objection as before. I contacted Severn Trent and

was told that this was a communications error, and South Staffs shouldn’t have

objected.

I was now becoming somewhat apprehensive of the whole planning

procedure; I hinted to “Severn Trent” that I might be inclined to raise the

matter at a government level using the phrase “Maladministration” (a phrase

used to describe incorrect policy decisions by a government type authority). I

also decided to “sit in” at a couple of planning appeals that were to be heard in

the Council Chamber at Lichfield, if we were going to have to go to an appeal,

then I wanted to know how they were handled.

The first appeal that I selected was by a supermarket that had been

refused permission to develop at site at Sankeys Corner, Burntwood. Both sides

were represented by barristers, I expected to be overawed by them, in fact, I

have never witnessed such inept performances. Neither of the barristers seemed

to know any of the facts, and were constantly having to seek assistance from

assistants and other people. I suppose one gets ideas how it should have been

done from television, it was nothing like that. I came away feeling that I could

put up a far superior performance to represent our Society than I had just

witnessed. I cannot recall what the second appeal was about; I only remember

that I walked out after an hour or so, being as disgusted with this performance

as with the previous one.

We put in our third application and it was granted with certain

provisions attached, such as moving the entrance to the field, which was on a

slight bend, about 25 metres along the road to improve visibility.

The date: - 2nd February 1981, planning application No L.7593.

Work now started at our new ground. On the day that we had our first

working party in Little Hay Lane to change the gate position, we had a couple

of “villagers” ranting at us that we had no right to be there, and did not have

permission to do what we were doing. They were also taking photographs of us

making the new opening.

I was asked by the committee “You have done such a good job with the planning permission would you like to take over supervision of the

development?” I agreed. Douglas Construction helped us out with the gift of a

life-expired workman’s caravan, which we used to store tools and also make

tea for the workers. I built the gate pillars incorporating cabinets for gas and

electricity supplies. I paid for the gas supply to be laid on, and Frank

Whitehead paid for the electrical supply to be provided. We decided that with

this development we would try to provide for future developments as much as

possible. I obtained the services of a local man, Cliff Gibbs, who had his own

JCB digger. Trenches were dug from the gate and across the field, water;

electricity and gas were soon terminated at the site of the future clubhouse.

We spent some time recovering the track from our previous ground,

together with the remains of an asbestos clad shed, which we used to store

building material in. Douglas Construction came to our aid again with the gift

of an old diesel powered concrete mixer which still works well today.

Numerous people donated materials and tools etc. the late Cyril Spencer

giving us a substantial lathe, plus numerous odd tools.

During the first few years progress was remarkable, there was a real

will to invest effort in our new facilities. Because our cash was limited all

manner of materials were donated or, where possible second hand materials

were scrounged, or brought at minimal prices, for instance:-

1. All the blue foundation bricks for the building came at low cost from

Walsall Council.

2. Practically all of our silver birch trees came from a derelict site in

Lichfield, which was about to be used for building houses.

3. Large gas pipe used as gas pipe or cable ducts came from a scrap yard

in Shropshire.

4. I bought the bricks for the building, they were a little over fired and a

few had cracks in them.

5. The main electricity cable from the gate to the building was donated.

I bought, for a nominal sum, a petrol filling station canopy from Ward

End, Birmingham, which was demolished on site, cut up, transported to the

ground and re erected at a much lower height with the canopy inverted.

All manner of odd items appeared on site at times, many were used and

some we still have in stock, other items not required were eventually disposed

of.

In 1982 we held our November 5th bonfire party at our new ground,

actually the nearest convenient day fell on Saturday 6th of November. I invited

the villager’s oldest inhabitant to light our bonfire, not only was she the oldest

person in the village she was by then, the only genuine villager. The other

residents were all townies with aspirations to the landed gentry, mostly all

“Nimbys” as well.

Looking through a copy of my files to determine dates etc, I came across

several invitations for bonfire nights going back to our first in 1982. They

were literally done by “cut and paste”.

The building project occupied the whole of my spare time until 1985, in

that year I had decided that building was not as difficult as I might first have

thought. Consequently I bought a tiny plot of land in the very centre of

Lichfield and set about building myself a house, using all the accumulated

knowledge and experience gained during the club project. I set about this task

with the occasional help of people from the Society when I was not able to do

it all myself, (such as pouring a vast amount of concrete at one time for

foundations etc). The whole project took at least three times longer than I had

expected, for a number of reasons. I remarried in 1986. I was still working full

time. Because of the situation of the house being directly behind Lichfield

Cathedral, the council insisted that the design looked as though it was a

hundred or more years old. This caused considerable difficulties with the roof

design.

Margaret and I moved into the house in 1997 and shortly after this I

finished work, after a period of settling in I became more involved again with

the Society. By this time the Society had become a Limited Company, the

reason for this I understand, is because of health and safety worries to limit

our insurance liability. I again became a member of the committee, now

however; it is pretentiously called “The Board of Directors”.

Stuart Harrison To be continued

Membership News

Membership renewals have been coming in steadily but there are still over half of you who have yet to renew for 2016/17. Do remember that if you wish to pay at the old price we must receive your subs by 31

st March.

If you have mislaid your renewal letter, here again are the fees:

Full membership is £57 (rising to £60 from 1st April)

Senior membership is £47 (rising to £50 from 1st April)

Juniors and Associates are £16 (£18 from 1st April)

If you are renewing by post please send to me at 222 Rectory Road, Sutton Coldfield, B75 7RX, cheques payable to SCMES and please enclose a stamped addressed envelope so I can send your receipt and membership card. John Cope Membership Secretary

HORT TEAM NOTES

March 2016

The hort team have been frustrated these past few months with the weather changing all the time and interfering with any plans we may have made.

Even so we managed to clear all the remaining leaf fall and the small fallen branches.

A pathway has been created around the knoll in the NE corner to facilitate the cutting of the goat and road hedge on the Balleny Green side.

Grass seed has been scattered in areas which require it. The front road hedge has been slowly infilled with extra pieces

of fencing and some extra hedging plants from members. (More are wanted)

It‘s hoped to start putting in the new runs of barbed wire soon, but as three of our team are under the doctor, two with eye problems, this is going to have to be done carefully and SAFELY.

The bird nesting boxes have been cleaned out and are ready for new owners. The concrete fence posts and other parts will be painted as the weather improves.

Signs of re-growth are everywhere, but we are particularly pleased that the Hawthorn whips that Eric got last year are beginning to show new shoots. Rodney Hodge on behalf of ALL of the Hort Team

Birthday Parties at Balleny Green.

I am pleased to tell you that all but two birthday slots have now been booked with an

extra date in August granted by the Board.

March and July are still free at the time of writing.

I will be putting together a man power plan for the April 10th party very soon. I would

be grateful as always for the good will of members in making the events possible.

Mike Bentley

Sutton Coldfield Railway Society Exhibition April

2016.

It may seem a long way off to April but our Society has again been invited to

attend SCRS model railway exhibition at Bishop Walsh School on the

weekend of 23rd and 24th April this year. This local exhibition is an

opportunity to show the results of our hobby to the general public, attract

visitors and possibly pick new members. However to run the exhibition we

need our members to volunteer bring their models to the school for display

over the weekend. So I would appeal to those of you who have not exhibited

before or have new items that have not been shown before to get in touch

with either myself or Peter McMillan. Remember we are a model

engineering society so stationary plant, tools, clocks, ships, internal

combustion engines etc are equally acceptable. Items in the course of

construction are welcome as these allow visitors to see how they are put

together, the quality of the workmanship and how they work.

Chris Bassett [email protected] 07584 601534

Peter McMillan [email protected] 0121 308 2957

Looking Back at Last Year’s Santa Specials

Another year has gone by, where to? I have no idea, it has gone

so swiftly and here we are again already had Christmas, Santa has

visited us again and another year is well under way.

The first Santa special on Saturday 12th

December was an extremely good day, the

only thing not good was the weather. It

rained it was cold and it was very, very

windy. The second Santa special on Sunday

13th December was equally as good but

again the weather was very unkind, more

rain, more wind and more cold. This didn’t

upset the visitors however on either day, the

children or the grown ups who are quite

often more excited than the children. We

started with an elf arriving to say that Santa

was on his way. He duly arrived by steam

locomotive, (the reindeer were getting as

much rest as they could before their actual

big night). The elf encouraged the children in their greetings for Santa

by distributing chocolates to everyone, which they certainly enjoyed if

the sound from their cheering was anything to go by. Santa then

disappeared into his grotto and I am certain he must have been

astonished by how

fabulous it looked. The

people who did it must

have worked really very

hard through the week to

achieve the fantastic

effect, but achieve it they

certainly did. So I say very

well done to everyone who

was involved and a very

big thank you all, it looked

magical.

We then come to the train rides, and oh my did everyone enjoy

them? The simple answer is most definitely yes they did. Moms and

dads squealing with delight just as loud as the children.

I was driving my diesel locomotive “The Baby Deltic Class 23”

on the elevated track both mornings, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself

despite the weather. Graham was running his Coronation Class

locomotive from lunchtime on both days, I must say I think we worked

very well together. We were extremely busy all day, there being queues

most of the time. For some strange reason the children say “we like it

better on these trains, because they go faster”. Believe it or not some of

the parents also think that too, I tell them “no we don’t it is just an

illusion, maybe because you are sitting higher and the bushes and

hedges mat appear to be going by faster”. Needless to say they don’t

believe me. The children also like the fact that they can look at the

engines much closer and are inquisitive as to how the steam loco’s

work. Some years ago a child asked “What makes it go” and before

Barry had time to say anything his daddy had the answer, “you see the

coal in the front of the driver, well he pours water on it, and when he

puts the wet coal in the hole it gets hot and steams and that makes the

wheels go round”. Barry did eventually give dad a bit more

information, and we laughed about that one for weeks.

It came across very strongly to me, that the children who did

open their presents from Santa were absolutely thrilled to bits with

them, and certainly didn’t want to leave them on the station (for safety)

while they had a ride. There were a few who were more strong willed

and weren’t going to open their presents until the big day. I did wonder

how long they would stay under the tree. I know for sure that children

of friends of mine were delighted with their presents and said to me,

“This Santa is the very bestest one in the world”, and that from a four

year old and a six year old means a lot.

I heard comments throughout both days about Santa and his

helpers, the ladies in the kitchen, the hot food vendors, the ground staff

for the trains, and drivers and guards, all saying how friendly and

helpful everyone was. I was also asked “can we come anytime for rides

it’s great”. They were told to look at the club internet site.

One disappointment was that the SM32 outfit was unable to run

for more than a short time on the Saturday as it was far too windy and

was blowing their wagons off the track. The boys did try a few times

and they did manage to run more on the Sunday, but got soaked for

their efforts. Well done boys you did really well, and the children love

watching them go round especially when they are allowed to control

them. The ground level trains were running well on both days full to

capacity too from what I could see. I am sure the drivers and guards

enjoyed themselves as we did on the elevated track.

I would like to say a great big thank you to all of you who were

with me on the elevated side. I am very sorry but I can’t remember all

of your names (I am putting that down to my age mmm!). I do hope

you enjoyed yourselves too, despite the weather. I know there were a

lot more members on both days doing all sorts, the signal boxes,

ground staff, car parking, main gate, making tea and taking it round to

everyone, running the tombola, and maybe more of you that I didn’t

see. The main thing is it all went extremely well and thrilled hundreds.

So a great big thank you to everyone involved, I hope you all enjoyed

the days even though like me you must have been exhausted by the end

of the weekend as well as wet through. I am sure we will be at Balleny

Green next December, doing it all again. It is only eight months away

after all.

Oh and don’t forget the other events in-between, the birthday

parties, the garden party, the various steam ups and rallies and also

bonfire night. Oh what fun we do have.

I wish you all a happy new year and most of all a very healthy

year.

Betty Wincott.

Treasurers Notice

Thank you to those members who have already renewed their annual

subscriptions. I am especially grateful to the ones who put in an extra

amount as a voluntary donation, or paid at the new rate which will come

into force on 1st April. So far these additional funds total a very

welcome £80.00.

Chris Greene

LYNTON & BARNSTABLE PROJECT

The current status of the L&B loco is that the weighshaft is

finally fixed and dowelled in the correct position in the frame, and the

cylinders are nearing being placed in position on the frame. Next

actions will be to set the motion brackets to the weighshaft, fix the

wheels onto the axles and fit the axle boxes into the horn blocks in the

frame to make it a “rolling chassis”.

We will then make a frame onto which the wheeled chassis will

sit on the lifter for the remainder of the assembly. The material for this

frame has been cut ready for welding.

The steel boiler has been ordered for delivery before the end on the

year.

Brian Clarke

Steam4you

I know we were all saddened by the passing of a particularly

active member, Neal Harrison. Neal, throughout his time with us, took

on all aspects of membership from grass cutting to Society President.

Although he could be of a prickly nature at times Neal always put

more into the society than he ever took out. Neal’s philosophy

continues because his family has gifted us with a number of useful

locomotives.

The two 71/4 locos have undergone repairs and service and I am

hoping they can be used effectively and give good and long service as

it would have been wished.

I am proposing a system whereby every Sunday from Easter

through to early November each year there is a passenger hauling

steam loco in service from 11.30am to 2.00pm.

To enable this to happen we will need a pool of fully licensed

drivers prepared to commit themselves to one in five or six Sundays.

This would be a commitment of probably 4 days a year or even less if

the uptake is as good as I hope it will be.

A program of training is planned.

Obviously owning a passenger hauling loco is no longer a

requirement and my hope is that members, new and old, will seize this

chance to be trained up thus giving them the opportunity to benefit

from the club assets.

As well as the membership benefits our casual visitors will

have the attraction of rides hauled by steam and, with luck, our event

ticket sales will recover to that of a few years ago.

Please contact me as soon as possible when you are available

for your course. (It’s free)

Allan Leary

Chairman’s Chunter

Although the winter months are a quiet time for steaming, the club has

remained very active in many fields.

I explained in the bulletin last month that we had been left five locos

from Neal's estate. Bridget, a 7 1/4" 0-4-2 Tank, has been reconditioned

by Mark Dale and when he has got the injector working properly it will

be a great club loco. Paddington, a 7 1/4" 0-6-0 PT, is also being rebuilt.

David Moseley has made and fitted new tyres to the wheels and this is

starting to be reassembled. Once complete we will own two excellent 7

1/4" locos on which members can be taught to drive a steam loco. If this

process is managed carefully we can increase the numbers of

experienced drivers in the club significantly. Neal also made a BR STD

4, 3 1/2" 4-6-0, this is a lovely loco and runs beautifully on the raised

level.

We are in the process of assessing our stock of locos and machinery.

We own quite a lot of all kinds of locos that we never run. These assets

increase our insurance premiums and our security risk and take up

space. The Board have decided to dispose of some of these starting

gently with the less controversial assets being offered to members for

sale. We may decide to discuss the more controversial locos with

sentimental connections at the AGM.

Fortunately there have been no further security incidents but we have

placed an order with a CCTV surveillance company to provide us with a

professional system involving between six and eight cameras largely

financed by a generous grant from a Staffordshire Police fund. To save

money we are installing the ducting and cables ourselves.

All the projects are progressing well. The L & B has changed colour and

is having its cylinders fitted. The SM32 steaming shelter is almost

finished and Allan Duckworth is fitting the canopy trim. Dave Osborne

has refurbished two raised level carriages. Allan Leary is making a new

secure door for the green shed. Mike Bentley is relaying the slabs on the

approach to the patio area to reduce trip risk. John Cope and Peter

Robinson have been busy redecorating the club house and Peter is now

tiling more of the gent’s toilet. The horticultural team are always busy

keeping the site tidy and have helped me with underground ducts. I am

sure there are several other activities that I have forgotten, if so please

forgive me.

Forty six of us enjoyed a splendid social evening at our local pub, The

Holly Bush, last week. This replaced the Christmas Party that we

cancelled last year which was too near to the festive season and had

been poorly supported the previous year. We are grateful to Mark Dale

for organising it. His efforts were rewarded with a memorable

occasion. I hope we will try that again.

We would like to restart the Tuesday evening activities. We are looking

for a member who would like to contribute a little more to the club by

working with the programme manager, Peter McMillan, to develop

some ideas and organise some Tuesday evening activities. Will anyone

interested please contact me or Peter.

I mentioned in the bulletin that Alan Leary wanted to recruit a team of

steam drivers that were prepared to join a rota to ensure that at least one

steam train runs every Sunday so that casual visitors can be given a

steam ride. Please offer to join his team so we can make our visitors

more welcome.

Lastly please pay your annual subscription, if you have not done so, to

benefit before they increase.

Bill Colman

Stop Press I have just received the sad news that John Hadley passed away on 26th Febru-

ary following a short illness. John and his wife Rosemary were both long standing

members of our society.

His funeral will take place at 2.00pm on Thursday 17th March at Woodlands

Crematorium, Coleshill.

Peter McMilan

Sale of Society Assets

At the March Board meeting it was decided that the Society needs to

sell our excess assets and it was felt that the items should be offered to

the membership first. To give all members an equal opportunity to buy

these items they are to be sold by sealed bid, a guide value is shown

against each item, this the minimum that the committee will accept.

Items that fail to sell to the members will be offered to the public. The

following items have been selected to sell:-

3 ½” Gauge 0-4-0T ‘Tich’ Built by Neal Harrison In working order

with boiler certificate £750

3 ½” Gauge Britannia BR 4-6-2 Built by Harry Pool. In working order

with boiler certificate £3,000

5” Gauge 0-8-0 ‘Super D’ Part built by Neal Harrison, brand new

professional copper boiler £2000

7 ¼” LMS 4F Tender body £150

Vertical Band Saw (3 wheel type) intended for wood working. £25

Air Brush and diaphragm compressor £75

To find out more and to view the items please contact Mark Dale 07771

343107 for locomotives or Brian Clarke 01922 451228 for workshop

equipment.

Members wishing to bid on the above items should write their NAME,

PHONE NUMBER and the AMOUNT that they are willing pay on a

piece of paper, sign and date it and place it in a sealed envelope. Bids

must either be handed to a Director in person or posted in the letter box

at Balleny Green by Tuesday 5th April.

Mark Bradley Secretary.

March / April 2016 Steaming AheadSteaming Ahead · Events May 2016 Monday 02 May Bank Holiday...

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