Weymouth and District Model Engineering Society

The Newsletter October 2008

Bird’s-eye View

Well the view from up here is distinctly cloudy as usual – but on the day that really mattered, the sun shone, only to be occasionally blotted out by the clouds of smoke and steam from loco’s, traction engines and, of course, the club BBQ! What an excellent day – and sincere thanks must go to Cath Cooper for doing the shopping and to all the ladies on the day who sorted the food and drink service (and did the washing up!). Oh yes, and I must not forget head chef Steve, who slaved away and even made cooking veggie burgers look easy (they are meant to be black aren’t they Steve?).

On the tracks, Leslie kept his fiery Romulus on a tight rein – it looked ready to haul a few tonnes of stone or passengers. Robert rode the Wren like a Harley Davidson and hauled folk round for a few hours before handing over to Neil, who gave his Diesel a well earned rest. Nigel’s loco just ran smoothly as usual, John’s injector played up on Speedy and I believe Steve had a good run on Sweet Pea. Gordon’s latest masterpiece was put through its paces by proud owner Ralph (who, I am told, really likes yellow!) and his own loco did quite a few circuits too. And Freddy – well Freddy steamed his beloved Juliet, who misbehaved by dropping her petticoat pipe twice (no jokes please! ed.). The effect of this was to send the blast back up the tubes and singe the hairs off Freddy’s hand. This was not relaxing!

Representing traction engines were Trad with his Maxitrack, Len with the Watts special and Glen with his growing pile of parts for his project. Which brings us to the static displays from Dave, Glen, Nic, Ralph, Ray, Ryan and myself. I think that it is great to have the range of models and skills on show at these events – they certainly created a lot of interest.

But probably the best thing was the huge turnout of members and families – enjoying a great day in that rarest of comodities: sunshine! A big thank you to everyone who made it so special. And another big thank you to our newsletter contributors Robert, Ralph, Steve and Neil (big photo above) who have helped to make this – my final newsletter - very easy!

Coming Events

Club AGM

At Budmouth College: Tuesday 4^th November at 7.15 ….Don’t Forget!!

Weymouth Model Railway Exhibition

We will have a display at this exhibition being held at WeyValley School on the weekend of the 25^th and 26^th October. Please remember that we need models and we need help in manning the stand. Neil Edwards is co-ordinating so please let him know if you can help.

Weymouth Museum Exhibition

We will be running a Model Engineering Exhibition at the Weymouth Museum from the 1^st to the 28^th December. Please remember to respond to Dave Richie’s letter concerning the loan of models and stewarding – they were due buy the end of October (ooops! Ed.).

Steam Down Under! (Part 2) By Robert Oldfield

Considering that New Zealand has been inaccessible by land for tens of millions of years and consequently everything that shapes its society has had to be brought by sea, it is remarkable just how little of its steam seafaring heritage has survived. In the course of two visits, I've been lucky enough to see...err... both of them (and a couple of tiddlers, for good measure).

Look up "steamship" in a guide book and you'll probably be directed to TSS Earnslaw (left), an Edwardian steamship still in operation today out of Queenstown, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. She was commissioned in 1911 by New Zealand Government Railways to provide a service out of Kingston, linked to the Kingston Flyer (the railway with the turntable in my last piece). She is the last of a long line of steamers on the lake, the first having set sail as long ago as 1863. She was built to take goods to the settlers along the shoreline and take their produce - sheep, and for a short time gold, away to be sold. In fact, her capacity from early records is stated as 1,035 passengers and 100 tons of cargo (which equals 1,500 sheep, or 200 bales of wool, or 70 head of cattle)!

In spite of the closure of the Kingston Flyer in 1936, she continued to provide a service to the lakesiders until in 1969 she was leased (and then sold) to the travel company who still operate her today. Just turn up, buy your ticket and be transported on a one-and-a-half-hour delight around the lake. The conditions are somewhat plusher since her last refit in 1986 - many coats of paint were removed from her interior and exterior woodwork to reveal the delightful original timber panelling of the saloon. Plush velvet was installed along with vintage style lighting, to aid the return of the old world charm of this steamer. And not a sheep in sight.

Technically, TSS Earnslaw is fascinating - and unusual. For a start, she is New Zealand designed & built, by John McGregor and Company Ltd., Dunedin at a cost of £20,850. Since Dunedin is a coastal town, Earnslaw was then dismantled and transported by rail nearly 200 miles inland before being re-assembled on the shoreline. Her dimensions give some idea of the enormity of the task:

Displacement: 329.55 gross registered tons.

Length overall: 168 feet, beam: 24 feet, depth: 9.5 feet, draught: 6.5 feet.

She is driven by twin triple expansion, jet condensing vertical marine engines producing 500 combined horsepower at 145 r.p.m.; cylinder diameters, 13 inches (high pressure), 22 inches (intermediate), 34 inches (low pressure); cylinder stroke, 18 inches. Steam comes from two locomotive-type boilers; grate area, 48 sq. ft.; heating surfaces, l98 sq. ft. (firebox), 1,420 sq. ft. (tubes); working pressure, 160 lb. per sq. in. The machinery is original, having been overhauled along with the rest of the vessel in 1986. She carries 14 tons of coal which is burnt at the rate of one ton/per hour. Average cruising speed is 12 knots (120 rpm) with

a maximum of 19 knots.

. In 1982 the engine room skylights were removed and replaced with a balustrade (and catch-net!) so that passengers can see the engines - and the stokers - at work. Her design was not without its faults, however, and the vessel is said to handle poorly at low speed- "like steering a brick across an ice rink."

And what will be TSS Earnslaw's fate when she is no longer able to work? Rather better than her sister ship SS Ben Lomond, which was scuttled in 600 feet of water, I suspect. Some while ago TSS Earnslaw was declared to be an 'Historic Place' under the New Zealand Historic Places Act, and as such her future is assured.

Now, when is an old steamboat not an old steamboat? When it's called Alice, I expect! The guide books describe the Alice as "a tiny vintage steam launch built between 1861 and 1879 and restored by enthusiasts, which pootles around the edge of Lake Taupo". This would make Alice by far the oldest steam-powered machine of any kind in New Zealand. Alice, however, started life as a sailboat, and was only converted to steam in the recent past. We found her moored in the marina attended by one of her joint owners, a time-served marine engineer, who kindly invited us aboard. She is coal-fired with a V-twin steam engine (see picture right) built locally from castings. There were a number of machining errors with the engine initially, but these have been fastidiously corrected and I'm assured that she now runs like the proverbial watch. Certainly, given the age of her hull, she was in immaculate condition and keeping her that way is a labour of love.

The SS Eliza Hobson (right), which operates from Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands, right up in the north of North Island is a completely different animal. She really looks the part, but from the keel up she is modern through-and-through having been built in 1996. She was built specifically to be a tourist attraction and there is no doubt that a trip down the Kerikeri estuary to the sea was something to be savoured. The silence of the steam plant was absolutely astonishing as she moved effortlessly through the water. She has a conventional twin cylinder engine with Stephenson’s valve gear and a fire-tube boiler fired on waste wood from the local sawmill. How environmentally friendly is that!? As she is in intensive daily commercial use, she has a neat trick for clearing her tubes of ash. A special valve sends a huge shot of steam straight up the chimney and sucks/blasts any debris into the air with the efficiency of a vacuum cleaner. So that's why she's got such a large protective canopy...!

Sadly, both Alice and Eliza Hobson were up for sale when we visited them. They may have new owners by now.

We came across the last - and my favourite - NZ steamboat quite by chance. We were watching the maiden voyage of Queen Mary 2 as she left Auckland and noticed among the flotilla of well-wishers a steam tug loaded with sightseers, and a good time being had by all. The following day we visited Devonport (the area on the far side of the harbour) and happened to see the tug - William C Daldy - moored up. Never one to miss an opportunity I spotted a soul on board and asked if I could have a quick look. New Zealanders are some of the most hospitable people on earth and a "quick look" soon became a personal guided tour, including all the places not normally seen by the paying guests.

William C Daldy was built for Auckland Harbour Board in 1935 by Lobnitz & Company Limited in the UK. She arrived the following year after a 76 day delivery voyage, port-hopping because of limited bunker capacity. She was sold to a preservation group of unpaid volunteers in 1977 who waged (and still wage) a constant battle against corrosion to keep her in working order. But it's the story of another "battle" that made William C Daldy famous...

Visitors to Auckland will notice the harbour bridge which bears a remarkable similarity to its larger and better-known cousin in Sydney. How nearly Auckland came to not having a bridge at all! In December 1958, as engineers were floating the main centre section of the bridge into place it was caught by gale force winds exceeding 40 knots. The construction barge supporting the huge section became unstable and the manoeuvring boats could not maintain control. The William C Daldy arrived and took up station. Her powerful steam engines provided a sustained pull on the structure for 36 hours non stop, holding the 1,200 ton, 580 ft long steel structure in place until the winds subsided. A potential major calamity was thankfully avoided. The effort required round the clock hand stoking of the boiler fires, consuming over 40 tons of coal. As the papers put it "William C Daldy - the tug boat that saved the harbour bridge".

Now, I was lucky enough to be allowed into the engine room and see the two 1,000 horsepower triple expansion engines at first hand. There was no power on, complete silence, the only illumination being the rays of sunlight filtering through the grating. Climbing down the ladder, standing on the oily soleplate and looking through the cathedral-like space at the massive engines towering above was a magical experience. Enough to make the hairs tingle on the back of my neck. And then try to imagine the heat and the noise and the movement as the crew wrung every last horsepower out of her - they must have been tough old birds, those Kiwis.

Health & Safety

A quick reminder that it is not just loco drivers that need to remember that the Track Marshall (TM) is in control of all movements on and off the main line on running days. Eager helpers MUST get permission from the TM before changing points etc. Also on very busy days, it is helpful if drivers give the TM some idea of plans – such as “I am going to stop for passengers” etc. Controlling the movements of up to six locos on one small track is not easy! (And a sincere thanks to Dave for managing it so well at the BBQ)

Members’ Projects No 3 Allgood Things (Senior)

This time I have two pages from Ralph’s Allgood’s notebook ….so here it is in Ralph’s own words:

“ Allgood things….no I am not going to write about my young son’s (young? Ed.) traction engine or his never ending workshop clearing , I am going to write about my current project – a double “Victoria Mill Engine”. This is not a bad design and the Stuart Castings are a very good, soft grey iron. One thing that I have found with this is that a centre drill is a must, as a twist drill tends to wander on the marking out.

The engine is mounted on an engine room floor which is supported by twelve columns. The floor itself is made from random strips of teak and is surrounded by twenty eight stainless, twin ball, guard rails. These were made with two form tools using stainless 303 – good stuff!

I have made one or two modifications to the valve gear and all in all it has turned out to be a nice engine (serious understatement! Ed.). And the drawings? Well……!

Now I realise that stationary engines are not everybodies cup of tea – but remember that even you big boys may face doing them when you are old with a bad back (either that or 16mm…. ed.).

I remember remember unloading twelve tonnes of concrete blocks with Joan when we were building our former home – no wonder I can now only look at my ‘Speedy’ and ‘Pansy’!

My next project is an 1806 Bottle Engine……. In the meantime…keep making swarf…just not in the lounge!”(would we?! ed.).

Caption Competition

Seeing as how this page seems to be devoted to things Allgood – you might like to think up a caption for this photo where our chairman seems to be demanding the top seat on the Watts Special tender…….. Clean suggestions on a postcard please….

Allgood things….come at the end…

…and the problem with coming in at the end is that the Editor had already done the important bit – which is saying a big thank you to everyone who worked or joined in the make the BBQ such a great day. So I will just talk about balls……Nitrile Balls or Stainless balls ….. that is the question……..

Just to clarify – this is the continuing story of my Sweet Pea. (well actually it isn’t continuing, as I haven’t written about her before) Anyway….. Saturday 20^th September. Not run her for over two months due to summer holiday down under. Really looking forward to the day’s “steam-up” especially as the weather was so nice.

The first problem was the water pump check valves were sticking as she was going down the track - like a constipated camel – I know that because I rode on one at Ayres Rock while down under! Anyway……that thankfully cleared after a few minutes and away I went again. Steaming well, several laps done so thought it time to double check the lubricators are definitely working by checking that the oil level is going down. Right hand side definitely OK, but worried about the left – no resistance coming from rotating the left one, so I assume there is a problem. It is a two, in-line clack system for double security.

Right – so this is where the balls come in.…… some time ago I changed the right stainless steel one for a 1/8 dia. Nitrile Ball – so far it hasn’t let me down over the last 6 months – expensive for what they are really, approx £1.20+ instead of 18p for a stainless one. You can see where this is going can’t you – wrong!!

By pure chance I had put the other spare Nitrile Balls in my running day box just in case. Neil and Nigel provided the mini pliers to save my fingers from getting burnt – unscrewed the right angle oil clack on the cylinder steam chest, popped the ball into the hole, added the spring and screwed the cover back on. Off I went again for about another hour or so, checked the oil level – yes it was going down – great I thought, these Nitrile Balls are really good – I must tell all the other club members my success story - so there you go I have!

Ah – now what I haven’t yet said was what happened later. I packed away at the track, put the loco in the car and drove home. Took her out the car (its quite a bumpy procedure up and down the drive and ramps into the garage etc.) and cleaned her down got rid of the ash pan and cleaned the tubes. The last thing was the wipe down with the oily rag which I completed with a quick wipe over the cylinder covers where I noticed – yes you’ve guessed now – One 1/8 DIA. Nitrile Ball in a little pool of oil still on top of the cylinder cover. I couldn’t believe it either so I unscrewed the clack – no ball!!!!!!!!!!

That little Nitrile Ball had survived some 15-20 laps of the track on the cover just sitting in a bit of oil on a flat surface. I guess that is called surface tension isn’t it you “sciencey” types? It is now definitely in the clack but I also find it odd that oil was being pumped all the time without it even in??? Odd !!

Oh well – back to the workshop. Happy steaming or whatever you are doing?

Steve (chairman)

Club website: www.weymouth-dmes.co.uk

Secretary and Editor chrisbird500@btinternet.com