Innehållsförteckning för June 2023 från Engineering in Miniature

I will start my second report from Harrogate with the impressive stand of the Pickering Experimental Engineering Modelling Society(PEEMS). This almost workaholic Society always has a large display of members models and work and did not disappoint this year. The centrepiece that caught everyone’s eye was the 40 per cent scale model of a Delage 15.S.8 engine under construction by master builder Mike Sayers (Photo 33). It represented an engine built and used in the British Grand Prix at Brooklands in 1926/1927. Mike also displayed his ⅓rd scale 4.5 litre Blower Bentley engine which again is an outstanding piece of work (Photo 34). The display contained a number of different models including a very nice 4½” scale Foden Steam Lorry (Photo 35). Some good and useful workshop tools were another…

Owners of the Myford ML7 lathe will know (writes Neil Heppenstall) that it is not possible to swivel the top slide round to more than 45 degrees each way. Some jobs require an angle greater than this 45 degrees, for example when turning the vee groove in a vee pulley. My solution to the problem is to borrow the top-slide from the first lathe I had, a Lane ‘Wizard’ of 1¾ inches centre height, and to mount this on a packing block. This block can be bolted down to the Myford cross-slide using the same ¼-inch BSF screws as the Myford slide and it will raise a 5/16-inch tool to centre height.…

Regular readers will be aware that editor Andrew Charman has been promising a feature on revolutionary sustainable steam boiler technology being developed in New Zealand, but has had to more than once postpone the piece. The main reason is that the engineering brains at the company concerned, Mackwell Pero Ltd (https://mackwell.co.nz), have been very busy developing the vehicle at right, a 35hp tractor boldly described as “the natural successor” to traction engines. The engine burns wood using Mackwell’s boiler technology and promises no smoke or spark emissions - the company claims that its innovative but tried and tested steam technology can cut costs by up to 90 per cent compared to using a diesel. The good news is that Mackwell is going to let EIM follow progress of this tractor…

Because the previous owner of the Barrett 47XX kit that I purchased had left it part-built for a few years, the general condition of the tender had become very poor - inside the body looked very dirty and a little dubious. I wanted to check all the soldered joints including the inside of the spirit tank, so the top plate had to be unsoldered (Photo 26). Once it was removed it revealed a couple of problems. The head of the bolts that secure the chassis and the spirit sump are soft-soldered inside the tank and a couple were loose, so these were resoldered. However in any future kit building I do I will drill and tap these bolts in before I solder the heads - this would have saved me…

Photos by Richard Lunn “If he wanted to take the loco anywhere the very heavy hoist had to go too… On EIM we never fail to be impressed by the ingenuity displayed by our readers and so we had to share this neat little idea that we first saw in the magazine of the Bristol SMEE. Bristol member Pete Marker has a 5-inch gauge Feldbahn locomotive and if there is no loco lift available, loading it into a trailer can be fraught with difficulty - as soon as the engine is tipped upwards its front or rear bufferbeam digs into the ground, marking it very hard to move. Pete developed a method to attach the loco to a car engine crane at home, which greatly simplified moving it about, but…

GENERAL NEWS Well-known miniature traction engine kit company Steam Traction World (www.steamtractionworld.com) has made significant investments in new machinery at its Daventry factory as business continues to increase. The company supplies traction engine kits that are fully machined and ready for assembly after final de-burring, sanding and then painting - EIM reader Peter Malirn has been describing his build of a Foden steam lorry kit in our pages with the next episode set to appear in next month’s issue. Most models tend to be purchased over a fixed period of time so the kits arrive at regular intervals to enable the builder to build as they pay for each kit. Managing Director Dean Rogers has invested in a new £100,000 CNC lathe, a Puma GT2600L. With a gap of 1.2…

As Meridienne Events gears up for the Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition in October it has announced that its successful Garden Rail Show will return in 2024. The date for your diaries is 2nd and 3rd March, at the event’s usual venue of the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre near Leamington Spa. Details will be on the show website, www.midlandsgardenrailshow.co.uk, in due course. ■ Admittedly this brand-new loco, while built for 15-inch gauge, is very much narrow gauge rather than miniature in style and a brand-new design built to do a job. ‘Mr Hallworth’ was unveiled at the Perrygrove Railway Gala in the Forest of Dean on 28th April. Designing a loco for a purpose is a skill whatever the gauge so how does one go about it? Perrygrove owner David Nelson-Brown will…

EIM roving photographer Phil Barnes made his latest visit to the Ingfield Manor Railway over Easter for the annual Friends’ Day held on the private 10¼-inch gauge railway near Billingshurst in Sussex, and noticed several additions to the line’s roster. Visitors apparently particularly enjoy riding in the miniature recreations of 24-ton windcutter wagons, so now there are a set of four available for rostering on trains. New to the locomotive stock are an attractive LNER Atlantic 4-4-2 formerly at the Audley End Miniature Railway in Essex, and an equally eye-catching dock tank, which was kept busy over the day on a combination of passenger and freight workings. Photos: Phil Barnes…

Why build an electric locomotive? That’s the first question to be answered. My good mate, fellow model engineer and co-writer of this article Julian and I both have live steam locos in 3½ and 5-inch gauge so why build electric? We both have granddaughters (not a grandson in sight), eight between us, and they all want to drive Grandad’s train. Their ages at the time of writing range from three years up to 13 years, so old enough to ride on the steam locos and the bigger ones old enough to drive them though they must be accompanied, for obvious safety reasons, at all times. I’ll state the obvious here that steam locomotives are hot, full of steam and have a fire in them so must be treated with respect.…

I would like to let my fellow readers see a couple of pieces of tooling I have designed for my workshop (writes Rod Tandy). I have always found it a really fiddly job to clear the swarf that gets into the T-slots of my milling machine during machining operations. So I designed a rake - it is simple to make and use parts all taken from my odds and ends box. I took one of my T-nuts and cut it down the middle of the threaded hole. Then I took one of the two halves of the nut and put it flat in the mill vice. I milled it flat, taking off the remainder of the threaded part. Then setting the vice to 30 degrees I drilled and tapped the…

www.midlandsmodelengineering.co.uk The EIM-sponsored Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition in October will celebrate the 125th birthday of the SMEE, the Society of Model & Experimental Engineers (www.sm-ee.co.uk). The Society has always had a stand at the show, displaying models and demonstrating model engineering techniques, but this year plans to celebrate this milestone with a larger display showing some important historic models from its large collection. The SMEE’s founding arose directly from the launch by Percival Marshall in January 1898 of The Model Engineer and Amateur Electrician magazine in response to growing interest in engineering and model making as a worthwhile hobby. Our industry colleagues at what is today Model Engineer are also celebrating their birthday and will be part of the SMEE display. Growing interest in model engineering saw the SMEE formed…

We don’t get too many new books on traction engines, so this latest from prolific publisher Pen & Sword is welcome, particularly as we are not aware of anyone trying to previously document the history what has become a staple part of the year for many a road steam enthusiast. The book goes right back to the start of the rally movement, generally thought to have been at Appleford in Berkshire in August 1960 when two owners of road steam engines challenged each other to a race. The resulting development of the rally scene to the major vibrant events of today is well documented, as is the change in emphasis from engines being paraded around display rings to much more effort in recreating the tasks they would have performed in…