volume 20 issue 4 november 2018btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site12877/documents/v... · 2018....

Volume 20 Issue 4 November 2018

Newsletter of The Leeds Society of Model and Experimental Engineers

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In this Issue

From the Chair 3

82nd Annual General Meeting 4

New Club Clothing 6

A full size model of a Morgan 3 Wheeler 7

Christmas Dinner 8

Working Party Update 9

Society Officers 11

LSMEE Diary Dates Back Cover

Front Cover

Alan Stewart During the Visit of

Rugeley Power Station Society of Model Engineers.

to Eggborough, July 2018

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From The Chair Jack Salter

Label & Mark for Posterity & Keeps

At our jumble sales we often have nicely made jigs and formers that

members puzzle to figure what they are for, the bargains are of course

the items that you recognise and have a use for and no one else does! Re-

grettably unidentified items often get sold as material for another project

or even worse go to scrap.

I have owned a Burgess engraving tool since I was a teenager and have

always labelled special tools & jigs, as a consequence I now come across

tools labelled for projects I can no longer remember!

Labelling goes much further than this, will you really remember what

items in your workshop are for in 5 years’ time, in my workshop every-

thing gets identified with at least a black felt tip pen, even down to what

different oils and paints are for and how much consumables cost and

when.

Recently my daughter returned from a vintage caravan rally where oth-

ers had commented that all of her caravan equipment had her name on,

something that Lizzy had never noticed - it was normal to her!

I like to think that marking items is also a deterrent to the light fingered

brigade.

This reminds me, at a recent Committee meeting we agreed to try and

find a speaker to come and talk to us about workshop security.

But, more important than ensuring useful items are reused or preventing

theft, we all spend many hours making our models, so why not label them

for posterity, nowadays you can order engraved brass plaques inexpen-

sively over the internet, perhaps saying what the model is and when it

was built and by whom, I am always surprised by how long ago I made

some items.

As an aside I had a similar brass plaque engraved for Jill’s travelling

communion set, Jill was delighted until she saw the invoice for a “Pet Me-

morial Plaque”!

And don’t forget to identify your drawings too!

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82nd Annual General Meeting Report

Treasurer’s Report

Nigel in his capacity as club Treasurer reported that the club finances

continue to be very healthy and he proposed subscriptions remain at £33

with Junior Membership remaining unchanged at £2. The main

expenditure for the year had been on replacement bogies for the riding

cars. Site maintenance also saw a significant increase in expenditure

following rewiring and painting projects.

The Treasurer’s report was accepted unanimously.

Chairman’s Address Jack Salter

Jack said that we had had another good year at a time when some other

Societies were struggling. He went on to thank Nigel and Karen, for their

work organising the Christmas meal, and Nigel for organising an even

more difficult Xmas Quiz. Jack noted the continued success of the

Doncaster Exhibition and commented on the wide variety of models

displayed on the club stand. Jack thanked Geoff for planning the display.

The August Rally was a success once again, possibly the busiest ever, it

was doubtful if we could have handled many more visitors. Jack thanked

John and Lynn, Judith and Karen, for their masterly cooking together

with the many members and wives who produced cakes and Nigel for

raising income by selling a lot of the junk on the ‘bring and buy’ stalls

(and members for donating their treasures). Jack thanked Peter Smith,

Geoff Botterill and John Hunt for their work on the Website, Leedslines

and portable track events and John Charlesworth for organising our

meeting night raffles which had provided some additional income (and

light entertainment).

Working Parties have continued to take place every week on Monday

(except Bank Holidays when members meet on the Tuesday) with the

result being a very smart looking site with everything functioning well.

Jack also thanked the ‘Forgotten Heroes’ for maintaining the supply of

toilet rolls, tea and coffee, laundered tea and hand towels, and the

emptying of bins.

Commenting on our winter talks programme Jack said that the speakers

this year had been of the first order similarly, our Short Talks Evening

was well received. Jack asked that members considered sharing with

other members their special area of interest.

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Most of our running days had been well attended but we continue to

struggle to get sufficient members to volunteer to be stewards and

marshals on running days, especially when there are clashes with

portable track events.

Eggborough Site

Members will be aware that the power station has closed, and a power

supply has been provided to the Sports and Social Club which is

continuing to function for the present. Jack was pleased to report that the

plans to build a new gas powered power station on Eggborough site,

behind the existing power station, have been approved.

Geoff (Hon. Sec.) and others have been proactive in protecting our

interests and I am confident that they will continue to do so.

Election of Officers

All members of the Committee, were willing to continue for another year

and it was proposed that the eight existing members be re-elected en-bloc

in the absence of anyone else wishing to stand.

All members were re-elected and the Webmaster, Newsletter Editor,

Boiler Inspectors and Accounts Validators all agreed to carry on for a

further year.

Safety

We have a good track record on safety but attendance at the Safety

Training Day this year was not good due to adverse weather conditions

caused by ‘The Beast from the East’ (A Safety handout accompanies this

newsletter and covers some of the main points discussed at Safety

Training Days.).

Our three Boiler Testers have once again provided an excellent service to

members in testing and certifying member’s boilers and providing the

necessary advice to those building boilers. A revised Boiler Test Code was

published during the year. The previous single book has been separated

into three white and orange books, one covering the majority of our

boilers, one for very small boilers and one for LPG Tanks. There were no

fundamental changes to the procedures but some anomalies had been

tidied up.

A new computerised record of maintenance work has been introduced and

a new Data Protection Policy document was implemented during the year

to comply with recent changes to regulations.

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Presidents Address Arthur Bellamy

Arthur thanked those members that have been able to come on Mondays

to maintain the track and buildings to a high standard and to Nigel in

rectifying faults on the passenger car bogies which made them derail.

The portable track has been well used successfully perhaps with the

exception of the Gala at Sherburn in Elmet, where we were situated in a

poor position. We have decided not to accept a booking from them for next

year. It is a pity as the event was so successful and enjoyable when it

was held in Cawood.

On one of our running days we had a visit from a member of the Toronto

Model Engineers. He comes over most years and stays with his father in

law in Selby. There are two clubs for model engineers in Toronto but

neither of them have a track. I took the liberty of making him an

Honorary Member of the Leeds club and gave him a badge. I hope to see

him in the future when he visits his family in Selby.

Many of you will know that the Haddlesey Bridge, just North of

Eggborough, is closed to traffic until mid - December. This has

inconvenienced many members that live on the ‘north side’ and I will be

unable to come to some meetings because of this.

Thank you for making 2018 another successful years for Leeds S.M.E.E.

In conclusion Jack said we must all look forward to another good year

and in doing so thank all our members for their good humour and

support.

New Range of Club Clothing Available

Fleece £12.50

Half Zip Fleece £12.00

Short Sleeved Polo Shirts (female fitting is available) £9.50

Long Sleeved Polo Shirts £11.50

Sweat Shirts £11.50

Short Sleeved ’T’ Shirts £9.00

Woolly Hat £6.00

Baseball Cap (Old Stock) £5.00

Sweat Shirts £16.50

Flame Retardant Boiler Suit £46.00

(State Long, Short or Regular leg Length)

E-mail me at - or Telephone

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A full size model of a Morgan 3 wheeler Jack Salter

I forwarded to Editor Geoff the attached photos of the two other Geoffs

trying out my latest project when they called in at my farm, the response

from the editor was to ask for a few words on the why & how…

I have long been an admirer of pre-war Morgan Super Sports, when at

school in Sussex I used to cycle to the Morgan three wheeler museum in

Kent (I revisited recently and it is still there).

When Morgan announced their new 3 wheeler I arranged to visit the fac-

tory to have a look and was very disappointed. Morgan had bought the

design from an American sidecar manufacture and then changed the

engineering. I left the factory thinking that I could make something light-

er and for a lot less than the £35,000 asking price!

Studying the dynamics of three wheelers it became clear that front wheel

drive was the way to go, looking for suitable small cars to use as a parts

donor I discovered that many people had already trod this path and built

3 wheelers out of Citroen 2CVs, and of course, there was a club.

Advertising for a donor car mentioning my plans, three people separately

contacted me each advising that there is a chap who supplies drawings

and frames to build something looking like a 1935 Morgan, works from

his shed, never advertises and chooses who he sells to, so for £1,000 I had

set of drawings to a tested design and a frame. The project began!

Installation of Gearbox, Driveshafts and Fuse-boxes

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Some members will remember my short talk on fabricating aluminium

illustrated by the making and fitting of the inner and outer body panels.

Twelve months spare time work cumulated with passing the government

MSVA new vehicle roadworthiness test the day before our August Rally.

The test included weighing the car, it is around half the weight of a new

Morgan 3 wheeler, so one objective met. I am now waiting for a registra-

tion number to find out how well it meets my other criteria, the main one

being fun.

T’other Geoff (Hon. Sec.) has asked for a talk on the engineering challeng-

es in this project for next year’s programme, by then I hope to be able to

tell you that after teething problems I am happy!

G & G Driving The Car July 2018

Chassis Fitting Body Panels

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Working Party Update November 2018

Raised Track Riding Cars Refurbishment:

Although the refurbishment of the riding cars had been completed as

intended it soon became clear that if a riding car de-railed, that the

brake hangers on the new bogies could be forced out of position and

damaged by the weight of the riding car. This occurred on one occasion

when simply pulling the riding cars out of the carriage shed in prepara-

tion for use. This has resulted in a lot of work to fit ‘crash bars’ to the

bogies and also to re-design the brake hangers to properly align them

and stiffen them up. Nigel is leading on this work and has made jigs

and fixtures specifically for the work.

Track Gauge and Super-Elevation:

Checks have been carried out on the

track gauge and super-elevation to

assess whether any significant chang-

es have occurred since track relaying

was completed in April 2016. It was

pleasing to find that very little

change has occurred and that only a

few minor adjustments were found

necessary.

Anti-Tipping Boards:

Routine height checks have been com-

pleted around the track and some

adjustments made.

Track Concrete Beams:

A small number of beams were found

to have loosened on their pillars on

the approach to the tunnel. The approach to the tunnel floods following

heavy rain and if work is required in that area there is a tendency to

stand on the anti-tipping boards to keep ones feet dry. Unfortunately

the leverage applied to the anti-tipping boards tends to crack the joints

between beams. Repairs are complete.

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Steaming Bay 12 volt Blower Supply:

The new ‘Appleyard’ regulated power supply has now been installed and

the old rather antiquated power supply removed. It is working very well.

There is a notice with the power supply box explaining how to switch it on

and also what to do if any of the ‘abnormal condition’ lamps illuminate.

Buildings:

Replacement of the Club Room ceiling

tiles is now complete. Roof gutters

have been cleaned out and some down-

spouts repositioned to better discharge

water.

Painting:

The Station Loop Traverser which was

the last major item in this years paint-

ing schedule has been completed.

Routine Maintenance:

Now that the Portable Track Events

are complete for this year the oppor-

tunity has been taken to check and ser-

vice the riding car, the track and the

trailer in readiness for next years

schedule.

Vim, Vigour, and Vitals .

Just a word of thanks to Mary and Karen for keeping us on the straight

and narrow. Behind the scenes Mary keeps us stocked up with the neces-

sary hygiene consumables and rightly points a rubber gloved finger if our

standards begin to slip and Karen gives us a timely reminders when our

Club clothing is showing its age and it is time to smarten ourselves up.

Thanks girls for reminding us of those necessities men fail to give the

right priority to.

Geoff Shackleton - Hon. Sec.

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Society Officers and Committee

President: Arthur Bellamy

Chairman: Jack Salter

Secretary: Geoff Shackleton

Treasurer: Nigel Bennett*

Committee: John Hunt

Steve Russell*

Peter Smith

Nick Morley

Geoff Midgley

Newsletter Editor Geoff Botterill

* Denotes Boiler Inspectors plus

Martyn Chapman

E-Newsletter

Articles from members are always welcome and can be sent to me by email

[email protected]

To ensure continued delivery of the newsletter and announcements please let me

know if you change your email address.

If you currently receive a printed copy of the newsletter and would like to save

the society printing and distribution costs, while at the same time doing a little

to preserve some of the planets resources, simply email me using the above link

and a PDF version will be sent to your inbox.

The Society web page can be found at

http://www.leedssmee.btck.co.uk/

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS NEWSLETTER ARE NOT NECESSARILY

THE VIEWS OF THE COMMITTEE

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.leedssmee.btck.co.uk/

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LSMEE - Dates for Your Diary – November 2018

7th November Bonfire Night Steam Up.

‘Pie and Pea Supper’

‘Eggborough track - 12:30 - 21:00

21st November Meeting Night 19:30 - 21:45

‘750cc Austin Racing Cars'

talk by Keith Taylor

5th December Christmas Dinner

Sports and Social Club 19:00 - 22:00

19th December Meeting Night 19:30 - 21:45

Quiz Night

26th December Boxing Day Steam Up.

‘Eggborough track - 10:00 to 16:00

9th January 2019 Meeting Night 19:30 - 21:45

Members Current Projects

23rd January Meeting Night 19:30 - 21:45

Speaker TBA

6th February Meeting Night 19:30 - 21:45

Speaker TBA

The speakers for the talks listed above are sometimes travelling

considerable distances so do please try to attend at least some of

our Speaker Evenings

Working Party

Working Parties continue every Monday

Excluding Bank Holidays

volume 20 issue 4 november 2018btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site12877/documents/v... · 2018....

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