2012 July SA - Little Hay Miniature Railway Ahead...Page 9 The board members subsequently decided...

July 2012

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Steaming AheadSteaming Ahead

Sutton Coldfield Model Engineering Society

Sutton Coldfield Model Engineering Society President Neal Harrison 0121 378 3992 Chairman Allan Leary 01827 892503 Secretary Eric Davies 0121 308 6886 Treasurer Chris Greene 0121 351 3509 Directors Bill Betts 01624 880372 Mike Brophy 0121 353 6233 Bill Colman Ron Freeman 01922 632180 Stuart Harrison Peter Robinson 01543 253343

Front Cover: Rod proudly driving his new Maxitrak SECR R1 on its first run at Balleny Green.

Events Next Month Sun 05 August 2½" Rally 10am onwards Tues 07 August Board Meeting 7.30pm Sat 18 August Steam Up 1pm onwards Sun 19 August Birthday Party 2pm-4pm Tues 21 August Tues Eve Steam Up BBQ 6pm steam 7pm food Mon 27 August Bank Hol Steam Up 10am onwards

Events This Month Sun 01 July Steam Up 10am Tues 03 July Board Meeting 7.30pm Sun 08 July Garden Party 11am-4pm Sat 14 July Steam Up & SCRS Visit 10am Sun 22 July Birthday Party 2pm-4pm Tues 24 July Stationary Engines Buffet 6pm

Editor: Steve Kesterton Mobile: 07946 025 151 Email: [email protected] Press Date is the first Tuesday of the month

Chairman’s Chunter Quite a while ago I tried particularly hard not to continue to mention the climate in my offerings but how can this edition not have at least one reference to the weather. For the first time, in my experience, we have had to postpone a ticketed event. Two days before the ‘summer’ garden party was to be held Noah was seen gathering animals together two by two. A swift decision was necessary and for the sake of our visitors, ourselves and especially the site the event was postponed. It has been re-scheduled and will happen on 16th September which will be a bright, dry late summer’s day. I am sure your support is guaranteed for this re-run. I thank all who attended the A.G.M. The meeting proved to be unusually interesting with some very welcome and positive input. I came away from the meeting feeling more positive than I did before it. Some good ideas have been suggested to revitalise the society and to restore our status in the model engineering community. We now need to ensure these ideas are acted upon and not allowed to wither away. The only way this will happen is for those who are genuinely interested to take an active role. As things are at present Balleny Green, on the whole, is constantly being developed in some way or being used to finance that development, i.e. running fund raising events. Although I acknowledge we need both of these things I would like to realign the policy regarding the reason for having such a brilliant facility. I feel we should be showing off what has been achieved to like minded people not merely offering train rides. I intend to encourage the directors to look at next year’s calendar in a completely different way to that of recent years and to set aside dates where other societies will be invited directly to spend the day with us.

Birthday Parties 22 July & 9th September - can you help?

I hope I am not looking through rose tinted specs and assume such visits will be strongly supported by our own members. It would be grossly embarrassing having half a dozen of our own members on site and only the likes of the Roanoke running. My vision is, on occasions, for lists being drawn up for access to the tracks. I will be looking into us staging a ‘narrow gauge rally’ at sometime and I shall be talking to individuals regarding a ‘shunting competition’. Maxitrack and Ride on Railways are being contacted regarding holding rallies at Balleny Green. With all this in mind perhaps we can get ‘back on track’. I am pleased to report the swift progress of the S.M.32 track although this, together with all the work on site, is being hampered by the poor weather conditions. The pond refurbishment continues and is looking good. Work on the high level track maintenance continues but I understand this is no longer affecting its use. There is a proposal being formulated where, if approved’ will make the access to the club’s steam locos far user friendly. Feelings have been expressed that the club has these locos but it is such a maul to get them from their present storage that they never see the light of day. I understand the proposal is an attempt to address this situation. Check your diary as there are some events coming up, both fund raisers and social, and I look forward to seeing you there. Best wishes to all and especially, as always, to those not feeling too well. Allan Leary. Bringing 'The Earl' back to life For a few years now the 3 1/2 inch model of ' The Earl ' built by Jim Balleny a founder member and benefactor back in the 60's, has sat in its box in the workshop since its last boiler test in 1997. Following the refurbishment of the high level track I thought it would be a good idea to get the loco out and return it back to running order.


So a couple of Sunday's ago it was brought up to the steaming bay and myself and Neil had a look over it, the first thing we noticed was white mould spots had started to appear on the roof and smokebox, I then tried the hand pump and the casting broke! The pump was seized solid, so I decided to take the loco away to fix the pump and check the rest of it over. With the pump removed and a few hours soaking in limescale remover I was able to dismantle it and silver solder the broken casting. With the pump refitted myself and Brian ( who had volunteered to assist! ) decided to try the loco on air, all was fine with no leaks, but the axle pump didn't want to pump water into the boiler. We tried all sorts to get at the pump and make it work but in the end there was only one thing for it had to come out. No easy feat this as you could not get at it, so in the end the boiler had to come off! How one job turns into another. Now with a kit of parts and a dismantled water pump, we discovered that there was something not right in the pump, it had two inlet balls but only one outlet ball on the top, after much talking about it down the club we couldn't see how it worked so I refitted two balls in the top and tried the pump in water and it pumped fine. Now with the pump back in place on the loco we tried it on air before putting the boiler back. It pumped on bypass fine but locked up the chassis when the bypass was closed! The pipe to the boiler clack was removed and inside the banjo off the pump was a blockage which unbelievably turned out to be the missing ball! How it had got in there is a mystery but it took some force. The chassis was tested again and all worked fine on air, so the boiler was put back on and the loco reassembled ready for a boiler test.


Last month in Pictures ...

‘The Earl’ in the workshops being restored to service

Lewis takes Mike and Mark for a run during a (rare) sunny moment on AGM day.

Last month in Pictures ...

Another photo of Rod and his Maxitrak R1 during its inaugural steaming

Peter Mc. Takes the Club Speedy for a run round the refurbished high level track

The loco has had the paint polished up and the smokebox, tank tops and roof have been rubbed down and repainted to get rid of the mould. The loco now looks very smart and it will be nice to see it working trains again once it has had its boiler test. Mark Dale

Birthday Party Sunday 10th June TO SCMES To everyone involved in arranging and 'running' my birthday party on Sunday 10th June THANK YOU ! My family, friends and I had a fantastic time. Everyone was impressed with the engines, layout and pictures at Balleny Green. Most of all we were all astounded that you were able to provide such lovely weather. Adrian and I would especially like to thank you for letting us drive the engines. Denise x ‘George’ the diesel shunter On receiving last months “Steaming Ahead” I couldn’t help thinking that some members would not know the significance of the cover picture which was described as “The Interior of George the Diesel.” When George Weedon, the Society Chairman, sadly passed away in 2007 he left several locomotives, one of which remained in the north east corner workshop. The locomotive was a ‘freelance’ 0-4-0 battery driven diesel shunter. I am led to believe that some controversy surrounded the loco when it was stripped of its drive motor and control unit; the motor being used to power the new turntable/lift.


The board members subsequently decided that the loco should be restored and used for the training of young members of the Society. Several months ago I overheard a conversation between Allan Leary and Alan Duckworth, who were discussing the design of a new chassis. I enquired as to which parts of the existing loco, if any, were to be reused. The engine enclosure consisted of a one-piece fibreglass unit and the cab was constructed (rather crudely) from wood. The latter was in poor condition and in my opinion was not reusable. At this point I volunteered to make a new cab towards the project. Alan Duckworth produced CAD drawings which were used to laser cut the chassis and Allan Leary carried out the welding, as well as donating a new drive motor and gear box which had been removed from a mobility scooter. The existing wheels were cleaned up and re-used, together with a modified chain drive arrangement. When offered up against the new cab, the fibreglass bonnet looked rather sad and in need of renovation, so I set about tidying it up using copious amounts of car body filler. I also added a new front grille, hand rails, tool boxes and other details. The cab and bonnet were fastened together to form a one piece removable superstructure. Details were added to the chassis in the form of compressed air tanks, sand boxes, steps and buffers, the latter being machined by Mike Brophy and Dave Moseley. The reconstructed loco can loosely be described as a freelance industrial shunter and the paintwork, therefore, does not reflect any particular regional livery. A new 4QD controller and two tone horns were purchased for the loco and the final wiring was left in the capable hands of Mark Bradley. The locomotive is now in full running order and is stored in the north east corner rolling stock shed. I hope it will prove to be a useful asset and provide pleasure for the younger members. Referring back to the cover page of last months magazine and the editors comment – “It could be the real thing!”, indeed I based the interior of the cab on photographs of an 0-4-0 diesel shunter built by the Vulcan Foundry in the 1950’s, so it bears a close resemblance to the real thing. I was asked by a member at the A.G.M. “why are there so many levers?”



The answer to this question being the fact that the loco could be driven from either side, consequently the controls are duplicated. Incidentally, the tea cups were present in the photographs of the real thing. Finally, because the Hymek diesel, also donated to the society by George, now bears the name ‘George Weedon’, it was decided to name the 0-4-0 shunter simply ‘George’. David Osborne Grounds Maintenance Diary TUESDAY 5TH After the appalling weather over the Queens Jubilee weekend Monday had been fine but with rain forecast for later today it was important for an early start. If nothing else the weather has been good grass growing weather as I'm sure you've all found at home. Little Hay's two and a half acres is no exception but Grenville and I had made a good start and by the time the main stalwarts arrived. Ron joined us and by coffee time with fewer cars on the ground we had made very good progress. Fortunately the forecast was proved wrong and the day remained dry enabling us to complete the mowing and the other teams to working to progress well. Roger and Rod on the waterfall, Bill on the high level signalling refurbishment and rewiring, Mike Be, Peter and John ballasting the high level and Allan L looking after two Tamworth guests. Bill sorting the high level track signalling problems and not least David M and Allan D working on the SM32 project. SUNDAY 10TH JUNE BIRTHDAY PARTY The weather was kind and the party went off extremely well. Denise and Adrian Hall expressed their appreciation as did their friends, most of whom had not been or seen anything like SCMES LHMR before. So my thanks to you all for your help and assistance.


TUESDAY 12TH I could not be at LH today but Grenville had a traction engine boiler test and then cleared the grass from under and around the marquee ready for Saturdays Steam-up, the AGM and BBQ. Bit of bad news - Dave B has had to let his membership lapse for domestic reasons but hopes to be back next year. TUESDAY 19TH As I drove up to Little Hay I found Stuart parked in front of a car parked blocking our drive with an AA van behind it. Stuart explained that the car had a puncture and the AA chap was almost finished changing the wheel. I had just parked in front of Stuart to wait when Bill pulled up behind me. Stuart had opened up while waiting so when the AA chap finished changing the wheel we were in. Main job today was to get the mowing done but no Grenville, so I was very pleased to see Ron. We both got the mowers and spent the morning mowing. Grenville arrived a bit later than usual but with his traction engine for a boiler test. It passed successfully and after completing the test he joined us to finish the mowing. With Roger away for some 4/5 weeks Rod is steadily working on the waterfall/pool project on his own and making steady progress. He'd done a good job clearing most of a bush when I joined him to help with clearing the last bits of stump. TUESDAY 26TH After a short chat with Grenville, Stuart and John, who had opened up, Greville and I decided that it had to be mowing again this week. Both of us did well and stopped for coffee as usual with Ron who had joined us by then. While sitting drinking coffee I noticed one of the front tractor tyres looked a bit soft, so to the maintenance store and put some more air in it. But after twenty minutes or so it was getting soft again so back down to the maintenance store, lift the tractor up on blocks and off with the wheel.


No alternative but to get Mr Harris at Langley Brook to work his magic. Rust and dirt on the rim was the cause of the leak but tyre off, rim wire brushed, tyre checked and replaced in short order sorted the problem. Then a large dose of tyre leak gunge and we're ready to leave -- the gunge works well and has saved a large number of repairs -- we had counted 28 old thorns. Bit of a bonus the puncture because by the time I got back Grenville and Ron had done a great job and finished the mowing. So put the wheel back on the tractor and it back in the store before going for lunch. Rod continues the heavy work on the waterfall moving in large pieces of stone for the rockery and waterfall. Here ends June - hopefully July is going to be better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eric Davies Safety Officer – SCMES My work for the club to date has been mainly as a member of David Moseley’s team working of track laying and maintenance. In January I was asked to lead the renovation of the high level track. Last month I became a member of the board and was given to task of following on from Mike Brophy as Safety Officer. I was quite happy helping Dave with the track - honest. I would ask everyone to keep me informed of any matters concerning safety at Balleny Green so that appropriate action can be taken swiftly. We all have a duty to look for each other and keep our site safe for everyone. My thanks must go to Mike Brophy for his work over many years as your Safety Officer and for his support of me in my new post. Michael Bentley


High Level Track – Project Since January we have been making the high level track safe to use for us and our visitors. Many thanks to Peter Robinson, John Cope and many others that have helped me. We started my removing sections of track to allow unstable concrete beams to be removed and replaced. One pillar was found to be unstable and had to be reinforced. Putting things back always takes far longer than you think but we are nearly there. Following many repairs to track, joins, fishplates, levelling track base and ballasting we can now safely use it. We still have ballasting to finish and the removal of a kink at Pond Junction. Any offer of help gratefully received. The project will be ongoing as more minor problems can now be tackled. Huge thanks to Bill Colman and his team for the up date of the signalling system to the High Level Track. I hope the track now gives a lot a pleasure to members and visitors. Michael Bentley A look at track detection When I joined the club about 3 years ago I offered my services as an electronic engineer to solve one of the most difficult requirements of the signalling system, detection of the trains as they moved from block to block around the track. The system in place at the time was a version of a metal detector with the sensing coil in the middle of the track. The output changed as the train passed over it. The main problem with this design is DRIFT, as anybody who has one will know they require retuning at regular intervals.


This is not conducive to reliable operation. I realised that some form or wheel detection was probably the only safe bet to try. There are now limitations as to where the detection can be placed as nothing above the level of the track in-between the track is allowed. Photoelectric beams across the track would work but can be operated by pedestrians as well. This leaves inductive detection probably the only reliable alternative. I have had experience of these when used in the packing industry. SICK Industrial manufactures a very large range of these devices. The size of the device is important as there is not a lot of room so I chose an 8mm diameter device with a 4mm sensing range. (£10 each) These devices work by inducing currents in materials that conduct electricity i.e. copper, brass, steel, aluminium, to name but a few. Train wheels obviously meet this requirement. Now the wheels can be detected either horizontally or vertically. You might think, so it should be easy then. Horizontal is very difficult because of the height restriction so only part of the flange can be captured. There is one of these in the track directly behind the clubhouse. This can be fitted anywhere in the track as it is clamped to the rail. It detects all 7 ¼” stock, Dave smiths 5” trolley but not “Betties Engine” May be 99% of all requirements. The vertical is even more difficult as it has to detect the face of the wheel i.e. the bit that runs on the track. This means it must be in the middle of the track. Design is now crucial, I requested to remove 8” of track at the point where a sensor is required and fitted the sensor into it. It was then refitted with the standard fishplates. One of these fitted just in front of the tunnel. Although there was a design problem this was resolved and they have proved ultra reliable. Bill Colman used 2 of these in the wheel counting system with some success. (Wheel counting requires extreme reliability). Its main disadvantage is the removal of 8” of track where the detector is required. And one complete unit is required as a spare and cannot be changed very quickly,


While this was going on Peter Mac came up with a treadle system which Mike Brophy made the 30 off, necessary for full track and signals operation. Although they do function and make a nice clattering noise as the train traverse them. These are the main method in use at the moment. These are mechanical and are by definition will be unreliable and this has been borne out in practice with parts becoming loose and springs break at regular intervals About four or five weeks ago Bill and I decided that we had to beat the vertical problem. I now have a new vertical insert adjacent to the workshop on the inner track. A 40mm slot is angle ground into the track and a 3mm vertical plate welded into the gap to restore the rail strength and to regain the running edge. The sensor is clamped to this plate to enable wheel detection. This functions beautifully so it is intended to gradually replace the treadles with vertical types. Bill has also made a similar design but using Delron to hold the sensor. This also works well and one of these is in the track on the station approach. Take a walk around the track and have a look. Ossy

Sterling Barsley pondering how much track will be needed to connect his Welsh Branch Line to Balleny Green.

2012 July SA - Little Hay Miniature Railway Ahead...Page 9 The board members subsequently decided...

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Transcript of 2012 July SA - Little Hay Miniature Railway Ahead...Page 9 The board members subsequently decided...