Canadian MeccaNotes 200212Toronto Hobby Show 2002 1 Editor’s Notes 2 Canadian Meccanoman of the...

CanadianMeccaNotes--- Issue #28 ---

Dec. 2002

Toronto Hobby Show 2002See page 8 for more details & photos.

London RT Bus

2 Canadian MeccaNotes December 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© Copyright 2002 C.M.A.M.A.S.and/or Individual Contributors.

Meccano and Erector are registered tradenames and are used throughout Canadian

MeccaNotes by kind permission ofMeccano Ltd..

North American subscribers to CanadianMeccaNotes are automatically membersof the Canadian Modeling Association forMeccano and Allied Systems (CMAMAS).

Canadian MeccaNotesThe “Canadian MeccaNotes” (ISSN 1207-2249) newsletter is published 4 times peryear (March, June, September and De-cember) by the Canadian Modeling Asso-ciation for Meccano & Allied Systems(CMAMAS).

“Written and produced by Meccano en-thusiasts for Meccano enthusiasts.”

Canadian Modeling Association forMeccano & Allied Systems (CMAMAS)130 Neptune Drive, Suite 1109Toronto, OntarioCANADA M6A 1X5

http://www.memeshadow.net/cmamas/

[email protected]

CMAMAS ExecutivePresident ... Colin Hoare, 18 Tweedle St.,Glen Williams, Ontario, Canada L7G 3S5,[email protected], (905)873-8261

Vice President ... Attila Szakonyi, 10Fendley Crt, Brampton, Ontario, Canada,L6Z 3H9, [email protected],(905)846-5287

Treasurer ... Marsha Brandston, 130 Nep-tune Drive, Suite 1109, Toronto, Ontario,Canada M6A 1X5,[email protected]

Secretary ... Colin Hinz, 148 HowlandAve., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 3B5,[email protected], (416)516-8686

Editor/Webmaster ... David Williams, 3017- 111A Street, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaT6J 3Y5, [email protected], (780)438-1197

Subscriptions(4 Issues Per Calendar Year)

o within North America: Canada - $30;U.S.A. - US$28 Make cheque or moneyorder payable to CMAMAS, mail to Trea-surer, address above.

o elsewhere: rates upon inquiry, availablefrom MW Models, address on page 27.

... continued on page 3

Editor’s NotesThis issue features photos fromthe 2002 Toronto Hobby Showas well as lots of other features.

Many thanks to Colin Hoare,Gordon Frank, James Bobyn,Larry Yates, Andre Theberge, DonRedmond, Eric Sinton, ClaytonRose, Donald Morton and othersfor supplying items for this issue.

Starting with the March 2002issue, the club drew from the names of everyonewho submitted articles to the newsletter. Thewinner gets a prize in appreciation of theirefforts. The September 2002 winner was Gor-don Frank, the June 2002 winner was DonRedmond and the March 2002 winner was RickCollette. Perhaps you’ll win for the next issue?

Next issue: Ivor Setten has prepared a modelplanfor the green “London RT Bus” shown on thefront cover.

Correction to September issue page 26: PeterMatthews runs the Transvaal Meccano Guild,which is a seperate club entirely from theJohannesburg Meccano Guild.

Lower right: what do you do when you haveloads of grubby Meccano that needs repainting?A: you remove the paint in a cement mixer!Someone on spanner brought this up ages agoso this fall Gordon Frank decided to try it out. Q2- What do you do with an old satellite dish? A:you use pieces to dry painted Meccano parts!

According to Colin Hoare, the docudrama on thelife of A. C. Gilbert, entitled “The Man Who

December 2002 Canadian MeccaNotes 3

Canadian Meccanomanof the Year 2002

This year’s Canadian Meccanoman of the Year isGordon Frank. Gordon was the deserved winnerbased on his modelling skills, as well as hispromotion not only of the Hobby, but also ofagriculture, through the models that he builds.G o r d o nt a k e st h e s emodels tod e m o n -strate tolocal chil-dren whata g r i c u l -ture is alla b o u t .G o r d o nrece ivedthe Tro-phy at thedinner onthe Saturday night of the Hobby Show. Con-gratulations to Gordon for his work in promotingthe Hobby as well as being an all round genialMeccanoman. Pictured above is Gordon hold-ing the Trophy.

Colin Hoare

Saved Christmas,” will be screened on Sunday,December 15th. It will be seen on CBS in the U.S. and by CITYtv and its affiliates here in Canadaat 9:00 p.m.. The movie was filmed in Toronto.

As always, the newletter is only as good as thecontributors. Your articles, photos, model plans,short news items, want, sales and swap ads arewanted. Items in machine readable form (e-mail, diskette) are preferred but everything isacceptable. If desired, your material can also beposted on our website. It’s a great idea todocument photos on the back using post-itnotes. If you’d like any part of your submissions

Table of Contents

Toronto Hobby Show 2002 1Editor’s Notes 2Canadian Meccanoman of the Year 2002 3Presidential Perusings 4M W Models Store to Close 5Kingston Rail-0-Rama 2003 - March 15-16!5Worm 5CMAMAS Sales Update 6MW Models E-mail Text 7Hobby Show Report 8eBay® Excursions - Part 1 12Discontinued Meccano Parts 13Ottawa Show - September 2002 14Sorting Meccano Lots into Outfits 17Condolences 19Fire Makes Stokys’ Future Uncertain 20Collingwood Past and Present 22www.schraube-und-mutter.de Competition24The New Locomotive Set 25A Visit to the Hamilton Museum of Steam &

Technology 26The Peddler 27

returned, please say so; otherwise I will keepeverything.

Please note that I plan to publish the March2003 issue around March 6, 2002 so the finaldeadline is February 24, 2002.

David Williams


Presidential PerusingsAnother year is drawing to a close, and theHobby Show is behind us. From almost allaspects, it has been a successful twelve months.We continue to supply parts and sets to ourmembers, the number of whom (based on in-creased subscribers) contin-ues to go up, and the qualityof the models at the HobbyShow continues to be high.Of greatest importance, how-ever, is the fact that our maga-zine has maintained the el-evated standard for which ithas become well known, notjust in Canada, but in otherparts of the world as well.

With regard to spare parts,they took quite some time to get here, but nowthat the bulk of the special blue and gold partsthat were ordered from Argentina have beendelivered and shipped to the purchasers, theresponse has been overwhelmingly favourable.What we hope is the final consignment, has justarrived. Those who purchased the Blue & Goldparts have been happy for good reason, I mightadd, since the quality is excellent. I must ex-press my thanks to all the volunteers who helpedunpack the consignments, and then sort andparcel them up for delivery. I spent one daydoing it, and I can assure you that it is not themost exciting job in the world – but thanks toMarsha Brandston, my sweet tooth was wellcatered for whilst I was there! For full details onwhat is happening with spare parts, I refer youto the article by Lynn Krause.

There is always a surprise or two when ourExacto orders arrive, and the most interestingthis time around was the five Bevel Gears thatwere in the consignment. For a start, none ofthem had any teeth, and the boss had not beendrilled so that the Gear could be clamped to aRod. In short they were completely blank! TheSecretary, Colin Hinz, has laid claim to them,and has promised to incorporate them in amodel at some time in the future.

Our first Meccano-only show to be held in theToronto area seven months ago was sufficientlysuccessful that we plan to repeat the event in2003. We will, however, avoid the Victoria DayWeekend. The show will take place on SaturdayMay 3rd 2003, and again we will be displayingour models at “Le Biftheque”. Better publicitywill, it is hoped, improve the attendance by the

members of the public next year.

I doubt that there are many computer-literatesubscribers who do not know of the e-BayWebsite (also known as the world’s largestGarage Sale) for the sale of Meccano. At the riskof getting into trouble from those members thatalready view these pages on a regular basis, theURL is: http://listings.ebay.com/pool2/listings/list/all/category18993/.

As a place to buy parts that are difficult to obtainelsewhere, it is an interesting site on the Internet.Some quality material, along with items bestdescribed as rubbish, comes up for sale on adaily basis. There are approximately 300-400new items listed each week. At least we havenot seen a solitary Spanner offered as a “highlycollectable item” for some months now! The(usually high) prices that are occasionally realisedfor the rarer parts have me shaking my head inamazement. It is not that good a place forCanadian purchasers anyway, unless the ven-dor also resides in Canada, since a successfulbid means that one has to add shipping charges.Given that most Meccano lots emanate fromBritain, the shipping charges have to be factoredin – and, as we all know, Meccano is heavy! Imade the mistake of buying one lot from Britain(no, not the Eastbourne collection!), and theshipping cost was nearly two-and-a-half timesthe cost of the item! The British postal systemgoes by the name of Parcelforce, which I inter-pret as the force that makes you pay high pricesfor them to ship your parcel! The only satisfac-tion I have since had, has been that identicalitems have always fetched more when theyhave been offered.

Some of the most recent selection of items didleave me shaking my head. As most readersknow, “Constructor Quarterly” is recognized asbeing the finest Meccano publication at thepresent time. One year’s subscription costs£50.00 in Britain (£56.00 in Canada), postageincluded. The four issues from December 1996-September 1997 came up for auction, were allsold to the same bidder, and realised £52.49plus shipping. Presumably the bidder had noidea that back issues can be purchased from theowner of the publication, Robin Johnson, forless than he/she paid. Well that, I suppose, iswhat auctions are all about.

All it remains for me to do is wish everyone thecompliments of the season, and may some ofyou come across a superb Meccano ‘find’ in thenext twelve months - at minimal cost, of course!

Colin Hoare


M W Models Store toClose

Ordering by Post Service toContinue

Meccano enthusiasts around the world willsurely be disappointed that the proprietor of MW Models, Geoff Wright, has reluctantly de-cided to close his retail store in Henley-on-Thames, England. Geoff made the announce-ment in an e-mail to Spanners early in Decem-ber. He will continue to operate his businessusing a Post Office Box address, and he willconcentrate on Meccano literature, notablyModelPlans.

For anyone who has either made use of Geoff’smail order services, or, more importantly, hasmade the trip to Henley to visit his store, this willunquestionably be seen as the end of a magnifi-cent era in the chequered history of Meccano. Ipersonally have lost count of the number oftimes that I have made a trip to, and spent moremoney than I had originally budgeted at, Geoff’smarvellous shop, during my visits to Britain.The first Meccano show that I ever attendedwas in Henley, and I will always have fondmemories of how welcome Geoff made me feelwhenever I walked through the door.

On behalf of all Canadian Meccanomen, I wantto express my thanks to Geoff for all that he hasdone. He has handled “Canadian MeccaNotes”for many years, a service which has helpeddisseminate the fact that we have a viablemagazine here in Canada, and, further, that it iswell worth reading.

Colin Hoare

Stop Press! Kingston Rail-0-Rama2003 - March 15-16!

Start filling up your new calendar for 2003 witha Meccano display at the annual Rail-o-Rama, atPortsmouth Olympic Harbour in Kingston. Thiswill be the 14th annual show organized by theKingston Division of the Canadian Railroad His-torical Association. Their announcement in-cludes a Meccano Society Display” — and foryears we have not disappointed them! This yearthe show is a month earlier than in previousyears — this year only. I hope you will let meknow as early as possible that you will partici-pate.

The commercially organized Train and Toy Showat the Nepean Sportsplex (in the Ottawa area)will be on March 1-2, 2003. Their announce-ment promises a “Huge Meccano Display”! MikeShaw and Jerry Dubois in Ottawa will organizethat show —— and I hope it will be a warm-upthat will prompt you to come to Kingston twoweeks later!

Don Redmond <[email protected]>

WormRecently someone suggested tightening a plas-tic worm (p/n 32P) onto the short arm of a plain3mm hex allen wrench, as a more finger-friendlyhandle. Good idea, and I did so — but I soonfound it had two disadvantages: the threads ofthe worm were not entirely finger-friendly; andthe torque one could apply, while insufficient forsome tightening/loosening tasks, was decidedlyhard on the fingers. I wanted a T-wrench, but Icould only get a 3mm Allen key as part of a setI did not want. Solution: make your own.

I took a 2in Meccano strip with centre hole,clamped one edge in a vise, and with muchhammering converted it into a groove. I pokedthe long arm of an Allen key throught he centrehole from the groove side, and continued ham-mering. Finally I stuck a 3/4 in (2 cm) bit of smallcopper tubing over the strip-key wing and ham-mered it flat. Not finding another small bit ofcopper tube, I slipped a bit of rubber tube overthe other wing of the T (the one without anyAllen key in it). Presto! T-handle compact hexkey, cheap.

Don Redmond


CMAMAS Sales UpdateThe club website is always the best place to getcurrent information on what is available fromthe club, and on how to order it. From this issueforth, this column will appear as a regular fea-ture in the newsletter to both supplement theinformation on the website, as well as to high-light what is available, for the benefit of clubmembers without web access.

There seems to be a fair amount of confusion asto how the “CMAMAS sales” work, and thisseems to be an appropriate time and place toprovide clarification. The main objective is tohelp club members overcome the well-knowndifficulties in obtaining the materials which makeup our hobby. On the one hand, individualsordering repro parts from overseas encountersupplier minimums, bank fees, and various lo-gistical hurdles, and on the other hand, currentsets are difficult or in some cases impossible tocome by in stores. For these reasons, it makessense for the club to place bulk orders forredistribution to club members. It is important,though, to realize that the club’s resources fordoing so are fairly limited. CMAMAS has nohead office, club house, or other such facility,and the three people (club treasurer MarshaBrandston, club secretary Colin Hinz, and yourstruly) who operate the sales donate not onlytheir time, but also their homes, vehicles, com-puters, and other personal resources. From thisit should be self-evident that we cannot offeranywhere near the level of service of a commer-cial retailer, nor do we strive to. We do strive tokeep the workload to a sustainable level, and wealso strive to keep costs and expenses to aminimum, for example by re-using packagingmaterials. Any and all proceeds are used tosubsidize the newsletter and club functions.

Exacto Blue&GoldIn Spring 2002 Exacto carried out a one-timespecial-offer production run of reproduction partsin the blue/gold cross-hatched colour scheme.CMAMAS collected orders from club membersfor parts in both the special- offer blue/goldcolours, as well as in standard Exacto colours,and combined them into a bulk order which wassubmitted to Exacto. Keeping in mind thatExacto is still in the process of getting itself backon its feet following the unfortunate death of Sr.Richini, it took quite a bit longer than anticipatedfor the shipments from Exacto to arrive in Toronto.As it turned out, it wasn’t until late October andeven early November that our club’s executive,

with additional manpower from a few clubmembers who offered to help (thanks folks!),ended up juggling Hobby Show preparationswith assembly and shipment of club members’orders. By the time you hold this newsletter inyour hands, everyone who placed orders in thecontext of this offer should have received them.Some of you, however, will notice that yourorders are incomplete. The missing items are onbackorder, and we are working hard with Exactoto square this away in a timely manner. Thanksgoes to Juan Carlos Rovetta of Exacto for hisfriendly and cooperative manner, which do muchto smooth out the glitches.

Other BackordersSome of you have been waiting patiently forrepro parts ordered quite a while ago. Please beassured that we most certainly have not forgot-ten these backordered parts, and in fact, wewere able to ship some of them together withthe Exacto blue/gold orders. Although at thispoint it might seem hard to believe, we areworking hard to finally get these backorderssquared away, and we ask club members tounderstand that factors beyond our control haverepeatedly jeopardized our efforts.

Future Orders of Repro PartsAs announced by our president in the Septem-ber 2002 issue of the newsletter, due to theenormous amount of work involved in the manytasks surrounding the CMAMAS sales, com-bined with limited manpower and other re-sources, it has become necessary to revise ourmode of operation for bulk orders from our twosuppliers of repro parts, Ashok Banerjee in India,and Exacto in Argentina. Effective immediately,only one bulk order per year will be placed witheach of our suppliers, and upon receipt of theshipments, individual orders from club mem-bers will be assembled and shipped as soon aspossible. As announced previously, the deadlinefor participating in the 2003 bulk order is 15April, 2003. Orders, accompanied by correctpayment, must be received by our club trea-surer, Marsha Brandston, by that date. Ordersarriving in Marsha’s mailbox on or after 16 April,2003 will be carried over to the following year’sbulk orders. Price lists are available on requestfrom our secretary, Colin Hinz. We hope to alsohave them on the club’s website by the time thisnewsletter is distributed.


Meccano SetsOur stock of “Fifty Model” sets, #9550, is nowdepleted, and the “100th Anniversary” sets,#7080, are going fast, but all others, includingthe new “Train Set”s (NYC Dreyfuss streamlinedHudson loco), #0507, and the new “Rattletrap”and “Bat” sets from the “Crazy Inventors” se-ries, continue to be available. Also, there are stilla few discounted “Super Copter” ($30) andMoon Trekker ($60) sets remaining. The infraredkits mentioned in the previous newsletter arenow gone, but we do have a number of thesekits with one motor. They are being sold at theclearance price of $25 each, or $40 for two.

Meccano Spares and BooksStill available are new, unused Calais spares andvarious instruction books from the 1990’s.

CMAMAS MerchandiseCMAMAS mugs are still available for CA$12/US$10, including shipping. Just in time for theHobby Show we also ordered club sweatshirts,with similar graphics as the mugs. These can bepurchased for CA$25/US$22, including ship-ping. Look forward to club t-shirts in the spring!

Ordering InfoComplete ordering information is always avail-able on the club website under the heading “ForSale through CMAMAS”. Those without webaccess can request paper copies of the variousprice lists from our club treasurer, MarshaBrandston, or, in the case of repro parts, fromour club secretary, Colin Hinz. Their contactinformation can be found at the beginning ofeach issue of the newsletter.

To order, add a shipping charge of CA$12/US$22 for orders to Canada or the USA, respec-tively (CA$16/US$22 if your order includes 3 ormore sets) to your total, and send a money orderor cheque for the full amount along with yourorder to the club treasurer. The deadline forChristmas orders is 10 December, 2002. Ordersreceived after that date will be processed in thenew year.

Lynn Krause

MW Models E-mail TextDate: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 12:54:38 -0000Subject: SP MW Mail Order

Dear Spanners

As I announced to last Saturday’s meeting of theHenley Society of Meccano Engineers, due to aconsiderable downturn in business we are nolonger able to afford the luxury of our consider-able commercial premises.

Accordingly, we are planning to close our retailshop at the end of March 2003, but will continuewith world wide mail order using a post officebox number.

This will mean that we will have to offer ourcollection of display models for sale. Details willfollow in our next NewsSheet, which we hope tosend out in January.

When our present stock of spare parts has soldout, we will concentrate all our energies onproducing MW ModelPlans and will activelyseek contributions to extend the range.

To promote our ModelPlan service, I am seekinginvitations from UK club secretaries to attendclub meetings and bring a display of of MWliterature for sale.

I have recently attended Runnymede and HolyTrinity meetings on this basis, and was mademost welcome. By this means I will be able tokeep in contact with many of the good friends inthe Meccano world which we have made overthe years.

So, I am still not retiring! Just changing direc-tion!

Please note, the Henley Society will continue tohold their meetings as usual (last Saturday inFebruary, May & November) and the HenleyGathering 2003 will take place in the ChristChurch Centre on August 30th 2003.

Kind Regards

Geoff WrightMW Models “Everything Meccano”


Hobby Show ReportNovember 8th – 10th, 2002

Although the attendance was not as strong as in2001, the display of models was once again ofthe highest quality, and we had a reasonablygood attendance fromboth out of province,as well as out of coun-try attendees. Wewere pleased to wel-come back many of themodels that had beenon display in previousyears, as well as aninteresting selection ofnew ones.

Undoubtedly, one ofthe main features ofthe 2002 show wasthe model that DonaldMorton brought, allthe way from Victoria,B. C. This model came about as a result of aprevious visit to Ontario: whilst visiting SmithFalls, he came across the now-disused RollingRailway Lifting Bridge that had been in usemany years ago. Donald’s version was builtwith blue & gold Flexible and Strip Plates, rein-

forced with greenAngle girders, avery attractivecombination. Builtto a scale of oneinch to one metre,the main mechani-cal feature was theuse of a pair of 19-tooth half-inch Pin-ions that were inmesh on either sideof the bridge witha composite 9½”Rack Strips. Also,at the base, thebridge rolled overstuds made from½” Bolts.

In addition to thebridge itself,Donald had built asmall locomotivethat ran on a three-rail track. The wayit was wired up

was ingenious in theextreme, and dem-onstrated the com-bination of a very oldMeccano part witha very modern one.The middle rail wasbuilt of a series ofrods, all of whichwere snapped intoplastic handrail sup-ports. The latterwere held in placeby mini Rubber Col-lar Caps.

Our visitors fromsouth of the borderacquitted them-selves well, as al-ways. First of all,Kendrick Bisset dis-played somethingthat I believe hasnever been seen be-fore in Canada – one of only three “MeccanoBoltless Builder” sets that are known to exist.This was a project by the U. S. A. factory, onethat never made it on to the commercial market.As then a m ei m -plies, itwas aser ieso fpiecest h a tdid notrequirenuts &bolts tojoin ev-e r y -t h i n gt o -gether,i n -stead,t h epiecesall haddimplest h a tc o u l db e


snapped into one another. Still in its originalbox, it was admired by everyone. The other itemthat Kendrick brought from his personal collec-tion was his Mechanisms Display in red andgreen. This was identical to the one that wasoffered on e-Bay recently, and realised theprincely sum of £570.00, or around $1.425.00Canadian (at the current rate of exchange). Thebeauty of this display unit is not just the mecha-nisms in the front, but also the chain linkagesbehind that connect all the mechanisms.

Lou Boselli provided a beautiful Erector Carou-sel, with some pristine Erector gallopers toenhance its appearance. The model was drivenby a Jensen Steam Engine, which was actuallypowered by compressed air. As usual, Lou hadan excellent selection of spare parts for sale, butit was a ‘new’ part that caught my eye-and

emptied my pocket a little. Thanks to JoeLong, Lou had been able to locate a manu-facturer of reliable Sprocket Chain, that notonly was compatible with Meccano Sprock-ets, but also with Erector Sprockets as well.Made of high-grade steel, the chain was notcheap at $4.00 Canadian a foot, but it doesnot stretch the way Meccano chain does,and, in contrast to the Temsi chain (which isotherwise a good alternate), it can bewrapped around Sprockets both ways.

Joe Long came up from New York onceagain to show his replica Erector parts – heis a skilled craftsman, to say the least. Inaddition to his wife, Marion, who we havehad the pleasure of meeting before, this yearhe was also accompanied by his brother and

sister-in-law.

For the first time in several years, Phillip Edwardswas unable to join us because of businesscommitments, but California was well–repre-sented all the same with the presence of CharliePack and his wife Kim. This year, they made atwo-week vacation out of their trip, with theHobby Show being its culmination (mind, I amnot sure that Kim would agree with thatstatment, as museums are of greater interestto her). Charlie brought along a small DocksideCrane driven by a Crane Motor, along with aRailway Breakdown Crane, which was con-trolled by five modern Meccano motors. Charlieis talking of writing the model up as a ModelPlan– no doubt the Southern California group and“Canadian MeccaNotes” will be in competitionfor the publication rights!

Our final visitor from south of the border (al-though he originally hails from Canada), was


Dennis Caswell. Dennis brought along a neatEiffel Tower built out of the Eitech Constructionsystem, as well as a Ferris Wheel, an Aeroplane,and a Motorcycle, also built using the samesystem. In addition, he had his version of theTilting Ball Game, designed by Stephen Miles,the instructions for which had been published in“Constructor Quarterly.”

We were delighted to welcome back Gerry DuBoisthis year, after he missed the show in 2001, thefirst time he had failed to make the trip fromOttawa. Gerry had broughtalong three models, two ofthem originally built byMike Cotterill. One washis Tug-’o-War Machinewhich had been publishedin “The MeccanoNewsmag,” and the sec-ond the model referred toas “Circling The World,”the plans for which werepublished also in “Con-structor Quarterly.” His fi-nal model was theSupermodel Double FerrisWheel, which was drivenby one of Norm Lacroix’stwenty-four volt motors.

Accompanying Gerry wasMike Shaw, who did TonyParmee proud, as hebrought along ModelPlan126, the Boeing 777. Allthe plates were skillfullycurved to follow the con-tours of the body of theaircraft, as well as thewings. Mike had, how-ever, made a neat improve-ment through the use of a Remote Control Kit sothat the plane could taxi, and the jet fans wouldrotate. The fans, incidentally, were made froman old (empty) Guinness can, duly flattened, andfashioned with tin snips!

Both “C. Q.” and MW ModelPlans were alsorepresented in Manfred Hammer’s display. Itwas inevitable that Percy the Ping Pong Porterwould make an appearance, and it was Manfredwho was the builder. Percy showed that tradi-tional quirk, i.e. the transportation of a modelcan lead to that minute displacement which willcause a model to malfunction, but Manfred soonhad Percy doing his job properly! One thing I

liked about Manfred’s version of Percy was thathe sensibly replaced the Spring Cord that ChrisShute had used by an elastic band. He alsobrought along the fairground model known asThe Tumbler, another model that was originallypublished in “C. Q.,” plus two locomotives, onebeing from the same source, and his version ofModelPlan 134, the Lartigue Steam Monorail.

Other than our visitors from California andVictoria, the longest trip was made by GordonFrank to get to Toronto. As you will read

elsewhere, Gordon was the2002 winner of the Cana-dian Meccanoman of theYear Award. He broughtthree models with him, twowith an agricultural theme.One was the Steam WagonSupermodel, and a secondthe Street Sweeper from theSet Eight Book.

The other Meccanomanwhose career is in agricul-ture is Doug Armstrong. Hehad a neat Dockside Craneon display, which was pow-ered by four individual mo-tors.

Staying with the agriculturalside of things, and harkingback to the days of windpower, Don Redmond con-tinues to produce Windmillsat an alarming rate. Therewere three different versionsin Meccano in his display,plus one each from the fol-lowing systems: Marklin,Buildo, Structomode, TheEngineer, Temsi, Little Tim

(a.k.a. Duplex Standard), Truemodel, Necobo,Konstruktor Universalivyi, Konstruktor (Russia),Technic (Belgium), Trix, Bral, Vogue (England)Wisdom (China) and Merkur. I hope I have gotthem all – and got them all right! It was sug-gested to Don by this writer – tongue firmlyplanted in cheek - that he should have the song“The Windmills of my Mind” playing on a cas-sette hidden somewhere near by, but Don saidhe had never heard of it. Don also had a cranebuilt with the Belgian system, plus a superbHorizontal Steam Engine in Blue & Gold. Finally,he brought that invaluable Meccano rotatingdisplay model of his that brings the visitors to


the Hobby Show to our booth.

While we are on the subject of topic of wind-powered models, Lloyd Schneider brought alonga neat Bubble-Blowing Machine of his owndesign. His source of wind was the fan of a‘remodelled’ Dustbuster which he had adaptedto act as a blower. Lloyd also had his Set 10Cargo Ship and a variety of small models ondisplay as well.

The contingent from Quebec was not as strongas in previous years, but we were pleased towelcome Dr. Robert Gibeault (fresh from hisEuropean travels) and his son Frederic. Roberthad a superb red & green version of Dr. DavidWhitmore’s Maudsley Steam Engine (I reallymust get some parts repainted by his contact inGranby!). Also, AndréTheberge, his wifeTanya and their twodelightful daughterscame to the show.André had a superbversion of the Num-ber Ten Set Bus in redand green, mountedon a display board, butwith a removable topto show a modifiedchassis (I really mustget some parts repainted by his contact inGranby!). He also had a Strip and Plate Benderto show. The third delegate from Montreal wasJim Bobyn, who brought a model plane inPlastic Meccano with the biggest wingspan Ihave ever seen.

Al Bedford was back again this year, havingmissed 2001, with a model called “WheelsOnly.” “It had a couple of problems in theprimary engineering,” said Al. They have sincebeen resolved. There were quite a few otherswho attended as well, but since they had allbrought the same models as in previous years,they will get a briefer mention. Besides, thisarticle is approaching 2,000 words. Anyway,Ed Barclay, Bill Briggs, Jim Harrison, HubertHogle, Don Pearson, Earl Pitts, Kirk Roth andJohn Worfolk were all back contributing to thedisplay. Of note was the Blocksetting CraneSupermodel from Bill Briggs, back after a five-year absence, and the annual crowd pleasers,the Mobius Loop and the Robot Martha (nowequipped with a cell phone), both by HubertHogle.

The Executive of the C. M. A. M. A. S. all had

models on show. Starting with what one mightcall our ‘Surrogate’ member, Lynn Krause, whobrought what she described as her Wind Ma-chine 2002 Version. All I know is it performedthe same function as the 2001 version, anddrew the same fascinated crowds, only the sailswere (I was told) redesigned. Attila Szakonyisupplied his version of a Fairground AirplaneRide that was, at one time, a regular displaymodel by Meccano Limited, and on the Sunday(to cover for early departures), ModelPlan 93,the A-Frame Beam Engine, which had beenstarted by Terry Stewart, but Attila had finishedfollowing Terry’s untimely death. Colin Hinzbrought his Twin Beam Pumping Engine again,and this writer brought his version of theNewsmag Constructorproject No. 48 (Newsmag

No. 54), the Hori-zontal Steam En-gine “Bromo.”Sadly, the latterwas another candi-date for the Journalof IrreproducibleResults, but it WILLbe working for theSpring Show –that’s a promise.

Apart from the threedays of displaying

the models, we were able to conduct the AnnualMeeting, this time in a room away from thecrowds, which we were able to make use of foraround thirty minutes. The Minutes of theMeeting are available on the C. M. A. M. A. S.Website. It is worth noting, however, that thethree members of the Executive who were up forre-election, Attila Szakonyi, Colin Hinz and DavidWilliams were all returned unopposed. We alsohad another opportunity to get together for arepeat social event. Over forty members includ-ing guests attended the dinner at “Le Biftek” onSaturday night. Apart from the announcementof the 2002 “Canadian Meccanoman of theYear,” there were no speeches – just a convivialevening, where everyone had an enjoyable time,good company, and excellent food. Five doorprizes were also on offer, with two of the namesbeing coming from south of the border. Thewinners were Earl Pitts, Melba Long (Joe Long’ssister-in-law), Glen, Lynn Krause and DennisCaswell.

Colin Hoare


eBay® Excursions - Part1

For Meccano enthusiasts who may not be famil-iar with eBay, it is an auction house on theinternet, that started in late 1995. It is advertisedas “the world’s online marketplace” and is affec-tionately known by its many users as “theworld’s biggest garage sale”. Because it isbased on the internet or World Wide Web, itbrings together buyers and sellers from all overthe world. Frequented by almost 50 millionregistered users, eBay is the most popular shop-ping site on the internet, trading over 5 Billiondollars of merchandise each year. Everythingfrom the smallest pins and needles to the largestindustrial machinery is auctioned on eBay, in-cluding toys, memorabilia, and of courseMeccano.

After using your computer’s internet browser(or visiting a friend who is connected to theinternet) to reach the eBay site (visit eBay athttp://www.ebay.com/) you are asked to type ina Search name to identify what you want to lookfor. Enter and search for “Meccano”, and youwill see the first of several pages of items withMeccano in the title description. Typically sev-eral hundred items will appear, and sometimesover 1,000 Meccano items are listed for sale.Now you see the attraction of the internet auc-tion - this is already much easier than visitinggarage sales, and the variety of items availableis amazing! The eBay site provides simple “howto use” instructions in its “Welcome New Users”page. These can get you started on bidding,buying and selling.

What kind of Meccano items will you find oneBay? Anything and everything, old and new,small and large. Each item listed for sale iscalled, in auction terms, a “lot”. A lot mayconsist of a single part, such as a recent listingfor “Flywheel, Part 132” (with an opening bid of15 UK pounds or about $38 CDN), or a completeNumber 10 outfit from 1968 in its original 4-drawer cabinet (this recently sold for 1600 UKpounds or about $4000 CDN. Most lots are forgroups of parts or “complete” outfits that maybe missing a few parts, but still represent goodvalue. Other lots may consist of literature suchas instruction books and catalogues, built-upmodels, and sometimes even original store dis-plays such as cardboard posters and motorizedmodels.

After an initial look at some eBay lots, you realize

that most descriptions are minimal, and thepictures are often small and grainy. This is themain disadvantage of an internet auction – youcan’t see and touch the merchandise, and soyou must rely on thelimited in- formationand pic- t u r e savailable in the list-ing. In s o m ec a s e s there areno pic- tures, justa brief description of the item. You can send (byemail) questions to the seller, to clarify what isbeing sold. In most cases the seller is a Meccanoenthusiast and can provide the necessary de-tails about condition, markings, colour, date,etc. But sometimes the seller is not a Meccanoperson and will not be able to help very much. Inthese rare cases, you will have to either take achance or decide not to bid.

Unless there is a clear and stated guarantee, allsales are final and there are no refunds on eBay.It is therefore the buyer’s responsibility to learnenough about the item to make an informed bid.A bid is like a contract, it is a firm offer topurchase, and cannot be withdrawn unlessthere is an honest mistake such as entering thewrong bid price. Bidders who fail to completepurchases after winning, or sellers who fail todeliver merchandise as described, are givennegative ratings in a “feedback” scorecard main-tained by eBay. In practice almost all buyers andsellers are honest and reasonable people, anddisagreements can be resolved with communi-cation between parties. The system works well- the author has completed almost 200 pur-chases on eBay, with no major problems and ahigh degree of satisfaction in almost every deal.

Most eBay lots are available for 5-9 days, whichallows plenty of time for bidding, or watchingthe prices change as other bidders participate. Ifyou are interested in bidding and are not sure ofan item’s value, you can consult other Meccanoenthusiasts to get their opinion. But in allcommercial transactions, an item is worth whatothers are willing to pay for it. Since eBayprovides a world-wide auction house, there aremany potential buyers chasing each lot, and afew of them are obviously wealthy enthusiastsand/or collectors. This has tended to drive pricesfor Meccano on eBay higher than enthusiastswould trade at among themselves. However thewide range of parts, outfits and literature avail-able on eBay does constitute an attractive mar-ketplace and it literally “brings the world to your


door”.

Now that we understand how eBay can provideaccess to practically anything that Meccano andBinns Road ever made, how do we use it? Thisdepends on the individual’s objectives, and mostof us are some combination of builders andcollectors.

Meccano builders who need parts and instruc-tions, or even complete outfits, will find plenty ofstock available in all conditions and dates andcolour schemes. You only have to outbid themany others who also want the merchandise!Selling prices for “building” supplies depend onage and condition, and for nice parts they tendto be slightly higher than the prices of typical UKparts dealers. Typical recent sales include:

o a 1970s No. 9 outfit wood box with anincomplete but large assortment of lightly-used parts (sold for $300 CDN)o a 6-inch circular plate part #146 in 1970sblue, unused (sold for $20 CDN)o 50 pieces of used, common, green 1950sparts (sold for $15 CDN)o 10 braced girders part #99 in 1970s yellow,unused (sold for $50 CDN)o 2 rack strips part #110 unused (sold for$15 CDN)o a 1930s circular saw part #159 in goodcondition (sold for $15 CDN)

Meccano collectors can also find almost any-thing available if they keep looking throughoutthe year. Ancient outfits, parts and literaturedating from the earliest Meccano days of before1910 do show up occasionally, such as:

o a recent sale of “sawcut” flanged andgrooved wheels dating from about 1906 ($25CDN each)o a current listing of an original 1909instruction book for the Hornby System ofMechanical Demonstration (sold for over $580CDN!)

Other recent sales of Meccano collectibles, notquite so old, and very pricey, include:o a 1925 No. 6 nickel outfit in oak box,almost unused (sold for $2000 CDN)o a 1918 type E2 electric motor unused inoriginal box (sold for $350 CDN)o a 1929 instruction book for the MeccanoSteam Engine (sold for $325 CDN)o a 1955 accessory outfit No. 4A unused,still-strung in the box (sold for $420 CDN)

Interesting items of current interest and highprices on eBay are Meccano robots based on theNo. 8 and No. 9 outfit instructions. Thesecreations, often slightly personalised by thebuilders, have sold for $1000 - $1500 CDN, eventhough the parts value is only a few hundred

dollars. Perhaps this is a good business oppor-tunity for those who have a few extra partskicking around?

Other collectible Meccano items that are rapidlyincreasing in value on eBay are the AeroplaneConstructor outfits, often selling for over $750CDN when complete with original box.

With all this bidding activity by apparentlywealthy buyers, is there a place for the averageMeccano enthusiast on eBay, people like uswith a limited budget? The answer is a qualified“yes” – there are still good values and sometimeeven bargains to be found on eBay. But youhave to know what to look for, how to find value,and how to bid.

Some suggestions and more guidance throughthe “eBay jungle” will be provided in my nextarticle of eBay Excursions – Part 2.

James Bobyn

Discontinued MeccanoParts

On September 23 Peter Matthews, the operatorof Toys Past and Present, South Africa sent hisanalysis of the latest price list from MeccanoParis, and what a bomb shell it is.

This is a list of discontinued parts compiled fromtheir list.

7a, 8a, 8b, 11b, 13a, 14, 14a, 15b, 19c, 20b,22ap, 23y, 23r, 23ap, 23b, 24a, 24c, 26, 26b,26c, 27, 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, 28, 29, 30, 30a,30d, 31, 32, 32pb, 47a, 50, 51, 51b, 52, 52a,53a, 58, 58a, 62, 62a, 62b, 63c, 69, 70, 72, 73,76, 78,79a,80, 80a, 80b, 80c, 81, 82, 94, 95,95a, 95b, 96, 96a, 99y, 103, 103a, 103b, 103c,103d, 103e, 103f, 103r, 103t, 108, 110a, 116,116a, 118, 126a, 128, 130, 130a, 131, 134, 136,136a, 139, 139a, 140, 142a, 142b, 142f, 142g,143, 144, 146, 146a, 148, 154a, 157, 162a,162b, 164, 165, 166, 167a, 167b, 168a, 168b,168c, 171, 173a, 176, 179, 185, 186, 186c,186d, 186e, 187a, 187f, 187j, 189, 190a, 192,193d, 194b, 194e, 196, 197, 198, 199, 216,222, 223, 225, 226, 230, 231, 236, 236r.

Still in production are 19s, 22p, 23a, 28p yellow,29p black, 46a, 103g, 103h, 188. Not being

... continued on page 27


Ottawa Show -September 2002

Once again it was a pleasure to meet the Ottawaregulars as well as some new faces at this bi-annual get together.

John Wapshot was showing his two cagesmade up of vast amounts of crank handles,

spring clips and curved 5 1/2" strips for theMeccano cage with genuine Meccano built birdsinside. The Erector cage was also built fromcrank handles and about 250 couplings and hadplastic butterflies going around in circles inside.

Don Redmond had two displays on show. Thefirst was his Corliss horizontal single expansionmill engine which carried a 3/8" piston rod sup-ported in a rigid crosshead assembly affording avery smooth and impressive sliding motion. Theplating on the model was the original blue/goldwith crosshatching. The model operated from ahidden 110 volt motor. His other display wasseven Meccano electric motors, the ones withlarge heavy side plates dating from 1915 to1958 and mounted on a slowly rotating turn-table, very nice.

Jerry Dubois showed his reproduction of theDouble Flyboat supermodel 33a in red and yel-low complete with flashing colored lights andmini puppets in the cars, lots of color. Jerry alsohad his circling world complete with Meccanoflywheel for good luck and plastic yellow smiliesfor good humor. Last but not least his tug-of-war in which contestants each side of the ma-chine turn a large wheel to shift the tuggers fromone side to the other. The speed and direction of

turning determinethe winner.

Mike shaw had ahuge model of an“777” series air-liner in yellowflexible plates.This twin motor

model wasapprox. 72"long with a fivefoot plus wing-span, a TonyParmee model.

Ron Kurtz andhis wife Deewere showinga couple of models. The smaller of the twowas a skeleton model of the Gleasman cater-pillar drive mechanism, quite interesting tosee how this operates when a steering com-mand is sent to the model.

The second model was a large, detailed andvery impressive reproduction of an Orenstein& Koppel Bucket Wheel Excavator used in the


Alberta Tar Sands. The machine has beenretired, but when in operation the prototypecould load a 150 ton truck in 35 seconds. Thedimensions of the prototype are breathtaking:

Length: 462 feet Wheel diam.: 44 feetHeight: 105 feet Buckets: 14 with a capacityof 3.1 cubic yards each Powerplant: 12000horsepower

Nine (9) switches control the 13 small elec-tric motors to drive the various functions.Ron says it required two years of spare timeand 5000 nuts and bolts to assemble andthere is still hand rails, stairs and lighting toadd. Corn is used when a full demo isperformed.

Here follows an outline of some of thedetails and features of this outstandingmodel. The excavator moves on 8 caterpil-lar tracks each made up of 21flat girders andsmall French Meccano channel girders tokeep the tracks on the wheels. Each steerable pair of tracks is set within Exactocircular girder assemblies and because theweight is in excess of 100lbs each assembly isbuilt to support the burden.

The built up base and lower turntable race is asingle solid structure comprised of a squarebase of girders and flat girders which supportthe built up turntable race made up of a doublethickness of flat girders on which a spider of 32small flanged wheels is positioned to accept theupper race. The whole structure turns via alarge toothed quadrant and matching pinionand a 5/16" axle.

The central structure is yellow/blue Meccanoand it supports the main boom carrying thebucket wheel and conveyor assembly. This mainboom can be raised and lowered and can slewleft and right to cover the excavation area. The14 buckets of the wheel load the conveyor thatin turn carries the material right through themiddle of the structure and dumps the load onto

a second conveyor set a bit lower in the centralstructure.

This second conveyor extends towards theback and serves to discharge the material intotrucks. This rear conveyor can also slew inde-pendently from the forward unit and does so ona bearing built up of Exacto circular plates,circular strips and 3/8" ball bearings.

The conveyor straps are Canadian-Tire innertubing cut to 2 1/2" width. Exacto and Ashokparts are used extensively as well as modernFrench Meccano. The operator cabin raises andlowers on the inclined central structure to affordthe operator a clear view of the excavating workbeing done.

Because of its size the model is broken downinto several modules that require assembly on


the site, therefore custom plywood containerswere built to transport the sections safely.

Normand St-Aubin was showing a model inprogress built along the lines of the famousblock-setting supermodel. At this stage the

base tower has been completed and thisstructure is probably strong enough tostand on. The completed model will beused not to set blocks but to demonstratea very neat crane grab mechanism of hisdesign.

Larry Yates was showing a red/greenstationary steam engine with rockingcylinders originally modeled by AndreasKonkoly and described in detail by Alan

Partridge in the Constructor Quarterly ofSeptember 1991. Based on a real proto-type, the model not only has rocking cylin-ders but rocking valve gear as well.

Instead of using a crank and connectingrod as in a fixed cylinder design, the cylin-der is free to rock, thus the piston rodalways points directly to the crank pin andno connecting rod is required. This simpli-fication is used in many model steam en-gines, including ones designed for use with

Meccano. The penalty is that steam hasto reach the cylinder block through a flatsliding joint, where there may be leakage.

So that wraps it up for this fall season, allin all a nice get together and plenty ofinteresting conversation. See you all inthe spring of 2003.

Larry Yates


Sorting Meccano Lotsinto Outfits

I would like to propose a technique for sortinglots of 1937-1978 meccano into outfits, from 00to 10. Why would you want to do that? Well, ifyour inspiration for building models comes fromthe Meccano booklets, then you’ll want to knowwhat outfit(s) you own before starting a model.Another reason would be to evaluate the valueof a lot, in term of outfits. A collector may beinterested in separating all the parts in an outfitin order to re-build it in a box.

The idea for this article started with a recentacquisition of a large lot of ‘adult’ meccano. Iuse the term ‘adult’ to describe good qualityparts (straight girders, small loss of paint onflexible plates...) which obviously belonged toan adult spanner, compared to a ‘well playedwith’ lot that a kid may have used to buildseveral models. My aim was to find out what Ihad bought in terms of outfits. The lot wasobviously a combination of several meccanooutfits, from a period spanning from 1951 to1957. No boxes were included, butI identified the period from the manu-als that came with the lot. This waslater confirmed by the seller whowas a relative of the owner.

In the next paragraphs I will describea six step process that I have usedmany times, with good success, to sort a pile orlot of meccano. The methodology used heremakes a few assumptions relative to the lot:there are no pre-1937 parts (no nickel, darkgreen or red, or blue and gold parts), there are nopost-1978 parts (as the outfit numbers meantsomething different), and the lot came from onesource. One also has to assume that some partsmay have been lost, especially the smaller ones,or in some cases, that the original owner addedextra parts to his outfit. The methodology willgive good results based on these assumptions.One pitfall of the methodology is that it cannotidentify non-sequential complementary setsmixed with outfits. An example of this would bea lot composed of an outfit #4 and a complemen-tary outfit 6a.

Step 1: Get your factsYour prime source of information is the previousowner of the lot. Ask him (or her) if he (she) hasa clue about when and what outfit numbers he(she) owned. However, it is rarely that easy.

Other clues are the empty boxes and bookletsthat were included with the lot. Consider thefact that many booklets come with an outfit, andavoid the pitfall that having one of each booklet#1, #2, #3 and #4 means four outfits. (Thelogical conclusion here is they were all includedin a single #4 outfit). Write down these facts asyour first guesses, and later, you will use themto validate your search in step 4.

Step 2: Sort your coloursIn the next step, separate the lot into piles ofdifferent colours. Sort the angle/flat girders,strips and flat/flanged/flexible plates. You willencounter parts from one or several of these 4periods:

Blue strips/girders, or any colour other thanthose described above indicate parts from aperiod outside 1937-1978. You may still be ableto proceed further, but you will have to use yourjudgment during step 4.

Sort by colour the road wheels (#187) and thelarge pulleys (#20a and #19b). Do not sort thegears, small pulleys, rods, cranks, brass partsetc., just put them in a separate pile.

Step 3: Round vs. Oblong HolesIn the red pile, check the flexible plates. Put inone pile those plates with round holes at theend, and into another pile, those with the oblongholes.

Step 4: Top-down approachThis is the key step in the methodology. You willstart out by assuming that your lot has a #10outfit in it!!! This should be easy to spot as you’llhave roughly 25 kilos of parts including a num-ber of large circular girders, 49 hole angle gird-ers, bevel gears, eccentrics and other desirableparts. Unfortunately, this often won’t be thecase and your next guess will be to check for thenext outfit, the #9. But before that, check the lotfor any specific part(s) exclusive to the #10outfit. Also check for parts not included in a #10,like a gear ring (#180), a cone pulley (#123), aloaded sack (#122) and so on. These may havebeen bought separately as piece parts and mixedin with the lot. The parts list included at the endof each meccano booklet will help in the identi-fication.


Now we will assume that the lot has a #9 set.Consult table #1, first row (identified Outfit #9,under Validation), and check in the lot for all ofthe parts listed in that row. These are thespecific parts included only in a #9 outfit (and a#10, but we ruled this out earlier). The tableconsists of two columns, the first identifiesparts that can be easily spotted, the secondincludes additional parts, for extra validation.Check the quantities for each part number andcompare with the one listed in the table. Thequantity should be equal or a common multiplefor all parts (1X, 2X, 3X…). Having a 90% matchor above means that there is a high probabilitythat you have one or several #9 outfits. Natu-rally, 1X means 1 #9 outfit, 2X means 2 #9outfits, and so on. Having a #9 booklet or the #9box would certainly validate this as well.

Note that the match may not be always 100%, asit is very common that a few parts may havebeen misplaced or thrown away by the owner -smaller parts and frequently used parts areprime candidates.

Step 4a: We have a match!Once we have a match, we will extract all theparts specific to that outfit.

In cases where your lot came with a manual forthat outfit, refer to the contents of outfit #9 (inour example) found at the end of the manual,and isolate those parts. Respect the colourscheme for the period, i.e. if you found a mediumred #70, and you manual says 53.9 on the cover,then remove only the medium red parts, andmedium green parts in the right quantities.Flexible plates were separated in step 3 into twolots (oblong and round holes), be sure to drawfrom the pile having a sufficient number of platesto complete the #9 outfit. In addition, be carefulto pick out the correct colour scheme for the#189 road wheels and the large pulleys.

If a manual didn’t come with the lot, use thetable in step 2. If you have red flexible plates,compare the quantity of oblong holes vs. roundroles for either parts #192 or #197. The type ofhole in greater quantity will identify the hole-type for sorting your outfit Remember thatoblong holes were introduced around 1955.Once you “guess-timate” the vintage, find amanual from the same period, or use The HornbyCompanion Series Vol. 6, to sort out the parts, asthere are slight variations in the quantities ofcertain parts from one year to another (as anexample, a #9 outfit from 1954 contains 5 #26pinions instead of 4 in 1953, but lacks a pair of

#41 propeller blade).

Step 4b: Not enough to validateIf you have none or only a few of the parts listedin the first row of Table #1, you’ll then have toproceed to the next row and now check if youhave one or several #8 outfits. Any parts specificto a #9 outfit should be set aside.

Step 5: Scrolling down Table #1You will continue to check for each subsequentoutfit, scrolling down table #1 from an outfit #9to finally an outfit #0. When you have identifiedthe specific parts of each outfit, you will checkthe period and then use the contents list fromthe meccano manual (same period) to isolatethat outfit from the lot, as we did previously forour example outfit #9 in step 4a.

Step 6: Identifying a Gear OutfitThere were two gear outfits available during the1949-1978 periods. Both gear outfits havethese common parts: 2 x #25, 2 x #26, 1 x #27,1 x #27a, 1 x #28, 2 x #29, 1 x #32, 1 x #94, 1x #95, 1 x #96a.

An outfit A had an additional #96a

An outfit B had all these additional parts: 4 x#59, 1 x #230, 2 x #231.

A key rod (#230) is a dead giveaway that a gearoutfit B is present. A few #25 or #27 is also agood sign of a gear outfit A or B. However, ifeither of these gears are present, check first fora #8 or #9 outfit.

Other hints: Quick estimate to find how manyoutfits in a lot

Counting the number of pairs of part #54 is agood guess to get the number of outfits greaterthan #3, as this is one of the few parts commonto outfits #4 to #10, as they are always in aquantity of 2 per outfit. It is also a part that doesnot get used often or lost easily. Other parts thatcould be used as indicators are of course, thespanner #34 and the screwdriver #36, but theyoften get misplaced.

The Spreadsheet MethodHere is an alternative to the steps describedabove and requires the use of a computer run-ning an spreadsheet program or software. Youfirst tabulate your inventory of all the parts in thelot and enter them in a spreadsheet. I havecreated the parts.xls spreadsheet as a templatefor this example. Enter the quantities in columnC. In column D through M I have pre-entered a


“typical” list of con-tents for an outfit #10to #0. Now, using thetop-down approach,you use Table 1 as youdid earlier to check foran outfit #9, #8 andso on. Once you sus-pect that you have aparticular outfit, youselect that column and

the contents, thenuse the <paste spe-cial> command selectthe option <subtract>and paste it on col-umn C. Check howmany rows now yielda negative numberfrom this operation(identified in thespreadsheet with red). If thereare none, or only a few nega-tives, there is a good chancethat you have the contents ofthat outfit in the lot. By doingmore <copy> and <paste spe-cial – subtract> operations,and using <undo> to reverse,as well as a little bit of trialand error, you can easily fig-ure out the outfits in the lot.

Editor’s Note: a copy ofAndre’s spreadsheet can bedownloaded from theCMAMAS website under“Special Features”.

ConclusionWhat ever methodology youchoose, remember that it is not an exact scienceand you may get lots that will puzzle you. Butmost of the time, you will be surprised by howeasily you can track almost 95% of the parts intotheir original outfits.

Andre Theberge

CondolencesOn behalf of all our subscribers, I would like toextend our condolences to Ernie Chandler on theloss of his son Nigel in October. From a personalstandpoint, I should mention that it was Nigelwho kindly provided overnight accommodationfor me the last time I visited Stratford, England.

Also, we all wish Mike Cotterill, who has donesuch an outstanding job organising SkegEx formany years, a speedy recovery following hisrecent illness.

Colin Hoare


Fire Makes Stokys’Future Uncertain

from Neue Luzerner Zeitung, 21August 2002

The cause of the second fire at Stokys has notbeen explained. The future is also unclear. Re-sumption of production in Littauis improbable.

by Walter Schnieper

It smells of cold smoke and wetashes. In that part of the buildingin which, on Thursday evening,the second Stokys fire had brokenout (after a first fire in the storageroom in March), four fire investi-gators are searching for clues.Cause of the fire? “No idea”, saysErnst Bösch, owner of the build-ing and, to some extent, the“Stokys heir”, as will be explained. The policeexclude nothing as to the cause, are “workingextremely precisely” and, as their spokesmansays, grateful as always for helpful tips.

“There are still StokysConstruction Sets”

Stokys business manager, Jolanda Mäser-Böschknows only that: “Production for Christmas2002 is ruined.” And she adds: “Before the firea further supply went to our agent.” Thus thereare still Stokys sets on the market, in the modelshops. But one thing is certain: In Littau, nomore Stokys parts will be made in the foresee-able future. Stokys production in recent yearsreached a volume of about 300,000 (Swiss)Franks - for years it had been on a similar level.

A One-Person BusinessJolanda Mäser-Bösch is trained in machine-drawing, and she works on stamping-machinesthat are sixty- and-more years old, on which fordecades the over 500 different Stokys partswere stamped, punched and bent. “That was,together with administration, about an 80% job,says Jolanda Mäser. Her father Ernst Boschprovided, above all, technical assistance: “Theremaining 20% he adds smilingly.

Machines IntactThe old machines have remained intact, be-cause the fire broke out in the floor above. Lostis the stored production for this year’s Christ-mas business and, in light of the structural

damage, a resumption of production is unthink-able. Ernst Bösch, it is true, believes in a futurefor Stokys, but not in Littau’s Grossmatte: “I’malmost sure that Stokys will survive. But I’m notsure that that will happen with us. The chancesof that are not so great.” Ernst Bösch indicatesthat there are interested parties and he addssomething of a requirement-profile: “It’s some-

thing of a one-man op-eration, and the futureStokys producer musthave the knowledge,ability and interest re-quired.” For Bösch isconvinced that con-struction sets have afuture: “Our agent, thefirm Marcel Csuka inFällenden, is a toywholesaler and hewent along with usbecause he believed

in the Stokys product. What that confirms isthat there are newcomers as well as old Stokysfans who continue to buy parts.

Garage ConcernsAlready after the first fire in March 2002, ErnstBösch established other priorities”: AtGrossmatte 7 he would like to put up a newcommercial building and rent the space. Theseplans affect also Libero Tozzi’s garage whichhas been rented in Bösch’s building for eightyears, operates an auto-workshop and also rep-resents the Alfa-Romeo marque. Tozzi’s garagehas also been hit hard. Several cars are verybadly damaged and the workshop business hasbeen halted since the fire. The roof over thedisplay areas is gone and, inside, it doesn’t lookmuch better than the houses that were strickenby the Elbe.

Aim: New Business BuildingBösch, on account of his new building plans,has given notice to Tozzi, unjustly, in Tozzi’sopinion as, just the day before the fire, a three-year extension of the lease had been agreed.Now, things are cock-eyed. Tozzi would like tostay and avail himself of the three-year leaseguarantee. Bösch says that he would not beaverseto the inclusion of the garage in a newbuilding but, yesterday, also opined: “If I haveto, you know, I’ll just build around the garage.”But before anything further can be undertaken,the cause of the fire and the insurance benefitsneed to be clarified.


A Chronicler HopesUrs Flammer, from Zürich, who put together theStokys story (and discovered that Migros, for along time from the end of the sixties, had offeredM-sets which were made by Stokys), wrote inFebruary 2000: “An instructive construction toysurvived and I hope that it will still survive for mychildren.”

How Stokys Came to LittauThe original building of Stokys ConstructionSets stood, and still stands, in the Maihof inLucerne. The founders of Stokys are the broth-ers (half-brothers) Arnold and Max Stockman.What is sure is that Arnold was the fuss-pot andinventor, Max more the marketing man whowas able to engage, among others, Franz CarlWeber. Anyway, Stokys (which was basedprimarily on aluminum parts and brass compo-nents for gears and so forth) was, in the secondworld war, a welcome alternative to Meccanoand its German Märklin competitor.

Twice SoldIn 1982 the Stockman brothers sold their busi-ness and trademark to Iron and Coal AG inSursee, who took over Stokys under the fashion-able motto “Diversification”. Four years later,Stokys was again disposed of and taken over byErnst Bösch “for a song”, as he himself ac-knowledges. Bösch ran, in Littau, at Grossmatte7, the firm Fema, Motor and Apparatus Con-struction and had room for the Stokys machinesand took pleasure in the construction-set sys-tem. Again at that time, Arnold Stockmancontributed his Stokys know-how. Under theauspices of the new owner, the system wasexpanded in various ways (clock kits, battery-operated model motors, various separate parts).Up to the end, the price-list of separate partscontained 300 different parts which were to beobtained from the factory, and the contents ofthe four different basic sets changed only slightlyafter 1951. The largest of these sets contained1055 parts!

Stokys Compatible withMeccano

Stokys obtained the aluminum sheet from Alu-Menziken, ultimately, 500 Kg of the 1mm thickaluminum sheet per year. Stokys is also liked byMeccano fans throughout the world as a sourceof spare parts because there is no longer anyMeccano, Stokys and Meccano, however, fittogether, that is - they are “compatible”. “At

that time that was craftily taken into account bythe Stockmanns”, thinks Bösch still today.

Photo: “Ernst Bösch and his daughter Jolanda-Mäser-Bösch in the room in the Grossmatte, inLittau, which had already been damaged by firein March.

Editor’s Note: many thanks to Dr. Eric Sinton fortranslating this article from German.


Collingwood Past andPresent

Each winter weekend thousands of people flockto Collingwood to enjoy winter sports at BlueMountain Ski Area or at any of five private skiclubs. Up until 1984 when the Collingwoodshipyard closed, ship building was the chiefindustry, and over 225 ships of all types -passenger ships, lake carriers, wartime cor-vettes, etc. - were produced. The two modelshere demonstrate the past and present of thistown, located on the shore of Georgian Bay.

Snow Grooming MachinesOver the past thirty years downhill skiers havedemanded increasingly well groomed slopes onwhich to enjoy the sport. The earlier groomingdevices were drawn by tracked machines, andconsisted of corrugated steel rollers, or claw-likeunits to try to break up an icy crust.

The modern groomers have evolved into highlyspecialized units. The front blade cuts the snow-drifts (or piles of snow made from artificial snowmaking guns). The rear unit consists of a tiller

which rotates at a high speed to break up anylumps of snow or ice, and behind that is acompressor bar which can be adjusted to pro-vide the desired degree of compaction of thesnow surface. The result is a smooth surface onwhich skiers can move at increasingly highspeeds. It is interesting to note that changes intechnology of skis have evolved as a result ofimproved grooming.

Three companies build most of the groomersused in Canada today. Best known are thosefrom the Bombardier Company. Pisten Bullyfrom Switzerland and Prinoth from Norway alsoproduce fine machines. The Prinoth model T4 ofseveral years ago was used where I ski, and itsangular shape lent itself to modeling. The newerdesigns are more rounded.

All parts of the model are of Meccano except forthe treads where I used strips of black plasticfloor runner, and aluminum angle material, riv-eted together. (I did not wish to purchase eighty-eight 4 1/2 inch right angle girders). The sourceof my Meccano was sets 7, 7a and 8a, given tome for Christmas in the late 1930s and 1940,with the addition of the Army set of 1940 and afew extra pieces purchased at Ashdown Hard-ware in Calgary when we lived in Alberta. TheMeccano was packed up and kept in a large boxwhich I made, and traveled with family when wemoved to Ontario in 1942. The box was putaway in the basement, untouched for manyyears. In the 1960s I bought some Meccano formy sons, but they had little interest, so thepieces went into the box. Retirement toCollingwood in the 1980s exposed us to moreskiing, thus the grooming model.

Ship-building CraneA few years ago I was looking through some oldphotographs, and came across a photo of a shiplaunching at Collingwood harbor which we hadattended in 1982. In the background was acrane but part of its base was not visible in thephoto. I had enough parts on hand to startbuilding a model of this crane. At about the sametime I was able to retrieve from my grandsonssome Meccano that I had given them about1998, in which they had also shown little inter-est. Upon attending the Toronto Hobby Show, Ithink in 1999, I learned of CMAMAS, and wasable to purchase from it, as well as from JohnOvereem and Earl Pitts, enough parts to com-plete the crane. The only non Meccano parts are6/32 and 8/32 bolts and nuts from a local inde-pendent hardware store, because I was unable


at the time to obtain more Meccano bolts. Powerfor the crane is a 1939 Meccano E6 motor.

Of interest is how helpful hobbyists can be. In2001 I showed the two models at the StaynerToy Show. One man who had worked at theshipyard noted the crane, suggested that I hadn’tthe proper configuration for the lower part of thebase, went home and returned with a copy of aphotograph showing how the base was shaped.A few more parts were obtained from CMAMAS,and the result is the model shown.

Clayton Rose


www.schraube-und-mutter.de Competition

This website is currently running an interna-tional Meccano competition for winter 2003.More details can be found here:

h t tp : / /www.schraube-und-mut te r .de /comp_winter2002/comp_winter2002_eng.html

Lynn Krause of Toronto won one of the prizes fortheir summer competition by building an air-plane using a minimal number of parts. Some

photos from thewebsite are pre-sented here.

Lynn com-mented “Ihadn’t real-ized it be-fore, but Iguess the260i is quite

an uncommon part. According to the Calaisparts list compiled by Oscar Felgueiras(thanks Oscar!) this partwas included in only twosets: two grey ones inMaster Connection set#0050 and two orangeones in the blue Five ModelSet #3505.”

More details on Lynn’smodel and the other win-ners are on their website:

http://www.schraube-und-mutter.de/competi-tion/c_result_s2002/aeroplane.html


The New Locomotive SetI acquired the new Special Edition Locomotive,Meccano set No. 0507, while attending theNovember 2002 Hobby Show in Toronto. Thecovers on the box and the instruction manualshow an attractive North-American-style blacksteam locomotive with streamlined features.The primary model is 15" long,but lacks a tender. Howeveramong the seven other modelsin the manual is a shorter loco-motive with a tender. The sepa-ration of the wheel flanges is 111/16" corresponding to Ggauge, though no rails comewith the set. The models arepowered by a 6v motor with abattery holder and a 19:1 gearbox. The whole set is packed inan excellent case with a handleand two levels of compartments for parts.

The locomotive chassis is the useful 5 1/2" DeepFlanged Plate No. 160D extended at each end bytwo 2 1/2" flanged plates. As with all sets from1998 onwards, the gears and wheels are plasticwith hubs for triangular axles and are held inplace with rubber or plastic collars. The setincludes two plastic Rod Clips J3151, which Ifound very useful in another model as insulatingsupports for a third rail for an electric train.

Two matt black Meccano boilers represent thelocomotive boiler and matt black metal flexibleplates form the cab and cowcatcher. With somany plastic parts in the modern sets, it ispleasing to see the steel plates again as in set8650, both triangular and rectangular. Thestreamlining on the front of the locomotive isachieved with the plastic hemisphere B093 usedas a part of a helicopter bubble in set 7650, butpainted shiny black. Unfortunately the rim ofbolt holes around the hemisphere interrupts theclean lines. The black 15/64" bolts blend wellwith the plates, though the longer bolts requiredin a few places remain zinc plated. Another partwhich is welcome to see again is the Crank ShaftNo. 134 as well as a round 5" crank handles 19H,which also appeared in set 8651.

The wheels in the locomotive set are new to theMeccano system, both the six 2" diameter drivewheels and the eight 13/16" guide wheels. Re-grettably all are plastic and must be cut from theframes which held them together in the mold,leaving small burrs which require a little filing.The two drive wheels on the shaft powered by

the motor have triangular central holes and arenumbered B452, while the other four are B453with circular holes. Interestingly the frame forthe smaller wheels has the logical number B451rather than B167, which appears in the manual.There are flanges on the smaller wheels, but noton any of the larger ones. Model locomotiveswith six drive wheels often omit flanges on

central ones in order to negoti-ate the unrealistically sharpcurves in the tracks of a con-strained layout, but retainflanges on the outer wheels. I donot have any G gauge curvedrails to test whether the guidewheels are sufficient to keepthis Meccano locomotive on thetrack. Since new molds werenecessary for the drive wheels,it also is disappointing that theirfaces have large circular holes

rather than the customary spokes.

The only other new parts are an unnumbered setof labels indicating “MECCANO RAILROAD”,“J3A HUDSON”, and “MECCANO”. These allattach magnetically to the steel parts of themodels.

The numbering of parts follows the standardsystem for the traditional ones and a J or B seriesfor some of the new plastic items. However, likethe most recent Crazy Inventor sets 5650 and6651, all the traditional and J parts also have anA number with no easily discernable pattern.

Construction of the locomotive proceeds easilywith the usual detailed instructions including aslightly different spacing of the bogies from thechassis whether or not tracks are used. My onlydifficulty was attaching the headlight to theplastic hemisphere with a Track Rod Fork No.260G because the shaft is not long enough for acollar on the inside and there is insufficientfriction to hold the shaft otherwise. The result-ing model is attractive and operates well on afloor or table. The motion of the piston rods,crossheads and connecting rods is realistic,though caps on the outer ends of the cylinderswould be an improvement.

My greatest disappointment about Set 0507 isits high price of $175 Cdn through our club or£65 (about $158 Cdn) from MW Models. I wouldnot have minded the price if the wheels had beenmetal rather than plastic.

Don Morton


A Visit to the HamiltonMuseum of Steam &

TechnologyA few days before the 2002 Toronto HobbyShow, Kim and I visited the Hamilton Museumof Steam & Technology, 900 Woodward Ave (atthe QEW), Hamilton, ON L8H 7N2. This is oneof seven museums operated by the City ofHamilton’s Department of Culture & Recreation.We highly recommend a visit to this museum bypeople of all ages interested in Meccano orsteam engines.

Housed in Hamilton’s 1859 Waterworks Pump-ing Station, the museum preserves two 70-tonwalking beam-type steam engines. These Cana-

dian-made enginesare the oldest surviv-ing examples in thenation, and are re-puted to be the onlyones in the world stillhoused in their origi-nal structures (otherengines have beenmoved from theiroriginal locations tonew structures for dis-play). The two en-gines, mounted sideby side, are mirror

images of each other, and are operated byelectric motors with all of their original valvemechanisms intact and working. The enginescan be viewed from platforms at the top, middleand bottom, so you can see all of the mecha-nisms. They are clean and well maintained.When we were there we got a special tour withtwo other families with children, and our tourguide was not only enthusiastic but also a greatteacher. Even my wife Kim - not normallyinterested in steam engines - enjoyed the tour!

There are other steam engine related exhibits inaddition to the big engines. We saw a 1/4 scalereplica of a Case steam traction engine, and anumber of other amateur-built engines and re-lated items were on display as well. There arealso other activities for children and adults,especially in the warmer months. Golden Horse-shoe Live Steamer Days in 2003 are May 24-25,June 8, July 1, July 26-27, Aug. 23-24, Sept. 14,Oct. 5 and Oct. 19 from 10 AM to 4 PM each day.On all of these days, miniature live steam trains

are operating. We bought several books at theMuseum’s well-stocked book store.

The museum can be reached by phone at (905)546-4797, or through their Web site at http://www.city.hamilton.on.ca/citydepartments/c u l t u r e a n d r e c r e a t i o n / m u s e u m s /steammuseum.htm

Charlie Pack

produced 27cp, 48c, 142h.

Some parts not available in their normal coloursmay be available in the new colours. All partsused in any of the current sets are availableseparately.

Discontinued parts available in different colours.

52 (red, grey), 126a (red, blue, zinc), 189 (red),201 (red), 192 (silver), 199 (silver)

Haven’t had time to go through the list in moredetail yet but I have noted that many of the smallbrackets are now available in zinc.

On the new list, parts are not in packets of 6 or12 or whatever but appear to be priced individu-ally. Even nuts and bolt are listed as singlepieces.

The new list has 840 different parts on it.

The first column on the list is the old (Liverpoolnumber), second column the new identificationnumber beginning with an ‘a’, the third has anew 12 digit reference number which is used toorder by, and other columns have descriptionsand colours in both French and English.

Discontinued Meccano Parts... continued from page 13


Model Plans and CanadianMeccaNotes Back Issues

Can be obtained from:

o within North America: Colin Hoare (addresson page 2), Money Order or Cheque.

o elsewhere: MW Models (address below).

MW Models4 Greys Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxton,England RG9 1RY, phone: 0491 572436,FAX: 0491 571175,[email protected]

http://www.btinternet.com/~mwmodels.meccano/

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MECCANO & ERECTORParts, Sets & Literature

Old, New, Used, RestoredSend $2.00 (U.S. or CDN)New Parts List w/Prices

*** SPECIAL TO MEMBERS ***

Remote Control Unitswith 2 Motors: US $50.00

ALSOMaster Builder Sets: US $100.00

(Shipping Extra)Discounts on 1990's sets;Call or e-mail for details.

LOU BOSELLI19 Payson Rd.

Cornwall-on-HudsonN.Y. 12520 U.S.A.

(845) [email protected]

http://www.memeshadow.net/cmamas/meccano/Lou_Boselli/

The PeddlerWANTED: Assistance required. Would anyonewho has a complete set of line drawings ofLeighton Hill’s Steam Traction Engine ModelPlanplease contact the President, Colin Hoare, [email protected]. At some point pages62-63 were lost from the original set.

FOR SALE: 271 Meccano Magazines for sale.1934-43 - 34 issues. Fair condition, some withcovers. 1944-54, 1956-8, 1961-5 complete &1996 January-March. Mint Condition. Price$650.00 firm. Contact Colin Hoare if interested.

W A N T E D :Stabil andStokys parts.Samuel F.Chow, 7466 -13th Avenue,Burnaby, BCV3N 4K4, 1-6 0 4 - 5 2 5 -7 8 5 5 ,[email protected].

FOR SALE: Meccano parts: yellow/blue, Red/green, gears, motors and windups, manualsand complete sets l973 vintage, sets 3 to 6.Send for price lists or your wants. Earl Pitts, 26Dyer Court, Cambridge, ON N3C 4B8. (519)658-2086 or [email protected]


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2002

Charlie Pack

Canadian MeccaNotes 200212Toronto Hobby Show 2002 1 Editor’s Notes 2 Canadian Meccanoman of the...

Documents

Transcript of Canadian MeccaNotes 200212Toronto Hobby Show 2002 1 Editor’s Notes 2 Canadian Meccanoman of the...