Photograph courtesy Paul Ohannesian

Stirling Hot-Air Engine designed and built by member Jim Mackie

THE WHISTLEThe official publication of THE BRITISH COLUMBIA SOCIETY OF MODEL ENGINEERS

Operators of the BURNABY CENTRAL RAILWAY Vol 47 Issue 5 May 2017

Next Monthly General MeetingWednesday, May 3, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.

Rainbow Creek Station

All members of the Society are encouraged to attend this meeting!

In This Issue

120 North Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, B.C.

P. 2: Calendar / P 3: Club Jubilee Steam Locomotive

P. 4: Model Engineering / P. 5: Alex DeRuiter / Page 6: Wayne Huffman; Advertisements

The Whistle Page 2 May 2017

published by, and for, the members ofThe British Columbia Society of ModelEngineers (BCSME). Any opinions expressed herein do not necessarilyreflect the policies of the Society. Allcontent is the copyright property of The BCSME, and the individual contributors.

BCSME Address & Track Site

Rainbow Creek Station

Burnaby, B.C., CanadaV5C 6K1

Editor of The Whistle

Paul Ohannesian

Vancouver, B.C., CanadaV6S 1A1

Submissions & Deadline

If a BCSME member has any articlesor photos that they'd like to submit forpublication, please send them to the editor as an attachment in an e-mail.

e-mail's subject line. The moresubmissions made by members of the

will be.

The deadline for any submissions

Means of Publication

I use Apache's OpenOffice suite on aMac Mini to create this newsletter.OpenOffice can open almost anyMicrosoft document file.

Photos are handled using The GIMP.Any digital pictures being submittedfor publication should be in as high aresolution .jpeg format as is possible.

The Whistle is the official newsletter

120 North Willingdon Avenue

Phone: 604-291-0922

Web Site: www.bcsme.org

3538 West 17th Avenue

E-mail: whistleeditor@bcsme.org

Please add the word “Whistle” in the

the Society the better this newsletter

is the 3r d Sunday in every month.

Communication about BCSME Concession and Bookings Business:Robert Miller - concession@bcsme.org / Bruce Wilson – bookings@bcsme.org / Tom Carr – communications@bcsme.org

President Terry Anderson 604-608-6606Vice-president Kent Cavaghan 604-597 9018Secretary Joe Holman 604-925-1879Treasurer Brian Carlson 604-980-3767Business Manager Robert Miller 604-533-8032Site Manager Frank Fleury 778-227-7902Operations Manager Bruce Wilson 604-874-2667Shop Manager Alan Ponting 604-588-2784Communications Manager Tom Carr 604-463-9156Financial Review Bill McKenzie 604-789-2720

These meetings are generally held on the first Wednesday of each month, unless ithappens to fall on a statutory holiday, at 7:30 p.m. At Rainbow Creek Station.

These meetings are generally held on the last Wednesday of each month, unless it happens to fallon a statutory holiday, at 7:30 p.m. At Rainbow Creek Station.

The BCSME Directors & Officers

Monthly General Meetings

Directors' Meetings

Members are welcome to attend these meetings!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

General Membership Meeting7:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 3, 2017

General Membership Meeting7:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 7, 2017

SOCIETY BBQ'S, starting at 5:30 p.m.: AVictoria Day Weekend, Sat., May 20, 2017Canada Day Weekend, Sat., July 1, 2017B.C. Day Weekend, Sat., August 5, 2017

Labour Day Weekend, Sat., September 2, 2017

PLAY DATES, start at 10:00 a.m., run to 3:00 p.m.

Friday, May 5, 2017 (Pro-D Day)Friday, May 26, 2017

Friday, July 21, 2017Friday, August 18, 2017

Friday, September 15, 2017

MAKER FAIRESat.-Sun., June 10 – 11, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, at PNE Forum

Volunteers needed to man booth both days; Inform Tom Carr

Also check: bcsme.org

(BBQ lunch will be provided for all participants)

Friday, June 30 (1st day of summer school vacation)

LOCOMOTIVES SEEN AT THE BURNABY CENTRAL RAILWAY.

JUBILEE 4-4-4 Number 2930

By Lindsay McDonnell, with additions by Gerry Wittenberg

Photograph courtesy Gerry Wittenberg

The club owns a unique model of a Canadian Pacific Railway Jubilee 4-4-4 steam locomotive model. The wheel arrangement is unusual, as the CPR designed it for special routes, namely light-railed branch lines on the Prairies. They were for high speed passenger service, hence the large-diameter 80” drive wheels. The engines look like shortened versions of the more common Royal Hudson. The model is 1.6” scale to the foot and was built by the late Ernie Allen of NewWestminster, BC. It has a number of features: it is a coal burner with coal from Wales (Anthracite) being mixed with some local coals to make a free steaming engine. It has a Briggs-style boiler made from stainless steel with copper pipe heat exchangers on the sides of the dry firebox. It is superheated with stainless steel tubes. It runs at 125 psi, has 2.25” bore cylinders with 3.5” stroke and 10” dia. drive wheels. With 80% pressure in the cylinders it has a starting tractive effort of 177 lbs.

The model has a stainless steel boiler jacket (cladding) like its big sister Royal Hudson No. 2860 at the West Coast HeritageRailway Park museum in Squamish. It has the same semi streamlined smokebox front too. It has Walshaerts valve gear with piston valves for very efficient running. It can easily pull an 18-passenger train up our 2.2% grades.

The engineers are specially trained to run this coal-burning loco. When firing the locomotive from cold, the axle [water] pump must be checked to make sure it is operating before the boiler is filled. After the boiler has been filled with water, accelerant-soaked wood [kerosene or diesel oil] is placed on the grate in an even layer, then coal is layered on top of the wood. The last shovel-full of coal is soaked in alcohol and spread across the coal already in the firebox. After the blower has been turned on carefully so that it won't draw the fire out until it is well established, the fire is lit.

Then more coal is added gradually and the blower (compressed air) is turned up to high. When there is about 50 psi on the pressure gauge the steam-fed blower is opened and takes over and the air supply is shut off and disconnected. The pressure is then raised to a maximum of 125 psi [pounds per square inch] until the safety valves lift. The injectors that take the water from the tender are tested to see that they feed into the boiler properly. Finally, the valve gear is lubricated with a non-drip oil, and then the engine is ready to roll.

With the drain cocks under the cylinders open to expel condensing steam, the engineer gingerly opens the throttle, and when the water is blown out of the cylinders he can open up and proceed to normal speed. The loco will not make a complete run without coal being added enroute. If too much coal is put into the firebox, it will pile up on the arch below the bottom row of boiler tubes and block the heat from the fire, resulting in poor steaming. The secret to firing this locomotive is to add small amounts of coal often.

When the engine is blasting away up a hill it is drawing more air through the fire and that increases its burning rate and so helps maintain the steam pressure when so much is being drawn off. This invention is at the heart of all steam locomotives and was invented by Robert Stephenson in the UK on his successful engine “Rocket” back in 1825. That's where the Chuff Chuff comes from that is so memorable about a living, breathing steam engine.

The Whistle Page 3 May 2017

Model Engineering

By Lindsay McDonnell

I'd like to take a look at the state of our hobby, also called Live Steaming (a bit of an illusion in this day of Diesel-outline models). It started in the early 20th century with the predominant designer/writer/builder being “LBSC” [Curly Lawrence, 1883-1967] in the UK. Models started out mostly in 2-1/2” gauge and by the1930's, 3-1/2” Ga. was becoming dominant. This 3/4”: 1 ft scale was more able to tow a few passengers. After WW2, 5”Ga. became popular, and by now USA modellers in the west were starting into the hobby, but in 4-3/4” Ga., which is nearest 1/12th size. By the 1950's 1/8th-size models were gaining popularity with 7-1/4” Ga. in the UK and elsewhere in the world including eastern USA and eastern Canada.

However, a new gauge was started in California, 7-1/2” Ga., mainly by the company, Little Engines. It became the predominant gauge for the west and has spread to much of the USA and Canada today. Most engines in North America these days are built to run on 7 1/2”Ga. Our club track is actually 7-5/8”Ga. with the gauge-widening allowing longer wheelbase equipment to traverse the curves more easily and with less wheel wear. The size of the locomotive is usually 1.6”: 12” or 1.6 scale as this is almost exactly 7.5 times smaller than 4ft-8- 1/2” standard gauge prototypes. The typical width of our model trains is 16”.

Many modellers today build narrow-gauge models, and these tend to have much larger bodies but still run on the same 7-1/2” Ga. track. Live-steaming engines are not as predominant as they were in the 50's, 60's,70's, 80's and 90's. The skills needed, the time, the cost and the upkeep of model steam engines persuades many who come into the hobby to build Diesel-outline locos. Most are powered by small gasoline engines, and a company in Oregon produces many scale models with hydraulic drives. These are very affordable, don't require boiler tests and can be instantly started and gotten out on the track. They are easier to drive and don't require special training that the steam models require, and for club operations they are able to be run by newcomers in short time. The maintenance of the locos is simpler, as off-the-shelf parts can be used. This development means that clubs can handle bigger crowds than with an all-steam operation. This helps their finances also. Another reason more Diesel-outline models are being built is that younger members are only used to seeing Diesels on the railroads and often don't have the machining capabilities to build a steam locomotive. Many older members gained skills in the armed forces or in industry but with thedigital age these jobs are done by robots or CNC machines.

Another change has happened lately: the building of electric battery-powered locos instead of gassers. This welcome change has been spearheaded by our club's use of powerful electric locos using bigger motors instead of small between-the-wheels, axle-hung motors that could burn out easily. The length of operation on the battery was improved vastly by electronic controllers that could provide regenerative braking, feedingelectricity back to the battery. Our use of one big 24v industrial battery, together with the newer permanentmagnet motors made it possible to run six-hour shifts and haul as many passengers as our most powerful steam locos. Another advantage of electrics over gassers was the digital sound systems that were much more realistic than the former lawnmower engines, and they could be adjusted in volume. The biggest improvement was the driver didn't have to breathe exhaust fumes, and there was a lot less vibration. Fuel cost is another consideration even with oil prices low at this time, and the extra maintenance costs of gassers over electrics for club use is compelling. Today the industry is selling more electrics than gassers aspowerful, efficient Etek motors have arrived. This pancake design comes from the UK 's Lynch motors and Briggs & Stratton made many for OEM use. They are now copied by other companies. Our CPR FP45 is powered by one of these motors.

That's the scene in our hobby today as I see it. The hobby is generally growing, but more by members nearing retirement. Its a great pastime and keeps people active. We are running a railway and there are many jobs and skills required. There is also the social aspect: if it isn't fun we won't retain members. Too much bureaucracy can inhibit membership but we do need rules. One club member from a sister club said tome one time, “You run this club too much like a business”. My reply was “We run our club in a businesslike way. If we didn't it would be chaos and members would soon leave”. Enjoy the hobby!

The Whistle Page 4 May 2017

In Memoriam

Alex DeRuiter, d. April 11, 2017

[Obituary authored by BCSME Member Joe Carroll]

Photograph courtesy Bram DeRuiter

Life Member of the BCSME Alex DeRuiter died on the 11th of April after a period of failing health. He is survived by his younger brother Bram, who is also a Life Member of our organization.

Bram grew up in Holland during the Second World War and was well aware of the brutality and shortages of the German occupation. After the end of the war the family emigrated to the USA and began a new life in California. Alex’s varied skills served him well whilst working as a carpenter, a truckdriver and in aircraft plants.

Alex and Bram relocated to the Lower Mainland of British Columbia where they found the BCSME about to build a miniature railway at Heritage (later Burnaby) Village Museum. Alex became very involved at the Village and the DeRuiter team worked on the ground level and the raised track with its superb trestles, digging sewers and supervising the dumping of truckloads of fill, to mention a few areas.

The brothers built a new home on a sizeable piece of land in Aldergrove, and in the following years Alexwas able to build a host of very nice models of all kinds. Alex told a friend that those were the happiest times in his life. The BCSME moved to the Rainbow Creek site and I recall the brothers working with meto cut and form what seemed like a never ending pile of rebar for the roof of the long tunnel..

A decision was made not to build a raised track at Rainbow Creek, and Alex and Bram agreed to a proposal to build one on their property. The site has become a warm and friendly place for friends of allages.

The recent years were not kind to Alex and he spent some time in care before his death. He is remembered as a kind man with a wry sense of humour, and as a talented and skilled craftsman.

Bram wishes it to be known that we are still welcome to visit their site, on the last Sunday of the month (weather permitting).

The Whistle Page 5 May 2017

In Memoriam

Wayne Huffman, November 1, 1938 – March 28, 2017

[Obituary authored by BCSME Member Joe Carroll]

Photograph courtesy Russell Grycan

BCSME member Wayne Huffman died recently. He joined the BCSME just in time to be part of the move from Heritage (now Burnaby) Village. Wayne found himself involved with an enthusiastic group ofhard workers and that seemed to suit him.

Members took notice when Wayne was able to provide the loan of a D8 bulldozer and a large tracked Cat excavator on tracks, gratis, from his employer, Finning Tractors. On the way home from work Wayne would stop off at the railway site and, if possible, put in a couple of hours before going home.

Wayne and Helen moved to a home close to Point Roberts and Wayne got to the serious business of putting in a workshop and starting on a 7 1/2” gauge Shay loco. Somehow he also found time to indulge in another of his loves, classic cars.

Ten years ago the Huffmans moved again to build a dream home at Salmon Arm. Wayne would turn upat Rainbow Creek on a Tuesday or a week-end. His cheeky grin was always welcome. More recently thevisits became less frequent as dementia took hold. Wayne was able to make one last trip to the Lower Mainland to see their latest grandchild. With that accomplished, a trip to Lion’s Gate Hospital confirmedthat he would not be returning to their dream home. We miss him already.

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The Whistle Page 6 May 2017