Mag069 December 2005.Pdf
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HAPPY HOLIDAY Yes, it’s that time of year again – so we wish all our readers the compliments of the season as we carefully steer a PC course between celebration and not giving offence. There was a time when the 25th of December could be celebrated as a Christian festival but it has long since reverted to its Saturnalia origin and consumption is the name of the game. So, what would you like for a 25th December gift? Can the family be persuaded to go down to the local Marks and Spencer and investigate the “Big Boys Toys” section, or will you specify exactly what you want and provide the name of a suitable supplier – “One boxed GRB, please – yes, I know it’s only one part, but I don’t like to ask for too much”. There is certainly plenty of Meccano about, be it Nikko new or red and green traditional. Among our own members interest in (and modelling with) blue/gold seems to be undergoing something of a resurgence. Some people still use (to very good effect) nickel plated Meccano from early last century. This bumper edition of the MSS Newsletter contains a lot of reports of exhibitions where, in most cases, a healthy interest in things Meccano was demonstrated by the public. In addition the recent Harrods exhibition seems to have been a great success (see Meccano on the Internet section). In Scotland we have three new members of the Society and membership is now almost 50. Things Meccano are looking up! A good Modelling New Year to all our readers. * * * * * Club Meeting, 20 November 2005 The meeting was held as usual in the Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling, at 2 pm. Those present were Bert Hutchings (Secretary), Alan McDonald (Treasurer), Philip Hore, Jim Berrie, Angus Plumb, Robert Jones, Dick Martin, Alan Blair, Gordon McMillan, Tim Edwards (Webmaster), Ken McDonald, Ian Soutar, Chris Shute, Jackie Inglis, Jim Wood, Alistair Nicoll, Bobby Brown, Desmond Smith, new members Margaret Tattersfield and Douglas Carson, and visitor Bill Jack. There were apologies from Jim Gregory and Jim Craig. Exhibitions: the Scottish Vintage Tractor Association were very impressed with our exhibits at their annual show at Scone Palace on 10 and 11 September. The Treasurer reported a nett loss of approximately £170 from our own annual exhibition on 24 September, with a very low public attendance from an inexplicably-quiet city centre. Club members also exhibited at, or visited, the Cathcart Model Railway exhibition on 29 and 30 October; the NEMS exhibition in Darlington on 5 November; and the Greenock Model Railway exhibition on 12 and 13 November. These are reported more fully elsewhere in this issue. Future exhibitions: Alan Blair assured us of a repeat invitation to next year's SVTA show. Members suggested more attention to table space, lighting, and underfoot conditions. There were no specific suggested venues for our own annual exhibition, Perth City Hall being closed, so this event in September is likely to be our major one for the year. There are dates elsewhere in this issue for Skegness, Scone, Cathcart, Darlington and Greenock. Chris Shute offered to inquire about us using the foyer and adjacent exhibition room at the Glasgow Science Centre for a suitably-themed display, and the consensus of the meeting was that the best choice of date would be around February 2007. There was considerable discussion of the future of our own annual show, with a majority but not unanimous view that it would 1 incur continued financial loss unless it could be piggy-backed on another event. Even advertisements and handouts at other venues, in the run-up to a dedicated event, were felt unlikely to give a good enough attendance. Treasurer: the Treasurer reported nearly 50 members, excluding some outstanding renewals and including several new ones. One was from Banchory, for whom Angus Plumb had transported a No.10 set from a dealer at Darlington. Newsletter: the Editor took note of the need for a slightly larger print run. Website: the Webmaster was in the process of adding pictures from the Perth exhibition. Other business: because of recent interest in 1934-41 models, the Secretary described changes in parts during this period, and passed round different varieties of plates as illustrations. A fuller article is elsewhere in this issue. Jim Wood from Cupar had brought along an incomplete 1958-64 display model of a motor chassis, remembered in dealers' windows by several other members. The model is sun-faded, but from Jim's museum background he is inclined not to replace any of the parts, but just to motorise it again. Jim also showed us a small-scale Trevithick locomotive from a 1943 Meccano Magazine, but said considerable adaptation had been necessary. Tim Edwards passed round a No.1 outfit box with a striking pre-war blue/gold label, which had been included with a recent large purchase of manuals. Tim is studying the year-to-year differences found in 1937-41 instruction books, and his findings may appear in a future newsletter. Alan Blair continues to work on his large fairground gallopers model, and passed round a neat friction clutch unit which Stuart Borrill had custom-built for him. Chris Shute brought out a coin-operated model of an acrobat, and explained how he had used a weighted arm to solve the problem of stopping the model after a certain running time. Alistair Nicoll passed round a fractured steam pipe from the 1929 Steam Engine which he had purchased at Montrose in August, which will be quite tricky to replace. Ken McDonald and Robert Jones both reported new Meccano sets in Marks and Spencers - the Spitfire again, a remote-controlled 6-wheel vehicle (with 3 for the price of 2), and several other sets. Other members reported seeing Meccano sets of various sizes in Debenhams and in Woolworths. Robert Jones had found a commercial source for 3/8" steel balls at £6 per 100, and the address was made available. Angus Plumb had a nicely-strung No.3 outfit showing the black parts introduced during the 1951-52 shortage of brass and nickel caused by the Korean War. Future meetings: see Dates for Your Diary on inside front page. Bert Hutchings, Secretary * * * * * 2 NEWS OF MEMBERS This should really be “News of New Members” as no less than three new members came to the meeting at Stirling minuted above. Douglas Carson is returning to Meccano after a long break and resurrecting a couple of sets that he has. Margaret Tattersfield had visited a couple of Perth Exhibitions and is interested in mechanisms. She has quite a large collection of Meccano. Bill Jack has no Meccano at all (yet) but came to the Scone event and was sufficiently intrigued by what he saw to enquire about membership and come along to the first available Stirling meeting. All three are very welcome and we look forward to seeing them at Stirling and at some of our exhibitions. * * * * * BLUE/GOLD PERIOD VARIATIONS by Bert Hutchings Several members are now building or planning models in 1934-41 colours, so it seemed useful to summarise the principal changes in parts during this period, particularly for those who do not have the "Meccano System" book. Blue/gold begins with the lettered outfits A to L in 1934. The new fibreboard plates nos.188- 89-90-91-92 were intended only for visual filling-in, or for gentle curves. Short strip plates 193-4-5 (5h x 5h-7h-11h) were for load-bearing, in slightly thicker metal than the postwar 196-7 strip plates. Both types of plate had square corners, but there were relatively few of either of them in the smaller sets. The no.187 road wheels were gold with maroon rims, and a short boss riveted to the inner disc. In 1935, the boss was lengthened and riveted to the outer disc, and the easily-damaged fibreboard plates were replaced by new thin metal flexible plates of the same sizes. 1937 brought in the familiar numbered series of outfits 1 to 10, with quite a lot more flexible plates in sets 5 and above, but still square-cornered. Road wheels became red with white rims; parts 44, 125, 126 and 126a became red instead of gold; parts 22, 22a and 24 became red instead of brass; and the 1 1/4" wheel disc in red was introduced. In 1938, all the short strip plates were dropped, replaced by the same sizes of flexible plates, and all the flexible plates and the 196-7 strip plates got rounded corners. In the last six months of 1941, flanged plates 51-52-53-54 appeared without their gold cross- hatching, and Mazac bosses replaced brass ones on parts 19b, 22 and 24. Production ended by Government order after 31st December, but a few small blue/gold sets were scraped together from shelf stock for sale in 1942 and 1943. * * * * * 3 A MECCANO AUCTION by Alistair Nicoll On August 27th 2005 a very rare occurrence took place in Montrose when a vast private collection of Meccano was auctioned at Taylor’s Auction Rooms. The list of what was on offer was published before hand on internet and looking at it, I reckoned that there might some material of interest to me. Viewing was on the previous Friday, so I offered my wife a weekend break in Montrose – a good way to celebrate a birthday, I thought. So we repaired to Montrose on the Friday morning, booked in to an hotel, and went to view the collection on the Friday afternoon.