The Bulletin Nov/Dec 2020

OWNERS CLUB BULLETIN November / December 2020 LIMITED BY GUARANTEE LIMITEDRegistered BY GUARANTEE Office: Abberley Cottage, 7 DowlesRegistered Road, Office:Bewdley, Worcs., DY12 2EJ AbberleyCompany Cottage, Registration 7 Dowles No. 574562Road, Bewdley, FoundedWorcs., DY12 June 19562EJ CompanyPresident Registration : Sally Railton No. Joslin 574562 Vice President Founded : John June Dyson 1956 President : Timothy Railton Vice President : John Dyson HONORARY DIRECTORS Chairman : PETER PHIPPS HONORARY DIRECTORS ChairmanArbour Grange, : PETER Sandy PHIPPS Holt, Fairmile Avenue, Cobham, Surrey, KT11 2TT ArbourTelephone:Chairman Grange, :01932 MICK Sandy 867090 JARVIS Holt, E Fairmile- mail: [email protected] Avenue, Cobham, Surrey, KT11 2TT Telephone:The Barn, Boulters 01932 867090 Lane, Maidenhead,E-mail: [email protected] Berkshire, SL6 8TJ Secretary : MAX HUNT Telephone: 01628 674116 E-mail: [email protected] Abberley Cottage, 7 Dowles Road, Bewdley, Worcs., DY12 2EJ Secretary : MAX HUNT Telephone: 01299 401135 E-mail: [email protected]. AbberleySecretary Cottage, : MAX HUNT7 Dowles Road, Bewdley, Worcs., DY12 2EJ Telephone:SparesAbberley Registrar Cottage, 01299 401135:7 GEOFF Dowles E Road,MOORE-mail: Bewdley,[email protected] Worcs., DY12 2EJ Moorhays,Telephone: Rhosgoch, 01299 401135 Builth E Wells,-mail: [email protected], LD2 3JY TechnicalTelephone: Advisor01497-851296 : GEOFF E-mail: MOORE [email protected] Moorhays, Rhosgoch, Builth Wells, Powys, LD2 3JY Telephone: 01497-851296 E-mail:COMMITTEE [email protected] MEMBERS COMMITTEE MEMBERS Treasurer : ROGER MAYNE WoodsideFinancial enquiriesCottage, 11 should Stanford be sentRoad,COMMITTEE via Great E-mail: Witley, [email protected] MEMBERSWorcs., WR6 6JG Telephone: 01299-896457 E-mail: [email protected] TreasurerBulletin Editor : ROGER : NEIL MAYNE THORP Bulletin Editor : NEIL THORP 7Ridgewood Greenbank, Grange, Polruan, Chilton Fowey, Road, Cornwall, Upton, PL23 Didcot, 1QP Oxon., OX11 9JL Ridgewood Grange, Chilton Road, Upton, Didcot, Oxon., OX11 9JL TelephoneTelephone:: 01726 01235 870943 850756 E -Email:-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Telephone: 01235 850756 E-mail: [email protected] BulletinRegistrarSpares Registrar Editor : MIKE : NEIL: STENHOUSEMIKE THORP STENHOUSE Ridgewood17 Peasehill Grange,Close, Rawdon, Chilton Road,Leeds, Upton, LS19 6EF Didcot, Oxon., OX11 9JL Telephone: 012350113-2504896 850756 E--mail:mail: [email protected]@[email protected] Publicity/Website: BRYAN TYRRELL SparesRegistrar Registrar of Cars : :MIKE TOBY STENHOUSE SHARP Claremont, The Meads, Stanstead, Essex, CM24 8QA 17Hele Peasehill Cottage, Close, Hele Rawdon, Cross, Ashburton, Leeds, LS19 Newton 6EF Abbot, Devon, TQ13 7QX Telephone: 01279 812113 E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 011301364-2504896 652948 E-mail: [email protected]@railton.org Registrar of Cars : TOBY SHARP Hele Cottage, Hele Cross, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ13 7QX Telephone: 01364 652948 E-mail: [email protected] Material appearing in the Bulletin is copyright and must not be used without the written permission of the copyright holders. The views and opinions expressed (including advertisers) are not necessarily shared by the Editor or by the Railton Owners Club. The Club accepts no responsibility for the following of contributors’ advice, nor does it necessarily endorse the services or products offered by advertisers, which are published in good faith. 2 RAILTON OWNERS CLUB The premier British club for enthusiasts of all Brough Superior, Railton, Hudson, Essex and Terraplane motor vehicles. List of contents: November / December 2020 Editorial .............................................................................................................................4 Secretary’s Notes ...............................................................................................................4 The Chairman’s Column ................................................................................................6 Renovation of Brough Superior AYU 658 ...................................................................7 A Private Race ............................................................................................................... 14 R.O.C. Annual Accounts 1st August 2019 to 31st July 2020 ................................... 17 More on the Hyde-East Special ................................................................................. 21 Early Days with the R.O.C. ........................................................................... 21 Cars I have owned ............................................................................................ 24 Correspondence ............................................................................................................ 27 Calendar 2021 ................................................................................................................. 31 Membership News ......................................................................................................... 32 Technical Tips ............................................................................................................... 33 Market Place .................................................................................................... 33 The front cover photograph is a bit of a mystery to the Editor but, with three marque cars included it was too good to pass over. It is easy to identify the cars but when and where was the picture taken and who owned the cars at the time? The rear cover is from The Autocar , 10th April 1936. This is the only time a Ranalah Sportsman’s Coupé was featured in these cover adverts. It has been selected as there have been two of the surviving cars sold recently. R.O.C. Website: www.railton.org User name and password for the Members’ area are advised at renewal time. Please e-mail the Editor, the Chairman or the Secretary if a reminder is required. PrintedPrinted by by Hertfordshire Spinnaker Print Display Ltd Plc https://www.spinnakerprint.co.uk/ http://www.hdprint.co.uk/ 3 EDITORIAL As usual I am seeking material for future issues. The account of the restoration of David Bingham’s Brough will end soon and John Dyson has promised an article on the coachbuilder EJ Newns, who bodied several Railtons. This will make fascinating reading as he has been able to unearth quite a lot of archival material. Without John’s continual input the Bulletin would be rather thin so please consider what you might contribute. Please tell us how you have used the car recently for social gatherings (a rare thing in 2020) and technical tips are always welcome because we all face the same issues in keeping our cars mobile and safe. I am also always on the lookout for high quality images to grace the front cover of the Bulletin. It does not have to be of a vehicle in pristine condition – a “barn find” picture can be just as interesting as a concours condition car. Neil Thorp CLOSING DATE FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE JANUARY / FEBRUARY BULLETIN IS 10TH JANUARY. Note: If you have not renewed your subscription this will be your last Bulletin. SECRETARY’S NOTES As I write this column, we are into the first day of the second national “lockdown”. At this time of year I would normally have been putting the finishing touches to our stand at the N.E.C. Classic Car Show but this, along with most of the usual opportunities for us to enjoy driving and showing our cars, has been cancelled owing to the pandemic. Against this background it is interesting that many of the classic car journals have reported increased trading activity amongst the various marque specialist suppliers. It seems that many enthusiasts, deprived of their usual pleasures, have taken to their workshops and got stuck into rebuilds and restoration projects. Figures from our own Spares Scheme, ably managed by Mike Stenhouse, would seem to reflect this trend. The increased turnover for 2019/20 shown in the Annual Accounts (printed elsewhere in this issue) stems, Mike tells me, from several major rebuilds currently being undertaken by members. We must hope that 2021 brings opportunities for them to enjoy the results of their labours. My own modest achievement in recent weeks has been to tackle the overhaul and refurbishment of a Carter twin-choke carburetter. For someone used to the elegant simplicity of the side-draught S.U. on my various MGs, the Carter – particularly in twin-choke form – has always looked a daunting prospect. Nevertheless, armed with one of Mike’s imported rebuild kits and the relevant pages of the Hudson manual, I decided to tackle the rather grubby spare carburetter that has been sitting on a workshop shelf. With so many small clips and springs, the great thing was to work on a bench spread with clean white paper and to label items carefully. Apart from the obvious gaskets, the rebuild kit came with what seemed a 4 myriad of tiny washers and seals, not all of which were relevant to my particular model. However, I now understand the mysteries of “anti-percolation valves” and “vacuum- controlled metering rods”. After reassembly there were happily no fiddly bits left over on the bench and with the refurbished carburetter FPH started and ran smoothly. Result! – but I would still rather have a nice simple SU. For Club administration the major loss from Covid 19 has been the A.G.M. As Secretary I would have had relatively little to report bar the enrolment of 16 new members as recorded over the

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