Parkerville to Perth Rail Service Reinstated?
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NORTHERN DISTRICTS M ODEL ENGINEERING SOCIETY (PERTH) INC. March — April 2020 Parkerville to Perth rail service reinstated? WELL, perhaps in miniature only, with the inaugural appearance of Ron Collins’ magnificent Crampton locomotive at the club run day on Sunday 16 February. The front buffer beam of Ron’s new engine is emblazoned “Parkerville — Perth”, a whimsical reference to an original Crampton loco now in a French rail museum which has “Paris á Strasbourg” on its buffer beam, and perhaps a reminder that a full size rail service did once exist between Perth and Parkerville. Those who have been to the Boiler Group at Ron’s on Wednesdays have seen this loco steadily developing over the past couple of years. It will be no surprise to anyone that it ran as well as it looks — the phrases “Swiss watch” and “like clockwork” come to mind, but don’t do justice to its throaty exhaust beat. The large driving wheels give it a good turn of speed while the wheels and valve gear appear to be going in slow motion. It certainly did many good laps on Sunday. Apparently it also has a “stealth mode” as noticed by the club members during the meeting on the covered veranda, when Ron and loco sidled quietly up beside the fence and sat hissing very gently in the background. A few minor items remain to be sorted and hopefully we will see the Crampton out and about at future runs. Altogether this project has been an inspiration to other Left: The man himself, pensive here, but pretty happy I’d say! Below: ‘Loping along’. Those big driving wheels are deceptive. members and is a credit to its builder. Well done Ron! Article and photos by Jim Clark Inside this issue: President’s report 2 Technical matters 4 Tasmania 5 Three Stuart Turners 7 School holiday runs 9 Early valve gear 10 Diamond in the rough 11 President’s Report for February 2020 ONE of the highlights of the past couple Let’s hope that we can re-establish some of months was the February club run day. good working relationships with the BMX, We had a good attendance with our closest neighbour. approximately 30 members turning up on Our bank balance is still very healthy and the day and we managed to keep the our income is keeping pace with our monthly meeting down to just short of an expenditure. We do have an upcoming AALS hour. Having a quorum meant that we insurance obligation that will dent the bank could resolve a few outstanding issues. balance somewhat, however this is not an There were seven locomotives running on unscheduled expense. We have notified all the garden railway and another seven on President’s Report members separately of the policy details, the other two tracks at various times. By Geoff Wilkinson which are now with a new provider. The Of note was Ron Collins’ Crampton, policy cost is based on a fairer way of which just loped around the track with seemingly little calculating the premiums and relates to both the number effort (see article on page 1). It’s a very nicely finished of members and the club turnover, so it is probably a bit locomotive and I’d be surprised if it doesn’t get some fairer overall. mention at the AALS Convention in April. All in all, we’ve had a positive start to 2020 and we Other ‘new’ locos were Phil Hartley’s class 4 and the have a few projects planned to improve club facilities. Blowfly that Paul and Clive have recently rebuilt (see Projects we currently have in hand are: article on page 8). Complete re-arrangement of club room upper floor The January public run day was a reasonably quiet Re-furbish club room foyer affair because, being on Australia Day, it seems many Run water and power to the Garden Railway people had made other arrangements. However, it is Re-arrange downstairs workshop area. very pleasant to have a less frantic day and get time to One of our newest members, Bill Beattie, has put up his enjoy the day ourselves! hand to manage the workshop. The February public run day was well attended with We are planning to put some emphasis on road vehicles a number of birthday parties. I took some time to walk for the March club run day and will advise members of around all the groups in the picnic area and received this in the next week or two. Geoff Wilkinson, president only positive feedback from everyone, so well done all. We received an unexpected visit from our two Hamersley ward Stirling councillors at the February run, Karlo Perkov and Chris Hatton. Both were very impressed with the way we manage the public. Points we discussed were rear access to the grounds, public BBQ facilities, additional shade for the queue on the stairs and shade for the station approach. At the General Meeting on Sunday, February 16, it became apparent that there was very little appetite for a school holiday run during the April school holidays. The timing would coincide with the AALS Convention over East, which will be attended by a number of our usual drivers, and seemingly we will be unable to get enough members on that day to be able to operate safely. It was decided at the meeting to accept the BMX club’s offer for their cleaner to perform the toilet cleaning duties on our behalf. The costs will reduce by more than 50 per cent. I pointed out to the BMX president it would be ideal if the toilets could be cleaned after their Friday night event and prior to our Sunday run. I met the cleaner (whose name I’ve already forgotten) on the Saturday before the February public run and she appeared to be doing a good job in Councillors Chris Hatton and Karlo Perkov at the February public run getting the toilets ship-shape for our event. day, with Steve Briggs and Geoff Wilkinson. Photo: Tom Winterbourn Page 2 AMRA Exhibition 2020 — update LAST August an expression of interest was requested Please give some serious consideration to exhibiting from the AMRA executive for this year’s AMRA some of your work — the more variety the more exhibition. Members at our monthly meeting clearly interest for both the public and other members. supported establishing another exhibition as it was felt Entry to the Claremont Showgrounds for exhibitor the last one in 2019 had been very successful. parking will again be through Gate 1 and members will This year’s planning is well underway and a display need to show a club badge or suitable identification to area the same size as last year (8 x 4 metres) has been gain entry. Members attending will be notified of the requested. This is an excellent opportunity for members availability of exhibition entry passes in due course. to display all aspects of model engineering and we are In conclusion, we look forward to a well supported looking for a variety of models and projects to display. and successful weekend which will promote our society These will include both static and working models and, in the eyes of the general public and publicise the of course, projects in various stages of completion. hobby of model engineering. Compressed air will again be available to run models as Exhibition Dates: in the past and a steam-up bench will be provided. Please Set up Friday 29 May (time TBA). note that the usual set up and operational safety Exhibition days: Saturday, May 30, Sunday, May requirements are mandatory as at previous exhibitions. 31, and Monday, June 1. A separate area at the front of the pavilion will be made Opening hours: 10:00am - 4:00pm daily. available for traction engine steaming and running and Please note: We need to be on site each day at Steve Reeves has offered to organise this part of our about 9:30am. display. A roster is now available for members to list Pack up will be from 4pm Monday, June 1. models they wish to display and days they are available. Event Coordinators: Paul James and Steve Reeves Calendar of Events for 2020 General Meetings Second Friday of each month Meeting starts 8:00 pm — for members and visitors Club Run Days Sunday following general meeting Open to members and their guests from 9am Public Run Days Last Sunday of each month (except December) Open to the public 10am — 2pm Special Events As notified during the year Details will usually be published in Steam Lines The Calendar of Events may be subject to change. If in doubt, please contact a committee member — see below Know your Society President Geoff Wilkinson 0424 080 979 [email protected] Vice President Phill Gibbons 9390 4390 Secretary David Naeser (acting) 0433 088 703 [email protected] Treasurer Suzanne Smith 0410 492 083 [email protected] Committee Members Garth Caesar 0418 950 755 Ron Casotti 0407 464 747 Charles Coppack 0409 044 969 Peter Smith 0407 472 770 Boiler Inspectors Ron Collins 0427 461 279 Phill Gibbons 9390 4390 Steve Reeves 0408 955 692 Noel Outram 9525 1234 Librarian John Martin 0406 509 400 Birthday Bookings, Run Days Paul Costall 0407 010 252 [email protected] Driver Training Phill Gibbons 9390 4390 Safety Compliance Officer David Naeser 9276 8709 Newsletter Editor Jim Clark 0407 988 746 [email protected] Website www.ndmes.org.au Society Grounds and Track Site Vasto Place (off Balcatta Road), Balcatta Postal Address NDMES, PO Box 681, Balcatta 6914, Western Australia Page 3 Protecting your new steel boiler NOW we have finished our steel boiler, we coat the whole of the inside of the boiler must protect the outside of the boiler.