The Oily Rag! AutumnAutumn 2015 IssueIssue No 123... DavidHartlandand otherprominentTME membersatthe7.25” GaugeSocietyAGM TheThe Taunton Model Engineers’ magazinemagazine 1 ContentsContents 3. FromtheEditor 3. Chairman’sNotes 4. NewsfromCreech. 6. ReportfromVivaryPark 8. Obituary,DavidEato n ByAndyCooke 9. HowIbecameamodelengineer Abitofnostalgia ByAndyCooke 12. Boilerfittingfailure Acommercialsafetyvalvefailure ByMikeJohns 14. Somethoughtsonmakingslittingsawslastlonger. Stressraisersin slittingsaws ByAndyCooke 15. TheOilyRag”is30yearsofage! Abitofhistory By“TheArchivist” 17. BridMet. Report onaclubvisittoBridMet By“DoctorSpin” 18. FireQueen The17tholdestlocomotive. ByEricLander 20. Seventuppenybits Anovelwaytoassessaxleloads. By“DoctorSpin” 23. Ofshipsandthings Anewoldship. By“FiremanMNretd.” 26. Bagnall“Sanford”. Anewlocomotiveandaholiday. ByBillEdmondson 30. SalesandWants 31. SocietyBoilerTesters 32. VivaryP arkrunningDays 32. Creechrunningdays. 2 MeetingsProgrammeinsidebackcover. From the Editor Asyouwillseewhenyoureadthechairman'snotes,thetideseems tobeturningtoouradvantage.Thenewconfidencemeanswork whichhasbeenonhold,atCreech,isnowstartingtobedone,more informationaboutthatinMike’sreport.ThenewFacebookpageis havingquiteaneffectonpassengernumbers,particularlyatCreech, Ihopewehavenowturnedthecorner. Mypleafor morecontributionstoyourmagazinehashadaneffect, soIevenhavesomethinginreserveforthenextissue,butplease keepthemcoming.Onecontributionwasfromthe“Archivist”who pointedoutthat“TheOilyRag”isnowthirtyyearsold.Soyoucan readaboutthestartandIhopeyouenjoythecurrentedition John Chairman’s Notes ByMikeJohns Minute15/177oftheCreechS.M.ParishCouncilmeetingof3 August2015includesthefollowingstatement:- "IWexplainedthat theFITleasesignedjointlybythePCandTME in2013hadstrengthenedTMEpositionasatenant.TheClerk confirmedthatthe Solicitorhadsaiditstrengthenedtheirarguments. ThiswasdiscussedandgiventheSolicitor’spreviousadvicesand thatbothpartieshadalreadysignedtheFITagreementitwasagreed thatTMEistostayattheRecParkandbeofferedthenewlease. Act ion.IWandtheClerkaretoexaminethedraftleasewhichmay needsomefurthernegotiationwithTME." 3 IWisthepresentcouncilchairman,IanWright,andFITrefersto the'FieldsInTrust'documentsthatTMEsignedalongsidethe ParishCouncilover2yearsagowhentherecreationfieldwas renamedtheQueenElizabethIIRecreationParkandbroughtunder thejurisdictionoftheNationalPlayingFieldsAssociation. WhilstwehaveyettohearfromtheCouncilitisclearthatour patienceoverthepast4yearsisbeingrewardedandthethreatof removalhasbeenlifted.Wenowawaitthetermsoftheproposed revisedleasewithinterest. News from Creech ByMikeJohns ThankstoAndyWebbandasignificantdonationmadebyDavid SpicerwenowhaveaViceroymillingmachineintheworkshop whichiscurrentlybeingwiredinreadyforusebyAndyCookeand DonHancock.Thisisamajoradditiontoourworkshopcapacity and,aswithDavidHartland'slathe,themillwillbeavailablefor clubmembers'useeitherundersupervisionorindividuallywhen membersarejudgedcompetent.Theonegoldenruleisthatnoone shouldcarryoutanyactivitiesatCreechwithouttherebei nga secondmemberonsite. AlsothankstoAndyCooketheweldingbenchnowhasitssteeltop inplacewhichgivesusamuchbetterworksurfaceforfabricating track,etc.Thiswillberequiredshortlywhensomefurthertrack panelsaremadeuptoformtherevisedtrackstotheshedtoimprove operationalflexibilityandtakeaccountoftheadditionalinternal storagecreatedby theextradoorwhichhasbeencompleted.Atthe momentDavidHartlandisbuildinganewpointintoanexisting trackasstepone increatingabetteryardlayout. 4 TonyGoslinghastakentheleadinupgradingtheballastboardswith whateverhelpisavailableonThursdaytoinstalltheboard sand improvetheballastingofthetrackasrequired.Whilstmostofthe longstraighttrackthroughthetreeshasbeendoneth ereisstill muchtodoandTonycanalwaysusemorehelp.TimGriffiths, MikePinkneyandanumberofournewermembersarekee pingthe needsforoutdoormaintenanceundercontrol,checkingand adjustingpointcontrols,weedingthetrackandgeneralgrass cutting. Threeweeksagowesufferedsome vandalismonsitewhenthepavilion wasalsodamaged.Inourcasethe pointleversonseveralpointswere damagedbutthankstoTim Griffithstheseweremendedand newsleepersinstalledintimefor thenextrunningday.Someweeks earlieratrackjointwasdisplaced andthenputbacksuchthattherail misalignmentwasnotobvious.Tim Himscarriedouttheregularpre - servicetrackinspectionthe followingrunningdaywhenhis locomotive`Dianthus'wasderailed andturnedonitsside.Fortunately Timwasnothurtbuttheincident Thenewpointswith7.25” demonstratedjusthowcarefulwe gaugeonlyintothecarriage havetobebeforeopening the shed. railwaytothepublic. Runningdaysarestillgaininginpopularityandwehavebeen enjoyingthecompanyofsome150pass engersmostSundayseven whentheweatherhasnotbeensogood.Wetendtogetasteady trickleofridersthroughouttheafternoonratherthanqueuesand 5 oftenfindthelastonesturnupjustaswestartpackingup.This emphasisestheneedtohavesufficientclubmembersonhandnot onlytolookafterourcustomersbutalsotohelpgettingthingsready andclearingupwhenthepublicisnotaroundsohowaboutcoming alongandgivingtheregularsabreaksometimes?Itwillbe appreciated-thankyou. Report from Vivary Park ByDianaFathers Onthewhole,thefineweatherhascontinuedtobringinthe customersthroughoutthesummer -withtheexceptionoftheFlower Show,whenitrainedonbothSaturdayandSunday.Unfortunately, theFlowerShowmanagementsawfittomakeitalmostimpossible togainaccesstotherailway,untilPhilaskedtheannouncerto broadcastthefactthatwewererunning,whentheywereoblige dto makea(wellguarded)smallgapinthedefences.Theadditional runningdayonSundaywassowetthatnorunningwaspossib le. (WemisseditaswewerebusygettingdrownedattheWSRNorton Fitzwarrensteamrallyforthefourthyearrunning!) MoremembershavebeenturningupattheTuesdayevening runnings,whichhavegivenlearnerdriversthechancetopractice withoutany hassleandownersofnewlocosthechancetotrythem out.Theseeveningshavebeenverypleasant,withmorewivesand partners comingtojoininthechat,soifyouhaven'tbeenbefore, makesureyoucomeandjoinusnextyear. SomeoftheVivaryregula rshavebeenhelpingJohnPickeringto runtheportabletrack.Thisisunbelievablyhardworkforpeopleof matureyears(oradvancedoldage,tobemorecorrect!),soalittle 6 helpfromsomeyounger, fittermemberswouldbe mostwelcome.Philand VikiMortimerranitfor manyyearsandwhen theywereobligedtostop therewasagapofquite sometimebeforeJohn volunteeredtotakeiton. Theworstpartisthe assemblingand dismantlingthetrack. BobRichardsandhisSweetPea Thetraileriswell atTheDalwoodCountryFair. designedbutthetrack sectionsareheavyandthetrolleyisbothexceedinglyheavyand cumbersome.Allhavetobemovedseveraltimeseachtrip. ThisSeptembertheBreanSteamersturneduponthedayexpected (unlikelastyearwhentheycamethefollowingweek).Therainheld offanditwasgoodtomeetupwitholdfriendsagainwithagood welcomingcrowdfromtheVivaryteamandbetweenthemall,they demolishedfourdozenrockcakes! AlsoinSeptember,wehadtheannualvisitfromtheWellingPre - schooltoddlers,whoenjoyedtheirridesnearlyasmuchasthe teachers!Asithappened therewerelotsofchildreninthepark, includingtwootherpre -schools -allwantingridesand,ofcourse, wecouldn'tdisappointthemsowerekeptbusyallmorning. Astheseasonfinishes,withonlytheSantaSpecialtolookforward tothisyear,our thanksgototheguyswhoarriveearlytosetupthe trackeverytime,toBarneyforkeepingeveryonerefreshedwithtea andcoffeeandalsotoMel,whohelpsoutinanywaythat'sneeded 7 DAVIDEATON 1947 -2015 Onceagainitisasadtasktoannounceinthesepagesthepassing ofanotherstalwartclubmember.Dav idwasnotabletoattend manymeetingsinlatteryearsbutwasadrivingforceinTaunton ModelEngineersafewyearsago. InthosedaystherailwayinVivaryParkraneverySunday throughthesummermonthsandDavid,togetherwithhiswife Beryl,aone-timechairman,secretary,vice -chairmanetc,who passedawayafewyearsago,werethereoneveryoccasion. Iwellrememberbei ngencouragedbyDavidwhenIfirstbecame amemberinthemideightiesandifIhadaproblemhewas alwaysthefirstpersonI contacted.Hehadanextensive engineeringknowledgeandwasalwayswillingtosharethiswith anyone.Membersmayrecallhisprowessatthevariousquiz eveningswehaveenjoyedovertheyears. Ourthoughtsarewithhisstepson,RogerYoung,aformer memberofTME,togetherwithRoger'sfamily. AndyCooke 8 How I became a model engineer ByAndyCooke Aswehavesomenewmemberswho,bytheirownwords,are beginnersinthehobbyIthoughtthesefewwordsmaybehelpful. Asa childIwatchedmyfatherasherebuilttheengineofhisold car,a1936StandardLittleNine.Thevehiclewassooldthatspar es werebecomingverydifficulttogetholdofsomanyhadtobemade. IwellrememberhismottowhenIapproachedhimwith(tome)a technicalproblem -"whatdoyoumean,itwon'tcomeapart,itwas puttogetherwasn'tit?Ofcourseitwillcomeapart".Inthaterathis wasatruestatement,unliketodaywithfactorysealedcomponents whichmayonlybedismantledbywreckingthem . MyfirstintroductiontoalathewasduringschoolholidayswhenI earnedafewbobbypaintingacoupleofthemin"corporat e colours"atthesmallfactorywherefatherwasworksmanager.I rememberarowofwomenworkingflypresses,allonpiecework, whattheywereproducingstillremainsamysterytome.So progressedmyearlyyearsuntilIleftschool,fathersuggestedI becameanapprenticetoolmaker,motherwantedmetoworkinan officeandcomehomewithcleanhandsandclothes.Idefiedbothof thembyobtainingapostasanapprenticecompositorintheprinting trade,alinenowlongdefunct.Cuttingalongstoryshort,one'searly yearsinemploymentarefroughtwithmanythings,motorcycles, cars,etcandofcoursetheattractionoftheoppositesex.Thisleftno roomforthoughtsofmodelengineeringoranythingremotely similar. Itwasnotuntilmanyyearslater, andseveralchangesofemployer, thatIbecameinterestedinsteam. 9 Mygirlfriend,latermywife,draggedmetoalocalsteamrally, whichparticularoneitwasislostinthemistsoftime.Ibec