www.stalbansmes.com Page 1 Gazette No. 428 August 2009 George Cusdin and his paddle steamer Ryde at the lake on 2nd August 2009. George used to live in St Albans about 20 years ago and now lives near Atlanta, USA. Before bringing her to the UK she had only seen bathwater because, he says, the model boat fraternity in the USA are all about speed! George has kindly written an account of how he built the model for this issue. Page 2 St Albans & District MES Gazette St Albans & District Model Engineering Society Club Website - www.stalbansmes.com Chairman Michael Dyer 01442 219024 Secretary Roy Verden 01923 220590 15 Juniper Grove, Watford, Herts, WD17 4RZ Treasurer Mike Grossmith 01923 222135 Committee Members Malcolm Beak 01923 672341 Den Blazdell 01923 661068 Jeff Carter 01923 770188 Alan Holt 01582 832446 E-Mail [email protected] David Saunders 01727 762848 Membership Secretary: N.P. (Baz) Butcher 0208 9507068 17 Avenue Rise, Bushey, Watford, Herts, WD2 3AS E-Mail (to be advised) Model Boiler Testing: David Saunders 01727 762848 Exhibition Manager: Terry Wybrow 01582 841759 Gazette Editor Roger Stephen 01442 832213 2 Jubilee Cottages, Whelpley Hill, Chesham, Bucks, HP5 3RW E-Mail [email protected] Gazette Deputy Editor Tony Mason 01727 830607 E-Mail [email protected] From the Editor - Roger Stephen First of all an apology: The steam tug boat shown on page 5 of last month’s Gazette was in fact donated to club by Steve Churchill, not David Churchman! Sorry for the mix-up which was entirely my own fault. This month we have an article all the way from the USA and by the time you read this its author, George Cusdin, will hopefully have met a lot of members at the lake and sailed his paddle steamer there. Chairman's Letter - Michael Dyer Whilst many people are thinking of holidays now that August is upon us, your Committee are very busy finalising the plans for our own annual exhibition in September. It always involves a great deal of work and commitment, and it is even more essential that our exhibition is a success this year in view of the dramatic increase in the cost of hiring Francis Bacon School. This year we are trying to publicise our exhibition much more widely and I know that many members have already been involved with handing out the flyers at various events during the summer. We will need volunteers to distribute a lot more in the local areas, and this will be organised at our September meeting. www.stalbansmes.com Page 3 We will need help on the Friday evening to set up the exhibition, and on the two days of our show we will need volunteers to help sell tickets, to act as stewards in the hall and to man the various activities detailed by our Secretary. So could I encourage all members to come to our exhibition, to enter their models – for there is no exhibition without them, and, of course, enjoy what is always a great occasion. Secretary’s Letter - Roy Verden Hello to all, August is upon us and next month is our exhibition! Yes, it is that close. The plans for the club model show are going along very well, we of course rely on your good selves to make everything happen. There is always a bit of a problem and this year it is operating our own model boats on the pool and supervising the public running boats. Well, when I was at work, that’s a bit dim and distant now, we never had problems, only ‘challenges’!! So we would like some help here. Running the boats for the children takes all of 5 minutes to learn so not much of a problem there. We just need enough bodies so that it does not become a chore for a few. Jeff Carter is now going to produce the display cards for model boats and yachts for the club exhibition and Malcolm will continue with the rest. So if you have models that have not been in the exhibition before get the pictures and model details to the above and this will reduce the last minute rush in September. Parking at our club evenings is a bit of a problem still and if some members can double up, take it in turns to drive etc, not only will you be saving the planet but it could ease congestion in the car park. I hope you are all enjoying the speakers at our evenings, our Chairman puts a lot of time into finding them and this year has been particularly good with more to follow. Your Treasurer Mike has suggested that we have a 5 minute picture show of club activities before we start our meetings, sounds like a good idea and no doubt Mike will welcome these sort of pictures especially if they are on a disc or memory stick. Your committee has been talking about the Model Engineer Exhibition and will come back to you when we have more details of stands, etc, now that it has returned to Sandown Park racecourse. We shall be going to the London Model Engineering Exhibition at Alexandra Palace in January and would welcome any volunteers to help. Well I hope you all enjoy the weather which looks good so far(!) get some sailing in or engine driving and see you at the August meeting. Regards to all Roy As mentioned in the July Gazette, if you would like to receive information and reminders about club activities by e-mail please send your e-mail address to Alan Holt at [email protected] to join the distribution list. Page 4 St Albans & District MES Gazette The club BBQ was held on 27th June, just too late for the July Gazette deadline, so our ac- count of what happened has had to wait until now. Once again we were blessed with good weather: pleasantly warm, sunshine at times and completely dry! There seemed to be a rather smaller turnout than in previous years but those who did come enjoyed themselves to the full and several barbecues were actually lit to cook the usual mix of sausages, burgers, chicken drumsticks and bacon rashers. There was plenty of activity on the track too with Ashton’s Sweet Pea, Den’s Washington and Simplex, Nicholas’ Polly and the club’s Simplex all in steam. Track running was so frantic the club electric had to wait for a steam loco to come off before it could take to the rails. Roger Stephen, a 3½" gauge enthusiast, was pleased to see Mike Grossmith bring his little Rob Roy 0-6-0 tank loco along but unfortunately, despite a successful steam test the week before, it refused to fire up. So, once again, there were only 5" gauge locos running. As usual, the loco owners were generous in letting other members take the regulator with varying results. Roger enjoyed driving Ashton’s Sweet Pea until he lost the fire but at least it gave Ash the excuse to take a break and cook lunch for him and Gale on a barbecue! It was not all fun and games for some as David Saunders and Den Blazdell were kept busy in the morning with boiler testing of Baz’s Pansy and Tony’s LNWR Teutonic compound ‘Celtic’, although neither actually took to the track that day. We are told there was a disappointingly low turn out for the July Puffing Field morning but those who did come had a good time. Nicholas was there again and had a really good and faultless run - Den says that once he got going there was no stopping him! The prize for the biggest family group went There were plenty of trains running even if to Alan Byrne’s lot who set up camp for there is only one in this photo. Note how the lunch under the big oak tree by the station. laurels behind the station are growing again! www.stalbansmes.com Page 5 First an apology: The steam tug boat pictured in last month’s ‘Down at the Lake’ was actually donated to the club by Steve Churchill, not David Churchman! They both live a fair way from St Albans, which is perhaps just as well because it makes it harder for them to clip the editor round the ear! Having been in Devon for nearly three weeks your editor managed to get to the lake on Sunday 26th July for a bit of boating. Members present were Alan Holt with his Panache yacht and Bustler tug, Baz Butcher with his Contessa yacht and yours truly with his Panache. It was perfect weather for sailing yachts: dry, warm if not always sunny, and with the best breeze that we have had this year. The wind direction was pretty consistent from the south, although the strength varied a bit which made it interesting. We suspect the clear fetch across grassland made for a less turbulent wind. It was noted that there was a lot of green slimy stuff in small lumps all over the small lake, a lot of it below the surface but some on the surface had drifted to one side on the wind. It may not have been very propeller friendly but the yachts coped with it admirably. Boaters who got there early were apparently entertained by the sight of a small dog falling into the lake through the floating slimy stuff, much to its owner’s dismay. Her response was to throw the dog into the river to wash the slime off! From front to back, Baz, Alan and Roger Baz and Roger indulge in a little match racing.