May Meeting 2012
Monthly Meeting – Ron Fitzgerald – Development of Textile Mills
Wednesday 2nd May 2012 – 19:30
Saltaire Methodist Church
Friends of Northcliffe – Easter Event 2012
Saturday 7th April 2012 – 12:00-16:00
Northcliffe Railway
Well what a grand old day out. The Easter bunny has been very busy all day placing eggs around the woods with flocks of children searching for them. There were also lots of other activities they could get involved in.
The railways were kept very busy with a steady queue all afternoon. We also had two recently completed loco’s making their public debuts, ‘AMOS’ the Club loco fresh from the paint shop and Paul Whitfield’s new ‘Hunslet Badger’. Both performed very well along with David Brimacombe’s ‘Molegasser’ and Keith Parkinson’s Class 25. On the raised track we had Ken Shipley’s B1, John Hawkes with his Simplex and John Mills’ ‘Lion’. Mick Gray also had several stationary engines on display and running.
Thankyou to everyone who came and helped out today either in the kitchen, driving, guards, station staff or just being there and helping the public and making the event happen. What a great start to the season.
Many thanks, Russ.
Winter Steam Gala 2012
Exhibition & Competition 2011
Marie Curie 2011
Driver Training Day 2011
Diesel Day 2011
Open Day 2011
Rubber Powered Loco Competition 2011
Harrogate 2011
Mince Pie Steam Up 2010
Exhibition & Competition 2010
Bradford Moor 2010
Marie Curie Event 2010
Melanie and Steve’s Wedding
Leyland Visit 2010
Open Day 2010
Harrogate Exhibition 2010
Building a Signal Panel
Filed under: Virtual Exhibition 2020
Building a New Signal Panel for a Miniature Railway
Initially a lot of planning and design work was done around the site and once the specification was finished work could start on the circuit design, digging conduit trenches and pulling in miles of cables and air lines. Initially this panel was supposed to be a temporary one while a digital design was completed but it has now been in use for 5 years and is likely to stay!
The track was split up into ten main sections each with it’s own electrical circuit, the most complex was the station area show above. All the points are air operated with most of the signals LED and a few semaphore. All the points are interlocked with the signals to prevent accidental changes but there is always the human factor. Development work is currently ongoing with additional interlocks and train detection on the track.
It was anticipated that changes would be made to the track layout in the future so to allow easy modifications and keep the costs minimal basic relays were used.
There are around 240 connections from the base of the panel up to the top control surface and 102 connections going in and out of the panel to the signals/points and remote controls. There are 22 signals currently on the system, 17 points and a level crossing gate on air control.
5″ Gauge Britannia Class Loco
Filed under: Virtual Exhibition 2020
5″ Gauge Britannia Class Loco 70042 “Lord Roberts”
(currently having a new design of regulator fitted)
3 1/2″ Gauge Rob Roy
Filed under: Virtual Exhibition 2020
3 1/2″ Gauge Rob Roy
(recently refurbished)
Manx Electric Railway Tram Number 1
Filed under: Virtual Exhibition 2020
Isle of Man Manx Electric Railway Tram Number 1
This is a 5″ gauge (the width of the rails) model of MER 1 from 1893.
The full size tram is in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest tram still running on its original track in the Isle of Man.
The model is scratch built, meaning that every thing has had to be made, except for a few things like electric motors, bearings and some nuts and bolts.
There are no detailed dimensioned drawings available so all I could find was a side view line drawing in a book along with one for the bogies, these were enlarged to the size of the model which gave a good idea of the proportions. It was then down to researching books and photographs.
As the full size tram is still running, holidays on the Isle of Man were a must and the staff at the depot in Douglas were so helpful and enthusiastic about my project. A considerable number of photos and measurements were taken.
The tram will be powered by two 12 volt batteries, so, when running, parts of the interior will be removed and the batteries and electronics dropped in.
This has taken 4 years so far with the detailing taking the most time. The next challenge will be painting!
John Wilding 3/4 Second Hipp Clocks
Filed under: Virtual Exhibition 2020
John Wilding 3/4 Second Hipp Clocks
These clocks are modelled on a John Wilding design. With most clocks, the power is supplied by either weights or a spring; with the Hipp-toggle clock the pendulum provides the power, as well as regulating the clock.
The power comes from a couple of 1.5V batteries, delivered via an electromagnet.
One deviation from the John Wilding design is the clock dials. I couldn’t decide if I preferred Roman or Arabic numerals, so drew up both on Autocad. They were then photo-etched and delivered to me as etched brass sheets. These were cut and filed to size, sprayed black for the numerals, polished back to brass, silvered and then lacquered.
The cases are to my own design. They comprise a backboard and base, wall mounted, and a hood. The hood can be removed for access.
These clocks can be noisy, so the backboards are19mm veneered MDF. The hoods are composite – 12mm veneered MDF for quietness, with a ply outer for strength. Veneer covers the ply.
The cases have modest ornamentation – I didn’t want them to be wholly plain, but I didn’t want them to be too fussy either. The result is a crest-board on top, with a pedestal underneath. The bottom board is profiled so sharp edges are avoided.
I started out to make one clock, however my workmanship is so bad that I ended up making at least one additional of each component, so it seemed a waste not to make them into a second clock.
Clayton and Shuttleworth Steam Wagon
Filed under: Virtual Exhibition 2020
2” Scale Clayton and Shuttleworth Articulated Steam Wagon
Under type single cylinder
2″ Scale Foden Wagon
Filed under: Virtual Exhibition 2020
Unfinished 2” Scale Compound Foden Steam Wagon
(still on the bench!)
Random Photo
