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Post by steamcoal on Feb 21, 2015 9:51:32 GMT
As the question of Ol Pharts was a topic last week, I was wondering about the hobby and its place in the world….of hobbies, this week.
Can anyone answer the following;
What is the oldest true model engineering Society in the world? Mine is 80 years and 4 months to date.
How many MES are there in say, UK, Australia, South Africa, USA……..Japan, Italy etc, etc
What is the most unlikely country to have a MES you have known of? Burno, Deepest Congo or Ulan Batur etc.
What is the biggest club with the most members?
Who has a the longest raised or longest ground level track? ( apart from commercial )
What might the age of the oldest loco driver be you know? (no names required)
Anything else that might be surprising we might like to hear about?
Just wondering, that all.
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Post by ejparrott on Feb 21, 2015 10:12:33 GMT
As the question of Ol Pharts was a topic last week, I was wondering about the hobby and its place in the world….of hobbies, this week. Can anyone answer the following; What is the oldest true model engineering Society in the world? Mine is 80 years and 4 months to date. I think SMEEHow many MES are there in say, UK, Australia, South Africa, USA……..Japan, Italy etc, etc What is the most unlikely country to have a MES you have known of? Burno, Deepest Congo or Ulan Batur etc. I think UAEWhat is the biggest club with the most members? Who has a the longest raised or longest ground level track? ( apart from commercial ) I think ground level must be train mountain? RMES is extending the raised from 1100 feet to nearer 3000What might the age of the oldest loco driver be you know? (no names required) 86....I think...on Public running duties anyway Anything else that might be surprising we might like to hear about? Just wondering, that all.
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Post by Rex Hanman on Feb 21, 2015 12:17:47 GMT
Gordon Howell, our former club president, was still driving at 90. One of our recent new members is 91 next week. Not sure if I have seen him drive but he is certainly fit enough to do so!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2015 13:15:10 GMT
My club North London SME is now over half a mile (2640+ feet) for it's raised 3 1/2 and 5 multigauge track, ground level multi track of 5 and 7 1/4 is a little longer.
Pete
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Post by alanstepney on Feb 21, 2015 15:02:10 GMT
I agree that SMEE is the oldest.
I remember reading the number of ME clubs worldwide, but that was some years ago. From memory, it was about 100 in the UK, and that was the highest of anywhere. The US came second,
As for longest and biggest, I suspect both will be in the USA. Golden Gate Live Steamers and LALS would be my guesses, but I could be wrong (I often am!)
Oldest member? Not sure but at the radio club that I am a member of, we have one guy of 97. He only gave up driving a car at the end of last year when his car needed major work and he didnt feel it was worthwhile, and if he could still drive a car, I am sure he could manage a loco. Oddly enough, he used to work for the railways, (GWR I believe) on signalling.
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Post by steamcoal on Feb 22, 2015 8:56:45 GMT
Hi.
Thanks for that. So our club here in New Zealand established in 1934 does not too bad in the oldies stakes then?
One more question I dreamed up today was...
Do you know of any working engines, road or rail, that were built on sailing merchant ships in service?
Obviously they had time at sea and most likely the facilities of the engineer or engineering shop to build something and I wonder what was created on those voyages?
Hayden
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Post by ejparrott on Feb 22, 2015 9:15:51 GMT
Hmm... My adopted Uncle built a 3.5" 3-cyl Royal Scot while he was in the MN, on board ship, unfortunately I never knew it, it was stolen before I was born.
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Post by alanstepney on Feb 22, 2015 10:57:47 GMT
I dont know about building locos aboard sailing ships, but I know many have been built on more modern vessels.
Talking of which, I have a lathe that is ex-Admiralty, of WW1 vintage. Originally treadle-powered the spec was that under treadle power it had to reduce the diameter of a 3" steel bar by 1/2" at a time (so 1/8" cuts). Those guys must have had some muscles!
One piece of trivia is that at least two lathes were made in WW2 prison camps, one in Germany and one in... Malaya I believe. The latter was used to make spectacle lenses from the bottom of bottles. One of the lathes was shown at a Model Engineer exhiibition, in the late-40's. It was then shown at subsequent exhibitions for a few years. I can just-about recall seeing it although it meant little to me at the time.
So, for those of us that complain about our machinery, just imagine making a lathe from scrap and then producing oprecision work on it!
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Post by RGR 60130 on Feb 22, 2015 12:00:54 GMT
A lot of my 5" gauge "Scamp" was built on board ships. Big bolts were used to make the buffers and buffer stocks. The disc wheels were turned from bar stock and had the balance weights and crank pin bosses silver soldered on. Access to full size oxy-acetylene equipment made boiler work easy along with plenty of scrap plate for making the formers. I also did quite a few bits for Springbok as well.
For those that imagine Merchant ships having fantastic workshop facilities I can assure you that I've never seen a fantastic workshop at sea in thirty-odd years. A large lathe that has suffered loads of abuse together with a drilling machine that has suffered even more abuse and perhaps a power hacksaw is often your lot. Occasionally I've seen shaping machines and a second smaller lathe but nothing fancy.
The days of big crews and plenty of time to get on with 'homers' as we called them are long gone though some still manage to do a bit from time to time, usually car bits rather than model engineering.
Reg
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Post by bobpendleton on Feb 22, 2015 12:21:08 GMT
One piece of trivia is that at least two lathes were made in WW2 prison camps, one in Germany and one in... There is a long article about a lathe built in a prison camp in Guy Lautard's Machinist's Bedside Reader headed: "A SMALL LATHE BUILT IN A JAPANESE PRISON CAMP by R Bradley, A.M.I.C.E, ENGINEERING MAGAZINE, January 7, 1949 (Reprinted with permission)". This is in Guy's first (of three) Bedside Reader, pp 156-162 bp
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Post by ejparrott on Feb 22, 2015 12:31:32 GMT
I was on a ship in Scotland a year ago and they had a nice big lathe and a drill in good condition. Shame was I saw a guy using the lathe trying to do something to the bore of a bush with a rat tail file....
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2015 16:08:24 GMT
Spare time and Warships do strange bedfellows make !!----PS}--Would Dr.John count as 100% membership etc. given his location, situation etc ??
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Post by doubletop on Feb 23, 2015 10:43:06 GMT
So, for those of us that complain about our machinery, just imagine making a lathe from scrap and then producing oprecision work on it! Do a google search for "james Nasmyth engineer an autobiography". Its a free book. His father made a lathe and James made one for himself on it. From that an engineering empire was built. He also used to walk everywhere. Like London to shropshire. A fascinating descripton of what is now the Ironbridge museum. Pete
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Post by fostergp6nhp on Feb 23, 2015 16:38:50 GMT
Hmm... My adopted Uncle built a 3.5" 3-cyl Royal Scot while he was in the MN, on board ship, unfortunately I never knew it, it was stolen before I was born. That was knicked from the exhibition in the old Rugby library upstairs room, 1970ish.
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