AMBSC Boiler Code Booklet - where to buy?

[John Baguley]

Hi all,

Has anyone in the UK bought a copy of the AMBSC boiler code for copper boilers direct from Australia? I'd like to buy a copy for reference. I checked on the E J Winter website - they sell copies -  but was put off when they wanted Aus$31.5 for postage. That seems a bit steep for posting an A5 size booklet from Australia to the UK. Is there a cheaper source?

John

[weary]

Hello John,

I bough a copy of the code some years ago and cannot now recollect the source, however, I think that it was direct from Australian Association of Live Steamers (AALS); it definitely was not a 'commercial source'.
If you email AALS they will give you a price with carriage.

Regards,

Phil

[chrisb]

They are A4 not A5 and reasonably thick but not £31 thick

[simon6200]

I bought some Fox transfers from the UK and they came in an envelope with stiffening cardboard and the postage was, from memory, something like 20 pounds. Postage everywhere seems to have gone ridiculous since COVID.

[John Baguley]

Thanks Phil, I will try them.

Sorry Chris, my bad. I had assumed that the booklet was A5.

Simon, I know the postage from the UK is getting a bit steep. I quite often have to send sets of drawings to Australia and the USA etc. and the postage can be anything up to £30 a time if sent in a tube using airmail. Envelopes are a bit cheaper but some people prefer to have the drawings flat rather than folded. This is for something that can be a Kg or more in weight though, not a thin envelope. £20 for that seems a bit ott.

John

[simon6200]

You could be right John, my memory might be faulty, but it was a lot. I just tried to find the envelope but couldn’t of course.
My copper code is 55 pages and weighs 165g. That I could find.

[runner42]

Ben is the president of the AALS and owner of EJ Winter so maybe postage will be similar.

Brian

[chrisb]

Sorry John, my bad too, I read it as £ rather than Aussie $ in which case it is probably the going rate? Since covid postage rates seem to have seriously gone up. Living in NZ postage is a necessary evil.

[steamer5]

Just tried to buy 3 replacement potentiometers, only need 1 but grab a couple of spares, from the UK. £6.30 for 3, glad I was sitting down….£45.00 for postage! Going to need several soothing beers to get over that!

Cheers Kerrin

[chrisb]

That is a rip-off Kerrin. You can get up to 1kg for around £25 with royal mail. I recently bought some BSA parts on ebay and it was cheaper to have them posted to my son in the UK and him post them to me rather than the seller post directly.

[steamer5]

Hi Chris,
Sure is…. Had to go & have an afternoon nap to get over it.
I canceled the order when that came up.
Have just ordered via NZ post…only £5 to get it to the shipping hub in the UK. Should only be $13 NZ to get it here, that’s there min charge.
The I can get my mill table power feed up & working.

Cheers Kerrin

[John Baguley]

I have been in touch with the AALS and it seems that their sales of the books is dealt with by E J Winter. They don't sell direct so it's looks as though I will have to pay the Aus£31.50 postage after all. That's about £16.

John

[John Baguley]

Well, bit the bullet and ordered a copy - AUD 61.45 which is £31.61

John

[waggy]

Hello John,

Just PM’d you, you’re just a bit ahead!

Best regards,

Dave.

[tenor]

Where did you order from in the end, John? Need to start designing my own kettle!

Regards to NWLMES I was a member until I moved to Scotland 25 years ago, it's a bit far to commute these days.

Martin

[John Baguley]

Hi Martin,

I ordered it from E J Winter. To Be honest, I didn't realise that the AUD is only about 60p so it wasn't too bad after all. They send it by Airmail so it should only take about a week to arrive. If you pay by PayPal as I did then there is a small currency conversion fee as well. It cost me £32.95 altogether in the end.

Was the track still at the Miners Welfare when you were a member or had it already moved to the Hermitage Leisure Centre by then? I didn't join until 2006 which was after the move. A lot of the older original members have passed now but the club is still reasonably healthy with about 100 members.

John

[tenor]

Thanks for the feedback John.

I joined NWLMES when at the Miner's welfare.  I think my Rob Roy had less than a handful outings there.  It was then all hands on deck to move to Whitwick.   Did my bit building fottings for the track etc. And then moved away.  Rob Roy never did attempt the Whitwick track!  It was a good club and I hope it still is.

Martin