Work is starting on a new 5″ locomotive for the Bristol Society – Michigan.

This will be an electrically powered locomotive with dc motors on each axle with and onboard power supply using an alternator and Honda Engine.   Using the profile of an American switcher loco the engine will drop down between the bogies to make maximum use of the space available.

At present we have the chassis and most of the components to allow it to be assembled for a trial run.  The body which is being supplied in basic form by Ride on Railways is awaited.  A number of members have agreed to make  individual components but much of this work cannot start until the body arrives.

The engine will be similar to our 7 1/4″ locomotive Thomas Telford which has proved to be very successful.    If you want to learn more about Thomas Telford visit the web site  http://thomastelford.wordpress.com.

THREE WISE MEN

Three stalwarts of the club spotted taking a well earned rest at our exhibition.   Each is an excellent model engineer and the club owes much to these gentlemen for the enormous contribution they have made over the years.

Running Day – Bank Holiday Monday

A lovely sunny day produced a splendid turn out of members, public and locomotives.

With three steamers on the ground level and three steamers on the raised rack there was plenty of choice for the public.  The steamers were supported by Thomas Telford and Pegasus on ground level  and so many battery locos on the raised track that running was rationed to 1 1/2 hour spells to allow all a fair run.  Yes it is Graham Hawkins taking the tickets.  He spent Sunday driving his loco then turned up on Monday to help on the station – that’s dedication.    Don’t forget you can click on the picture to get a better view.

The New Workshop

Work is due to start shortly so I thought I would take a picture of the space as it is before we start.  Members were busy on Friday clearing the site.  Follow the progress on the Blog.

Cluedo Day

This annual event has been running for 26 years and came about following a conversation between a member of the church in Gordano, who run the Cluedo club, and his neighbour Arthur Howard who was a very active club member many will remember.   The club runs an event for children for a week each summer with most activities taking place at Gordano school.  The highlight of their week is when coaches turn up and they travel to the railway at Ashton Court for a fun afternoon.  This year a fleet of coaches turned up with nearly 300 children and helpers.

With six trains on the ground level track and five on the raised track they were quickly loaded and dispatched.   Because there are no tickets to take and children are very sprightly and quick, loading is rapidly carried out and the drivers get very little time to draw breath.  With full loads each time a lot a hard work and concentration is required to keep things moving but everybody has a great time and we even had sunshine to celebrate.

The Chairman of North Somerset Council, Alan Mcmuuray came along with his wife together with two District Councillors and the Head of Planning from Long Ashton.  With the help of the Societies ladies we were able to entertain them in true BSMEE fashion and introduce them to the railway, it’s activities and facilities.   They had a busy time talking to Society members and the organisers of the Cluedo Group who do such a splendid job each year looking after their flock.

Kill or Cure

I am not encouraged to carry out model engineering activities in the kitchen or use any domestic appliances for engineering purposes.  However having just painted my smoke box and chimney with high temperature resistant paint I needed to cure this at a high temperature for 60 mins.    As my wife was going out on Tuesday I thought this a good opportunity and the curing process was duly carried out in the oven.   However when I later came to turn the cooker on it had “blown up” – no lights, no fans, no heat, etc.  A simple check found that the supply to the cooker was ok, so nothing for it but take the cooker  out of it’s housing.  Then the front door opened.  I leave the rest to your imagination.

The good news was that I later managed to mend the cooker but my wife had to help me  put it back.

EGM  7:30pm on Wednesday 31st July at Ashton Court

Please try and get along on Wednesday to give your views.  We need at least 30 members present for a quorum.

Just a little job for  Frank

Frank Gribben is one the unsung heroes of the Society.    When something needs tidying up with a bit of woodwork we give it to the ever willing Frank.   As in the case of the signal box some of these little jobs turn into a big job and Frank has been working hard over the last few weeks, often staying behind when everybody else has left, to do the woodwork following the raising of the signal box.   The door has been a particular challenge as the old  one had to be removed and replaced with a new door and frame whilst maintaing security between working sessions.   He has also tidied up the inside of the signal box fitting a neat cover over the wiring and cabling as you can see below.  Well done Frank.

Simplex Superheater

Can anybody help Andy Nicholls who is replacing the burnt out superheater on the clubs Simplex locomotive. In order to improve the heat transfer Andy has designed a new superheater which requires  a piece of 7/16″ diameter 24 gauge stainless steel tube approximately 18″ long.   If anybody can help please contact Andy on 0117 944 6276.

In the meantime he is considering replacing it with a conventional spear type superheater as we need to get the locomotive in operation for the use of members.

Life in the Signal Box

It was a hot day on Sunday but we still had quite few passengers and lots of engines on the raised track.

Views from the Signal Box  – Click on picture or wait 10 secs

As you will know if you have tried it, life in the signal box can be hard work. You need an alert mind and nimble fingers to keep up with the demand.   Which track to put the next train on the loop or the main, now the bell rings to tell you that a train has just left the platform and you must lower a signal to call on the next train then reset it when the train has passed.  Then you get three bells and having made sure nobody has gone past the box you put the traverser signal to danger to allow operation of the traverser, now two bells to say the traverser is clear so off with the traverser signal, by now another train is approaching on the ground level track and so it goes on.

Mike Keighley found himself in the box all day and it was very hot

The funny thing was the trains seemed to continue running – no one had the heart to wake him up.

Hope you like the new format  for the web site which has been introduced by Harrison Fletcher.