Lunch is Served

One of the most important of activities  at Ashton Court on a Friday is lunch.    Many subjects are discussed some engineering problems are solved, more are created and the world in general is put to rights.           After a detailed discussion today on plane crashes the chat turned to the subject of the web and in particular the BSMEE Web site.    it was apparent that most people made use of it.  The most popular reason being to find out the subject of our next meeting at Begbrooke.  The view was expressed that nothing much happend on the site but what most  had not realised was that they could interact and post items such as “For Sale” or comments on the Forum or even start a new thread.   You could even reply to a blog if you wish.     Why not give it a go, we could do with some lively discussions and that would certainly make the site more interesting.    Harrison has established the framework it is up to us all to bring it to life.  Go on have a go.

Track Replacement

Sunday is the last public running day of the season and next Friday we can start on a new section of ground level track replacement.  Colin McEke, who is leading this project, plans to replace the curve leading out of the station, into the green tunnel and round to the bridge.  This will allow us to implement a new signalling scheme over this section.  So next Friday 19th October work will start on ripping up the old track and preparing the track bed. Anybody who can help will be most welcome.  If you can lift a spade please come along and give us a hand.  We have to get it back in running order by the beginning of December for Santa Special after which we will start on the rest of the section.

 Bogies      

PHil Bridgeway and Ron James continue their work on braking the bogies on the ground level carriages.   We now have one carriage fully braked  with calliper brakes and will be evaluating the performance before deciding on the way we should proceed.

 

Future Blogs

Having got to grips with this new web site it will be the place for future blogs.    I am sorry, no more facebook notifications and not quite as pretty but I hope you find the blogs interesting with news of what is happening at Ashton Court.  Please let me have your comments.

 

Unsung Heroes

Frank Buffham is one of the unsung heroes who work so hard at Ashton Court.  He turns up most Fridays, always with a cheerful smile and sets to work.   His specialty is strimming and the picture shows him hard at work on the grass bank adjacent to the carriage shed.   It was particularly hard work this time as the inclement weather had prevented Frank getting on with it and had also ensured some lush growth.   If he can’t get on with strimming he will find something else useful to do like blowing away leaves or mowing the grass.  With his past trade as a Master Baker he is also a very good cook and we all look forward to his birthday and the cakes he provides.  One of a number of similar heroes we have in the Society – Thanks Frank

 

Following an article in ME, discussion has started on providing soft water for our boilers.  Ron James and Mark Phillips are into reverse osmosis and such things.  If anybody has experience of such schemes using this process or rainwater storage etc perhaps they could contact one of these two gentlemen.

 

We have school parties coming to Ashton Court in the morning of 16th and 17th October and if anybody could spare some time to help please contact me.  Email BobLilley@Blueyonder.co.uk or leave a reply.

Class 67 Thomas Telford
A New 7¼” Ground Level Locomotive for Ashton Court

It has been decided to build a new loco for use on the 7 ¼”track at Ashton Court. This loco is designed to be used on public running days, be simple to operate and have sufficient power and capacity to operate throughout the running day pulling substantial loads.

Latest update – Thomas Telford goes Public

Thomas Telford commenced public service over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

It operated throughout the weekend without a hitch and a number of members took the opportunity to drive. All were complimentary regarding the simplicity of control and the ease which it handled the load.
A test run was carried out with 7 carriages and 42 passengers plus the driver. The train pulled away with a hint of slipping and completed two laps in style much to the excitement and relief of all.

The photos below show ‘The Body’, ‘On the Track’, ‘The First Run’ and ‘Some of the Team’.

Details

The locomotive will be petrol electric based on the Class 67 Diesel 67014 – Thomas Telford. A single ended version of this locomotive was designed for Virgin operation but never produced and this will form the basis of our new engine. Whilst representing a modern locomotive this version provides a flat end for the controls and instrumentation and keeps the length down to a manageable 8ft.

In the 7¼” version a Honda GX240 petrol engine will power a 24v commercial vehicle alternator, complete with its rectifiers and voltage regulator. This will charge two 12v vehicle batteries. A standard 4QD controller will control the power from the batteries to two Parkside 1500watt four wheeled bogies. The frame will be steel angle of welded construction with a body formed by a specialist sheet metal supplier – Manuflex (http://www.manuflex.co.uk) Ample power of some 3hp should be available to haul heavy loads throughout a running day and the limiting factor is likely to be the adhesion of the wheels on the rails.

Mark Phillips is doing the design with Bob Lilley managing the project together with the controls, instrumentation and electrical wiring. Frames have been built by Tim Hims, with mechanical assembly of the main drive by Colin MacEke. Phil Bridgeway is looking after the vacuum system and Don Cordall the handbrake. Geoff Hinbest is pulling the paper work together and will produce a handbook and maintenance schedule. Ron James is producing the forced ventilation system and Mike Keighley, Andy Field, Terry Phelps and Colin Ball will be working on the body detail. Andy Nicholls has volunteered to make the buffers and Andy Harding the throttle and choke controls.

The photographs give a good indication of the component parts of the locomotive.