Out & About in New Zealand

[Steamer5]

Hi Guys & Girls,
 The New Zealand Model Engineer Convention is currently on in Tauranga. If you would like to check out the photos posted please check here...

http://www.tmmec.org.nz/?Convention

Looks like the guys are posting up each day. My daughter txt Thursday & wanted to know why I wasn't there..... work schedule got changed!! Anyway Friday was a bit of a wash out, so hopefully its better for the remaining 3 days.

Cheers Kerrin

[bruedney]

A little envious but a bit far to come from Dunedin. Good to see my favourite traction engine out - Dave Turner's Case

[Nicolas]

A few friends from around here went but I didn't as I had other plans which have since been cancelled....

[Steamer5]

Hi all,
 Well 14 straight 12 1/2 hour night shifts are finally behind me.. just got 6 normal 12 hour shifts to go & then some time off!

Here's a link to an open weekend at one of the clubs I belong to a couple of weeks back, about a 3 hour drive, unfortunately I was working ....there even a photo of one of our member, but won't mention names ...a Pete? Hope you all enjoy.....the vid of the radial running is great!

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OePldVJdFXU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OePldVJdFXU</a>

Cheers Kerrin

[Steamer5]

Hi all,
 Well the road trip is over (a bit over a week) so thought for loco types out there, & anyone else who like's engineering stuff may find this interesting.

Pic 1 we went looking for the sun & found it!

We visited the Fell Railway museum in Featherston.  www.fellmusseum.org.nz. 

If any of you come to New Zealand & are interested I can recommend a stop to check it out, those that live in this neck of the woods as well. It celeabrates 6 little hard working locos, the people who worked on & kept it running. The line was opened in 1878/9 & closed in 1955 when a tunnel was finally built! These little engines only worked 3 miles of the line where the ruling grade was 1:15!! It varied a little from 1:14 to 1:16!! The Fell system used was 1 of only 3 in the world & the longest running, these locos racked up an impressive mileage in there time considering the length of line, over 1 million!
The Fell system was quite cunning, a standard loco lay out driving the usual wheels, but a second engine driving a double set of horizontal wheels that could be brought into use via a wheel clamp system to grip an elevated central rail, given that the slope started at the end of the lower yard & ended at the beginning of the upper they got plenty of use!
On any train running up the hill they would put on 5 engines spaced thru the train & 6 brake vans. I didn't take a photo but the cab had a note on it saying they started with 1500 weight of coal on the footplate, plus what was in the bunker, by they time they reach Summit, the top of the line, all the 1500 weight would be gone! The other interesting thing was they had 2 regulators, from all accounts going thru the tunnels on the up run was no fun, I guess if you were driving the last engine it was worst!
On down trips the brake vans wore out a set of brake blocks! We had one of the guards living next to us, we found a photo of the last engine & crew & he was in the photo & the blocks were changed while they were cooling down from red hot!
All that remains now is the rail bed & a few other odds & sods. The railbed is a cycle way & buy all accounts has some great views.

Pic 2 the last remaining Fell loco
Pic 3 hopefully you can make out the horizontal wheel set in the mirror
Pic 4 the last brake van
Pic 5 the interior of the brake van
Pic 6 the gradient of the whole line, the Fell locos on ran the grey section, as you can see the rest of the line wasn't exactly flat either!
Pic 7 we saw this outside the Tui brewery, it's a Kiwi icon! Given that some of us have to make some parts a couple of times to get it right, I think it's quite appropriate!

Cheers Kerrin

 

[Ian S C]

Not 1500 weight, but 15 hundred weight, 1 hundred weight is 112lb, so 15 HW is 1680 lb.

[Steamer5]

Hi All,
Well got up early yesterday, picked my Dad & headed south 250 k’s to play trains! So thought I’d share some photos, haven’t included any trains, but thought you would like this section that Graham brought this year! Last year he had the Anzani under construction, he had it running...lovely sound, I took a video but not having a photo account can’t post it......here’s the first 8......

[Steamer5]

And some more.....maybe Brian my recognize them! Got a video of the saw working, it does a lovely job!

And one especially for Jo......Graham was telling me that the castings for this engine are rarer than the proverbial rocking horse manure! Hopefully by next year it will be running.......he hasn’t started it yet!

Cheers Kerrin

[Jo]

  Nice collection of engines. I was trying to work out whose castings he had used for the Y type 

Yes the Morton is a desirable one to build. I have the drawings 

Jo

[Jasonb]

A nice collection of engines there, if you want to post the video you can upload to Youtube for free and just post the link here.

Jo I have the build articles for the Morton that were in MEB should you ever need them, you will have to talk Mike C into making some patterns

[Jo]

Jo I have the build articles for the Morton that were in MEB should you ever need them, you will have to talk Mike C into making some patterns

I feel a need to read the article so if I could borrow those mags 

Seemingly there was a set of Morton M5 castings but my supplier sold them to someone else  He has a pattern for the crankcase and is going to see if the person he sold the castings to ever did anything with them.

The Morton is a very difficult engine to build I am told 

Jo

[Alyn Foundry]

Hi Kerrin.

Love the top picture of the scale Atkinson cycle engine.

Was it scratch built?

Cheers Graham.

[Vixen]

What ever happened to the steel dies that Bruce Satra of Vernal Engineering made for the Morten? Bruce was the main source of Morton and P+W Wasp die casting for many years.

After Bruce passed away much of his model engineering bits went to SS Machine and Engineering in Fayette OH.  Try  rsholl@cncengines.com  Maybe he can point you in the right direction to obtain Morton M5 and the P+W Wasp castings.

Mike

[Vixen]

Hay Kerrin,

Sorry about the hi-jacking of your thread with Morton talk.

That is an impressive collection of engines on display. Lots of nice engines with propellers.        Where were they displayed? 250k south of the Naki is still a big area. Are there many such gatherings in NZ at this time of the year (late Summer?)

We are planning a month long tour of NZ around Christmas and New Year. My wife has all the 'must do' beauty spots listed. I want to make a much shorter list of the Model Engineers and the events and the places of engineering interest that I could or should visit. It's a once in a lifetime trip, so don't want to miss anyone or any thing

Cheers

Mike

[b.lindsey]

Thanks for posting the pictures Kerrin. Some really nice models there and the radials are always fascinating. Hope you are able to post the video as well.

Bill