BMEG

       Volume No.12  Summer Issue        2004

Jim Duncan and Tom James

Tom James  An appreciation by Jim Duncan.

            I first met Tom James at the North Tyneside College fourteen years ago when Ken Swan introduced him to me. We were both starting on the same locomotive “Neptune “ an industrial locomotive which had operated in a shipyard on the Tyne. Tom was an aero and gas engine model engineer. This was his first venture into model locomotives. He was very easy to get along with and we became good friends, working for three hours a week at the college. When the college was closed during the summer we had no way to progress with Neptune until the following September. We had come to a tricky part of our project. The cylinders needed  machining , all four of them. Three hours at the college was just not enough time to set them up and complete the machining.

            Tom invited me to his home at Rudchester, Northumberland. to use the machines in his workshop to complete the task. He drew me a map. Now I knew that he lived  in a Manor House but I had not been expecting a drive, stables and numerous outbuildings. Tom his unassuming way thought nothing of it and showed me into a marvelous workshop. We completed the cylinders and many other parts for the locomotives over the summer.

            Later when Tom and his wife Dianne, moved to a cottage in Sandhoe village I was again made welcome in his home and workshop. Tom knew that I did not have a home workshop of my own and was generous in allowing me the use of his facilities. Initially his workshop was in a caravan, and later transferred to a GPO mobile workshop.

            When at holiday times Tom and his wife went away on holiday he kindly left me the keys to his shop where I worked on numerous projects in beautiful surroundings. Tom’s workshop  had one peculiar feature in the number of 6” rules which he never lost an opportunity to acquire.

            Tom was a regular visitor to Beamish Model Engineers group with his Labrador  which Ken Swan indulged with biscuits. Wing-Commander  James. had a distinguished career in the RAF. He and Ken Challoner loved to reminisce about the characteristics of WW2 planes and much more.

            Tom was a good person , and a gentleman . A good listener Tom helped me through a difficult patch when I was made redundant just by being a friend. Over the past six years my job took a great deal of time and I saw less of Tom . He died suddenly and it came as a shock to us all. He will be sadly missed at Beamish      J.D.

Winter works

            This has been a period of completing  projects often planned several years ago and in addition the emphasis has moved from building infrastructure to building and maintaining model locos. The two main structural projects have been completion of the engine shed, and work on the kitchen extension.

            The Engine shed was designed to have two roadways suspended from the steel roof trusses by steel rods. This has given us another 24 feet of track on which to store trucks, wagons and bogies. The main benefit has been to provide additional space for ground level locomotives within the secure area. Additionally we have more room in the workshop. At the present rate of loco building we should be alright for a few years,

            The kitchen extension shown in the previous newsletter now has a new roof composed of roofing felt. The original plan to have slates looked fine but leaked. We have also got a steeper slope with improved drainage. The floor has been put in with insulation beneath. Bill Crackitt and Adrian Morley now have tar on their sleeves and fibre glass in their socks.

            The Ashpit has been one of the most useful of our building projects allowing easy access to the engines for engineering as well as removal of ash, cleaning etc. However it has been a bit draughty. Ron Soulsby and his grandson  Matthew have taken on making a stable door for engineers and an arched door for the locos, both of which have fitted well into the original design. Arched bars and wooden shutters for the windows have now being completed

            The Signal box also made by Ron has been restored  and is now the site of mysterious activity related to signaling  with John Moore, and Peter Federoff. I understand there are plans to have a proper token system to control the many of rack engines which will want to use the track.

            The Harrogate Show 2004

            The 7¼Gauge Society asked Jim, Adrian and Ron for the use their two “Wrens to put  on display at the show. Our efforts at brass cleaning  were entirely outshone  by another “Wren”. However we felt our looked like working models.

            Also on the stand was the Wren made by Richard Gibbon. OBE.( Incidentally we are delighted to congratulate Richard on this well merited award.) The caption placed by Richard on his loco may have been slightly provocative. The claim that the Beamish 1:10 slope had been surmounted by Richards’ loco was contested by the BMEG  who modestly pointed out that the damaged rack section removed after the passage of Richards loco was clear evidence of illegal assistance from the rack.

Since no rules had been formulated at the time of Richards’ ascent we would be in breach of his human rights to make rules retrospectively, so on a purely legal basis his claim to be the only person to ascend the track using an adhesion locomotive probably stands, although some poor losers may contest it.

Richard Gibbons Wren at Harrogate

            The TSMEE stand  had an example of Ken Swans’ Mark 6 carriage bogie . The design is loosely based around the Narrow Gauge Arch Bar trucks made in the USA and supplied to the Western Front during the first world war.

Prototype Mark 6 carriage Bogie         

This 7¼gauge bogie incorporates a dual springing arrangement for empty and loaded conditions. Each wheel, housing a sealed ball bearing unit , is pressed onto a hollow axle. This assembly rotates on a fixed axle fitted into flexible mounts in the axle boxes. These consist of convex gun metal bushes allowing a degree of flexing of the arch bar frames.

Dimensions       Wheelbase      11”

                        Wheel diam.     4½”

                        Weight             32lbs

            This was one of the most enjoyable meetings for me personally, with an extra chance to look at exhibits and commercial stands the day before opening. The packing up and leaving on Sunday was hilarious and chaotic , but achieved remarkably quickly.

Beamish Chauldron Wagons

            Beamish Museum runs an educational program with visiting schoolchildren being given a taste of Victorian life and teaching. The chauldron wagons illustrated were made by Jim Duncan together with rails on an inclined plane to help illustrate the principles of motion under gravity

Jim Duncan,s model chauldron wagon

            A recent visitor to BMEG was Jack Taylor from Eire and his recently purchased 6 coupled Koppel.( Brunhilde) This modification of the Rack Koppel has produced a well proportioned model. This particular example had been built as a workhorse rather than an exhibition model. Ron Soulsby and Ken Swan took it in hand and produced a new stainless steel ashpan, replaced the injector and refurbished the oil pump, as well as generally tightening up the motion and water pump. Jack collected the engine in May and it should soon be running on his home track at Maas Co. Kildare Eire. One of the compensations for having Ken Swan as CME is the number of interesting people building  his locomotives who visit us as well as the museum.

Bill Taylors’ 6 wheel Koppel,  Brunhilde (A tricky moment with the safety valves)

Beamish Projects

            Perhaps the most famous early locomotives are Puffing Billy and Wylam Dilly. These colliery locomotives designed by William Hedley had a long and active life before ending up in the Science Museum and Royal Scottish Museum. A number of replicas have been built particularly the German version built at the end of the 19th century now in the Munich Museum of Technology.  Beamish Museum is planning to construct a replica to join Locomotion and the Steam Elephant  on the 1825 railway. The total cost will be over a million pounds.

Lloyd Lewis

            LLoyd is one of those quiet members without whom a club like BMEG could not function. Lloyd joined us in 1998 having attended a Friends of Beamish open day. The fact that he was also building a 7¼ Bridget may have been another inducement. Lloyd had already built his own lathe which must be a mark of a really dedicated model engineer. In the near future Lloyd will be emigrating to New Zealand and has donated the non portable bits of his workshop to BMEG. With the assistance of Mike Lax he hopes to finish his boiler before leaving. We shall miss him, but hope to keep in touch via a website. We shall also miss the figrolls which have improved our numerous teabreaks

Jim Duncan and LLoyd Lewis

Visit of ”Inside Track”

            Over the bank holiday weekend a visit to the Museum of 40+ members of this railway orientated travel group visited our site .Koppel, Wren, and Ken Challoner’s diesel and other engines were run , and numerous ascents of the 1:10  rack incline were achieved.. As usual they were accompanied by John Palmer and a further visit is planned for next year.  not suprisingly some visitors complained that there was not enough time for both the museum and our site. Large amounts of tea were dispensed and we are therefore grateful to the education department for their donation of teabags, and to Ron Soulsby for his excellent scones.

Bill Oliver.

            We are sorry to record the passing of Bill Oliver the Chairman of Carlisle M.E on Wed. 12th May. A friend of Ken Swan’s for some 45 years, he had been a frequent visitor to the Derwent valley railway and BMEG. He was one of three members of Carlisle building a logging engine, and I remember seeing some massive sections of his Heisler at one of our early open days. Among his engines were a 5” 9F and a 3 1/2” Duchess. He was also well known for a single cylinder special called Emmett  which was said to sound like a supercharged motor bike, and with similar performance to the chagrin of some. Shortly before his death he was seen at Harrogate buying new piston rings for this loco. Our photograph shows him driving Koppel up the rack railway at a time when there was still a distinct chance of falling off the end of the bridge.. He will be missed by his friends at BMEG. Our condolences and best wishes go to his wife Monica. 

STOP PRESS

            We are most grateful to Vick Bell of Todhill Brickworks for providing  bricks for our kitchen extension. The job had been halted while we  found bricks to match our present building. Thanks to John Lambard for organising the epic journey from the Brickyard. Now we shall be able to install windows  and other comforts.