Steam Apprentice Club
Editor
Jenny Lee, 3 Lanes Close, Kings Bromley, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, DE'l 3 7JS 01543 473124 jen_massey@hotmail.co.uk
Chairman
Elaine Massey, 21 Down Close, Northolt, Middlesex UBS 6NS Tel: 020 8248 6570 elainermassey@live.co.uk
Vice Chairman
Hugh Dyson, 32 Granary End, Witchford, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB6 2WF Tel: 0'1353 667150 hugh.dyson@inbox.com
Membership Secretary
Lisa Crankshaw, NTET Membership PO Box 10348 Hinckley LE10 9FB membership@sac.co.uk
Membership fee £10 per annum
Webmaster
Nick Bosworth, 9A St Wilfrid's Road, West Hallam, llkeston, Derbyshire DE7 6HG Tel: 01159 309868 sac.web master@ntet.co. u k
SACCommittee
David Lee davidjameslee2003@yahoo.co.uk
Matthew Lund Tel: 01329 832462 matt.lund@engineer.com
Kevin Munn Tel: 020 8573 9180 sac.contact6@ntet.co.uk
H,uty Su111hlU11lei: 01633 67'1798
hart ys11m~l011(,ci)Hn1,1il.1·0111 I IPl<m lyrn•II lc•I: 0 I7 1H 71 I fJ10 Iiek111@tlwtyn ellb.01g
Burrell Project Co-ordiniltor
I ltrgh IJyson id: 01 35.l fa(,Tl 50 hugh.dys1rn@inbox.com
The Edit.or welcomes any cunlribuliu11~ of u,tides, shorter items or photographs ror ind11sion in future issues.All material submitted is voluntary and payment cannot be made for any maleridl published. The opinions expressed in rhe magazine, wirh the exception of Club announcements, arc those of the contributors and do not indicale Lhe views of the Club as a whole. All items are held copyright by the contributor and the NTET. The Editor reserves the right to amend or refuse con1ributions. The magazine is normally published during January, April, July and October. The Club accepts no liabilily for failure to meet intended publication dales.
The Steam Apprenlice Club is a section of the National Traction Engine Trust. NTET is a Registered Charity, No. 291578. Registered in England No. 1302197.
Registered Office: 4 Church Green East, Redditch, Worcestershire B98 8BT.
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From the Editor
Jennylee
New year, new season!
I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year. What did you all get up to? Any steam related moments? Boxing day road runs? Send us some pictures! Have you all planned your year yet around the rallies and driving days? You are very organised if you have! At the minute we are taking MaryMarshall only to a few of the local rallies. But hopefully we can book her into a couple more.
Let's hope for a nice dry summer this year. Those of you who went to Dorset last year know what I mean!
As ever, take your cameras with you, it helps to remember those lovely, fun filled days, and as always sharing is caring, we would love to hear about them. Drop us an email or a letter, or even post on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SteamApprenticeClub
From the Chairman
ElaineMa$$ey
I do hope that you've all had a very good Christmas and New Year. It's now time to look forward to the 2015 steaming season no doubt you are already!
Please read your magazine carefully, and keep an eye on the website for news of driving days, LadySylvia'sactivities and any other bits.
Membership; we have put the membership rate up from this January to £15 per year. For that you get your four magazines, access to driving days and reduced rates for the excellent NTET driving course (for 13s and over) , the chance to complete your adult competency test, and of course free entry to many steam rallies across the country. With the ever mounting costs of transport and coal, we are putting up the www.ntet.eo.uk/sac
charge for driving days to £15 per day. When I do the accounts that still doesn't amount to even half the cost of putting them on. Last year we had three new driving days laid on, please apply for these as soon as you can to enable us to get the right number of engines etc.
Lastly - a plea! Could all of you remember your manners on the rally field PLEASE?It is so easyto use please, thank you and let your engine crew know if you are leaving the engine or want a break! Leaving a good impression, most importantly, makes our relationship with enginemen so much easier, when they would like to help us again. They are under no obligation to do so, and without the engine crews and their enthusiasm to teach all of you, we would fail.
Mailbag
Writefous!
Valve planing
Dear Editor,
Due to twenty years of roading, and several thousand miles, the slide valve faces on our Garrett tractor had become worn. To correct this, my Dad, Grandad and I re-machined the slide-valve faces on our engine. We borrowed a valve planer from a friend in the Midlands which had recently been used on another Garrett; this meant that it was relatively easy to set up.
The first problem that we came across was how to lift the machine onto the valve chest; we achieved this by using an engine crane to lift the tool up into the air. It was then discovered that the canopy stay was preventing the valve planer from actually sitting on the valve chest. After removing this, we positioned and attached the tool to the engine using some bolts. Dad then checked and adjusted the planer so that it sat level and true to the valve face. We then checked it about another ten times before starting the cutting process.
The next day, we started to machine the valve faces. This involved pulling a handle back and forth to move the tool across the valve face. The hand wheel on the side of the planer moved the cutting up or down the face to progress the cut.
When we reached the limits of the planer, we had to remove the cutting tool and turn it over so that it could continue cutting to the bottom of the valve face.
At the end, we were left with two well-finished valve faces. All that remains to be done now is to use a scraper to clean the high-spots off. The valves also needed re-machining flat but have now been completed.
In the following weeks, we hope to re-assemble the engine and, when the weather starts to warm up, get the Garrett back in steam and on the road.
Regards, Bethany Dyson, 4382
Build a Burrell behind the scenes
HughDyson
During the build a Burrell project there were a number of tasks that went on behind the scenes to both plan and finish the engine. I guess the best way is to explain how it all started.
Having been asked by our previous chairman, John Durling, about helping out with the Steam Apprentice Club several years ago at the Old Warden steam rally, I soon found myself sat in John's front room at the Autumn SAC committee meeting. I sat through most of it thinking "this is great but what is the point of me being here if there is very little that needs doing". It seemed like all of the other committee members had jobs and things that they organised for the Apprentices. Well this was soon to change when they started to talk about their new project to build a 4" Burrell. John knew that I worked in Engineering for a living and we had discussed in detail at Old Warden about the kinds of projects I get involved in for work. At this point John piped up and said I was the man for the job, so that was that.
At the start we had some idea of what we were planning but no idea as to how much work you Apprentices would do in a day. So we set off for Dorset with benches and tools stowed away in my caravan, and Ian Uohn's son) in a van he borrowed from work, along with the first few kits carefully packed in the back. Elaine and John and the rest of the team managed to fit in the build tent, banners, food and all the other things we normally need to run the SAC activities in the Trust tent at Dorset.
Well very soon the launch day came
and we were ankle deep in mud but making good progress. By the end of the Dorset sessionsI had gained quite a bit of knowledge about the project and worked out that we had an age range of 5-21 years and a varied ability range, from apprentices who were capable, young Engineers in the making, right through to Apprentices who had never picked up any sort of metal working tool. I also had Matt Lund as a capable assistant in running the project and helping with many of the build sessions.
When I arrived home I had a bit of a think about how to make the project work as smoothly as possible and if it would be possible to finish the project in the agreed two years time schedule. I pondered this over a couple of evenings whilst polishing our engine in preparation for our local rally and our run to the Bedford Steam Engine Preservation Society at Old Warden, and started to think that too much planning would kill the project off very quickly.
If we had a list of tasksthat had to be done at every session, many of the sessions would over-run and make the whole process feel like a chore instead of fun. As the kits arrived from Steam Traction World they seemed to lend themselves well towards a rough guide as to what we could do at each sessionand possibly one or two jobs in between where some grown up help would be required or if parts from kits were rescheduled for later delivery. It was at this point that I decided that rather than just making notes at the build sessionsin my log book (the Engineers bound
version of the lots of bits of paper) I would use a project management tool to help both detail the jobs done and also to plan the remaining jobs to the finish. This allowed me to chart our progress as we worked through the various build sessions- both the ones I helped to run but also those that were a little further away and to see what needed to be done.
The other thing I needed to be mindful of was the time line. I had agreed to have the Burrell finished for the 2014 Old Warden rally and there were plenty of club members over at Bedford, who, at our monthly meetings were keen that this target was reached as well as Elaine the rest of the SAC committee and also the NTET General Council. The tool used was called 'Trello' and is a project and task planning program which allowed me to take things easy and not to worry too much about what was achieved at each
session. It works like a giant whiteboard that you can stick post-it notes to and then give priorities to and in our case assign tasks to build sessions. As long as the tasks and problems were written down in my log book I could transfer them to Trello, we could then see what was left to do. There were times when I forgot to write these notes down which did not help but luckily you Apprentices normally reminded me.
Later in the build as the Burrell was being fitted back together by the Apprentices I started adding tasks to my Trello board for some of the grown ups to do like fitting and checking the safety critical components. It wasn't that anything was put together incorrectly by the Apprentices it was more a case of checking to make sure it all worked safely. I was very lucky during these adult sessions to be helped out by Adam Brown who runs Craftsmaster paints (the
suppliers of the paint) and Ged Morris, who, although he lives quite a long way away from my workshop was working locally at the time, so was able to pop over in the evening to help.
Very soon we were ready to light the first fire prior to the boiler inspector visiting. We did have a few leaks to start with mostly round the pump as the fittings are all quite small and packed closely together. With these sorted and the glands all adjusted I attempted to run the engine out of gear, which ran really quite smoothly out of the box so we must have made quite a good job of putting the engine together.
Very soon the day of the boiler inspection was upon us. After our inspector giving the engine a thorough look for about an hour, he wanted to check that the safety valves worked and that both the pump and injector worked. The pump worked very well but despite having been well tested at the first steaming, the injector refused to pick up and instead spat hot water all over the floor. Both the inspector and I pondered
the problem for a while and soon found by pouring cold water over the injector feed water connection it burst back into life. So we then decided to strip the pipe work and to make a spacer in my lathe to ensure the pipes lined up correctly and sealed.
Soon after a few moments of high speed tinkering in the shed we had it all back together and working a treat. At that point our boiler inspector started to fill out the paperwork "we were nearly there". With only a week to go, the last few bits of painting and lining were applied - some of it very early in the morning or late in the evening again with a bit of help from Adam and Ged we were nearly ready. It was then that I remembered we would need a name plate so I designed up a plate one evening using Solidworks which is a 3D computer aided design package I use for work and the following morning emailed the files over to another of our sponsors High Precision who run a modern machine shop and who make things for me in my day job. They were able that
day to machine the plate on one of their machining centres out of brassand I was able to collect and fit it a few days before our launch at Old Warden. I guess most of you will have seen the pictures both in this magazine and on the web and Facebook pages of the launch.
Overall one of the best things for me with this project has been seeingthe great work you Apprentices have put in you have all worked very hard and I hope learnt a few new skills. Some of the painting that was taken away and undertaken all over the country without
my supervision has been superb and I am very proud of the hard work you have all put in. Following the launch I have handed LadySylvia over to the team who are going to run the engine and take it to events all over the country in the following years so you can all have a go driving. I will be around to help fix any problems and undertake any maintenance required. I am also planning some other new projects for you Apprentices to try out your engineering skills, so keep an eye out for details.
Lady Sylvia goes to Sylvia
JohnDurling
Many of you will have seen the pictures of the formal launch of the SAC Burrell LadySylvia.
As I'm sure some will know the engine is named after the lady who got the SAC going back in 1979 and also devoted many years to keep the Club alive when times were harder and there was much lesssupport for your club than there is now.
Unfortunately Sylvia Dudley is now not very well and was unable to travel to The Bedford Club's rally at Old Warden Park to see the launch; something she was quite upset about.
So we decided, if the Lady can't come to the engine then the engine must go to her!
So it was agreed that on the 25th September I would collect the Burrell from near Astwood Bank and take it to the home in Milton Keyneswhere Sylvia now lives.
It was a cold but bright day and Elaine and Ian Massey and I arrived just after
www.ntel.eo.uk/sac
lunch to get LadySylvia out of her trailer and be ready to be shown off. We hadn't come prepared to have her in steam so we just put a small fire in basically to make a little smoke.
Sylvia was then brought down, well wrapped up in a couple of SAC fleeces, to view her namesake.
I know she was 'tickled pink' to see the engine and would have liked to see her running round a bit. She spent about three quarters of an hour looking at and admiring the work that has been done in the last two years, mostly by you, the members!
I have known Sylvia for a very long time (some would say too long) and it is sad to see her looking so frail and stuck in a wheelchair but I'm really glad that I was able to take your engine to see herhopefully it won't be the last time.
It's now up to you, the SAC members, to keep LadySylvia running in tip top condition.
Happy steaming.
Driving Day Applications
LindaAllen
Let me introduce myself, I'm Linda Allen and I've taken on the driving days organisation from Kevin, who is having a well earned rest after being the organiser for many years! I have two Apprentices who thoroughly enjoy the driving days too!
You'll notice that there are a few changes on the application form this year. Talking to the organisers, it became clear that some of you are perhaps ready to do some different things with the engines as you have been on a few of the driving days in the past. Use your log book to see what
you have covered previously, or think about what you have done on your family's engine and tick the appropriate boxes. Pleasenote that it doesn't matter if you have never been on an engine before, or whether you have been on several driving days, the applications will be dealt with as they arrive. Those of you on reserve lists from last year will be considered first should you wish to attend an event this year.
I hope that you all have a great year on these amazing machines!
Steam Apprentice Club 2015 Driving Days
List of venues
Venue Date
25th and 26th
Old Warden* April Subject to confirmation
Horsham, 4th April 2015 West Sussex
Fe11gateFarm, Weeting, 28th & 29th
Brandon, March 2015 Suffolk
Stithians, 2nd & 3rd May Cornwall 2015
Leader's Comments Name
Held in the grounds of Paul Worby Shuttleworth Collection
Dee Searle
Dee kindly did a driving day last year and is now back for more! Plenty of engines to try. Mr Parrott has a collection of 4 or 5 engines with others also Richard on site. Again they are running Parrott over two days.
Camping/caravanning space is available.
Being run on the showground at Stithians. First of two John Sawle SEPARATEdays WESESare running as demand last year was high.
Stithians, 2nd & 3rd May Cornwall* 2015
County of Salop
29th August 2015
Leeds 1 2th Sept 201 5
Tinkers Park, 19th Sept 201 5
Sussex
The aim of these driving days is to give SAC members who do not have regular access to an engine the chance to drive one for a day. Therefore, if any course is over subscribed, we reserve the
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. Being run on the showground at Stithians. Second of two John Sawle SEPARATEdays WESESare running as demand last year was high.
Doug Milns
Ollie
Being run on the Saturday before the County of Salop Rally.
On the Otley Vintage Vehicle Maslin Extravaganza ground near Leeds.
Well established now at Adrian Tinkers Park set in East Sussex Vaughan own roadway so can operate in all weathers.
right to offer the places to members fror11 non-engine owning families and those who were on the reserve lists in 2014.
*See special applying instructions on application form.
From Raising Steam to NTET
byAnthonyCoulls
I suspect that I'm the first Chairman that the NTET will have had who is a former SAC member. My family didn't have engines or access to engines when I was growing up, although I was an enthusiast for riding behind them and would have loved to have a gothus the two memories I have of driving rollers at 8 & 16 are treasured indeed. I became aware of the SAC in 1988 at the age of 14, and joined up that summer. A couple of years later, I started going on some of the organised visits and began writing for Raising Steam and never looked back! My active involvement in engines only really started at University; when one of my fellow railway volunteers on the Talyllyn bought an Aveling conversion in 1994, he got bored with it and thus I and some friends began to look after it. Around the same time, I met the Milns family and began to crew with them.
I made the seamless transition to being a Trust member in 1995, and sadly stopped writing for Raising Steam, but the die was cast and I have continued to write for the heritage
press on and off for 20 years now. Now I am married with two daughters aged 9 & 11 and they both want to ride on our Aveling roller, having grown up with it in bits. It is having a new back axle at present, but may be out later this year we hope - then there's the living van to tackle.
The Steam Apprentice Club is very dear to my heart; it gave me my first chance to get involved with this fantastic, fun and friendly hobby and I am pleased to see it going from strength to strength. It also pleases me to see Apprentices enjoying themselves, whether it's with a Mamod, Marshall or Miniature and I hope that you will go on like I did to continue your interest into adulthood - it gives you something different to talk about at school and ultimately can give you both practical and life skills which will help as you grow up.
I look forward to meeting many Apprentices during my time as NTET Chairman and seeing the Club grow and flourish as it heads towards its 40th anniversary.
We hope you will look at going to the one nearest to you to learn more about looking after an engine, steering and driving. When you go to these events you are of course representing the club. We want you to enjoy your day and to be safe, therefore please pay attention to what your instructor tells you at all times and be on good behaviour. In your invite letter there are words that the organizer 'has the final say' on all matters and that would include removing you from an engine if deemed necessary.
I have read and understand the above.
Signed ............................................................................................................
If you are under 18, please ask your Parent/Guardian to sign below.
ImportantNotice to Parents.
The NTET has a Child Protection Policy and would never knowingly put a child at risk. The SAC could not run the driving days without the help of a large number of volunteers. Please note it is not practicable for the NTET to check all helpers. You are welcome to talk to the volunteers or stay and observe. If you choose not to we will assume that you are satisfied that your child is safe.
I have read the Notice to Parents and agree to my son/daughter taking part in the driving day as detailed above.
Signature of Parent/Guardian
When I have received your application I shall post your membership number on the website, or if you are happy to give me your e-mail address I will send a message.
When I have received your application I shall post your membership number on the website, or if you are happy to give me your e-mail address I will send a message.
Joining Instructions will be sent two weeks before event and a note posted on the website confirming despatch. Acknowledgement of application does not guarantee a place on a driving day. Non engine owner apprentices and those on reserve lists from 2014 will be considered first.
SAC DRIVING DAY APPLICATION FORM
Send this form with a cheque/postal order for £10 payable to the 'NTET'. The cheque/postal order needs to be dated 3 weeks before the event and an SAE to: Linda Allen, 2 Stephenson Drive, Freme, Somerset BA 11 2XD.
For Old Warden send this form with a cheque for £10 payable to B.S.E.P.S. with an SAE to: Paul Worby, Park Farm, Hen low, Bedfordshire, SG16 6DF.
For Stithians send this form with a cheque for £10 payable to the 'NTET' with an SAE to: Amanda Menear, Tregonning, 52 Rectory Road, Cam borne, Cornwall, TR14 7DS
NAME................................................................................................................
HEIGHT...................................... PHONE NUMBER .......................................... .
ADDRESS ....................................................................................................... .
I would like to take part in the Driving Day at ................................... on
For events which have camping available please indicate if you want a pitch .................. .
EXPERIENCE:
Please indicate the number of driving days that you have attended: ......................... ..
Please tick the appropriate boxes to indicate the experience you have in working with traction engines:
Cold Engine preparation i.e. General inspection & cleaning, water levels, lighting fire and oiling up.
D Boiler Management i.e. Water injectors and feed pump, running out of gear, regulator and motion control.
D Moving off i.e. start, stop, basic steering and driving; fire and water management.
D Advanced Techniques i.e. Working with a trailer, winching and belt work.
I HAVE ENCLOSED A STAMPED SELF-ADDRESSED ENVELOPE FOR JOINING DETAILS.
Driving days are one of the important things we do which is getting you on engines.
Aveling Build
byKevinMunn
After that for a while it was a case of putting things back in place. Some easy, some not, like the flywheel and crank. This of course being a very big and heavy piece of metal just couldn't be manhandled in place. I am lucky where I have the engine there is a chap called Neil who has a garage in the same yard. But it is more than just a car garage he has all sorts of tools and equipment which he has very kindly let me have the use of, one being a forklift.
After putting the bearing housing and bearing in place it was time to put the flywheel and crank in place. So, with his help operating the forklift and lots of tricky maneuvering because of limited access into the tent we got the flywheel etc. in place. I quickly put the rest of the split bearing and bearing caps in place and tightened everything down ensuring the shims where in place and the measurements maintained that I had recorded before taking it all apart years earlier. By recording measurements and putting everything as it was before I took it apart I would at least have a good point to start from if things were not as they should be. Because of course, the
boiler had been movc,d ,11oLmd a lot, upside down, standing on ils bc1ck 1 as well as the riveting and banging 1h~11 had happened when the new fire box and smoke box had been installed so movement of the horn plates could have occurred affecting the positioning of the mounting plates in which are installed the bearing for the flywheel shaft amongst other items. It only takes 2-3 thousands of a inch out of alignment (0.08mm) and the shaft would not turn.
After putting some oil into the bearing I carefully tried to turn the flywheel, as if it was tight or jammed I didn't want to cause any damage. I was in luck it turned as freely as it was before dismantling! A great relief as moving the flywheel etc around is no easy task. After that as I said at the beginning it was a case ofthen putting other items back into place.
Not commonly seen engines
byKevinMunn
You might have heard of Ransomes, Simms, and Jefferies but did you know that at one time they where Ransomes,
Head and Jefferies? These 3 pictures show a R.H. and J traction engine of 1881 a 6nhp engine works No. 5137.
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