We had a good turn out for our October meeting at Tockington, which included our AGM. We welcomed Waran who finally managed to get to his first meeting after joining during Covid. We also met Robin who came as a guest and decided to join. Other members came without models just to enjoy the occasion.
Pete brought a couple of models, a digger and a truck, but also some interesting historical Meccano electric motors.
The Hitachi digger is based on a Liebherr plan and was made many years ago. It functions with bucket up/down, plus slew and forward/reverse on its caterpillar tracks. All operations were very smooth.
The dumper truck is a Caterpillar 779 with information about it on the photo.
The electric motor is almost antique and was powered by a 240 volt source reduced to 110 volts by the use of a 60 Watt lamp in series. The lamp box is from 1925, and the unpowered toggle switch is encased in a brass housing without an earth connection. Health and Safety was clearly not a thing back then.
Hugh gave his Wallace and Gromit Elevator another airing, after making a few modifications to improve the mechanism. Note the 'Wrong Trousers' climbing up the side.
Sam's models were inspired by his ancestors, some of whom were searching for oil back in the 1930's. The first drilling derrick is a pile driver, suitable for drilling down about 200 feet through soft rock. It had a hollow shaft which would capture and remove the spoils. This model was in the number 7 set manual.
The rotary drilling derrick was armed at its point with a diamond drill bit, and used pumped mud for lubrication and clearing of spoils. The potential drilling depth was much greater than that of the pile driver.
Richard S made this aeroplane toy several years ago. The joystick controller is also made from Meccano as his son broke the original non-Meccano one. The aeroplane is a Bristol M1 (which never saw frontline service). The joystick controls the movement clockwise and anti-clockwise whilst the pilot bobs up and down firing the machine gun. The power is transmitted to the propeller motor via slip rings.
Colin's display comprised small models from the Evolution series and small bespoke Meccano kit models. Additionally, there was a traction engine from a Bert Halliday design, seen in December 1965 Meccano Magazine. The dray was a Christmas challenge, and the darker yellow dumper truck is not actually Meccano but was a bargain nevertheless, too good to ditch.
The Dreamliner has working lights, but the batteries inside are a nightmare to get to. Despite its size, there are only 36 metal components, the remainder being plastic (the way things seem to be going). The Sopwith Camel is from the M&S range and the sea plane is from the Tintin range. Lastly, the tractor with its harrow (a lighter form of plough) can be folded inward as per the real thing.
Mark H-S had a beguiling perpetual motion ping-pong ball machine as seen in CQ 117. Many variations of this can be seen on NZ Meccano.
The tower brought by Richard G was made by Tony Knowles. It appears as if made from 'Mechanics Made Easy' but each strip was actually made by Tony. The half inch diameter pulleys are original.
Richard's other display was of alternative construction systems. The blue lorry looks to be a specific lorry kit but Richard couldn't remember the make.
Eric's tractor was actually the one he bought at a previous club auction as an unfinished model donated by a Mr. Neil Moody. This particular old American tractor was able to run on two different fuels - petrol or TVO (Tractor Vaporising Oil). Eric stripped it down and rebuilt the gearbox and differential, and completed this fine model.
His other (part built) model was of a half-track design for crossing the Sahara Desert. Each track should be a single rubber item but he couldn't find any during Covid times.
In 2016 Gregg built a quarter scale Landrover at the request of Landrover themselves. He was later challenged to build the Cuthbertson conversion before Skegex, seen here with the caterpillar tracks in place of wheels, though not at quarter scale.
Another Landrover version is The Centaur half track built for the army who used to overload traditional Landrovers. The Centaur had a 3 ton capability using tracks from armoured cars.
Other versions included one which was able to run on 2ft gauge railway tracks, built in green and white. And a Forestry version with very large wheels built in red.
Gregg won the President's Trophy for this display at the Sheffield Meccano Guild's meeting.
Chris's Mill Engine was a K-set model. This particular type of engine used a Corliss valve arrangement to maintain a set speed. Prior to this development, an engineer was needed on hand to regulate the speed. The original model design didn't work but an improved design by Rob Mitchell does. The model is powered by a 20amp pulse wave modulator which allows slow running.
The Christmas tree was made by Michael many years ago. It has a press button timer which drives the tree to rotate and the fairy to bob up and down. He also brought his Piotr's coffee bike. Both of these models can be seen in more detail with more information and a video of the Christmas tree on Michael's Page.
We finally got to see Waran's One-arm Bandit in the flesh. This terrific model is fully operational using just mechanics without any electrical devices employed. There were a few minor issues with slipping shafts (well known to Meccano builders) which caused some timing issues.
This was his first scratch built model, built over a two year period. This model won The Malcolm Hanson Trophy this year, awarded by our members for the best completed model on display at the October meeting.
John's Fairground Ride was built mainly to a plan by D J Fernandez, but uses a power drive motor instead of an E20. This large model needs to sit on a half inch thick plywood base for rigidity. It just about fits in his car, but more by luck than judgement he admits. Due to the availability of the right length threaded rods for supporting the carriages, he used M4 lengths in their place. So far it has been to six exhibitions this year.
Ian has embarked on a mammoth project: a scale model of the Post Office Tower. The actual building weighs 13,000tons and stands on a 20ft deep truncated pyramid foundation, which we guess is then supported on piles. Bizarrely the tower was an official secret until 1982. The Telecommunications transmitters were actually in the floor, and the microwave signals transmitted vertically through tubes and then bounced sideways to be emitted horizontally.
The model is intended to be taller than displayed at the meeting but Ian has run out of suitable 12.5inch strips. The windows cladding the tower are from a system called 'Architect' by Triang. The red panels are fixed in place with a bit of glue to stop them falling out. His intention is to split it in a manner to show some interior, including a lift.
Andrew brought a 1956 Set 9 model of a floating Crane. He made a few improvements, such as using bevel gears instead of contrates but it still uses a clockwork motor. Note that the cabin is built on a slope as per plan but we wondered whether this was a true feature or not.
Steve continues with his build of his perpetual spiral staircase. The proof of concept version was successful, so now the mechanism is being completed inside the shell of an octagonal tower. At this stage it has four working stair treads to demonstrate the action. Much effort was required to ensure smooth operation which still requires some tweaking. Clearances between moving parts is minimal and each tread set-up requires jigging to ensure it fits snugly to the next.
The revolving base is only the top plate of a geared roller bearing. The actual supporting thrust bearing is all made from Meccano components and uses four Meccano ball bearings. This necessitated rotational support at the top of the tower to take side load. The operation is very sensitive to any 'out of true' of the vertical tracks, which need to be set up using jigs.
Philip's model workshop can be driven by an SE3 double cylinder Mamod steam engine. Indoors this is not possible but it could potentially be driven by compressed air.
Barry once again put on a superb display, this time of 1977 sets 1 to 6. Sets prior to this date only featured boys on the box lids but these 1977 sets up to set 5 feature both boys and girls. However, this equality did not extend to sets 6 and above. The boxes' contents did not change, only the presentation on the lids, and sets 7 and 8 were completely unchanged.
Alan had no model to display, but did bring a selection of surplus Meccano to sell.
Once again, the sales table proved popular with all proceeds going into the club funds. Many thanks to Rob and Chris for managing the sales and to Rob especially for handling all cash on the day, including collecting the subs.
General views of the hall
Finally, thanks to Dianne for the delicious spread and to Pam for all her help serving food and drinks throughout the day.