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(Please note that photographs and
advertisements have been removed from the 'hard copy' before publishing here)
Canterbury Tales
(The official newsletter of the Canterbury
Society of Model and Experimental Engineers Inc.)
PRESIDENTS REPORT - OCTOBER 2007
This is the third
attempt at writing this report. The reason for this is that things are
changing so fast that the previous attempts have become irrelevant.
Our application to
build our club rooms at Halswell will not now go before the Community Board
until the December meeting and possibly not until the February meeting. This
means further long delays to when we can start our planning. We have already
been knocked back on the size of building we may be allowed to build. The
current size permitted in the council plan is 100 sq meters. We have altered
our request from 200 sq meters down to 120 sq meters in the hope that the
council will allow us a little latitude. This area is approximately two thirds
the size of Andrews Crescent.
There are members
who have the opinion that all Halswell is a money making concern only and that
the members who operate there every Sunday are only interested in making
money!! This is very far from the truth. Sure the money has some importance
but is not the be all and end all to the members concerned. They are all
promoting our hobby to the public with a view to encouraging more people to
join our society. Don’t forget the more money we do make the less likely the
subscriptions are to rise. There is a well known fact in business, which
applies to any society or club, that if you are not prepared to go forward you
will in fact go backwards. In some ways we as a society are at the point where
we have to make a conscious decision to move on or go into decline. I hope
that I am wrong.
As you will all know
we are holding our open weekend over Show-Weekend. To make this the success
it should be, I am inviting all of you to come and help at some time during
the weekend. Alan Malaquin is preparing a roster for the weekend so if you
can help in some way please phone him on 3816111 to put your name on the list.
Alan Orwin
President
A FEW PUFFS
- from the Loco Foreman
The party season
has commenced and several large Birthday Parties have taken place at Halswell.
Word is getting about and several parties have been made-up of groups just
arriving, setting up their event and buying Concession Tickets.
Of course we
welcome this and it being a public park it can happen without consultation so
we need to be prepared to accommodate such crowds. These are successful fund
raisers and require considerable help from the membership to ensure this
weekly event continues to meet the expectations of customers.
Please make an
effort to spend some time with us on Sunday afternoons, even if for only an
hour or two so that others may be relieved for a tea break.
The track is in
good condition and has remained stable over the winter with just a little
correction required so far. Drivers need to remain vigilant at all times as
most weekends there are 'thrill seekers' and 'humbugs' that get enjoyment from
placing debris on the tracks.
The raised track
needs more use and a few steam engines on that is a real crowd pleaser! So
dust off the smaller loco's and join in the fun on Sunday afternoons.
Alan Malaquin
PRIZES PRESENTED
ON AWARDS NIGHT 2007
|
Moody Cup |
George
Johnson |
Photos
from the evening |
|
Curry Cup |
George
Johnson |
|
Kelvin Walsh
Award |
George
Johnson |
|
Harrison Cup |
John Begg |
|
Edsall Award |
Phil
Ingle |
|
Powel Shield |
Peter KIng |
|
Canterbury
Railway Trophy |
Noel Etwell |
|
The
Presidents Cup |
Not awarded |
COMMODORES REPORT
Not a lot to report here today.
We had a few visitors from the Canterbury Model Boat club at
our pond a few weeks ago sailing their own yachts. Thanks for coming guys.
Work was to start last week on putting our piles in for our
dock-works but as usual the rain upset those plans!
We will all need to be prepared to start our work in this area
as soon as possible when the weather allows.
At the last boat
night, one of our members gave a brief talk on one of his older boats with an
IC motor (20 – 30 years old) that he has resurrected. It has a fair turn of
speed and fairly quiet as well. Thank you for bringing your boat in as well.
It was most enjoyable to hear about work done by one of our own. Maybe more
of our boat members can do the same and give a brief talk on it and have a
question and answer session afterwards.
Yesterday (21
October) was a good sailing day, four of our club members, one member from
Canterbury Model Boat Club (Cor Bakkenes) and two visitors, who had the
courtesy to ask if they could sail with us and checked their frequency with
us. So thanks again to those people. Well, that seems to all for now. Fair
sailing on the high seas.
M Cowie Commodore
ESTATE OF ROSS
FIELDEN
As you would
imagine the orderly and economic disposal of Models and Workshop equipment
amassed by Ross in his lifetime, is a huge task. Efforts to date have been to
dispose of major items. It is anticipated that by December items will
generally be available according to Ross’s wishes. Priced items will be laid
out at his workshop premises in Brougham Street where our membership will be
the first invited to attend, followed by members of the Engineering
fraternity.
Jock Miller
MEANZ REPORT
Safety Management - Progress on
Audit Scheme
Acceptance of the
‘Audit’ system by fellow Model Engineering clubs has been widely accepted and
the presence of two pairs of ’outside eyes’ has been helpful in improving what
appears to be a general high standard of operation.
To date three
North Island clubs have been fully audited and before Christmas four others,
including CSMEE (Show Weekend) and Otago (end Nov) will be completed.
This it is hoped
will enable MEANZ officers to persuade OSH (Workplace Safety) that all 26 NZ
Model Engineering clubs are operating to the highest safety possible after
being inspected by independent, competent and knowledgeable persons.
The MEANZ Audit
personnel in the South Island are: J Caldwell (Nelson) and R Wilson (CSMEE) as
lead auditors. Mike James and Alan Malaquin (CSMEE) with Andrew Harbrow (Otago),
Graham Head (Gore), and Donald Ross and Duncan Robbin (both of Invercargill)
are accredited auditors.
Ian Fanshawe is
our representative to AMBSC Code Revision (Steel
Boilers)
If anyone has any
comments or suggestions please pass these on to Ian as soon as possible. He
will be able to make submissions to AMBSC
Jock Miller
South Island
Rep. MEANZ
COMMITTEE MEETING
AUGUST 2007
Graeme Chisnall
recommended Spark’s Museum in Rangiora as a venue for our 75th
Anniversary celebration. This museum is large and full of memorabilia
relating to our generation. The venue is fully booked for Easter 2008.
Graeme has made a tentative booking for Show Weekend, 2008. Bruce Thornley
may be able to run a 44-seater bus from Andrews Crescent to the museum. The
possibility of this event will be mentioned to the general membership at the
next General Meeting.
Jock Miller will
be visiting Southern Clubs shortly and will float the idea with them. The
2008 AME Calenders held by CSMEE be sold for $12-00 each. The recent club
fundraising auction netted a total of approximately $5500-00 with
approximately $2200-00 raised for the club. Thanks were given to all those
that donated equipment for this auction.
LOCO FOREMAN The
new hydraulic pump has been fitted to the F7, which now runs a lot faster. A
throttle stop will be fitted. A larger alternator, fuel float switch and
upgraded bogie pivots have also been fitted. Ian Fanshawe was acknowledged
for his work with the F7’s refurbishment. Ian Fanshawe has made a batch of
replacement point actuating cylinders. Thanks were given to Noel Etwell, Phil
Bellamy and Rob Wilson for making their locos available while the F7 was being
refurbished.
COMMODORE There
has been a degree of undercutting of the sleepers around the edge of the
pond. This can be corrected by placing shingle around the base of the
sleepers. John Beauchamp has been contacted by Paddy O’Brien, City Council,
who has selected approximately 200 plants to be placed around the pond. Paddy
will supervise the planting of these. We will need to make wire fittings to
install around the new plants, these being to discourage ducks.
LIBRARIAN The
library has received a donation comprising several books on railways and
engineering from the family of Reg Knox. Secretary to write a letter of
thanks.
MEANZ The MEANZ
Executive will have a meeting at Kapiti on or about the 20th
September 2007. Jock Miller will attend this meeting. Jock will shortly
visit the Southern Model Engineering Clubs.
Peter King’s steel loco boiler is now complete and has had a successful
hydraulic test.
Halswell
GLT Current work at Halswell includes ballasting of track near the turntable,
installation of sleepers and reinforcing rods at the pond edge and
reticulation of air and water to the raised track. Ewan Alison will be
continuing with modifications to the table in the engine shed, George Johnson
with work in the steaming bay, Dave Markham with station painting and Neale
Craighead with wiring.
Jock Miller has
manufactured builder plates for the ICE train. It was noted that the new
children’s playground has altered the flow of people through the station area.
We will need to
install new bollards and plastic chains to deter people from entering the
station platforms from the pond end.
As regards to the
possible formation of a new “Friends of the Society” membership class for
non-members who make a significant contribution to the Society, the
Subcommittee suggested that “to avoid possible difficulties, acknowledgement
be in the form of a formal letter or Certificate”.
The defunct boat
pond at Andrews Crescent keeps collecting water and needs periodic pumping
out. John Beauchamp indicated that the Council may be willing to fill this
pond for us.
Graeme Chisnall’s
neighbour has arranged a new fridge for the Andrews Crescent clubrooms.
John Hamilton
advised that our responsibility for locking chain barriers around our site at
the end of a run day has been absolved. The Council will be installing two
more chain barriers, one near the engine shed and the other at the crossing in
the trees.
COMMITTEE MEETING
- SEPTEMBER 2007
The next
driver’s licence test evening will be 26th September 2007. There
was discussion over our
75th
anniversary celebrations. We may have a celebration run, open to other
societies, at both Easter
2008 and
Show Weekend, 2008. The dinner will be primarily for CSMEE members and
partners, and
will
likely be held at Show Weekend. A special commemorative newsletter is
planned. There was a
call for
the penning of a book about the history of the club.
LOCO
FOREMAN Now that we are back into summer running, attention needs to be given
to the
various
pre-run safety checks, including a check on track, first aid kit, fire
extinguisher, signalling
system and
points. It was recommended that members be present well before the 1pm
start. A
request
was made for members to share the driving of the club locos. It is a big help
to have tickets
sold and
checked before passengers ascend the stairs. It was acknowledged that the
two-way radios
are useful
in the event of an emergency, but some drivers find them difficult to hear
when out on the
road.
Alan Malaquin has made a start on the next club loco.
COMMODORE
There was some discussion on the fitting of safety cut outs on the more
powerful
model
boats operating on the pond. The cut outs would hopefully avert disaster
should the radio
control
link be lost for any reason. We may need to limit the power of boats on the
pond. Malcolm
Cowie and
the model boat operators will give this some thought.
LIBRARIAN
It was noted that author Stan Bray has written a new book on model locomotive
construction, and it may be advantageous to have this in our library. It was
requested that we
establish
the cost and availability of this. Peter Grounds to check on Amazon.com.
MEANZ:
Jock Miller visited the Dunedin, Southland and Gore clubs. These three clubs
are OSH
registered. The Dunedin club requested an audit, as their OSH registration
will shortly expire. Jock
Miller
attended a MEANZ meeting at Kapiti. MEANZ is working its way through
administrative
paperwork.
The North
Island clubs have been active with auditing and it was requested that our club
be audited
too. The general consensus with MEANZ is that the Charitable Trust system is
still under
development and to delay any decisions regarding this until after the Manukau
Convention. Assist
with
financing projects for the smaller clubs.
Club
insurance was discussed and it was decided to continue with the status quo.
It was suggested
that some
of the more wealthy clubs could assist with financing the smaller clubs.
Halswell
GLT Current work involves maintenance and general tidying up. We need to get
rid
of some of
our piles of rubbish and scrap steel as this is being spread all around our
site. We could
sell our
scrap steel to a scrap dealer. It was noted that the Council still holds a
$2000-00 bond from
us pending
our cleaning up the site. We need to shift two walkways from Andrews Crescent
to
Halswell.
One of these will be installed at the end of the lake. John Hamilton to
arrange a truck with a
Hiab.
John Beauchamp reported that our application for new clubrooms and
retrospective application
for
extending the pond might be put before the Community Board at their December
meeting.
Meanwhile
we should be able to proceed with the harbour and possibly a train tunnel.
GENERAL BUSINESS
A
call was made for more help with the Sun day running. There was discussion
over whether we should have a day manager to assign jobs and assist members
present, but no decision was made at this stage. We require more hand stamps
for Sunday parties. There was a reminder that, in order to qualify for a 33%
discount, registrations for the Manukau Convention need to be in by October.
The number and size of recent Sunday parties at Halswell have been causing
major operating difficulties for run day staff. We have had large numbers of
party people having numerous rides mixed in with general fare paying public.
The anticipated size of parties is often difficult to ascertain. There was a
call to introduce some form of discounted ticketing system for parties. This
generated much discussion. It was decided to leave the status quo for now.
Since there are currently no parties booked after Christmas, we may introduce
a new system then. There was discussion over the disposal of items of model
engineering interest from estates. It was noted that CSMEE has a system by
which members can instruct officers of the club on how to dispose of model
engineering items from their estate. The secretary can supply blank forms to
any interested member and the secretary keeps filled instruction forms on
file. It was also noted that the cataloguing of items from some estates can
involve considerable work. When items are ready for sale, the general
membership is informed, either at regular meetings or advertised in the club
newsletter, as appropriate.
COMMITTEE MEETING
- OCTOBER 2007
MATTERS ARISING
It
is the late Ross Fielden’s wish that CSMEE be given first option on model
engineering items from his estate. This will likely be organised before
Christmas 2007. John Beauchamp has discussed the erosion problems around the
harbour area of our pond with a Council member. The problem is due to the
water level frequently changing. Once we decide on a permanent water level,
the erosion problem will resolve itself in about 18 months. A relatively low
permanent water level would give us a buffer for dry years.
CORRESPONDENCE
Received a Thank you note from Kelvin Lewis for the get-well wishes extended
by club members. Kelvin is now on the mend. Received, an invitation from the
Otago Model Engineering Society for their exhibition, 2nd to 10th
February 2008. Invitation placed on the notice board. Received from Read
Right Publishing Ltd of Hamilton, a request for model engineering photos for a
proposed 2008 model-engineering themed calendar. These calendars will likely
sell for $12-00. See Jock Miller for details.
LOCO FOREMAN The
number of people riding our trains has approximately doubled since last summer
and Alan Malaquin requests more help on Sunday run days. The track
super-elevation has remained stable over the winter. Problems have been
encountered with objects being placed on the track, especially along the tree
area and near the culvert. Drivers are requested to be vigilant. It is good
to see more use of the raised track. Ian Fanshawe has offered to maintain the
points and their operating systems. Recently overhauled point actuating
cylinders are operating very effectively. A modification to the cylinder pipe
fittings will make future maintenance easier. It was noted that part of the
turntable decking is lifting. We will be installing a different design of
catch on the in-ground point operating boxes.
LIBRARIAN The
librarian was absent but had submitted a written report, which is held on
file. The report states that there has been a pleasing improvement with
returning periodicals. Three volumes of Model Shipwright have been removed
without their respective cards being filled in. The volumes are 1996/7,
1997/8, and 1998/9. There are problems with books and journals not being kept
in the correct numerical or date order.
MEANZ It was
noted that the North Island clubs appreciate having the new South Island
auditors available for future auditing. Our operation at Halswell will be
audited during the November 2007 exhibition. Alan Malaquin has agreed to be
our representative at the Biennial MEANZ meeting at Manukau 2008. Ian
Fanshawe is collecting information regarding steel boilers for the New Zealand
clubs, and will forward this information to the relevant Australian committee
charged with revising the steel boiler code.
Halswell
GLT A group of members have been regularly attending Saturday working
parties. Mike James is making progress with the small lifting traverser. The
sleepers located at Andrews Crescent have been moved to Halswell. We have sold
our scrap steel for $638. There was some general discussion over the size of
our proposed new clubrooms; some Committee members consider that what is being
planed may be too small. This was discussed at length several meetings ago,
and the largest we may reasonably expect be approved is a single story
building with a 120 square metre footprint. It was noted that we could design
a building with provision for future expansion if required. We will display a
concept drawing of our proposed clubrooms for interested Halswell residents
when we obtain building permission.
GENERAL BUSINESS
It was reported that 45 CSMEE members have taken the driver’s test.
There was
general discussion over the running of our Halswell based operation. There is
a continuing problem with the lack of participation from the general
membership. It was noted that operating in the large open area of the domain
is quite different from the enclosed controlled environment of Andrews
Crescent. Improved comfort for the operating staff was called for. Seats and
hot drink making facilities based near the station would be greatly
appreciated by station staff.
Members present
at Halswell on run days need to be available to relieve drivers and station
staff from time to time, a “day manager” would help here. It is expected that
conditions will improve substantially when we get our new clubrooms. “Donald
Miles will be made an Honorary Member of CSMEE”. Jock Miller has agreed to
produce blue Honorary Member name badges for Donald and Snow Harding. The
secretary to forward these to Snow and Donald along with a letter formally
acknowledging their new membership status. On the evening of Tuesday 21st
November 2007 we will join with a local car club at our site for a BBQ and an
evening run. John Hamilton requested that our club 08 locomotive be
transported to Manukau for the January 2008 convention. Alan Barlow similarly
requested the presence of the ICE train. It was agreed that these trains
could be at the Convention, provided that safe transportation is arranged.
FROM THE
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY
Thanks to all who
have paid their sub for this year by or before the Awards night. Payment for
the 2007/2008 year are now:
$100 for a Full
membership, $70 for Associate and $25 for Juniors.
FOR SALE
Single cylinder Stuart Turner V10 marine engine - $250:00
6ft Anchor Supply hull, wooden planked hull, (fibre-glassed
over) Props, shafts, motors, plan - $250:00
36in fibreglass yacht hull and deck - $45:00
36in fibre-glass yacht hull, deck, masts, sails rudder, tiller, keel and lead
bulb, rigging thread (Same as the club yacht) - $130:00
1/4 scale fibreglass jet boat hull - $175:00
Contact Dave
Pringle (03 384 5235)
SOCIAL EVENING AT HALSWELL
CSMEE Members - come and join in an Evening run on Wednesday 21st
November 2007
Beginning with a BBQ at about 6.00pm. Sausages, bread and
coffee provide.
A car club will call in for a visit and few rides between 7.30
-8.30. Please invite your family to enjoy your hobby too. RSVP to Alan Orwin
or John Hamilton with numbers attending (its only so we make sure we have
enough food)
DRIVER TESTING
NIGHTS
We are still
running Driver Testing Nights. Check with a committee member for the dates
DATES TO REMEMBER
SHOW-WEEKEND
EXHIBITION
16, 17 and 18
November 2007 - 10am-4pm
CSMEE Christmas
party - Is on Tuesday 4 December 2007 from 6 pm.
It is a BBQ at
Halswell & the food is provided by the club. BYO your liquid refreshments.
RSVP Sat. 1
December 2007 to Alan Orwin Ph: 980 5769
DON’T FORGET THE
MANUKAU LIVE STEAMERS 2008 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
From January 3rd
till the 7th, 2008 at Centre Park, Robertson Road, Mangere
Contact Address:
P O Box 43095, Mangere, Auckland
CSMEE members who
are planning to go are:
Alan Malaquin,
Alan Orwin, Graeme Chisnall, Noel Etwell, Brian Rollinson, Jock Miller, Andy
Rowe, George Johnson, Vicky Rollinson, Tony Bachop. |
