Where is everyone!

Noticed that the Forum has slowed down a bit now that the regular contributers have their engines in steam, perfectly understandable. Where though are all the other builders, tinkering away in their toolsheds, STW have sold several hundred engines over the last few years and only a dozen or so seem to be on the forum! So come on guys (& gals), get your camera out, take a few pics and tell us of the trials & broken finger nails of your build.

Hi Steve, my first kit is due in November, rest assured I will be back with photos etc. when the day finally comes!

Welcome aboard, what is it you're building?

Hi Steve

Still here but very little has happened for the last few months on our built. Now the rally season has come to an end hope progress can be made again.

I've been posting regular.

Steve Traill wrote:Welcome aboard, what is it you're building?

I'm signed up for one of the new 4" SCC (road loco version). Busy arguing over colour schemes at the moment!

Hi Lynn
I think the word for your posts is prolific! Always interesting, have you driven it to work yet? I seem to remember early on you saying you were!

Hi Chris
The SCC promises to be a cracking engine, my advice on colours is to find a full size engine that you like the look of & copy that. Steam Scenes is a good reference for that.
Good luck with the build, it's really impressive how it all fits together so easily.

Hi Steve

Yes that's the plan. Not done it yet as need to sort out some support crew in case of problems. Quite remote as Crystal is performing extremely well. I don't think the RAC would honour the any vehicle policy.

The range on carried water is not a problem as round trip will be 7 miles. The return journey will use a significantly greater proportion of the consumables as it has a continuous climb of 600ft over 2 miles of the journey.

The other issue is. In April I got seconded to another health board without option but still working in the same place. Things, shall we say, are not going well. "Me no happy bunny"

Having almost lost the plot at the end of Dorset    It has taken me this long to get the fire back in my belly!!!    We have a few do's to attend over the next few weeks which will get back into the groove. I would certainly do Dorset next year but would pace myself far better knowing what I know now. When I got home if you had offered me £100 to light it up I would have told you where to go!!!   

We currently have Kingsfold near Horsham this coming weekend then Amberley Museum on the 13th, then Littlehampton Bonfire Society evening parade on the 26th. Moving forwards to December we will be at the Portsmouth Historic Docks for the Xmas celebration and an appearance at the local Model engineering on thier open day.

Not much has changed on the engine other than making a larger front drip tray with two 3/16 drain pipes to combat the oil coming off the slides and then re-instating the original behind the weighshaft to catch the end of the slides. Finding the constant battle with the regulator annoying and feel frustrated that a solution has not been put forward as this for me is a real pain, those of us with limited skills and facilities find making anything a challenge and I dont want to keep calling upon the good nature of friends to help out with a problem which really should be sorted by the factory. Otherwise it will just be small housekeeping jobs and small improvements and embellishments.

Good to see you at Dorset, thanks for the brew! Great to see your engine in steam, Dorset is always a long week, & by Sunday you usually just want to get home ASAP.
Regarding the regulater, Tim seems to have found a cure with a phosphor bronze slide on a stainless steel plate. He drilled and tapped the plate into the block, I was wondering if spiral pins could be used for fixing the plate, these could just be driven in without any thread cutting and would only require quite a small hole. Sealing with a bed of JB weld would complete the job. It would be nice if the piggy back regulator could be incorporated with this.

Discussing with Andy we were wondering if the reg block could be turned the other way up giving the much deeper section on the lower side allowing for the depth of the plate to be taken up by reducing the block. I am currently reluctant to drill and alter the cylinder permanantly and still wonder if the JB weld will hold up with the intense heat etc in that enviroment, problems with this arrangement might be a real pain to sort out. I want to keep the two stage if poss as it does give great controlability although it might have come at a slight cost of ultimate power as the videos from Dorset show the fact that we struggled to climb the hill even with the safeties feathering. Andy said had he known about the plate idea he may well have machined the cylinder block to let a stainless plate in. I still feel we should not be trying to find a solution to this though, we all paid a good price for the engines!

I am another newbie and should be receiving my first kit in November (SCC) and very much looking forward to it!

My other hobbies are stationary engines & tractors and you'll normally find me rallying in Cornwall, Holsworthy & Dorset.

Highpressure was good enough to take myself & a friend around the ring at Dorset this year, thank you

John

Fodenjohn wrote:My other hobbies are stationary engines & tractors and you'll normally find me rallying in Cornwall, Holsworthy & Dorset.

Hi John. Where are you based? The Holsworthy rally is about 5 miles from my house and so would be one I can look forward to roading to when my engine is done! I have been rallying stationary engines as well but not in Cornwall.

Chris

well im still here as always.

things have been a bit hectic at the factory over the summer with Steve and Dean being away for most of the show season and then trying to keep on top of all their other "duties" during the days in-between (when they really could have done with a rest).

good news is that the effort has been more than worth it as the huge number of new orders have helped secure the future of STW for a good many years. helped of course by the new batch of customers models that have steamed for the first time this year.

ChriX wrote:

Fodenjohn wrote:My other hobbies are stationary engines & tractors and you'll normally find me rallying in Cornwall, Holsworthy & Dorset.

Hi John. Where are you based? The Holsworthy rally is about 5 miles from my house and so would be one I can look forward to roading to when my engine is done! I have been rallying stationary engines as well but not in Cornwall.

Chris

Hi Chris,

I'm down near Penzance, hoping to meet Steve Trail one day for any hints & tips  

What did you rally at Holsworthy this year?

Cheers...John

If you're passing Illogan give me ring & call by.
My number is 07867 551238
The kettle is usually on!

Fodenjohn wrote:
Hi Chris,

I'm down near Penzance, hoping to meet Steve Trail one day for any hints & tips  

What did you rally at Holsworthy this year?

Cheers...John

That's a long way down, would be great to have a Cornish builders meet up at some point in the future anyway. I am just outside Bude. Sorry for confusion - didn't rally anything not just in Cornwall but not in the westcountry either! I have a Petter M 1.5HP, did the 1000 Engine Rally at Astle Park in Cheshire, and Grand Henham in Suffolk this past weekend - it is well travelled

Hi all

Still waiting for my kits to be delivered to New Zealand. 

Dean has been trying to get all the bits together to be able to ship everything at once, to save shipping costs, so I have had to wait quite a time for shipment. Still in the meantime I have revamped the workshop with more power outlets and lighting and also adding to the tool count in anticipation of the big build.

The delay has let Shane, with his "Starlight Express" to forge ahead with his build,   ( I will prompt him to update us all on his progress).

Phil,I wouldn't go so far as saying that I'm forging ahead.Fitting and painting the cleading has been a fiddle. The belly tank was almost as difficult as the wheels and needed some adjustment to fit the engine before painting. I plan to have the first public outing of Starlight Express at Tauranga model engineering clubs open weekend on the 9th and 10th Nov.I will then post on my thread a full update of my build with some photos.Cheers Shane.

I am still here, 5 years later. Coming to grips with family health issues is taking up a lot of my time, plus other unfinished projects that take priority. Getting to the Boiler Inspector is proving to be difficult, not to mention the 260km round trip. But I battle on, doing a bit as time permits. Chris