The last few months have been very busy in the workshop - Geoff and I at times have been trapped between the twin pincers of ever-increasing numbers of engines coming and going (all needing servicing, running and - for me - photographing and writing up for the website) whilst at the same time keeping to schedule on production of the new locomotives currently in build.

The new engine "Stafford"

The way the place works at present is Geoff handles much of the detail design for new build engines, he's the expert on CAD and CNC programming and a fine machinist.

Mrs P handles everything from point of sale onwards - if you ring up to place an order, check on how much shipping would cost or ask when your parcel left here, she's the person you need. Usually in the office (01526 320012) unless patrolling the workshop on one of her frequent visits, either measuring and weighing engines ready for despatch or checking that Geoff and I are actually doing something useful.

Jenny handles all of the office/financial stuff - pays the bills, sorts out the payroll, keeps the books in order, files the VAT returns and sorts out the tax man at the end of the year. This is a recent development, something I've always done myself so I'm currently the back seat driver from hell (which is pretty silly because a) I don't have time to be checking what she's doing and b) she's better at it than I am anyway).

Kevin does most of the driving these days, he's the chap you'll most likely see either delivering or collecting an engine - in the last week he's been out to Norwich to deliver a 4 inch Garrett, Peterborough to drop off a 3 inch Simplicity roller (picking up a 4 1/2 inch Burrell on the way back) and down to Northampton to drop off an engine and collect the 5 inch gauge locomotive which has come back in part exchange. All done in a long wheelbase Transit that will swallow up a pair of 4 inch scale traction engines with ease (and, it must be said, with great good humour on his part, which is pretty much vital working here).

A local engineer, knowledgeable about steam engines, past-owner of a 4 inch Fowler Showmans engine and currently building a 6 inch scale Fowler comes in part-time. During the hours he's here engines are cleaned, serviced, steamed, critically assessed in his own inimitable way, repaired if necessary and usually, in the case of traction engines, given a spirited run around the estate. All this plus he can drive the fork truck without dropping anything and makes a good cup of tea. So we miss him when he's not here.

For my sins these days I'm effectively the odd job man - quite a lot of tidying up in the workshop, an unconscionable amount of time answering the phone and emails, programming and running the machining centre when needed, trying to get plans finished for the new workshop which is to be built… it goes on.

All of which probably sounds fairly well sorted, although we still end upwith backlogs of engines to be serviced, repair work to be done, emails and phone calls to be answered (as you may know if you've tried to call me recently). We are still short at least one full time person in the workshop and probably another part timer (or possibly two half-time people).

So, if you know somebody who is passionate about steam engines (we talk about little else here), makes a good cup of tea, can drive a van (and, preferably, a fork truck), doesn't talk about football, can steam an engine and knows how an injector works, knows anything about modern production machining (or thinks they would like to learn), has only the haziest idea of what a bank holiday is (although Geoff and I invariably take Christmas Day off), can tolerate radio 4 in the workshop (I could be flexible about this, although The Archers after lunch is non-negotiable) - then let me know.

Given that it may be a little unrealistic finding somebody with everything listed above, I'd settle for somebody honest who likes steam engines and would be prepared to work hard to learn the rest.

We attended the London Model Engineer Exhibition at Alexandra Palace for the first time this year. As always with the first time at a new venue, it's slightly nerve-wracking trying to guess what will be needed for setup, how easy unloading will be and what security is like, particularly when 150 miles away from home. In the event, organisation was absolutely superb - on the Thurday we had no more than ten minutes to wait on arrival before being waved into the main hall with the van and trailer, parking a few yards from the stand.

More pictures

We got set up in short order - I'd taken twenty engines, which covered the benches, we then papered the walls at the back with details of some of the engines remaining at the workshop. Jayne is in charge of organizing our exhibitions and had done her usual thorough job - she must get extra marks when, two days before the show I bought a 6 inch scale traction engine that I announced had to go. With a little rearranging of things, it was safely conveyed there and back (and got a big picture of the stand in "Vintage Spirit" magazine, so it was well worth pushing the thing all around the hall).

The show itself was superb - I'd no idea so many people lived in London! As usual I talked myself hoarse over the three days, ably assisted by Geoff, Davids x 2, my father and Sam who travelled down on his own from Newark to King Cross, then by tube to Alexandra Palace - suffice to say that Mrs P was more than a little relieved when her first-born phoned her from the stand to say he had arrived safely.

Martin arrived on the Saturday ready for break down on Sunday with Geoff and I - again, the show organizers had got it sorted very well, we got in within half an hour of closing and were on the road an hour later, back at the workshop by 9pm.

I had two chaps come up from Guernsey recently to deliver a pair of traction engines. Knowledgeable engineers both, over a cup of tea we discussed a variety of workshop matters, including the backyard foundry they run at home. Home foundries are not terribly rare, but quite often they seem to require a lot of work to produce horrible looking castings which, if bought from any of our usual suppliers, would be returned post haste with a fairly acidic note.

More pictures

Not this outfit - using a home-constructed oil-fired furnace made from an old propane cylinder (and I am categorically not recommending, endorsing or condoning cutting up old gas bottles with a gas torch) they have produced fine-looking grey iron castings which machined up well, free from the usual bits of crud and blow holes which can ruin a job. One of the most intriguing parts of the process is the use of investment foam patterns - the wheel pattern pictured is "mass produced" (in his case with a template and Dremel, in production we would use the machining centre), one for each casting required, then buried in the sand. Gates are cut in , then the iron poured, vapourising the pattern.

It's an interesting way of doing things, not least because your patterns no longer need any draft angle and can have multiple undercuts in a single piece (because the pattern never needs to be conventionally removed from the mould). In the same month I read Doug Hewson's article in "Engineering in Miniature" where he used stereolithography to produce investments in a similar process, allowing production of fantastically detailed castings with a huge reduction in pattern-making cost (as, in his case, the pattern is produced directly from CAD data) - he has gone as far as to say he can't imagine making wooden patterns again.

A week or two later somebody visiting the workshop bemoaned there being "nothing new in model engineering, it was all invented fifty years ago…". Don't get me started, as they say - we had a most interesting discussion (more a monologue actually), he's now fully up to speed on modern casting technology as applied to our branch of engineering!

5th April 2009

News Archive

December 2008 - Self-storage, annealing copper, Tinkerbell stone train in the snow
November 2008 - Rutland Railway Museum, Caradoc converted to a VBT locomotive, LittleLEC
August 2008 - Harrogate Show pictures, Martin's new engine shed, lethal steam seat warmer
March 2008 - New machining centre, solid modelling software, fixing the roof
December 2007- new lathe delivered, 7 1/4 inch progress in Dumfries, visting an interesting engineer 
 September 2007 - Holiday in North Wales, new machinery for the workshop
June 2007 - Station Road Steam at Harrogate Show, herd of Tinkerbells, Martin's railway
March 2007 - Building a garden railway competition, A Workshop in Herefordshire
January 2007 - Miniature lathes and photography, Midlands Exhibition, Churnet Valley Railway, testing small boilers
October 2006 - Updates on part-built and projects
July 2006 - Evergreens Miniature Railway, local 10 1/4 line, collecting the Pacific from Cleethorpes
April 2006 - Progress in the workshop, visit to the National Railway Museum, visit to Woody Bay
January 2006 - Moving to new units, grit-blasting my hands, shiny Romulus
October 2005 - Stamford SME, Sam starts the restoration of "Pendle Witch", Casterton Working Weekend
August 2005 - New workshop, Thurston Pacific back from Cleethorpes
May 2005 - Berkely Light Railway, dodgy boiler certificates, full-size ploughing engines at auction
January 2005 - digging
October 2004 - initial planning for the garden railway
July 2004 - Fowler ploughing engines in Yorkshire
May 2004 - Moving the workshop, a 9 1/2 inch gauge garden railway
Apr 2004 - Holiday in Shropshire & The Severn Valley Railway, LNER liveried Black 5
Feb 2004 - Refacing a Tangye slide valve, new acquisition 10 ton Aveling roller
2004 - 12 1/4 inch gauge Pacific