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Some models take a long time to come to fruition. This one began from my ambition to build another bike with 4.25″ tyres Years ago I tackled the rear suspension and came up with a version of the modern swinging … Continue reading
While I design most of my own models, sometimes I also been build “off-plan”.
Occupying myself during lockdown, I was drawn to the impressive double “Big Wheel” fairground ride that featured in Geoff Wright’s wonderful Cavendish-series volume of old Meccano Supermodels. It doesn’t use a huge range of parts, but what it does use, it uses in quantity! Twenty-four 18½” Angle Girders, for instance, or twenty-eight in this version. The wheel rims consumed thirty-two 5½” Curved Strips, and each “boat” includes six ½” x 2½” Double Angle Strips, four 2½” Stepped Curved Strips, four 3″ Strips, four 2″ Strips, four 2½” Strips and four 1½” Strips. Common enough parts, but with sixteen boats in all that made ninety-six Double Angle Strips for a start. At current prices good parts would cost north of £750!
In my case it meant a lot of renovation of many old parts from the scrap store. The original used a long-faced 6v Motor but I opted for an E20R and relished the familiar smell of the motor in action, but wanting this to be a display model capable of long-term running, I replaced this with a small and quiet mains induction motor.
Our late friend Phil Bradley was renowned for his models of cranes, among many other things. Such was his knowledge of them he was able to build great models sometimes from very little primary information.
A case in point is his model of the one-off crane built in Porthmadog to offload material for the building of the Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station.
Since then the Internet transformed our ability to conduct research and after I uploaded a set of Phil’s photos of his model to the New Zealand website (http://www.nzmeccano.com/image-155903)
John Hornsby began surfing the net and came up with some others via Flickr and other sites. He also found the Porthmadoc Maritime Museum website which provides the following information:
Specialist Heavy Loads
The building of the nuclear power station twelve miles from Porthmadog up in the hills of Snowdonia at Trawsfynydd gave rise to an interesting problem – how to get the pieces of heavy equipment and machinery to this remote site. Construction of the power station was undertaken by a consortium involving Crompton Parkinson, International Combustion, Fairey Engineering and Richardsons Westgarth. The architectural consultant for the buildings was Sir Basil Spence and the landscape architect was Sylvia Crowe. Construction began in July 1959 and both of the two reactors were in operation by March 1965, with the station opening fully in October 1968 at a cost of £103 million.
It was decided early in the planning that the only way to bring heavy loads from the point of manufacture was by sea to Porthmadog then by road to Trawsfynydd. This required the laying of a concrete plinth at Maenofferen wharf, the erection of a heavy lift crane to unload the machinery from the ships and the widening and improving of sections of the road and strengthening of bridges. The crane was erected in 1960 and the heavy lifts brought in over the next two to three years. During the twenty six year working life of the station other heavy lifts were delivered by barge and unloaded via a ramp on to Pen Cei. In 1987 a large transformer, destined for the Ffestiniog Power Station, was brought in by a barge towed by two tugs, the North Stack and South Stack, owned by the Holyhead Towing Co Ltd.
I had built a version of Phil’s model (below) once before but with all this extra material I thought it was worth having another go.
I used Phil’s trademark turntable as the base, of course, but made up an octagonal rather than a polygonal base. I added a Ring Frame above the turntable and then began work on the main frame. Careful study of the new photos suggested that the model could be a little taller than Phil’s and this produced an elegant model. Each side of the frame was double-skinned and they were supported by cross platforms and girders, ending in a very solid pulley house at the apex. Winding gear, ladders and gangways, along with a control cabin were added as one would expect.
The crane was heavily counterbalanced by blocks stacked on a rear framework so rather than reproducing Phil’s monolith I made up three stacks like the original’s and suggested their component parts by using Flanged Plates along each side face. The jib itself was of course lengthened. Again, rather than using Angle Girders top and bottom I followed the original in using a double face construction for each side. Erector 3″ Braced Strips reproduced a feature at the jib’s centre as well and the nose of the jib was also canted forwards. The finishing touch was of course a suitably heavy-duty pulley block.
All in all I was pleased with my attempt to rebuild this classic model – my thanks to John Hornsby for his encouragement – and especially to Phil Bradley!
More photos at http://www.nzmeccano.com/image- 159344&frompage=1
Planning a “staycation” this year? This might just be what you are looking for! Your very own camper-van.
Where did this “Chartreuse microbus” title come from? From C.W. McCall’s song “Convoy” (1975). The song is about a fictitious trucker rebellion that drives from coast to coast across the USA without stopping, protesting against the 55mph speed limit and the tachograph regulations of the time. The song’s conversation, heavily laden with CB terms and trucker slang, is between “Rubber Duck,” “Pig Pen” and “Sodbuster,” while the narration and CB chatter are by Bill Fries (“C W McCall”). By the time the growing convoy of trucks reaches “Chi-town” (Chicago, Illinois), the convoy included “eleven long-haired friends of Jesus (a reference to the then-current Jesus movement subset of Christianity) in a chartreuse microbus” (a Volkswagen Type 2 Camper-van). I built my version, like the accompanying trucks, to 1/10th scale. First shown a few years ago I have recently returned to it to remodel several features and to add drive and steering. 
This model is not actually chartreuse – that’s a vivid green about the same shade as the #216 Meccano Cylinder that appeared in a few recent sets. But when I found some second-hand plates that had been painted in green this seemed well worth doing.
The Volkswagen Type 2, known officially, depending on body type, as the Transporter, Kombi and Microbus was a panel van introduced in 1950 by Volkswagen as its second car model, following on from VW’s first model, the Type 1 (Beetle). It appeared in several versions, and I chose the one with the extra high-level windows. Enthusiasts tell me that this is one of the most desirable to collectors!
Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the “microbus” and, due to its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, “Hippie van”.
Every such vehicle I have ever known seemed to have been built and re-be built from multi-coloured and multi-sourced parts which were full of holes and rust. As such it seemed an ideal candidate for some of my oldest Meccano!
“The Jesus movement” was a major Christian element within the hippie counterculture: members of the movement were called Jesus people, or Friends of Jesus, so your “Long-haired friends of Jesus” are Christian hippies, known, among other things, for love, peace and a variety of stickers, which of course feature on our model.
Interestingly, while the trucks have often got the response “Cor!” this little vehicle most often elicits the response “Aaah!” Almost everyone I know either owned a van like this or knew someone who did. People clearly have fond memories of the little van. I do myself – when I was still a long-haired student myself five of us, friends in College, bought something similar and toured round Europe in it. Ours was actually a Bedford Utilabrake: it remains the only vehicle I have ever known which, like so many Meccano models, had a 3-speed and reverse gearbox!
The last 10% of a project always seems the hardest – or is that just me? Months – even years – can be spent on a model only to run into the sand on the home straight. It might be an unforeseen snag, the distraction of another project that was just too tempting, or simple boredom with the one in hand! 
In this case it was the arrival of grandchildren (wonderful!) and a long-term commitment to a local church in need of help that meant retirement was not quite the empty diary I had expected. But then came Lock-down, and I realised that I really had no excuses – my latest manual had to be finished. I was spurred on by one modeller asking if he could possibly have any instructions for my Kenworth truck – so I set to, and now we have not just one, but two new Model-Plans with the publisher, and that wonderful sense of a job completed. At 28pp the Kenworth is hardly a major novel, but packed with detailed photos and drawings it has taken several years to compile. Hopefully it will serve as an inspiration for others, along with its partner trailers.
Now for the next one!
There’s something about bridges – it may be the sense of adventure they offer – a chance to see what is on the other side which would otherwise be unreachable. It may be the history they represent. Or it may just be the sheer beauty of their engineering – think of the great Clifton Suspension Bridge which is an icon of my home city.
Then again bridges have some significance in my professional life: I’ve built quite a few! Not out of steel and stone but out of trust and love. For fourteen years I was a County Ecumenical Officer in the Midlands, employed by the mainstream churches to work between them and establish, develop and oversee a variety of shared projects (like chaplaincies and joint churches) on their behalf. A lot of that was about building bridges between them so that dialogue could begin and action could follow. A strong bridge was always a good illustration of that work!
And I never forgot the old Roman title, “Pontifex Maximus”, which folk etymology defines as literally the greatest bridge builder. It was a title used of the senior priest in ancient (pagan) Rome, but it was taken up by the writer to the Hebrews when he said of Jesus he became our “High Priest for eternity, according to the order of Melchizedek” and the Latin translation uses this term – Pontifex. So even if a builder of Roman bridges was never actually called a pontifex, the title has stuck in some quarters for the Lord I have followed all my life who built a bridge between heaven and earth. And that makes this seem like a pretty noble calling to me!
This particular model is based on one of the world’s great bridges – the Quebec Bridge. 
And no, it is not the same as the Forth Rail Bridge! The are both Cantilever bridges but the construction is quite different.
According to Wikipedia the Quebec Bridge is a road, rail and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy (since 2002 a western suburb of Quebec City) and Lévis, Quebec, Canada. The building project failed twice, at the cost of 88 lives, and took over 30 years to complete.
The Quebec Bridge is a riveted steel truss structure and is 987 m (3,238 ft) long, 29 m (95 ft) wide, and 104 m (341 ft) high. Cantilever arms 177 m (581 ft) long support a 195 m (640 ft) central structure, for a total span of 549 m (1,801 ft), still the longest cantilever
Meccano Quebec Bridge
bridge span in the world. (It was the all-categories longest span in the world until the Ambassador Bridge was completed in 1929.) It is the easternmost (farthest downstream) complete crossing of the Saint Lawrence.
The bridge accommodates three highway lanes (none until 1929, one until 1949, two until 1993), one rail line (two until 1949), and a pedestrian walkway (originally two); at one time it also carried a streetcar line. It has been owned by the Canadian National Railway since 1993. (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Bridge)
This famous bridge graced the front page of Geoff Wright’s wonderful book of Meccano Supermodels. Smaller version occurred in some manuals but I have not often seen
it modelled at this scale, perhaps because of its sheer size. I decided to build exactly half of it and to add a large mirror to the centre point to suggest the rest. Anything more would have taken up far too much table-space! The result was remarkably convincing.
My version is almost entirely Meccano, but a few pieces of Erector and Stokys add some decoration and model die-cast cars added an idea of scale.
The late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire (of Chatsworth House, Derbyshire) used to say that in her later years when she and her contemporaries met up for a social gathering, these events always began with what she called “our organ recital”. That meant half an hour sharing news of their respective states of health and the condition of various personal organs.
Chatsworth House by Rob Mitchell
To be honest, yesterday’s Henley Gathering felt much like that! As old friends creaked in by twos and threes the opening gambit was so often about the latest loss or the most recent diagnosis. Appreciation of the model that accompanied the exhibitor was generally some way down the line. And yes, I did the same.
George Illingworth’s Fire Station
The Henley show has so often been the last hurrah of summer: always on the Saturday following the August Bank Holiday it has often been a glorious day for weather. True, this year the sun shone as usual but the temperature was dropping noticeably after recent record temperatures and forecasters were talking about cooler conditions and autumn storms in the offing.
Perhaps we echoed this. Less modellers again (some will after all now, sadly, never return) and many of those who were there belong to an ageing generation. No blame to them for being old now – they have been exhibiting for over forty years in many cases so they began as young men – but there is a dearth of younger modellers coming after them. A few, but not many. Most models, too, followed well-worn themes this year with several recreations of models by the late Eric Taylor this year, as well as the familiar block-setting cranes of another era. “Steam power” remains popular, too.
Another version of the classic Eric Taylor tractor
The ISM AGM spoke bravely about new digital initiatives to link societies and individuals around the world but this remains a work in progress. (Check out “International Meccanoman” on Facebook for their latest news) But despite this I came away feeling this time that this particular event was in its autumn days.
Those of us of a certain age will always remember our local cycle/toy/hardware shop and its tempting displays. In the run-up to Christmas there would often be a marvellous Meccano model in the window, often lit up and moving, which would advertise the fact that you could get sets and spare parts here. We could never imagine having enough parts to build such models, but this is what dreams were made of – Meccano was nothing if not aspirational!
Many of these models were listed by Meccano for dealers to chose from, and they would be made up to order and supplied to dealers at cost to promote the trade. This is my version of a classic Binns Road shop window display model, described as “Model No. 1 Girder Suspension Bridge.” It is actually a Cable Stayed Suspension Bridge where the load is carried by the towers, not from a chain slung between them.
I have re-engineered it to produce a more substantial model and this has a road-deck rather than railway tracks as in the original, allowing me to add in a couple of mini-trucks, made in Meccano, of course.
If a trip to the Henley show is the last day of Summer, then the run up to the quaintly-named village of Laughton-en-le-Morthern is surely the first day of autumn for Meccano modellers. The stylish residents of Henley-upon-Thames are usually to be found enjoying the delights of their elegant riverside residence if one has time away from “the Gathering” that draws Meccanomen (and women) from near and far.
Laughton-en-le-Morthen is a different experience. Now a small dormitory village lying to the south of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, it was once a stone-built mining hamlet, but now it is a thriving village with modern housing spreading out from the original medieval centre. Its roots are Norman, for this settlement was mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086, when it boasted a church, castle and a hall. For some of us though it is most importantly the venue for the two meetings a year of the Sheffield Meccano Guild. You won’t see stylish pedestrians strutting the latest fashions here – in fact the pavements usually look pretty deserted when I arrive around 9.15 on a Saturday morning, but even at that hour the village hall car park will be filling up, with Meccano modellers and dealers coming from all over the Midlands and North, and even down from Scotland.
What draws them year after year? A great combination of a good-sized hall with easy parking, great refreshments, excellent models and the promise of a bargain or two from the dealers and a regular club auction. (Few of us actually need any more parts, but you know – a good bargain is hard to resist!) Then there is the challenge of some fiendish construction competitions set by the fervid imagination of Club Secretary and Editor Rob Mitchell. His entiring efforts, coupled with those of the rest of the committee make this something special. Don’t take my word for it – ask the others who pack the hall each time, who order the magazine even when they can never come, or who continue to increase the club’s membership. Yes, even a drive up the M1 can be a thing of beauty when the the road is lined with with autumn gold and Laughton beckons.
There was even an extra pleasure for your writer this year, 
for every autumn the members vote for what they judge to be the best model on show, and this time (for the third time in nine years) they kindly gave me the award, this time for my Australian Kenworth truck and trailer. Thank you everyone! That was a real bonus on what was another excellent day.
Now here is a model which has been a long time coming. Some bits of it like the design for the sleeper cab and the seats have been around for a while, and so has much of the running gear. Once I have some good sub-assemblies I like to keep them! The truck is similar to one I built a few years back, but there are many differences and (I hope) improvements.
It is inspired by a review of a die-cast model I found at https://www.miniature-construction-world.co.uk/kenworth-T908-drake.html. No chance of me affording one of those – though I suspect the Meccano model is worth a lot more! So I built my own. 
Details:
Truck: semi-pneumatic front tyres, Ackerman steering, leaf-spring suspension. Movable roo-bars, insect guard, movable bonnet (hood) to reveal detailed engine. Hinged doors carry prototypical mirror assemblies and lead to a cab fitted with twin 
seats having adjustable head rests and adjustment for rake, height and forward positioning. Behind this is a twin-bunk sleeper cab with opening doors to cabin and and lower lockers. 
The outside is decorated with assorted running lights, spot-lights, aerials and air-horns and four separate fuel tanks are fitted along with twin tool boxes. The rear suspenision has simulated air-bag suspension and the eight wheels are driven by inter-axle differentials on the two axles and via an interaxle differential and a sliding cardan shaft ahead of these. 
A fifth-wheel coupling is the attachment point for the dolly-bogie which is carries spare wheels and a spare fuel tank and a further fifth-wheel coupling with sprung catch. A notable feature of this is that its twin rear bogies, boasting some sixteen wheels between them, slide on and out on a lateral telescopic bearing to give more stability when carrying abnormally wide loads.
The main trailer, a variety made by Drake Trailers of Australia, is “swing-wing” – its two sides are built up on heavy girders and are joined by arms to a central spine and swan neck and they may be swung out to match the track of wider loads. Rear ramps are also fitted along with mud-guards, lights, etc.
Certainly one of my longer models! 
dovedaler 