Latest progress following a holiday.

Not a traction engine but a Tool and cutter grinder by Alexander, this was lurking in a cupboard and with a 3 phase motor and awkward motor mounting, my father never managed to get this unit up and running.

With my background in electronics I have managed to convert the motor to a Delta connection and, it now run's from a 0.25KW Omron Inverter. The plan is to convert the intended drive from underneath to rear mounted, with a newly acquired belt I ordered from fle-bay. More to follow on its, its progress and use.

Maybe even neaten the paint up where it has had a few bashes.

The 2nd shaft gear is almost finally complete, the results so far are very pleasing, the dividing all worked out perfect and the fear of the last tooth falling off did not happen.

In other news I invested in a 25kg bag of the best smoky house coal, from a local supplier. They are not meant to be selling smoky house coal by the bag, and certainly by end October it will also cease like the welsh steam coal has. This is an attempt to future proof the running of my other engine for the time being.

I will have to see how it goes, but it smashes up nicely, so I| can grade it down to bean size pieces of coal for the Minnie Traction engine.

The next few week will be re visiting the horn plates and now the matching gears are complete, I can make a start on the shaft centres, bearings and bolting the bearing housings down.

Also in other news, I acquired a MIG welder and hope to get it up and running with appropriate gas, regulator and welding wire. This is planned for the many jobs in the forming of the tender in the future, and a certain amount of practising is required. However my son is a TIG welder, so I have an expert in the wing.

Latest bargain, skip welder!

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Midlands Model Engineer Show 2024 - Warwick

Midlands Model Engineer Show 2024 - Warwick This year’s Model Engineers Show 2024 was a huge success! All four days of the show were fantastic with exhibitors and visitors alike enjoying plenty of opportunities to purchase items, learn and explore the very latest in machinery tools and model engineering. The 2 exhibition halls were abuzz with vibrancy, excitement and anticipation. I went with a usual shopping list, and a few parts that I had organised from suppliers to take to the show for me for collection and postage saving opportunity. I ordered an expansion Link and had it water jet cut this being the results after only minimal cleaning up required. I reamed the holes out and basically park this until the rods are done. Back to the show report. There were some fantastic models on display and also the gas turbine demonstrations running outside along with the traction engines and a few helicopters in the main carpark. Below the pictures I took on the day and a few videos of the ...

1" Minnie Traction Engine By Stephen Meredith Background Working Progress (Gears) Front End Parts Following the completion of a small marine steam engine "Trojan Engine", I decided to tackle a larger project. Having visited various shows and the model engineers Exhibition, I decided to buy the Construction book for building the popular 1" scale 'Minnie' traction engine. The initial workshop experience was limited but keen to learn, and research has enabled me to get it this far. A s can be seen, this is basically finished well almost, it steams, and runs well a few tweaks are needed but tweaks don’t make piles of swarf. The intention was to show the engine and run it, at rallies but what I really wanted was a capable engine that could pull an adult or (me) on a field. This engine was, therefore, a stepping stone to be able to tackle the engine I wanted. After research, I bought a set of drawings for the Plastow 3” Bur...

Stoke Prior Steam Rally 2025

Stoke Prior steam rally 2025 📣 Show Report ✅ Strong Attendance – Rain or Shine! The show, as usual, was well attended, and we’re pleased to report that paying numbers held up strongly —despite a soggy Saturday. Fortunately, Sunday brought sunshine all day , which made up for it! A big thank you to everyone who braved the elements. This year’s weather was a definite improvement on last year’s continuous showers—and a far cry from the scorcher we had the year before that (we still remember those sunburns!). 😎 🚜 715 Exhibits on Display! We were welcome a whopping 715 individual exhibits this year, offering a fantastic variety for visitors to enjoy. This included: 25 Miniatures 7 Full-Size Engines 2 Steam Cars A huge number of commercial vehicles , classic cars , motorbikes , military vehicles , and stationary engine displays From the tiniest model to the largest working machine, there was something for everyone to marvel at. <---This is us on the Su...

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3" Burrell Traction Engine build.

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