Christmas club evening
I always leave the planning of the Christmas evening until the 3rd. quarter of the year and gauge interests from the months before and ask what others might want. It was suggested that we had some short items and a quiz and this came together quickly, so no pressure.
It was a quite pleasant evening, dry and not that cold for this time of the year and we had a nice warm venue waiting. The fit /younger ones soon had tables and chairs out and the kitchen team were equally in place getting started.
It is the time to chat and talk about the past month and welcome some guests also. Chairman rang the bell and got us started and then handed over to me to outline the evening, of course it did not quite happen like that, it just happened!
First on was Tony who is leading the Ephraim Shay loco group. A few members have joined in and Tony is expecting 6 to be made. If you have not been attending properly 
there is still time to join in.
Tony had laid out on a separate table the parts he had so far machined up which would be contributing to the various builds. Then Tony showed us a video of the loco in action on 45mm gauge track. Very interesting as I had not realised the boiler is off-set to accommodate the side mounted 3-cylinder steam plant. It was explained that most locos would start by assembling the frames, but Shay locos drive a pair of bogies and so are quite different.
Starting was with the steam plant itself, a 3-cylinder rotary valve engine. The drive from this was taken down from both ends of the engine to the 2 sets of 4 wheeled bogies. The construction of the engine was outlined, it was simple and did not reverse and was single acting.
In my ignorance I thought the power came from a simple oscillator engine, but No. It is a rotary valve engine with the rotating valve placed between cylinders 2 and 3. This controls the distribution of steam to the 3 cylinders which are 120 degrees apart, which makes the engine self-starting, but it does not reverse. Tony said the design had evolved through several generations to get a working engine capable of hauling a light train.
Then he went on to explain that he felt the building could be simplified especially as he was doing a bit of mass production for members. The cylinder block was very interesting showing the steam passages and the exhaust ports. The one rotary valve feeding steam to all 3 cylinders in turn. Tony described the production process including his own methods of accurate location of parts in the mill. Then there was the equally accurate method of dealing with the steel 2mm thick plate which sits on the cylinder block with the rotary valve rotating on it.
This meant that any ware happening could be easily dealt with by replacing the rotating distribution port. There still some problems ahead with the sourcing of bevel gears as one of them, also there are a number of gear wheels also needed for timing etc. Tony summed up the building and production so far and some of the problems to come. A benefit was that a relatively cheap boiler could be acquired for the loco and being easy to transport plus the club has a suitable track to run on.
Tony was thanked for his very well described on-going project.
Next, we had our Christmas quiz, 25 easy questions but only if you know the answers! Mike Grossmith was in charge, paper and pens were distributed. Mike read out the questions he had set and we did our best. The winner was behind me somewhere so I missed that but a bottle of wine and a large Toblerone chocolate bar was the prize, with a score of 13 .1/2. It is surprising how hard easy questions are! I did well with 8 and a dodgy half, which was very good for me.
The timing worked out just right, I cannot claim that it was planned, just serendipitous. Tea and coffee were ready with hot sausage rolls, bhajis and those triangular things I can never remember the name of! Mince pies to follow with crisps. The ladies were separately thanked for their endeavours, and soon munching and peace descended but members started chatting again much as usual.
We got launched into the raffle which got people back into their seats until the last item was claimed. All of course photographed for evidence in case anything was returned next year. It must have been an honest raffle as usually it is fixed so that the committee members all win something but 3 of us got missed out this year. I do not know what things are coming to!
The evening was to close with a device that could be 'clamped' on to a lathe called a curvilinear slide. I was 'interested' and the device was very complex but apart from seeing the intricate wooden patterns it could make, its operation was a mystery to me.
I heard knowledgeable voices around me, and questions were asked but it all went above my head. Baz explained how he came to acquire it and some anecdotes along the way. So, the talk had interest for me and Baz is to be thanked for the time and content of his talk.
Our Chairman took the microphone to round off the evening, everyone were thanked for their contribution to making the evening work. We closed a little late but there we are!
Next meeting is in January with some transport films from Mike Grossmith’s collection.
Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year.
Roy Verden 11th December 2025