Yes I thought the area was smaller but all the trade stands I remembered were there. As always got nearly all my list plus some. Can anyone help me find some 10BA steel stud looking for two 8 inch lengths

Gentlemen,

I usually go to the Exhibition but I'm laid up with suspected broken bones in my right foot, can a kind gentleman take some pictures please, particularly of boats.

Thank you.

Martin P

How is the car park holding up? Not been for a few years but I recall being glad I took hiking boots last time and it seems to be rain all day tomorrow.

Milton Keynes metals do 10BA steel studding, £66 per meter though.

Mike

V8,

I was reffering to the shunter, re your road steam, a couple of weeks ago the National Traction Engine Trust had their 60th Road run and the short route was through my village so I spent an excellent afternoon photographing fifty three of the one hundred and eighty engines http://s47.photobucket.com/user/martinperman/library/?sort=3&page=1 which took part on the three routes.

thanks again

Martin P

Edited By martin perman on 18/10/2014 07:57:36

Martin.

I worked on quite a few 08s (amongst others) during my Apprenticeship. Being the skinny short bloke I was usually sent into the awkward places on them, and still have a small scar on my forehead from an unexpected encounter with one of those big side doors!

Your road steam pictures are great, that must have been quite a sight.

You look to have been getting a bit close for a quick escape on that foot of yours, or was it a tele lens?

Went to the Stafford Bike show today, talk about busy, no idea what the gate was but made the average ME show look like a church fete.

JB cutting tools was there with a satellite stand plus some other vendors selling the usual ME tooling as opposed to the spanner stalls.

Some very nice classic machinery and the more exotic presented by a talk and then under power.

One of the more impressive ones was the NVT Challenger which was the UK last ditch stand to produce a world beater.

It consisted of a 1/4 of a Cosworth F1 engine but very top heavy and unreliable which was also admitted by the entrant, The British Motorcycle Museum at Birmingham.

Contrary to popular opinion this establishment releases bikes to appear in parades and demonstration laps at key circuits during the year to highlight the fact that it's not all about static exhibits. Of the bike on show and under power this one had the absolute most awesome sound.

Highlight of the show for me believe it or not was a Ford 400E van on the Villiers stand. This was stunning in the work that had been done to restore this if that is the right word because the van had only done 27,000 from new.

It looked to be an early model, possibly 1959 / 60 ? the guy was busy on the stand so didn't have a lot of time to ask questions.

Might sound a funny vehicle to latch on to at a classic bike show but these vans [ pre transhit ] were iconic as virtually all the racing lads had these as being the best tool for getting racing bikes around, sleeping in etc

It was not unusual in pre motorway days and lower top speeds to put 50,000 miles on one of this in a year.

The van in question is also featured in this months Classic Van [ yer I'd didn't know that one existed ] but first thing Monday your intrepid hero will be stood outside W H Shmitt and Co [ GMBH ] clutching his money to get this.

Anyway, well worth attending if you are in the Stafford area, last day is Sunday.

Visited the show on the first day, Thursday. Emphasis seemed to be on trade stands which I did not mind at all. Punterwise it was very cramped though which I DID mind.

Having done this one plus Harrogate and Sandown for the last three years wife and I will in future stick to our favourite Sandown. Harrogate, a lovely place, is a long, long drive for me – something I no longer relish. We'll both miss Bettys tearoom though.

Rik

After a 'Satnav moment' made me overshoot as I was looking for a proper yellow AA style sign like we amateurs use on our show directions I arrived at 11am and left when they turned out the lights as a sort of hint "get out". Car parking has improved since my last visit and with no rain it was a nice day outside for the TE runners. A predominance of 4 in Fosters may be due to the presence of the supplier at the show who sort of made an effort to show their product. Another large scale TE supplier was at the show but didn't seem to promote their castings.

The club stand winner was HSME which I think is Hereford and I talked to Derek who is making this interesting 'Farmer's Engine' to a fine standard. He found the boiler in a deceased friends stuff and over 10 years later found the one drawing he has. It is interesting in being a dead end of traction engine development by using under slung cylinders like an Avery and round spoked wheels in the colonial style though made in Leeds. Only three were made and only lasted 3 years. Hope it goes to Sandown when finished as it should be a winner.

more photos to follow, including a boat. but hey, that show is in a few weeks.

Edited By Bazyle on 19/10/2014 11:36:57