The London Model Engineering Exhibition Alexandra Palace; 21 – 23 January 2011
The 2011 London Model Engineering Exhibition, a Meridienne Exhibitions production, was held once again at the popular Alexandra Palace. Many local and national clubs and societies display stands at the show and the British Model Flying Association, Imagineering Foundation and the Rocketry Association contribute greatly to its family appeal. Model Engineering from the London area was represented by, amongst many others, the Harrow and Wembly SME, Romford Model Engineering Club, Ickenham & District, Hanwell, St Albans and Welwyn G.C. Societies. National model engineering clubs included the 7qtr in. Gauge and the 10qtr in. Gauge Societies. Live steam layouts were in operation and the SMEE had a very busy stand promoting and demonstrating the joy of model engineering in its many forms. It was good to see the crowds, fascinated and immensely interested in all they were doing.
Mr R Janes of the Malden & District SME exhibited this unusual model of a Marshall portable engine.
The two aero engines above were on the Beech Hurst (Sussex) stand and attracted a lot of attention. They were built by Mr Ron Harris of the Sussex club; the top one is a Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior, a fairly ubiquitous, nine cylinder, air-cooled radial engine. The lower a V8 based on the Renault Airdisco, an air-cooled piston engine designed by Frank Halford .
The Buckinghamshire Garden Railway was a colourful display depicting scenes from the American Railroads.
The 16mm Association, however, portrayed a more industrial location and it was evident that a great amount of time had gone into the scenery. Trains were running all the time and far too much time was spent watching the comings and goings!
Close to the entrance was the Harrow and Wembly MES where there were several members on hand to give advice and information about the numerous exhibits on the stand. An outstanding model was this 2in. scale Burrell agricultural engine.
It was built by father and son team, Brian and Bruce Smith. It is to the design supplied by Modelworks and these two have finished it to a very high standard.
This 5in. gauge 'Shay' was displayed on the Romford M.E. Club stand.
The Shay holds a great fascination for many and understandably so! Built over a period of 67 years, over 2700 were built by the Lima locomotive works, Ohio, principally for log hauling and shifting very heavy loads. They were exported all over the World.
Ephriam Shay had a number of careers before going into logging in the 1860s. It was here that his inventive mind was put to good use and after firstly building a tramway, he later turned his thoughts to powered traction for haulage. His immensely successful design is low geared and incorporates all-wheel drive.
This soon to be completed model was built by Terry Carter.
Displays were not confined to locomotives and machinery alone. This Rapier loom represented the West London Meccano Society. As a Lancastrian I was taught how a loom works in junior school but the Rapier loom, a relatively modern day design, doesn't have a shuttle! This mdoel was displayed by Mr D Collins and he had thoughtfully placed a card beside the machine describing how it works.
Amongst a selection of old and new machine tools was this Drummond round bed lathe on the Romford stand.
In addition to the many exhibits on club stands the Great Hall was host to several national societies and numerous model boat clubs: Blackheath Model Power Boat Club, The Model Hydroplane Club and Victoria Model Steam Boat Club to name just a few. Kew Bridge Steam Museum had an interesting stand and one of the most crowded stands in the hall was that of the Gas Turbine Builders Association – who also had the advantage of being by far the loudest! (yes – quite a lot louder than the Rocketry Association!)
d national clubs and societies display stands at the show and the British Model Flying Association, Imagineering Foundation and the Rocketry Association contribute greatly to its family appeal. Model Engineering from the London area was represented by, amongst many others, the Harrow and Wembly SME, Romford Model Engineering Club, Ickenham & District, Hanwell, St Albans and Welwyn G.C. Societies. National model engineering clubs included the 7qtr in. Gauge and the 10qtr in. Gauge Societies. Live steam layouts were in operation and the SMEE had a very busy stand promoting and demonstrating the joy of model engineering in its many forms. It was good to see the crowds, fascinated and immensely interested in all they were doing.
