[modeleng] Re: St Agnes
- From: "Terry Lane" <tel@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 19:34:51 +1000
Looks like there was plenty to see any'ow AJ - some nice stuff there.
Particularly liked the Foster with the jib.
That stick on the jinker elm? I thought elms were extinct over there.
I notice plenty of that peculiar green substance on the ground as well -
looks to be spreadin'
> A week of rain and torrential downpour on Friday morning turned much of
the
> site into a quagmire, as can be seen from the photos.
>
> Unfortunately, this meant that a many the exhibitors failed to appear.
>
> Many of the low-loaders couldn't get on-site, and the reasons for the
> non-appearance of their exhibits was understandable. However, I feel that
> more of the exhibitors could have made an appearance, if they had tried.
To
> have only 20 or so out of 200 cars didn't make for a good display. Even
some
> of the military vehicles failed to show, and they would have been an ideal
> vehicle in those conditions, so the owners cannot claim mud as a valid
> excuse not to appear.
>
> Fortunately, for me, most of the owners of the "miniatures", are made of
> sterner stuff and were there."Miniatures" is how they were categorised,
but
> that is hardly appropriate to some engines, which were almost as large as
> the full-size ones.
>
> I left home at 4 a.m. and had an excellent run for the 180 miles to St
> Agnes. Perhaps too good a run, as I got caught by a speed camera en
route.!
> The rain started just after dawn, and I arrived at the St Agnes in a heavy
> downpour.
>
> Roger Mason lives in St Agnes, and I went to his house, where we adjourned
> for the important things, such as drinking coffee whilst discussing model
> engineering, and looking round his workshop (I wish mine was as tidy as
> that).
>
> Although the rally was scheduled to open at 9 a.m, we waited and watched
the
> rain, until shortly before lunch time when it stopped and we made our way
to
> the rally site.
>
> The site entrance, and for 200 yards beyond, was a maze of ruts deeply cut
> into a sea of mud. I gather they were having to haul cars into, as well as
> out of, the car park, although both Roger and I managed to negotiate this
> hazard.
>
> In spite of the conditions, it was an interesting show. Although there
were
> few exhibits in some categories, others were fairly fully represented.
>
> I have mentioned "vintage and collectors cars", and the "motorcycles"
class
> was also almost bare. Of the "full size steam vehicles" about half were
> unable to appear. The two classes that were almost at the expected numbers
> were "tractors" (hardly surprising as they were in their element), and, as
> mentioned, the "miniatures".
>
> There were a lot of trade stands, the craft tent was full to capacity,
> stationary engines seemed fairly well represented, and there were also
many
> other exhibits. I cannot comment on these as I spent most of my time with
> the models and steam exhibits.
>
> The quality of some, indeed, most, of the models was superb. A few had
> paintwork that equalled the best I have seen at major exhibitions.
>
> The exhibitor who had come the farthest was A. G. Bos, from the
Netherlands,
> who exhibited his 2" Fowler with load, and a couple of stationary engines.
>
> There were four, perhaps five, models of the Alfred Dodman single crank
> compound. This engine is unusual in having a single valve to control both
> high and low pressure cylinders. I am fairly sure that the number of
models
> of this engine now exceeds the numbers of the original!
>
> The lack of crowds was an advantage in that I was able to chat to many of
> the engine owners, and get plenty of photographs.
>
> By late in the afternoon, the sun plus a drying wind enabled some engines
to
> move around, and they started ploughing. I understand that by the
Saturday,
> everything was much better and the show was well attended.
>
> Finally, and to return to that mud, on Sunday morning I had to wash my
car.
> It was either that, or plant a row of spuds in it!. The tenacity of that
mud
> is amazing. I reckon that Roger has missed a golden opportunity there. He
> could easily market it as a gap-filling substitute for superglue!
>
> Photos are at:
>
> http://www.alanjstepney.free-online.co.uk/s1.html
>
>
>
> alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> www.alanstepney.info
> Model Engineering, Steam Engine, and Railway technical pages.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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