Presidents Report By Bob McDowall What a great year we had. In the past year we: Developed a strategic plan with goals set for the next five years. Met most of our year one goals. Are on track for year two. Increased our club membership by 7 members that's an increase of over 15%. Were on the plus side in our bank account despite major projects such as the pedestrian bridge, mainly because of donations. Had a great BBQ in September when we also put plaques on two memorial trees to remember Eric Wootton and Garth Drew. Obtained our passenger permit for the high line and had 3 very successful passenger hauling days. Implemented a system of project managers (and a Chief Superintendent) that appears to be working well. Had a successful club trip to the Ontario Northland shops in North Bay. Had one of the largest displays at the Christmas Train Show - showing all our gauges. Have a great newsletter thanks to Barry Graham and all the time and effort he puts in. Have a great web site for all to see thanks to Russ Milland and his daughter. A special thanks to Steve Moore for his work on the pedestrian bridge and to his company for the donation of most of the metal to build it. I could thank everyone for the respective contributions of each, but we have a great club with a much higher notion of contribution than most clubs. Everyone contributes in his or her own way and that is what makes us a great club that will continue to be a source of fun for all our members. I look forward to another great year in 2002.
World’s Smallest Live Steam Locomotive? The smallest commercially available model railroad equipment is in Z gauge or 1/160 scale. Arthur Sherwood of Sydney, Australia (now deceased) built electrically powered locomotives in the 1970’s at half that scale or 1/480. These may have been the smallest electrically operated models ever built. Arthur Sherwood was an Australian professor of Mechanical Engineering. As a relief from such small work at 1/480, Mr. Sherwood built an extensive model railroad system, to 1:240 scale, with several locomotives based on LMS and Southern prototypes. What is more, as one might also expect, he has built three working live steam locomotives in 1:240 scale (which is still significantly smaller). Two of these are shown in the picture. These locomotives have traveled from 300 to 500 feet on a single charge of butane and water. For more information on all of these locomotives and how he built them: Click here to read more about it.
	Modern Steam Locomotives for Cuba Courtesy COALS: Conversations of Australian Live Steamers New design steam locos are being built in Cuba. With the US built active steam fleet in Cuba hovering at around 100 locos, all over 80 years old, the construction of a new series of modern steam locomotives for switching service in Cuba has begun. Designated LVM 800 (Locomotora Vapor Moderna 800 horsepower), these locomotives have been designed by Ing. L. D. Porta and a team of Cuban engineers and technicians. The engines will be 0-6-2T wheel arrangement, and will feature 3 cylinder compound expansion, Southern valve gear, Lempor or Lemprex exhaust systems, and GPCS fireboxes burning bagasse, the waste crushed sugar cane left over from sugar production (a "free" indigenously produced fuel in Cuba). The Lempor exhaust system utilizing the L. D. Porta designed Lempor Ejector and the Gas Producer Combustion System (GPCS) are two key components of the philosophy of modern steam locomotive design.An interesting project would be to adapt these design concepts into a live steam model to create an efficient locomotive. This would sure make for an interesting OMLET contender. More information on modern steam locomotive design, the theory of the Lempor Ejector as applied to produce draught in steam locomotives and the GPCS fireboxes can be found here.
Update on OMROG & the TSSA By Russ Milland As you will recall, the six clubs in Ontario who are involved in the operation of operating miniature railways on a non-commercial basis and who wish to offer rides to the public have banded together as the Ontario Miniature Railway Operators Group (OMROG). OMROG have been working since last summer with the Technical Standards and Safety Association (TSSA) to find a way for us to operate under the laws of the Province of Ontario while carrying the public without being licensed as Amusement Park Rides. As part of our ongoing dialogue with them the seven person strong OMROG team met in person with five representatives of the TSSA on Friday, March 1st to establish exactly how to go forward on this matter. The TSSA have concluded that there are only two options: Our clubs fully comply with the Amusement Devices Act of Ontario (not of course acceptable to us due to the required investment in time and money to comply) OMROG obtain an exemption from the legislation from the Government of Ontario We of course have selected the second option. In this case, the TSSA suggested that OMROG must make the case to the Minister, Mr. Sterling, that we are a mature and responsible organization with both an excellent safety record and a sound set of policies, standards, guidelines, processes and procedures to govern our operations. The objective must be to convince the ministers and his advisors that there is little risk in allowing us to regulate our own affairs. The TSSA are supportive of our exemption as they feel that we are one of the communities best positioned for an exemption. They expect to be asked in due course by the Minister’s Office to advise them on the implications of the Minister granting this exemption. They are providing us with a list of the issues they feel we must address in our proposal to allow them to support the exemption when asked. While we discussed a number of issues to be covered in the proposal, key elements of our proposal will be: The establishment and positioning of OMROG as a mature ongoing organization to which clubs must belong to take advantage of the exemption The development of supporting data and information establishing our excellent track record to date Clear definition of the scope and nature of the activities to be exempted Appropriate policies, standards and guidelines (including incident reporting and non-compliance handling) managed by OMROG to which all member clubs must comply A sound process for establishing the qualifications of operators and inspectors within our community The TSSA advised us that it would be prudent for us to develop broad support among our political representatives beyond the excellent support develop to date by several of the clubs. They also advised that, given the imminent leadership change in the government, it is difficult to predict when the exemption may be granted. OMROG will aggressively lobby the government, once the proposal is submitted, for prompt handling of our request. The TSSA also reminded us that, while an exemption would exempt us from licensing and scheduled inspections of our facilities, they would still be expected by the government to monitor our activities to ensure that we are operating within the policies, standards and guidelines we have proposed to the government. They also reminded us that in the event of complaints or accidents, they would be required to investigate. In terms of the GHLS club operations, we may have to extend our Amusement Park License for another year and may have to go ahead with our application for a license for the ground level track in order to continue to provide rides this season. If you have any concerns or suggestions about this project, feel free to contact me at 905-469-3373. Russ Milland - Project Manager - Public Relations N.A.M.E.S. (Wyandotte) Trip The bus tip to the N.A.M.E.S. 2002 Exposition, held in Southgate Michigan this year, leaves east end London (maps will be available) at 7:30 AM and returns at 7-7:30 PM Saturday April 27th. Time at the show should be about 5 hours, depending on the border crossing. There are still about 30 seats left at $20 each and the show fee is about $5 US. Large purchases at the show are discouraged to avoid delays at the border on the way back. For more information Contact Ted McJannett (e-mail or call: 519-539-9981) New Member We have a new member to welcome to the club, Michael Marozzo from Burlington. Michael has built some stationary steam engines and attended several of the club events last year and now plans to build a 3 ½" gauge locomotive in his recently expanded home workshop. Kingston Rail-O-Rama The Kingston, Ontario based Frontenac Society of Model Engineers have invited us to participate in their Rail-O-Rama. They have a 400 foot 3 ½" Gauge track on the grounds of the Kingston Steam Museum. They are especially interested in our bringing down a 7 ¼" gauge locomotive and operating it if at all possible. Michael Guy of our club has offered us the use of up to 10 sections of straight portable 7 ¼" track for this purpose. The event is on April 20th and 21st and they are quite willing to put up any of us that choose to attend so costs will be minimal. If you are interested in participating, please call me so I can so advise the Kingston club. Russ Milland - (905) 469-3373 Toronto Railway Historical Committee – Open House The THRC has cleared the approval process for the museum and intensive efforts to get the museum up and operational are now underway. They plan to hold an open house on May 25th and 26th and expect a significant turnout as this is a Toronto-wide event as described in our last newsletter. GHLS has rescheduled their trip to Montreal for this weekend so our ability to participate may now be limited. However, if anyone wishes to participate, please call Russ Milland - (905) 469-3373 Model Engineer Articles As a service to the GHLS members, Garth Statham through the Steam Museum can provide copies of construction articles covering the models that have been serialized in Model Engineer magazine. The Museum's collection is not complete but most volumes from the late 40's to present are available and any missing volumes may be available from other sources. The earlier volumes dating back to the 1890's are in too poor a condition to be usable for photo copying. Any members who would like to donate past issues of Model Engineer to fill in some of the missing volumes should contact Garth. Garth is also working on indexing the articles by Author and Subject with the volumes from the early 50's to the late 70's now completed. The index will be put in a database so that searching for specific articles can be done quickly and easily. Garth also plans to index the museum's Live Steam collection after work with the Model Engineer collection is done. Garth would appreciate a donation to the museum for this service. Garth also has information on locomotive plans and casting suppliers such as Model Engineer Plans Service, Blackgates Engineering and Nexus Plans Service plus where Dave Goodwin's castings can be obtained now that he has retired.
Upcoming Events GHLS Meeting - Fri March 22 GHLS Boiler Testing - Sat March 23 GHLS Meeting - Fri April 26 Wyandotte Trip - Sat April 27 Anyone with news or stories that you would like to share with the rest of the members, please contact Barry Graham, GHLS Secretary, 905-945-4787, or by e-mail
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