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| Heritage Day Volunteer Awards - Saturday February 15, 2003 | |
 GHLS President Bob McDowall (left) accepting the Heritage Award on behalf of the GHLS members from the Heritage Association Award Committee |
The GHLS has received an award for Heritage Volunteer Service. The GHLS were nominated for the award by the Museum of Steam and Technology. The award is presented by the Hamilton-Wentworth Heritage Association to recognize those groups and individuals that help to maintain our natural and cultural heritage.
The award was presented during the Heritage Day Fair at Hamilton City Hall. The presentations were made in the city council chamber with several local MPP's and city councilor's present to extend their appreciation to the award recipients. The Hamilton Heritage Fair day included many activities in and around Hamilton City Hall. There were displays from the many museums and organizations involved with preserving the rich history and heritage of the Hamilton-Wentworth area. Other activities included Historic Walking Tours, Industrial Heritage Bus Tours, History Talks and meeting with local history authors. The Heritage Fair Day kicks off a week of Heritage Activities, which include many lectures at various locations around Hamilton. |
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| The Hamilton-Wentworth Heritage Association is an umbrella organization, the purpose of which is to link, serve and fill in the gaps between heritage-related organizations in Hamilton-Wentworth. The Association represents 57 local Associations, Societies, Libraries, Archives and Museums plus several Civic, Provincial and Federal agencies. The awards program, which was initiated on Heritage Day 1989, is intended to provide opportunities for member organizations to recognize special service. Nominations are requested each year from member organizations, and/or proposed by members of HWHA's Executive Committee.
The GHLS members for many years have helped to keep alive the history and heritage of steam powered locomotives while educating and entertaining the public. All GHLS members should be proud of the work they have done over the years in building and maintaining the GHLS track and facilities so that we can all enjoy seeing live steam locomotives in operation. GHLS member Garth Statham was also recognized for his volunteer work at the Museum of Steam and Technology. Garth is a past recipient of the volunteer award, being recognized in 1998 for his contributions to the Museum. Garth is very deserving of this award as he is active in promoting the museum and in preserving and cataloging the museum's collection of Model Engineer Magazines. Congratulations to all of the GHLS members for this award, which recognizes the work done by everyone even though it doesn't seem like work when you're doing what you love to do! |
 GHLS members preserving our Heritage of Steam-Powered Railways |
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 Steam Museum Curator Ian Kerr-Wilson (center) with Heritage Volunteer Award recipients Garth Statham (left) and GHLS representative Bob McDowall (right) |
Heritage Award Citation
Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers: Since 1983, the Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers have been active partners with the Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology in delivery of exciting and unique special events which celebrate industrial, rail and steam heritage. Every year, through their efforts, thousands of people of all ages re-live the era of steam-powered railways. Garth Statham: Garth has volunteered at the Museum of Steam and Technology for more than 15 years. An outstanding advocate and promoter of the museum, an enthusiastic participant in special events, a dedicated and hard working researcher and patient cataloguer, Garth is a model for museum volunteers. |
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| New Steam Technology Story and pictures from www.pursuitdynamics.com | |
| Pursuit Dynamics plc, a UK based research and development company, has announced a revolutionary new steam-based technology that has applications in both pumping and marine propulsion.
The Pursuit Marine Drive is a marine propulsion unit that utilizes steam energy in a novel manner. It is based on an invention that showed that practical thrust could be generated by the injection of steam through a nozzle into water when assisted by the introduction of air. The potential efficiency is substantially above current propeller driven systems, however, the device has no rotating underwater parts, is very quiet, virtually impossible to block, and will be cheap to manufacture. The potential environmental advantages are significant with reduced combustion emissions, no oil requirement, as well as the reduction in harm to marine life. Whilst being designed to directly replace existing propulsion systems, with no connecting shafting it also has the potential to revolutionize craft design and operation. |
 Pure and Simple: the Pursuit Marine Drive steam engine |
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 PSteam Ships Come Back to the Future |
The Pursuit Drive has no submerged rotating components and few moving parts of any kind. It uses an engine inside the boat to generate steam from either fresh or seawater. The Steam is injected at high pressure into a water-filled drive unit submerged beneath the vessel. The steam implodes; creating a low-pressure zone that sucks water and air from the front of the drive unit and ejects it from the rear at high enough velocity to create thrust.
Pursuit Dynamics’ engineers believe the system can replace the motor, clutch, gearbox, drive shaft and propeller used in a conventional marine engine. The company claims this will lead to lighter, quieter engines that need less maintenance and are cheaper to manufacture. The absence of a rotating propeller would also make the engine safer for nearby swimmers and marine life. |
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The Pursuit Dynamics system comprises three main items:
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| Miniature Railway TSSA Exemption | |
| A presentation was made on December 1, 2002 to the Provincial Minister of Consumer and Business Services, the Honourable Tim Hudak, requesting a ministerial exemption to the Amusement Devices Regulation. The request was made on behalf of the 5 miniature railway clubs, which indicated that they wished to continue giving rides to the public as in the past. As of February 1st, there has been no response to the submission. A copy of the submission is attached for your reference.
Each GHLS member is asked to take a copy of the submission to their MPP and seek their support for our request of a ministerial exemption. As there is expected to be a provincial election sometime this spring, each MPP should be contacted as soon as possible. |
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| News from other Clubs | |
| Kingston Rail-O-Rama Show on Sat/Sun March 15/16 (presented by: Canadian Railroad Historical Association, Kingston Division)
The Frontenac Society of Model Engineers will again be supporting the Rail-O-Rama show at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour in Kingston. They are inviting all clubs to join with them in exhibiting and demonstrating Model Engineering projects and skills. They will again extend their hospitality and provide overnight accommodations to all that need it and are prepared to travel to Kingston for the weekend. If you are going to attend and need accommodation please contact: Phil Ibbitson, Tel: 613-382-3527, email: gresley@kingston.jkl.net For show information contact: George Dillon, 34 Pember Place, Kingston, ON K7M 2P7, Tel: 613-542-6519, Fax: 613-542-5924, email: dillonjg@kingston.net |
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| Previous O.M.L.E.T. Winners | |
| The lost "Brier Trophy", which lists the OMLET winners for 1" scale locomotives from 1991 to present, was recently found and needs to be updated. We are missing the name of the winner for 1995 and 1997. If you know who won the OMLET in these years please contact Barry Graham Tel: 905-945-4787, email: bwgraham@interlynx.net
The "Fred Hammond Award", which lists the OMLET winners for 3/4" scale locomotives from 1983 to 1994, is being returned to it's owner, the Central Ontario Association of Live Steamers. |
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| For Sale: Model Engineer Magazines | |
| Jim Gilbert's widow Carol has donated to the Steam Museum all of Jim's Model Engineer magazine collection, which goes from 1953 to 2000. Garth Statham is making the issues, which are surplus to the museum's collection, available for purchase with all the money collected going to the museum. The magazines have been bundled by volume with the price varying between $5 and $20, depending on the number of issues in the volume.
Contact Garth (Tel: 905-689-8201) before the end of March if you would like to purchase any of these past volumes. |
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| New Members | |
| We have four new members to welcome to the club: Peter Foley from Hamilton, Ken Roach from Stoney Creek, Michael DesParois from Oakville and Carol Bristow from Burlington. Both Peter and Ken are active in Garden Railways and are interested in 'G' scale live steam. Michael is a regular at "Harry's" on Thursday nights and Carol will be running her recently acquired 3-1/2" locomotive this summer. | |
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| GHLS 2003 Dues | |
| Club members are requested to pay their dues as soon as possible. Because of the change in the insurance policy renewal date, all members are asked to pay their dues before April this year. Those who are not paid up by April may not be included in the liability insurance coverage for 2003. The current dues are $60 for a full member and $25 for a Junior or Associate member. Please send your cheque to GHLS treasurer, Bill Kennedy, if you are not able to attend either the February or March meetings. | |
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Upcoming Events
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