Home thoughts from abroad

[martynt50Participant @martynt50]

Hi,

I’m a retired ex-pat living in The Netherlands. Lived here for almost 40 years and for most of my life was involved with cars, motorbikes and all sorts of motorsport. I attended the Model Engineer Exhibition once back in 1977, I believe that was at the Wembley Conference Centre. Ever since then I promised myself that one day I would build a live steam model but until about 8 years ago I couldn’t get the petrol out of my veins. Eventually I had had enough of lying underneath old classics and sold up, although I still possess a ’78 Harley Davidson. Being involved mainly with restoration and customisation I have built up a reasonable workshop through the years which has helped the transition to Model Engineering.

Back in 2010 I had finished the build of a much larger workshop (42m²) and was looking around for a lathe. I looked rather enviously at the UK second hand market as there were a number of English made ex tech school machines for interesting money but the shipping was a problem. I ended up buying a Chinese machine from a local reputable supplier and spent some time setting it up correctly with some small modifications. A couple of years later I added an X2 Milling Machine from the same supplier and a lot of the repair and customisation work on the cars was done on these machines. After the sale of my BMW E24 I replaced them with more modern machines from the same supplier. A 330x600mm lathe with Sino DRO and coolant pump, also a BF25 mill which I have converted to CNC. That probably deserves a separate post as there is only the basic left from the original machine left. It runs on ballscrews, NEMA24+34 close loop steppers with a Mesa 7i96 interface board – controlled by LinuxCNC on a RaspberryPi 5 with a touch screen. It won’t machine any large items but I’m more than satisfied with the results. If I do need to do larger things I have a neighbour with a large Fadal from the 90’s. Other machines: Bench drill press, hydraulic press, blast cabinet and parts washer (leftover from the automotive time), 3 in 1 sheet metal machine, 3D printers, MIG, TIG, OxyAcetylene, Propane – plus of course cabinets full of hand tools and cutting tools for the machines. The list is endless but of course most of you would understand. My wife says I have a tool fetish but I’ll resist telling my reply;-)

Present projects are an LBSC Evening star on 3½” scale and a refurbishment/upgrade of a Leapfrog Creatr HS 3D printer. Also setting up a home foundry as I was dissatisfied with castings purchased from a well known UK supplier a couple of years ago. Model engineering in The Netherlands is on a completely different level to the UK and those interested in English steam history and the purchase of supplies etc from the UK are finding life difficult since Brexit. There is also a movement more interested in German loco’s but that doesn’t float my boat. anyway, I hope you get an idea of who I am. By the way – I have no formal training, apparently I am a polymath.

Regards,

Martyn

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Quite bold to go for such a big engine as a starter project. Do keep us posted. have you located a track and club to run it? There are a lot of old steam engines in the Netherlands that were  extremely similar to British outline of the same era and nothing like the German or French style. Could be worth adapting an appropriate existing UK design once your Evening Star is finished.
Anywhere near Amsterdam, especially Haarlem station? There is a gauge 1 layout on the platform of the station itself in the steam era that is entirely 3D printed. It has been running for nearly a year every day and has only recently had its first mechanical failure of a loco (connecting rod I think). Well worth a visit in case the contract is not extended. The designer and builder, Friso Booij has a website and sells 3D STLs for both British and Dutch locos for peanuts. Although G1 they might upscale. Two videos on Youtube.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Welcome Martyn,I have friends in the Netherlands, Alphen aan de Rijn. Where are you ? The 3.5″ 9F is a major job. Are you aware of SGH ? I have a 5″ 9F and grew up on the S&DJR where Evening Star ran.  Noel.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Welcome to the Forum.

You are among friends and fellow enthusiasts here, although some will be a long way away.

Howard

[martynt50Participant @martynt50]

@bazyle. You could be right, it’s been said before but after I’d already made a start on it. Back in 2010 I took my 2½ year old grandson on a trip to Krimpen a/d Lek via the Fast Ferry on the river between Dordrecht and Rotterdam. Right next to the ferry landing is a track from the local MES with a circular 3½” raised track with a 7¼+5″ ground track outside of it. My grandson was especially interested in the fact that he could ride on the ground track carriages. Me, I was blown away by a 3½” Evening Star engine built by a a man from (I think) Rotterdam. 12 years later after I sold my classic BMW I found a second hand copy of Martin Evans book describing the LBSC design and build at World of Books (via Amazon). The following year I picked up a set of drawings from Reeves while I was visiting friends and family. I have had some setbacks, mainly due to the quality of the castings which is the reason I got involved with home casting. An ambitious project but it might be the only one I get finished, I’m now 75. I have been a member of the SGZ (Southern Steam Group) but it is quite a drive to get to their track and even further to their clubhouse in the east of the country, so I let it lapse until I am further along and have something else to do than watch. They have no workshops like UK MES’s. As far as Haarlem Station goes – yes, I know it well, although it’s been quite a few years since I was there so haven’t seen the gauge1 layout. It’s a magnificent building, the present one was (re)built between 1906 & 1908 and is the only station in NL built in Art Nouveau style and is a listed building. Our local station in Dordrecht is also a classic built in 1872 in Neo Renaissance Style.

@noelshelley55608. As I said above I am in Dordrecht. I know Alphen, an ex colleague from my last employer lived there. Shortest route is about 55Km away. I do know of the Stoom Groep Holland but it’s not a group with it’s own track, it’s a sort of umbrella organisation set up to promote the hobby, but also a good source of information. Before we left the UK in ’87 we lived in Northampton where there is an impressive MES, but at the time, as I said, I was involved in other things like rallying. I would love to find a club of that level close by. I do know of the Somerset and Dorset but have never visited. I will be visiting the UK end of the month, staying with my cousin. He is not a Model Engineer but the real deal, a volunteer on the Severn Valley, licensed as driver, fireman and guard. We had a good day out a couple of years ago, looking forward to the same this year.

@howardlewis46836. Thanks

[Author]

Posts