Paraffinalia No 18

September 2002

Hello All!

Editor's note: This one's a bit longer than usual, but it's you that send it all in; all I do is to stick it together! Many thanks for all your contributions!

Technical Tips:

Lister D Rings. John Menasce from Johannesburg was asking about what looked like excessive side play (.010") on a chamfered solid oil control ring he had for his Lister D. He spoke to the owner of the Cords Piston Rings shop up in Jo'burg, who looked in his old rings book and came back with the comment that the 0.115" thick chamfered ring is correct for the 0.125" ring groove and can be installed both above and below the gudeon pin. The options are: Three compression rings above pin and one oil control below, or two compression rings and one oil control above pin and one oil control below. Both show the chamfered solid ring  which is 0.115" thick for a 0.125" groove! See Right: He then explained:

This chamfered oil ring does not work like a conventional oil ring which only scrapes the oil off the cylinder wall, but is a pumping ring that has to float in the ring groove to pump the scraped-off oil behind it and through the holes in the piston skirt. He then added that this design was a favourite of some of the British engine designers before the war (which one?) and Austin in particular used it extensively for oil control.
In an engine like the type D the scraped-off oil in the ring groove also acts as a hydraulic cushion. Comments, please! Ed.

Also on a technical note, Nick March sent in a story about an engine he's playing with: It's a National, we think, hot bulb open crank, twin fly wheel, horizontal. It had been standing outside for 30 to 40 years and fought me every inch of the dismantling; every single part needed heat and very careful work to separate.  We got the piston out yesterday, which prompts me to put down on paper how we did it.  The piston is of course cast iron, 205 mm in diameter, 330mm in length, and weighs about 15 to 20 kg.  It was seized SOLID at B.D.C.  I stood the engine on its head for a week or two, with a solution of a chemical rust remover, and then did the same on its tail, the while clouting the piston with a sledge hammer and a block of wood.  No success either way. 

A friend reckoned he had had great success with standing it upright lighting a fire so that heat went up the bore, and tending it for the best part of a day.  Then one should remove the fire and fill the cylinder with ice cubes! He said, the piston will probably fall out onto your foot  -  so I did that, and it didnt.  So I repeated the exercise the next day for about 9 hrs. This time, until the pnentrating oil on top of the piston was bubbling.  So was I, because the piston was still rock solid.  The next morning we decided that possibly the cylinder could be persuaded to part company from the engine, and in fact gentle tapping at the top end induced a certain amount of side movement.  A block and tackle was attached to an anchor, and a chain wrapped around the cylinder head, and with more tapping out it came.

We then decided to use the fire trick again, so we built a fire around the cylinder, which was standing up, put some paraffin in the bore, and tried again.  This time after 3 hrs. the cylinder was extremely hot and the paraffin was boiling nicely.  The fire was removed and I put ice into the boiling paraffin  -  this turned out to be a mistake, but I am sure my hand will soon recover from its burns :-(  A hose pipe and cold water was a better idea, and we soon had a cool piston and a cylinder which was still hot.  A few taps with a sledge hammer and wooden block moved the piston slightly, but a short piece of water pipe onto the little end bearing cap was infinately better, and after a short while the piston was out and none the worse for its rather violent re-birth.  Galvanised water piping is comparitively soft and did no damage at all.

My conclusions are: wooden blocks are useless, they absorb too much force of the blow.  Likewise soaking in rust remover, paraffin, coke, olive oil, etc. etc., doesn't work at all and is a waste of time.  The first fires had some use and enabled us to get the cylinder out, but the heavy castings of early stationaries soak up too much of the heat and there was insufficient to heat up such a large piston.  I would advise that this is the second engine where we have managed to get the piston out after removing the cylinder.  The best tool for tapping is undoubtedly a sledge hammer  USED GENTLY as its broad head will not damage a precious casting.

10th Birthday Show of the Western Cape Vintage Tractor & Engine Club at Kleinplasie, Worcester.

This memorable show was one of extremes. First, numbers! At 77 engines present, all told, that's far and away a record for any show in the Western Cape! At the small end of the scale, was the number of very rare, or sole survivor engines. There was Oom Bennie Theron's Petter Fielding DH, Gawie van Schalkwyk's Gray vertical 2-stroke Marine Engine with Stationary Engine additions of base and governor, recently restored by him and Johan Maree, (who also had the unenviable task of safety officer). Gawie also had 8 other engines dotted around at his working displays! Fanie Fouchè, a new member from Worcester had his Jenbach JW 15. (There was a request for information recently on that make in Stationary Engine Magazine, and up popped Fanie, on cue!) There was Arthur Wilding's Voigt Voortrekker, See right: probably the only one, which he ran frequently. Theo Lötter's Southern Cross YD which I have recently restored and has received a lot of publicity recently, might just also be a sole survivor. It popped along all day, all three days, without missing a beat! Derick Kleynhans' B&L is rare enough, although others are popping up , all with serial numbers close to one another. Derick also had a small flat twin which defies identification. These two were part of a collection of no less than 13 engines which he had brought up all the way from Heidelberg! Another uncommon engine in these parts was Oom Flip Viljoen's 15HP Campbell Oil Engine. Oom Flip had taken enormous trouble in the weeks before the show to fix down 13 engines to a semi-trailer, and to put down up-turned apple picking bins with pallets on top, next to the trailer as a public gallery. While on the subject of distance, there were exhibitors like John McGregor from just down the road, while Roy Nel and Yvette Theron had come all ithe way from Colleen Glen near Port Elizabeth in a truck loaded with a collection of engines, a tractor and a vintage bakkie. It was nice to meet Marius Meiring, also from the Eastern Cape, who's taking over as chairman of that club. Also from a long way away, Oom Helmut Rohde had come from the Eastern Freestate with an immaculate Lister D. Very pleasing was the turn-out of youngsters, with Willem & David Stemmet each with an engine, next to their Dad's Ruston & Hornsby 3X HR which came from the farm of Deon Jordaan who came to admire it. Thinus Neethling had his recently restored IH LB, and another young new member, Daniel Burger unfortunately hadn't quite finished his one, (but should still have brought it!) but he was always on hand to help with unloading and loading! Just to balance Johan Stemmet's big Ruston, Mike Thurgood brought along his collection of home-engineered miniature Hot Air engines, as well as a completely re-worked technical-college-project vertical steam engine which he was given by Edward Fox. Several of the older lady visitors were amused to see Philip & Ryan Gray-Taylor's small Briggs & Stratton WMB washing machine motor. Not all the reminiscences were favourable! Working demonstrations also included Johan Mundey's superbly restored Bentall belted up to his as-new Stamford stone-mill, See above right: which was milling bags of wheat for the public. On the steam side, there was Richard Moth's immaculate 7 NHP Ransomes Sims & Jefferies Portable, See Right: Arthur Wilding's 1921 piston-valve Aveling Porter, and Kleinplasie Museum's own Fowler winding engine of the same year. Don't forget this was principally a tractor event, and there were more than 200 of them, as well as vintage cars, bakkies and lorries. For a change, the weather was magnificent on all three days, wedged in between two storms! Eion du Toit of Six Senses Productions has made an excellent video of the show. Contact him on (021) 557 5439 or info@sixsenses.co.za

Koos Kriel Engine Day, Potchefstroom.  This annual event was announced in the last newsletter, and Gerrie de Jong kindly sent in this report:

I attended Koos Kriel's Engine Day on 27 July 2002 in Potchefstroom. As usual it was a very enjoyable gatering with about 30 engines and lots of engine talk by both the engines and their owners.

Displays included a working model steam boiler and engines and a model of an open crank horizontal engine under construction. Also present were Neville Botha and his RED DEVIL, which dates from 1898. See Right: (The 'Red Devil' is a Cavanaugh & Darley, and sports a vertical side-shaft. Ed.)

South African News: I have the unfortunate task of reporting that Peter Hundy and his wife were killed in a motor accident recently. They lived in the Pakhuis Pass north of Clanwilliam, and Pete had taken over some of Yuri Peila's projects, as well as an engine from the late Oom Marthinus Kleyn . He was also a clock collector and restorer, and had got a feeling for engines while living on a barge on the canals in England.

Piet Neethling has managed to get hold of the Crossley HD7 from the Mill at Napier, has it on his farm, and has plans for its restoration.

Yuri Peila in Graafwater and Arthur Wilding in Groot Drakenstein have come up with the explanation why the B&L engines (Remember, 'Made in Occupied Japan', from Paraffinalia No 12 and 15 and Stationary Engine Magazine No 334 page 23?) have serial numbers so close to one another. Yuri has engine No. 27305, Arthur  has No 27309, Derick Kleynhans from Heidelberg (who wrote the piece for SEM), has No 27311 and Kobus Groenewald from Stilbaai has No. 27307. B&L stands for Batteries & Lighting, a Cape Town firm which was buying them in and badging them! Now, can anyone help Arthur with his B&L look-alike which is badged 'Medolite' and supplied by Phil Medley, also a Cape Town firm? Phil Medley was advertising in the 1934 Farmers Weekly as follows:  £15 brings Electric Light to your home. Balance £3 monthly (Ad infinitum?Ed.) We specialise in Edison all steel long-life batteries that last 15 to 20 years, cheap. Also the only stockists of 32 volt Vacuum Cleaners, Household Appliances, and British Globes. Country agents wanted, we finance you. Write Phil Medley & Co., Clout's Blg, 30 Darling Street, PO Box 2488, Cape Town. So, what did the £15 and all those £3's buy you? Since I wrote this, Philip Gray-Taylor has done some sleuthing, by looking up the 'owner' of PO Box 2488, Cape Town, in an old directory. Guess who? ....Batteries and Lighting! The plot thickens!

Busch Engineering are advertising on the 'net as follows: We have collected and repaired Lister and Petter engines for more than 30 years. We have a lot of old stuff such as original D type spares. We are in Johannesburg in South Africa. Drop us a line at +27 (0)11 493 6077/74 or fax +27 (0)11 493 2613 or e-mail Buschco@icon.co.za We would also consider selling the whole lot!!!

Philip Gray-Taylor visited Charles Torrance in Montagu recently, and collected a small Yanmar-type horizontal diesel, badged 'Rand Diesel' locally. See Right: He also collected the remains of a Lister D which had already served as a donor engine for Johnny Verreynne's Southern Cross Farm Pumper (the carburettor!), and although it had been filled with silt in the Laingsburg floods about 20 years ago, and had been out in the elements ever since, it is still offering up serviceable parts, (eg a piston & conrod for the one I am playing with!) Although the magneto was seized and full of silt, once freed off and cleaned out, it produced a fat blue spark! You just can't hold a Lister D down!

Dylan Knott reports that he's worried about the future of the steam tug Alwyn Vincent, moored in Cape Town harbour: I have asked the maritime museum what the future holds for her. Not too good I'm afraid, and she could end up being cut for scrap.The Alwyn Vincent was built in Venice in 1959, as an oil burner and found employment with the then SAR & H. Based at Mossel Bay for a number of years, she was decommissioned and laid up at Knysna in the mid-1980's. In the early 1990's she was repaired and sent to the V&A Waterfront. Somebody then decided it would be easier to convert her to diesel power, so they fitted an auxiliary diesel motor in the aft fuel bunker. She continued to operate in this guise for a few years before being withdrawn from service due to unpopularity. She remains moored in the Alfred basin awaiting her fate. She still retains her steam engines. Of the many steam tugs built for SAR&H only 3 remain and the Alwyn Vincent is the only one in working order. Dylan can be contacted at aknott@lantic.net

UK News  Patrick Knight sent in this report, and pictures:The 1000 Engine Rally 2002 – UK’s Premier Stationary Engine Rally There can be little doubt that the 1000 Engine Rally held at Astle Park, Cheshire is the UK’s premier event as far as the Stationary Engine enthusiast is concerned. Organised by the Five Counties Vintage Machinery Organisation Ltd, this year’s event took place over the weekend 22-23 June, with some 500 plus engines on display.

 

It was good to see that there is a growing number of UK exhibitors who are prepared to travel long distances (by British standards anyway) to attend the show. In addition to British exhibitors who travelled from all parts of the country there were a small number of Irish and Dutch enthusiasts who regularly make the 1000 Engine Rally part of their engine rallying calendar.

All this machinery was found at Mullewa and it will be great to be able to show the people of the town our restoration work. We are sure that there will be a lot of stories told on the fence line. We are hoping that some one remembers where the Trusty worked. It will be great to see John O'Brien there. John donated the Ruston Proctor to Peter Dymond and myself, Peter being a steam man now owns the engine and did a major restoration job on it including making and fitting a new boiler inside the old unserviceable one. We are told that the full story is due to be told in ''Old Glory''.

Canadian News:  (That's a new one!) John Menasce from Johannesburg has recently been on a business trip to North America, and managed to 'take in' a visit to the Agricultural Museum at Milton near Toronto where he found this magnificent running 250 BHP Ruston as one of the privately owned "portable"exhibits on that day.  This engine which is beautifully restored, even to the details of the decals and paint work and it runs ever so sweetly. It came from a hammermill somewhere in Hamilton, Ontario, where it was used right up until the early 1970s. The present owner bought it, restored it and hauls it to various engine exhibits around the country on an eighteen wheeler articulated rig! The Agricultural Museum is a working farm museum covering mechanisation of Canadian farm life from the mid 1800's to the mid 1900's when it reached its peak in that part of the world. There are barns full of restored horse drawn farm equipment, tractors, steam traction engines, a steam operated saw mill, farm trucks, farm implements, dairies and animal sheds and period restored farm houses, 1920's and 30s car dealerships, blacksmith forges, and general country stores [all beautiful period architecture built of local timber]. Many  exhibits as well as a shed  of  vintage tractors and steam traction engines are fully restored and are taken out and driven around on various high days . As it is a working museum, working vintage equipment is used for every day farm work. There are famous names that started in this part of the world like Massey and Harris who later merged, Waterloo [built in the nearby town of Waterloo] who were bought by John Deere. There is something of historical interest here for everyone in the family and not just us engine nutters and it is really worth a day's visit especially when they have "open days" when vintage tractor pulls take place or steam enthusiasts gather for other events.

Irish News: (Another new one!) Terence Taylour reports that he was a participant in the latest Vintage-tractors-all-ploughing-in-the-same-field record attempt, where at Cooley, in the Republic (but on the border with the North) the Irish fielded 1832 tractors.

First a bit of background for the Great 800 Working.  A lot of Irish farms are small.  A big one is 100 Ha. but we can keep 2 1/2 big cattle or 12 sheep to the Ha. or grow 10 ton of wheat per Ha.  Labour is scarce and expensive.  A lot of the smaller farms are worked part time so that the real work, silage making, slurry spreading, tillage etc. is done by contractors, this on big farms too.  The result is that there are a lot of "handy" tractors around, that don't work too hard!

Cooley is a peninsula that sticks out into the Irish Sea between Dundalk in the Republic and Newry in Northern Ireland.  Cooley is in the Republic. It's very important to get these things correct!  We arrived at about 10.30am (that's early in Ireland, remember it only gets dark about 10pm now!), to find the place, roads and all , full of tractors, trucks, cars and jeeps with trailers.  It had rained a lot the day before, so we roared into one of the parking fields with the Landy III S (ADE [South African Perkins made under license]- powered). Till we disappeared in a cloud of wheelspin; not to worry.  I got the blow lamp lit and heated the hot bulb on my Vierzon.  It's really a French Bulldog so is called the FrogDog.  My apologies to anyone who hails from there!  We got unloaded and parked in an orderly manner.  I had a 2-part Zig-Zag harrow, not as heavy as those used around Malmesbury,(Cape) just a one-donkey job. Some people had mounted ploughs or cultivators, they don't take up trailer room. The organisers had scoured the country for harrows and there were lots of 40 HP+ tractors with one harrow pulled by a piece of baler twine!

I got the harrows and pole yoked up and went into the working field.  There was heavy traffic going in, lots of mud and a loader pushing the sloppy mud to the edge of the field!  I found a gap in the rows of tractors and parked up.  There was no real organisation as to where we parked but there were rows of tractors about 3 lengths apart.  The field was enormous, 100 to 150 acres at least (40 to 60 Ha.)  The soil dried out quickly, it was a sunny and breezy day which helped.

There must have been hundreds of Vaaljapies (Grey Fergies), they are very popular for bringing turf (for the fire) home from the bog.  Twin wheels are needed for that.  There were all sorts of Fergies, TVO, Vaaljapies with Perkins P3, Ford F, N, N8, Ford Fergies, High Nellies (Blue Bottles), new Majors, diesel and TVO, later Fords, the cut -off was 1970, I think.  There were restored pristine tractors, working tractors, hedgerow tractors, honest!  There were lots of David Browns, Nuffields and Leylands, a few Masseys, Allis Clalmers, the ED40 I think would be the latest, mostly WC, some Internationals.  I don't know of any make that wasn't there.  A  few "vintage" American tractors have been imported.  Lots of JD's from "Parta-partas" up, a couple of Overtimes (Waterloo Boys) and some lovely old Prairie tractors from the era before tractor design settled down. A couple of the smaller Rumley Oil Pulls and a few I don't remember the name of.  There was a 1903 Ivel there, the oldest working tractor?  Tom Moloney drove a Leyland from Limerick with a Ford on the trailer.  It took him 14 hours.  I passed him the next day (on Sunday morning) as he was going home going up Durrow Hill, Co. Offaly as I was taking the FrogDog to Stradbally Steam Rally.  There was a Cat D2 (or 4) and a Cletrac crawler too.  Crawlers weren't used much here. As the numbers were announced and went over 1000, I just couldn't believe it, then 1832!  Wow!

We were told to start our engines about 3/4 of an hour before the start so I was well shaken by then, 10.3 litres (the capacity of the single-cylinder Vierzon) and not much in the way of balance weights on the crank I think.  There were tractors as far as I could see, the smoke at the start was something else, we went very slowly, the biggest job was not running into the tractor in front.  It was like Voortrekker Road, Bellville at rush hour but much slower.  There were 12 non-starters which caused a few traffic jams.  Total working was 1821.  I have never see a respectable stubble field messed up so quickly, about 5 minutes! It was a great feeling to be involved in a successful record attempt like that!

The traffic getting out was something else.  There was a big crowd of spectators there.  Over Euro 100,000 was collected for charity.  We finished at about 4.30 and got out on the main Dublin road at about 9.00pm!

Swedish News: Nils-Eric Sjöstrand kindly sent in a whole pile of their newsletters which they send out twice a year, and promised to continue doing so as they appear. A frequently featured engine type is the Avance. He tells us that the Avance engine was developed in 1898 with a licence agreement from Mietz & Weiss. Dusty Erickson in Arizona, who is researching the history of M&W, his favourite make, is aware of this tie-up, and has noted it.

UK News: Lindsay Madden was in London recently for the tennis, got bored there, and decided to do some sightseeing. On the day in question, the Crossness Engines Trust was having an open day. These four massive James Watt beam engines date from 1865, have 13 metre beams and lift over 6 tons of sewage at each stroke. As if that is not worth a visit on its own merit, the engines are housed in a cathedral-like building See Right: with what is described as the finest ironwork (broekie-lace!) in London. Further information can be found out at www.tanton.ndirect.co.uk/crossness

USA News: John Higgs, who is now the chairman of the board of management of the Bathurst Agricultural Museum in the Eastern Cape has reported thus to Dusty Erickson in Arizona, the archivist of Mietz & Weiss engines: Yes, our M & W  is in the process of being restored by a skilled fitter who is well versed in ancient engines. Unfortunately he lives in a country village some 400 km away and doesn't even aspire to a fax, let alone an e-mail. However I shall telephone him at a time when he has a pencil and not a spanner in his hand, and try to get you the necessary details. This is the oldest engine in our collection of some eighty odd units - we think it to be circa 1903 - so will be thrilled to have it running. I shall keep in contact.
In the meantime Dusty has found another to add to his collection, 1 horse-power engine with a factory integral water pump. He reports: that it is not much more than a rusted skeleton at this stage. Besides the crankshaft being badly bent and stuck, it is missing its piston, connecting rod, entire governor linkage, fuel tank and fuel base, cylinder head, hot bulb, fuel pump, injector, oiling system, and all brass fittings except the nameplate. It's with the right person, as Dusty now owns 5, including two 1HP engines with integral water pumps (not cooling water, the pumps are what the engine was made for, and run off the same crank, and are very rare!), a 6HP, a 12HP and an 18HP. To complete the 'set' he's looking for a 2½HP and a 4HP. (And of course any spares that turn up!) So far, since he has been researching M&W, the register has grown from 27 to 68 known engines worldwide, in a matter of a year. This hasn't happened without his perseverance! The Bathurst engine is not included in the 68 yet, as he still hasn't got its serial number.

Can anybody comment on this USA advertisement, for a Crofton Diesel engine, dated 1950? See Right:

New Members: W. G. Greens was the original owner of the Stewart Little Wonder that Philip Gray-Taylor now has, and has filled in its history for him, right down to when it was pensioned off as a sheep-shearing power plant, and took over duties driving a grinder, when its flywheels came loose, and when the conrod went through the block! John Thorby See Right: is well known as the 'Mad Hermit' in the letters he used to send in to the Christchurch Historic Machinery Club's Monthly Newsletter, 'Ignitor News'  which Gordon Hayes sends me. He also is compiling the register of Anderson engines which were made in New Zealand. Rob Hill heard about us through Stephen Sokolic and the Cape Town Society of Model & Experimental Engineers. Gysbert van Schalkwyk from Fraserburg has whole range of Blackstone P engines as used on his farm, a 12 HP, an 18 HP and an OP at 26 HP. He has recently bought in what he calls a Ruston Lincoln, just because he liked it! That normally means an HR, but what size? At the Kleinplasie show, we 'signed up' all these people: Juanita du Toit and Teresa Momsen from Sandstone Estates, who were selling video's and other Great 400 promotional material like hot cakes. Dawie van Vuuren, who had a stand next door, selling all kinds of old car and engine parts, including brand new spark plugs for our Fairbanks and other engines. He's from Teds Vintage Spares, in Benoni, 011 422 3814 or Chalana@hixnet.co.za . At the Friday dinner, I sat with Ronnie & Estelle Crowther, from Malgas on the Breede River and Andrew & Janine Schmidt from Franschhoek. During the show, Ronnie Florence introduced himself, saying he'd made some steam engine models from scratch. Oom Bennie Theron made a splash by bringing his Petter Fielding DH on a farm-cart to the Kleinplasie show. Sandy Hesom introduced himself at the show, all the way from Dundee (KwaZulu Natal) He has a Blackstone OP and several other 'different' collectables! Anthony Muller came up and said he has a big Lister, either a JP, or FR, a Ruston 2 HR, and a biggish FM ZC, possibly a 6HP. Chris Grobbelaar of Worcester spoke about a large twin Ruston that is up for grabs in KwaZulu Natal, and a tractor operated dam scoop. Anybody interested can call him on 023 342 1392.  Joe Brönn has been introduced by Theo Lötter here in Elgin. Wikkie van Schoor from Bellville rang in, having been tipped off by Lyn Ward, looking for a magneto for his Ronaldson Tippet Austral engine, which is otherwise complete and ready for action. Mike Thurgood has been gathering the clans of Hot Air Engine enthusiasts. He has made contact with Dr Johan van der Wat, who has the hot-air-engined Grammophone at Sandstone, and with Charles van Zyl from George, who won the prize at the Clocolan Show for his Hot-Air Engine. Naturally we are already in contact with the team up at RSME Stationary Engine Preservation Group, with their full sized engine/s. Does anybody else have them?

Wanted: Hendrik v d Berg is still looking for any parts for a Hills Magneto, for his current project, the early 1920's Crossley 1060. See Right:

Information on a Kinney Pump is sought by Nick Marsh. If anybody can help, please contact me, or him direct on sally@gom.co.za 

This came in from Tom van der Vyver in East London:  I am in the process of rebuilding my Wolseley WD 9 (with hopper) and require big end bearing shells to complete the rebuild, any under size as the crank will have to be welded up. Do you have any idea where I could locate some? I managed to match a piston from a Ford 1400 CVH to fit.

Wikkie van Schoor is looking for a magneto for his R&T Austral.

What's on:
13th & 14th September, 2002. Yearly gathering at the Bathurst Agricultural Show Grounds, Bathurst. Contact Marius Meiring on 082 657 1066                                                                                                                                                                        20th & 21st September, 2002. Free State Farming Museum Festival, on the grounds of Glen College. Contact Coenie de Beer on 051 943 0125.                                                                                                                                                                19th, 20th, 21st & 22nd September, 2002 are the dates for the fundraising bash at the Mamre Spring Festival, in aid of the restoration of this historic mill. We'd really like to have a number of engines there, particularly on Saturday 21st, (but anybody's welcome on any or all of the other days!) preferably driving anything to do with the milling industry. It's hoped that a lot of the visitors to the Darling Flower Show will stop in on their way there. Contact me, or Bea Heymann on 021 761 4619.  

21st & 22nd September, 2002 are the dates for the next Steam and Vintage show in Nottingham Road, Natal, organised by Sam Hewett. The venue is the same as last year, but this will be the last as the area is set for re-development. Rob North reports that it's within the so-called Midlands Meander, so there's plenty to do for those who aren't interested in old iron.