More Driving at the Fosseway Show...

Hello guys. Today at 10am I arrived at the Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition. From 1:30 this afternoon I will again be driving "Polly V" on CMES' portable track. I have done the Saturday afternoon driving shift every year for some time now as it allows me to take a good look around the show in the morning. Since I've been organising MTEW for the Battlefield Line, the hobby of the miniature traction engine has become of increasing interest to me. At this years MMEE the traction engine line-up was greatly reduced, though there were still some beautiful engines on display, and in steam. One display that I was particularly pleased to see (at last) was Harry Williams' 2" Kitson ploughing engine and her working plough. The beautiful engine pulls the plough back and forth with her working winding drum and the plough is steered through a radio-controlled system, also driven by Harry as the plough moves along the ground. His display demonstrates steam ploughing during the late 1800's and it was a pleasure to see it in action...

Below, Harry chats with the audience about the design of the Kitson engine and how they were produced on behalf of Fowler's before their own hugely popular Plougher's came to be...

Inside the show halls amongst countless stands of beautiful engines, my own locomotive was still safely in place. "Achilles" stood shining on the CMES stand which was, as a whole, a brilliant display this year...

"Aren't You Pleased I Haven't Rolled Off The Stand?"

Back out in the field I captured a shot of Dave's work-horse of a 4" Foster, known as "McGrew". This engine attended MTEW and will do so again in April 2014 all being well...

Ian's 4" Case provided a 'first viewing' for me. I've never really examined the Case up close and so took the opportunity today. These engines are very chunky and in 4" they are a very sizeable and powerful engine. Everything about them looks robust and this example is no exception. I am hoping that we will see her at Market Bosworth in 2014...

"Well In That Case..."

Another MTEW attendee at the show was Phil's lovely 4.5" Foden "Heather", known to many due to Phil's two Bassett hounds riding around rallies aboard it!...

A beautiful 6" Ruston Proctor...

At 1:30, after lots of looking around, my shift began. This afternoon I was joined by Steve and we shared the driving for the rest of the day. We had a good laugh during the afternoon and gave many, many rides with the golden Polly. For short intervals we came out of service to allow the fantastic 5" gauge Gas Turbine Engine "GT3" to provide a working display for the visitors, with amazing results in terms of audience numbers! Once "GT3" had retired "Polly V" would return. The engine continued to run and steam well all day though the increasingly oily rail conditions towards the end of the day were turning her into a bit of a 'Golden Slipper'...

"Polly V" After A Successful Day

At about 4:45pm myself & Steve disposed of the engine after another successful running day. She was then packed into her storage box and returned to the Polly Models stand for the night. I must thank Steve for an enjoyable afternoon. My voice aches a little now. They ought to rename the show the Midlands Chatting to Everyone Exhibition as I didn't seem to be able to walk 5 yards without bumping into someone I knew from somewhere in the country! Mind you, it is nice in a way...I must have spent half the day nattering! Best Regards, Sam...