28 June – How far round on less than a pound – Daresbury Gazette
Posted on 28. Jun, 2018 by in Daresbury Gazette, Daresbury Gazette 2018
Sunday the 24th of June will go down as one of the best club days in the skill of handling miniature locomotives. Our club secretary Brian Renton set about the task of organizing a series of fun days up at our track. His first effort turned out to be one of the most entertaining and funniest days ever. With the weather set fair, a prompt 10am start was made. The task was to steam up with as much charcoal as you could possibly get into your firebox, and as you entered on to the track you were handed a bag containing 10oz of coal. Before departure at least one piece of coal was to be put into the firebox, after that you were in charge of your own destiny.
Photos of the event can be found in the gallery here
*NEWS FLASH! New Winner Announced for ‘How far round on less than a pound’ Challenge – Please read on, Winner announced at the end of the article!*
First up was Andrew Marsh with his 5ins gauge Britannia. Unfortunately after one lap Andrew was forced to retire due to priming problems.
Next into the fray was Roy Allen with his Polly. Roy completed his run managing five and a half laps to set the goal.
Next came our club president, Henry with his tank engine Emma Louise. Henry started off at a nice steady pace completing five laps with ease. He continued up to the track extension getting slower and slower, everyone watching to see if he would appear round the pond, and he did, he then went on over Daresbury summit and appeared coming down towards the club house. He carried on round the bottom curve and finally came to a stand opposite the container completing a run of two and a half miles on 10oz of coal. A remarkable feat.
Next up was Jake Marsh with his 5ins gauge Butch. Jake completed 3 and a half laps which for a first timer was a very good effort
Next up was Keith with his remarkable Darjeeling tank loco. Unfortunately Keith was forced to retire early.
Next was Amy Parsons with her Simplex. Unfortunately Amy was also forced to retire early.
A break was then taken in proceedings for lunch, where everyone was treated to a selection of sandwiches and cakes provided by the club and members.
Tom was next up with his 31/2 gauge 9F. Unfortunately Tom was also forced to retire.
Now came the real competition, Barry Purslow with his Black Five, the Renaldo of the steam world. Barrie set sail to a great
applause andmuch banter on his epic journey, 10ozs of coal looking very small in such a big tender. Alas, after five laps things weren’t looking good for the champ and Barrie was assisted back to the start by the club 08 shunter after completing 5 and a half laps.
Last to run was Andrew Pope with his beautiful 5ins Midland Compound (it’s a Maid of Kent really) but still a handsome looking loco, just a pity it didn’t perform on the run, forcing an early retirement.
This then left our club President as the overall winner.
After the presentations and a short speech from our club chairman, giving a well deserved thanks to Brian for organizing such a wonderfully entertaining day, it was decided to allow Andrew Marsh another bash at the run. Andrew had experienced priming problems due to having carried out boiler repairs, but after continually steaming up and blowing down he cured the problem.
Now here is the sting in the tail, Andrew was allowed to carry on but he would not be counted in the final results. GUESS WHAT ? he only went and beat Henry’s run.
Fantastic day, what a pity a lot of you missed out. Still there’s always the next time!
New Winner Announced for ‘How far round on less than a pound’ Challenge!
Ben Pavier with his 0-6-0 Pansy (Pannier Tank) in 5ins, overall Winner of the ‘How far round on less than a pound’ Challenge
One entrant who was unable to attend the original day of the challenge, was allowed to run at a later date – only one run would then be counted as with all other competitors, so to keep the rules fair for all.
During the 8D Association Visit on the 2nd Sept, that entrant arrived with an 0-6-0 Pansy (Pannier Tank) in 5ins, and he is known to us all as Ben Pavier (pictured).
To everyone’s astonishment (and we mean everyone who was there from both WDMES and the 8D Association), upon his first run Ben managed a whopping 9 LAPS on less than a pound of coal, and almost a half lap with the smokebox just under the start of the new tunnel entrance near Daresbury Summit!
This now makes Ben Pavier the overall winner of the event for 2018!
Commiserations to our club President Henry upon his original win moved to a very humble second place, but non-the-less was first place on the original event day – congratulations to all who entered and we look forward to the event again in 2019!
Patrick
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- A Varied Steam Fair Experience for 2021 – June Edition – Daresbury Gazette
- Happy New Year – Access Update – March 2021 Edition – Daresbury Gazette
- Seasons Greetings – COVID-19 and The Deviation Update – December Edition – Daresbury Gazette
- Track Temporary Closure and The Deviation Update – November Edition – Daresbury Gazette
- Tier Risk System Update – October Edition – Daresbury Gazette
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