Hi Eddy,

Thanks. Also make some time in the summer to come up one Sunday. It'd be nice to meet you.  My partner Vikki loves her chats with Walter, she always learns something new, even if it isn't always boat related. He and Geoff had said that you used to be a member there.

Regards
Jon

Hello everybody,

Thanks for allowing me to join. I'm a member of Darlington District Model Boat Club, in Co.Durham, UK. I have been for a couple of years now. Where myself and my family (including the missus) all have fun sailing boats. I am effectively a novice when it comes to boat building and have had a steep learning curve. I've previously modelled railways in the larger garden scales and at Hornby size. So have some scratchbuilding knowledge. Im also an amateur model engineer. I have built a large ride on loco for my sons birthday in only 6 weeks, (that was tough going). Also a few smaller projects also. I started (not finished) to build a Nina to the Bazil Harley plans. This has been a stop, start build as it was one of the first I've built, had a few mishaps along the way and had to overcome them. I have since been given another by Walter Snowdon on this site, which is probably the most travelled Nina, having come from South Africa when it's owner emigrated to the UK. I have a love of steam in general, and I'm usually drawn to anything that has whisps of steam rising from it. I'd be interested to hear from anyone with the Trident II boiler plans that they are willing to part with, I have my eye on some castings at the moment which would need a larger boiler such as the trident II. But I haven't found anywhere that sells the plans anymore.

Regards
Jon

Belated respects on the sad death of Bob Golder. Bob and I go back 47 years since we founded the Darlington model boat club. He was one of our founder members. (Of the first twelve members I am the only one still alive). We shared a love of Clyde steamers in particular the Waverley. I have treasured memories of trips to Scotland with Bob and eddy Matthews. Bob will be sadly missed by all his friends at theDDMBC and on paddleducks.

The latest creation of a warped mind is a tandem inverted V twin engine using two of the Chiltern Steam engines. No gearing to the paddle shat in mind but direct drive to the at resent 150 mm feathering wheels with seven floats 65 mm x 25 mm.  The hull is 1300 mm long by 200 mm beam and draught of 90 mm and is effectively a stretched Strongbow hull enlarged to fit a decent sized engine and boiler. The boiler will either be a 108 mm diameter vertical with 27 8 mm fire tubes or just to be different a boiler based upon a Sissons return tube boiler with off  set furnace  simply because I have not seen a model with anything like it . The engine itself has 14 mm bore cylinders and 18 mm stroke so has four double acting cylinders. Firing is gas with automatic boiler feed and pressure control and in view of the actual power output I may re-make the wheels to a larger diameter and increase the depth of the floats which are limited to 65 mm widths. Not yet decided is whether to link the engines together or fit a servo to control each engine valve Better add some engine photos. John.

Is there any possibility to contact our members for information, that our site is back? It was only a lucky chance, that I try to contact paddleducks yesterday.

Thomas