The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

I rj~ {\~J~ kil r BUWM1ANVILLE, UNTARIO, DECEMBER 15, 1976 SECTION TWO He Built His Own Railroad Even the tiny oil lamp that sits encased on the top of the Centennial was hand made - and it works. With the exception of the steam gauges and some standard-sized screws, Harry relies totally on raw materials. Getting ready to roll along the 900 foot, hand-made track in his back yard, Harry stokes the engine with charcoal, assisted by a fan which draws air up the smoke stack. Over the years, thousands of visitors have enjoyed sharing the ultimate rewards of his hobby. By Liz Armstrong The Pine Ridge Railway operates on 900 feet of meandering, handbuilt track a few miles northeast of Bowmanville. In fair weather, Harry Allin simply opens the basement door, runs a piece of' connecting track onto the back yard from his workshop, and rolls one of his 500 pound todel steam locomotives r>g to a spur line. Starting --f with charcoal and lighter fluid, he stokes the engine with a miniature shovel and waits a few minutes while the pres- sure builds. Then he adds a few chunks of coal, straddles a flat car behind the engine-anc -ay he goes. Gray smoke .lows from the stack as the attle iron horse rocks and rolls along the track at the back of the house, clugging toward the main circuit. Harry says that if he threw the throttle wide open, he wouldn't be surprised if his engines topped 30 miles per hour, but he's not a speed demon, and generally moseys along at about 10. 'One of the Best In the world of model railroading, Harry Allin has few peers. Besides being the chief engineer, fireman, switcber, first class mechan- ic, brakeman and track main- tenance crew for the line Ridge system, he's also a top craftsman and designer. He estimates that only about 50 othersin North America share his particular brand of model building, and reliable sources say that he's one of the very best in the elite group. Most of us have hobbies of one sort or another. However, not many wduld have the patience to carry a project like building a working scale model stearn locomotive from scratch through to comple- tion. Years ago a survey was done by a large British model firm which was puzzled by the fact that few of its raw materials ever seemed to appear as finished engines. The statistics proved that only 10 oer cent of the enthusiasts actually persevered long enough to complete their projects. It's no wonder really. Each Uf the nine locomotives that Harry bas built requires about 500 separate parts, not includ- ing scores of tiny nuts, bolts and screws. And these com- ponents don't come in ready-to assemble kits from the local hobby shop. On the metal' lathe, drill press and milling machine in his workshop, Harry fashions each part out of sheet metal and yards of rod, or even from castings poured for him at the Bow- manville Foundry from wood- en moulds he's carved by hand. In every case, Harry adheres s rictly to scale, either an eighL1.r sixt -ant'- .o the full model size--except for the whistle, whic hbas to be made larger than its true proportion in order to sound authentic. About the only thing that Harry doesn't fabricate himself is the little steam gauge installed-in the control panel of each engine. In some case, the first step is even . more fundamental. Commissioned by the Ontario Science Centre in 1969 to reproduce a model of the first steam engine ever used in Canada--the 1834 British Dor- chester--Harry wrote to Ste- phens Locomotives Works for the design. The company returned some information but it lacked the detailed data and plans be needed. As his only. alternative, Harry was compelled to use a photostat reprint from a book published in 1839 showing a sketchy draft of the engine. From this and other sources, he develop- ed and drew his own design, concluding that his plans reflected "the only way they knew how to build things then." Along with 19th century technology, Harry's own intu- ition was forged into the replica of the Dorchester. 18,000 Hours Harry began building models in 1933, and for the past 43 years it bas been his prime hobby. By conservative estimate, he figures that he has devoted 18,000 hours to constructing model engines. That's the equivalent of al- most nine years of steady labour, calculated on the basis of an eight hours shift, five 'days per week. Without a uoubt, it's a pretty serious avocation. For 30 years of that span, until he retired in 1962, Harry also worked full time as a transmitter technician and machinist for the C.B.C. living first in Bowmanville and then moving to Hornby, Oakville and Etobicoke. The first model that Harry tackled was a Case threshing machine. Over the years, it has been exhibited in muse- ums overseas and in various parts of the province, but it now occupies a spot in Harry's basement showcase. It took htm two years to build the little thresher, following in- structions from a series of articles in a magazine called "Model Craftsman." At the time, he didn't know any other model-makers, but met a Westinghouse dealer in 1935 who (after making a house call and seeing Harry's work) introduced him to the Toronto Society of Model Engineers, which had a mem- bership of about 25. Harry points out that there was little model building of any size in those years, though the soci- ety has grown to a member- ship of about 150 since that time. After the thresher, he de- voted his spare time to building several small en- gines, representative of the type of machines that were used in factories and boats during the 100 year period wben steam served as the prime source of power. Harry's first locomotive was another two year venture, and since he built the Boston and Albany 409 suburban tank engine back in the thirties, it has run "hundreds and hun- dreds of miles" on a three and a half inch gauge track, giving Harry, his family and friends a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction. They rode behind the engine on flat cars inscribed "Hallinoak" for Harry Allin, Oakville, a name betowed on his first railway line by a friend. The engines shown in the photos run on the Pine Ridge line, which Harry built shortly after he moved back to Bowmanville in 1962. The "Centennial" is a model of the American Standard locomo- tive built by the Rogers company back in the 1870's f the Centennial is a model of the Shay logging locomotive. As with all Harry's engines, it is 'atch, with components fashioned in his workshop out of steel, brass, copper and bronze. To rasp of the painstaking detail this hobby demands, Harry pointed out that merely making >kes for one model required three different metal working operations. and 80's. Harry explains that it is identical to the full-sized engine originally used by the C.P.R. and familiar to many through its exposure, on the television version of "The National Dream", Pierre Bur- ton's saga. Thousands of the locomotives were built by Rogers during that era, be- cause it was a fairly easy engine to construct in small shops. Similar to his experience with the Dorchester, Harry had to rely on his own expertise to build the Shay logging locomotive. The orig- inal Shay was a famous old engine which was used throughout the west coast of Canada and the United States to haul timber out of the logging camps. "It was either the Shay or a team of horses", Harry explains. Tracks were laid out through the woods to accommodate the locomotive. In Harry's version, the Shay bas its own flat car (not shown in the photo) filled with spruce stakes--the same variety that are used on full-sized railway cars to prevent the huge logs from sliding. "They just happened to be the right scale for my model--24 inches long." Harry got them from his brother at Allin Cable Reels. One model he owns is of the same vintage as the original Shay. The Great Western Single was built in 1884 by a Mr. Johnson who fabricated it while living in Indik more than ninety years ago. Harry bought it from Johnson's great-grandson and has since restored the old locomotive to its original splendor, work that included replacing both the boiler and the tender. The model engine was dubbed Sutlej by Johnson, after the name of a river in Pakistan. Clear the Track Some model railroaders arc: so cautious about their finish-, ed masterpieces that they hesitate to put them to the test--for fear the engines will get dirty or show signs of wear and tear from regular use. Not Harry. He seems to get his greatest joy from putting his locomotives out on the track for fellow enthusiasts and admiring visitors to experi- ence. The track itself is impres- sive. Built over a period of two years, it required four months labour, 12 tons of stone ballast, three or four truckloads of dirt, 900 feet of seven and a quarter inch gauge aluminur extrusion track and roughly 2500 wooden ties, each bam- mered into place with eight nails. Harry also designed the switchers that enable him to move his engines on and off the main track with ease. Some people cultivate hob- bies to help them relax and 'get away from it all' every so often. That may even have been Harry Allin's original intent. But he has beens 5 successful at his craft, and so nreceptve to those wbo are interested, tbat every year approximately 150 people drop in to see bis model railway.' Tey not only come from Ontario, but from several other provinces, as well as the U.S., Britain and, occasion- ally, even Australia and New Zealand. "Hardly a day goes by that someone doesn't corne in, and there have been so many as 20 at a time. We've had a lot of fun with the engines, and met a lot of nice people," Harry says. He obviously enjoys the comp- any and the opportunity to share bis hobby with others-. Restores motorcycles In addition to building nine locomotives and 15-20 small Dedicated model railroader Harry Allin sits aboard the Centennial, his own replica of the American Standard, which became famous in Canadian history for linking the vast stretches of the west with the eastern when the C.P.R. accomplished the impossible, as seen in the television version of Pierre Berton's bestselling book, The National Dream. engines, the thresher, a steam tractor and numerous flat cars, Harry has also devoted his time and energy to restoring two full-sized nmotor- bikes. Before he joined the C.B.C., he owned a bicycle, radio and motorcycle shop in Bowmanville and his love for the old machines never dimin- ished. Out in the garage, there is a mint condition Indian motor- cycle (circa 1930), complete with a fancy side car he designed himself. And down in the workshop, he's busy work- ing on a Henderson model, built in Chicago about the same time as the Indian. A Final Word Harry bas one hint for potential model railroaders. He suggests tbat if you're about to plunge into the hobby seriously, be sure to reserve lots of patience and persever- ance for the task ahead. "It's wise to have two parts of the project going at the same time--a simple and a difficult one. When things aren't going quite as smoothly as you'd hoped, switch to an easier job Otherwise, you could spoil an expensive casting." Sound advice from an ex- pert with over four decades of tried and true experience. Letter to the Editor Dear Sir: Would you through your pages allow me to say a very big thank you to all your readers who helped and sup- ported me in the recent election. The final total of votes was Cowman 1105, Taylor 1183 and Tonkin 679. Mr. Taylor won by 78 votes. I claimedin my campaign that 'I cared' for the people of Darlington and the Town of Newcastle. Eleven hundred and five people believed me sufficently to go out, on a winter's day, and show their support by voting for Ann Cowman. Tbat is too many people for' me to give up on. I would like them to know that I am available to help, in any way possible, no matter howalarge or small, even tbougb, at this time, I am not in office. I still care, not only for the people as individuals but for Darlington and Newcastle, and I intend to go on caring. Sincerely, Ann Cowman 55, Darlington Blvd. S., Courtice-Oshawa Dear Editor: May I use your columns to direct my thanks to all the Town people who gave me their support in the recent municipal election. My total of 3,643 votes was a very respectable total. Despite these numbers, I lost the race and I accept the decision of the majority of voters. In leaving publie office, I give this advice for the people of Newcastle. It would behoove the people to take the necessary time to keep a close watch on this new Town Council, for the area political leaders have some very serious problems to face and solve in the next two years. The decisions arrived at over the problems will affect our community for good or evil in the years to come. The main question to be solved will be tbe Darlington Nuclear Generating Station that could be built on the Fron at Bowmyanville. As the big- During the construction of a model engine, Harry calls hundreds of tools into lay, not the least of which are a drill press, a milling machine and this metal lathe. Harry currently belongs to the Toronto Society of Model Engineers, the Toronto Live Steamers, the Ontario Steam and Antique Preservers Association and the Frontenac Model Engineering Society, but when he started back in 1933, he relied solely on instructions from a magazine. gest nuclear generating sta- tion in the world and with the impact that it will have on us, it is to be fervently hoped that your new Council will not give a sweetheart agreement to Ontario Hydro in the event that a pact should be made to allow the construction of this project. There is the problem of Eldorado Nuclear Limited and the company's expressed desire to construct a nuclear refinery and a connected dump for by-products at the Port Granby district of south eastern Newcastle. There will be the ongoimg problem of water and sewage costs for residents of Bow- manville and the former Village of Newcastle. A decision will have to be made by this new Council to allow--or halt the planned expansion in Town of resident- ial building by land specula- tors. In view of large amounts of money spent by some candidates in the election-- from various sources, this item of residential growth is a serious matter affecting the future life style and future taxation of the Town that will require alertness on the part of Townspeople. Something will have to be done about Reginal Reform to end duplicatioin. There is the rampant tax problem. There is the major problem concerned with Region of Durham studies that could lead to an immense garbage dump in the lot 34 and 35 area in Northern Darlington to receive ail--and I mean ail, the garbage from the Region of Durham. What will your Council do and say about this potential mess? Back to a personal level. It was a crummy campaign featuring a character assas- sinating telephone committee along with a libelous letter to the editor from a worker within Mr. Rickard's election team. For several days after the election I received telephone calls from friends asking me to drop in and visit them before leaving the commun- ity. To the people who were told this by telephone during the campaign I would like to say that it is just a rumour--along the, same vein as the other vicious rumours that circu- lated during the election. Ken and Joan Lyall have our roots in this community. It is a beautiful place and the people are warm and friendly--be- yond the foolish actions of a few, a very small minority whose zeal and enitbusiasm were misdirected during a political campaign. Despite the slander we plan to De residents here in Newcastle for a long time to come--the Good Lord willing. l'il close with a bit of doggerel: Ilam a littie wounded But I am not sIain, l'illaytme down to bleed awhile, Then rise and fight again. Thank you ail KennethE.Lyall - Citizen 55th Wedding Amnniversar y A very lovely occasion took place on Sunday evening at the Polaris Restaurant, Osha- wa when the entire family of Mr. and Mrs. Zack Adams treated them to a beautiful turkey dinner with ail the trimmings, it being the occa- sion of their 55th wedding anniversary. When ah bad done justice to the bountiful supper and anniversary cake, ail travel- led over to their son's and daughter-in-law's home, Mr. and Mrs. Berwin Adams, Oshawa and a lovely eveneg was spent. m