From the Editor – May 2024

Greetings to one and all! Well, here I still am, getting on with life while continuing to undergo treatment for my medical issues. A recent bout of stomach ‘flu (probably Norovirus, which is going the rounds) was a most unwelcome complication, but I seem to be more or less over it now. So life goes on ………… so far, things are continuing to develop positively, and I still have every hope of a complete recovery down the road.

In this month’s news highlight, I’m pleased to be able to share a report submitted by my good friend Peter Rathke of Germany on an event which may represent the direction in which the model engine collecting hobby could move in the future. This was the “First International Model Engine Swap Meet”, which took place on February 3^rd, 2024 at Lampertheim, close to Mannheim in Germany.

The key organizers of this event were Amadeus Kurz, Peter Rathke and Michael Schmutz from the Swiss tether car group, in cooperation with Bern Wagner as owner of the company facility in which the event was held. The key innovation in the planning of this event was a serious effort to reach out well beyond the pure model engine collecting community.

This more broadly-focused event was motivated by the fact that for more than 30 years German collectors had been organizing MECA collectos in Switzerland and Germany. However, by no means all potentially interested parties are MECA members, and sadly over the years the number of attendees had been steadily decreasing, eventually reaching as low as 20 MECA members. This was seemingly due to such factors as collector decease, dwindling interest in model I/C engines as the electric take-over continues and the fact that the same attendees kept showing up year after year – few new members coming in. Something needed to be done to expand the reach of the hobby!

Some time ago, Amadeus Kurz and Peter Rathke began discussing a new approach. They became convinced that the promotion of such events needed to reach out well beyond the confines of MECA to attract interested individuals from a range of different groups. They were well aware that there are many non-MECA I/C enthusiasts out there in many countries who are participating in the hobby as unaffiliated singles or in small national groups, as well as still-active control-line flyers, model engineers and tether car racers. To reach out to these individuals and groups, Amadeus began contacting them and visiting control-line and tether car contests, spreading the idea of a joint gathering. This represented a hell of a lot of work and a high level of personal engagement.

Amadeus was lucky enough to find a company owner who was willing to let the organizers use his facility’s beautiful hall, presenting a great background with rare racing motorcycles and vintage diving equipment, along with plenty of parking space outside. A big difference compared to the bare halls used for the sparsely-attended earlier collectos! Tether car enthusiasts from Switzerland and Germany jumped on the train enthusiastically, and the event finally took place.

This being the first such broadly-focused meeting in Germany, the organizers were not sure how many attendees would come. Since it was open to all comers, the event was not presented as a MECA collecto, just in case it fell flat on its face! However, the result was quite unexpected, with participation greatly exceeding the organizers’ highest expectations. Well over 100 participants enjoyed the great atmosphere – a huge increase from the maximum 40 attendees attracted to previous MECA collectos. The attendees were engine collectors, vintage model fliers, tether car specialists, engine constructors, widows of deceased collectors and many exhibitors and visitors new to the field.

Rare engines from around the world were exhibited, with live engine runs taking place outside.  Many engines changed owners and there was plenty of time to talk and discuss individual engines. Production engines as well as complex home-built units ranging from single up to 12 cylinders were presented by their constructors. In addition, the tether car members exhibited many vintage and latter-day race cars and engines. The German group even set up a small tether car circle with howling little Cox-powered cars – great fun!

Besides the engines for sale on the many tables, glass cases were filled with rare engines from various owners. Some of these exhibits had never been seen before. The event was promoted and reported on many different websites both in Germany and in other countries, leading to a widely-expressed desire to see this event repeated in 2025. That possibility is now under serious consideration.

Many fine photographs were taken by Michael Schmutz from the Swiss tether car group. I’ve attached a small sample, and the rest may be viewed through this link. My very sincere thanks to Peter Rathke for sharing the report of this event with the rest of us!

Once again, I’ve managed to get some new material up on the site for your reading pleasure. There are two more MEN transfer articles to go along with one all-new piece. The all-new review is a study of the Vivell diesels produced in Oakland, California by Jack Keener with help from Jim Brown during the period 1948 – 1950. These excellent engines were manufactured to very good standards, bearing comparison with contemporary products from other manufacturers both in America and elsewhere. Their story is an unexpectedly interesting one!

Since the publication of the Vivell diesel article represents another step towards complete coverage of the American diesels on this website, I’ve also prepared a comprehensive update of my earlier article on MEN on the subject of the McCoy diesels. It’s been possible to flesh out that story considerably, adding both interest and authority to my coverage.

Maris Dislers’ article on the early spread of model diesel technology reminded me of another article which appeared on MEN way back in January 2008. That was Ron Chernich’s piece on the very rare Půrok 2.0 cc diesel from 1941-42 Czechoslovakia (as Czechia was then known). A great deal of additional information has emerged since then, enabling me to tell the story in considerably greater detail. The updated article is now available for your reading pleasure – enjoy!!

That’s about it for this month. I can’t make any firm promises to get anything out for June, but I will promise to give it a try. A number of noteworthy new arrivals have provided strong encouragement for me to get on with telling their stories, and I also plan to re-visit a few old friends in the near future. No shortage of material to keep me fully engaged!

Given my medical situation, it seems quite likely that the site will become frozen at some point, at least for a while, but I’ll keep going as long as I can – doing so helps to divert attention away from less positive issues! I’ll keep you all posted on any significant developments. In the meantime, I really appreciate all the expressions of support that I continue to receive from so many of you! Take care, and I’ll see you again soon!

Adrian Duncan 

British Columbia, Canada

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