They came from all parts of Western Canada and the Midwestern United States, arriving in Estevan on the weekend for the 24th annual Estevan Model Engineering Show.
The yearly salute to those who enjoy crafting smaller versions of what are often big pieces of machinery, much of it built before the 1900s, was again a big hit for local folks who made their way to the model action central in the Wylie-Mitchell Air Cadet Hall on the exhibition grounds.
Many of those who were displaying their scaled-down models of the real things, were making their annual pilgrimage to the Energy City, having been here before. Some have been attending for all 24 years that the show has been in existence. For others, it was their first-time.
Jerry Pontius of Deadwood, Â鶹´«Ã½AV Dakota brought his tiny model of a Ransome tree feller steam saw, based on an 1870 design. The vertical bucking saw was a true labour of love.
"It took me 15 years to figure it out, said the retired mechanical engineer who left the noted Homestake Mining Company of Â鶹´«Ã½AV Dakota a firm that dug gold from the Dakota hills.
"The piston and blade action ... well, there wasn't enough inertia, so I compromised it with a shuttle valve to get it to run," he said, pointing to a tiny valve inserted in the middle of the tiny saw workings.
"I took it to Colorado and I met a guy who was so surprised to see that I had it working. He had been working on a similar model himself and had encountered the same problem and hadn't been able to get his running either. So these shows are good for things like that. We help one another solve some model engineering problems and get to visit at the same time," Pontius said with a smile, as he also showed off a steeple engine and a Baldwin six horse power steam engine, the 1829 model. The original now sits in the Smithsonian Museum.
"Mr. Baldwin worked in Philadelphia and came up with a forked or yoke connecting rod concept which saved a lot of space by folding the engine into about half the length it would have normally taken up and about half the height too. He was doing textile machining and they had run out of water and space, so he came up with solutions. He later took the reputation he earned from this model and formed the Baldwin Locomotive Corporation," said Pontius, illustrating how the model builders are also well-versed historians having learned the background materials as they researched their projects.
The same held true for Clif Roemmich of Piedmont, Â鶹´«Ã½AV Dakota who showed up with his model of the 1893 Ferris wheel that was specifically designed and built for the Chicago Exposition that same year.
Asked how long it took for him to build it, Roemmich laughed and said the actual construction took just six months but, "I can tell you 50 ways not to make it run."
"The original was built especially for the Chicago Columbian Exposition, and after it was over, it was dismantled and re-erected in north Chicago for a fun-land type of operation that went broke, so it was taken down, sold for $1,800 and sent to St. Louis for their 1904 world exposition and after that was over it was dynamited and scrapped," said Roemich, pointing to the model of the original that was powered by two-1,000 horse power engines and was built for $362,000 which would translate into $8 million in today's currency. A replica of the original was built in Vienna in the early 1900s and historians there sent Roemmich over 200 photographs which helped him build his model. That original Ferris wheel, he said, cost 50 cents to ride and each of the 36 cars could hold 60 people. Loading it up for each run took only 10 minutes thanks to the six loading ramp designs the builders came up with..
"The Disney people could learn a little for some of their rides," he said.
While it took only six intensive months of work to build, the retired safety consultant, said it involved over 30 years of research and planning.
"The original main shaft was 33 inches in diameter, 90,000 pounds, largest in the world up to that point. It was crafted with a 60-ton trip hammer. That would have shaken the ground for 10 blocks around it," he said.
But it was worth it because during the top visitation day at the Chicago Exposition, over 34,000 people enjoyed riding on it and a total of 1.45 million rode on it at its three different locations before it was destroyed.
Over at another table, Clayton Punshon of Winnipeg was describing the work that went into his models of old steam-driven factory engines and power pumps that were originally fashioned in the mid-1800s.
Some featured shafts that worked at 500 revolutions per minute or more and many that lasted well into the 1950s and 1960s before having to be replaced with modern technology.
"We can often get original plans and build from scratch, like I always do, because many of those companies were located in England, Germany, France you know and they kept the drawings and designs because it's part of their history. Some of those engines ran complete factories," said the retired operations manager.
Estevan Model Engineering Show co-ordinator Kelly Tytlandsvik noted that the Ferris wheel was a new addition to the event this year and he added that it seemed every year there would be new models and crazy inventions that captured the attention of the visitors and the other model builders.
"This year we had 47 exhibitors, which is a few more than last year, and they brought 255 model engines with them. They came from places like Rapid City, Â鶹´«Ã½AV Dakota or Edmonton and Minneapolis," he said.
Once again the show was highlighted on Saturday with an evening social and supper followed by a Sunday showing and then takedown Sunday afternoon.
Several hundred local visitors made their way through the exhibition area during the two-day event.
