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• 8/6/22 - Frank Cooper

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TRIBUTE

 

Frank's early years were spent working as a chef and later as an Insurance Broker, with partiular reference to the former West Midlands Gas Board, and later, Heritage Railways.

He left insurance moving on to become the General Manager of a narrow gauge railway, the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway for a number of years.

 

Frank was also very interested in model engineering in all it's forms, but with a particular interest in miniature railways, and owned a 7 1/4" gauge 0-4-0 vertical boilered quarry locomotive, (which he often referred to as his coffee pot) which when driving he would normally wear a Bowler Hat which was customary, particularly in the Welsh quarries, his model is based on this type.

 

He was also a musician, his instument being the piano, he also became a member of the Chatteris Music Society and also sang in a number of choirs including a welsh male voice choir, and was also a member of the choir of St Botolph's Church Boston, also known as Boston Stump, for a number of years.

 

Frank also became involved in the restoration and in some cases the re-opening of some narrow gauge railways in Lithuania, Romania, the Ukraine and Russia, which proved to be a rather large commitment.

 

During Frank's years as Chairman of N.A.M.E. which he became in April 2006 I always found that he lead by example, had a can do attitude, and was always willing to help and advise whenever his assistance was requested.

Overall Frank was a credit to the Northern Association of Model Engineers and all other organisations with which he was connected, and will be missed.

 

Alan Budd

 

Secretary

Northern Association of Model Engineers 

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• 13/4/22 - NAME Documents

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The agendas for the May AGM and Delegates meeting have been added to the Members area. The latest version of the constitution can be found on the Documents page.

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• 7/4/22 - HSE Safety Advice

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Following an HSE investigation into an incident in 2021 where a member of the public had their leg trapped between the carriage they were travelling on and the raised track, the HSE issued safety advice on 6th April 2022.

Action required of manufacturers, designers, and operators of sit astride passenger carrying vehicles, on both raised and ground level tracks, is set out in the safety advice which may be downloaded from the following link.

 

https://fmes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/HSE-Action-Note-Sit-astride-vehicles.pdf

 

Please read the safety advice and take appropriate action on sit astride passenger carrying vehicles that you operate.

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• 19/3/22 - Northern Association of Model Engineers Young & Junior Engineer Awards

 

The event was hosted by the National Railway Museum and James Pegg on the 19th of March 2022.

 

A summary of the Winners for the last two years can be found below:

 

The winners of the David Birkett Young Engineer Award are:

 

2020 joint winner Jake Marsh of Warrington

2020 joint winner Daniel Coupe of Edinburgh

2021 Jack French of Belfast

 

Presented by Paul Birkett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel Coupe receiving his award from Paul Birkett - Photo P.Hicks

 

The winners of the NAME Young Engineer Award are:

 

2020 Ben Forth of Avonvale

2021 Harry Bennett of Leicester

 

Presented by Frank Cooper

 

There is a further Certificate of Merit and cheque for £40 going to Thomas Flanagan of Llanellii who at 9 years of age is our youngest award winner.

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• 13/2/22 - Tools Display Case

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We would like to offer a big thank you to Peter Evans, who over the years has lent NAME various tool display cases. He has now put together a tool case, for us to use for display purposes on a permanent basis.

 

 

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• 6/2/22 - New club events added:

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Southport Diesel Day

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City of Oxford Narrow Gauge Gathering

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Ruby Narrow Gauge Rally

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Upcoming Events

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TBC - Narrow Gauge Locomotive Efficiency Trials

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13-16/10/22 - Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition 

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12/11/22 - NAME Delegates Meeting - Royal Oak, Ockbrook

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