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This section is provided as a forum for model engineers to publish reprints of articles that they have submitted elsewhere in the past, and which merit further dissemination. This may be for reasons of general interest or, for example, because the original publication is now out of print or of limited distribution. Please note that individual authors are responsible for ensuring that their publications do not infringe any copyright restrictions before they are published here.

All articles are stored in Adobe's Acrobat (pdf) format - this is a very efficient format for storing the files in compressed form, thus saving space and download time. You can download a free reader for pdf files from Adobe's web site.

If you have an article that you would like to publish here please contact us by email at modelinfo (at) modeleng (dot) org

Article(s)	Content
"Going Soft" - part 1, part 2 and part 3 Andy Clark, 1994 Originally published in "The Lobby" (the newsletter of the Brighton & Hove Society of Miniature Locomotive Engineers)	A collection of articles that discusses the various issues surrounding the treatment of boiler water to reduce or eliminate scale. Part 1 discusses the problem in general terms, describing how water becomes "hard" and the various mechanisms that can be employed to soften it. Part 2 provides some feedback on the first article - in particular the comments of Ray Parsons, a local model engineer with significant experience of water conditioning in the local generating station. Part 3 is a reprint of an excellent article written by Ray for the newsletter of another local club (Beech Hurst) some years before. The content of this latter article is still highly relevant today!
Measuring Steam Engine Performance Bill Hall First published in the Society of Model & Experimental Engineers Journal, Vol 9 No.3, Jan 1998	Round about the time the SM&EE was formed there was a determined effort on the part of the Engineering profession to provide a sound basis for steam engine development. In 1896 the Institution of Mechanical Engineers established a Steam Engine Research Committee, and its First Report was submitted in 1905. Cylinder condensation, and attempts to reduce it by steam-jacketing the cylinder, was one of the major concerns of the Committee and indeed this topic exercised many of the leading engineers of the time. Those of us who make and operate small steam engines are well aware that condensation becomes progressively worse as the engine gets smaller - particularly if the steam is not superheated. Further investigation of the circumstances and possible remedies therefore seemed appropriate. This article describes the equipment used and some of the early results. The effectiveness of two specific remedies was tested - superheat, and the use of separate inlet and exhaust valves.
The reasoning behind designing Walschearts gear Duncan Webster	A companion to the Walschearts analysis programs from Duncan Webster, Bill Hall, Charlie Dockstader and Allan Wallace. This document is in Microsoft Word format with the diagrams stored separately. The whole is packaged in a zip file for convenience of downloading.
A potted history, analysis and design guide for conjugated valvegears Duncan Webster	A second treatise from Duncan Webster also stored as a zip file containing the native document in Word format and the diagrams stored separately.
Model Locomotive Research A brief survey Jim Ewins	Originally published in 1987 this paper by Jim Ewins describes his research into model locomotive performance and describes a set of criteria embodied in four factors by which the vital parameters of model locos may be compared.