About this group
Essentially, the annual rallies were a result of model engineers that had an interest in miniature traction engines and road steam engines, wanting to get together with like-minded people. This formed into a dedicated event to celebrate their particular interest in the Model Engineering hobby. A brief outline follows below...
The Australian Model Engineering Magazine issue number 27 (December 1989) of the original series contains two stories of the first rally. One by Reg Murton and another by David Smith. If you have this issue of AME I would recommend that you read them. Apart from the rally stories you can clearly see the improvement of the AME production process!
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It was reported in David Smith's article that the original concept of having a National Traction Engine and Road Steam Rally is due to the late Peter Bucknell of Victoria. We owe Peter and his successors a vote of thanks for this very special event in the Model Engineering calendar.
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The electric "camp fire"
A tradition that started in the first rally and continues to the present day is the use of steam power to generate electricity for the electric light "campfire". Mark Mills used his 3" scale portable Case engine for many years until the job was taken over by Mark's 4" scale Traction Engine.
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Previous Rallies
It is clear that our memories are fading somewhat as we tried to recall where previous rallies were held. See the "Previous Rallies" Page for a complete list. All of the rallies except the "dark ages" of 1991 to 1994 have been reported in the pages of AME. You can see from the list that there has been quite a variety of venues. Travel costs were a consideration at the first rally and given the hike in fuel costs since then, travel is still an issue. Moving the rally around gives a variety of people an opportunity to participate as it moves closer to their homes. Many have attended most if not all the rallies since 1989 and that is a strong statement to their commitment.
