Brief Overview
IMLEC 1976 was held in sweltering heat at Kinver. The track was initially a 700ft lozenge shaped oval built in 1970, it then sprouted an extension to take it to 1295ft.
The winner was run No.12, Bill Perrett from Southampton with his "Speedy". D. E. Lawrence tells us more:
"I built one of the first Speedys in the country and when we officially opened our first continuous track at Bournemouth Bill Perrett had a long spell on my Speedy's footplate. He practically had to be prised off it. He was so taken by it that he promptly started to build one himself. His own GWR 5 in. gauge 15XX 0-6-0PT is now in its 13th year of service and, because it is one of the regular workhorses of Bill's own Society at Southampton, it has had much rebuilding and replacement of worn parts since new. Currently it has a 100 lb. p.s.i. boiler, the cylinders are 1/16 in. less in diameter at 1½ in. bore and what Bill calls a semi-radiant superheater is fitted, that is extending into the firebox for only half its length. I have already mentioned Bill's apprehension about the coal being used and his own previous experience at
Blenheim and reports of the behaviour of these types of anthracite did not fill him with all that much
confidence. He kept his load to a reasonable one and took driver, observer and 10 passengers. The start was very, very cautious indeed with the wheels just on the point of slipping, but Bill's canny hand kept careful control and Speedy did not lose its feet. Bill took his time about accelerating, evidently waiting to see how things went before opening up. After the first lap speed rose to about 81 to 9 m.p.h. and varied little from that. The run was good and steady and the train rolled with an assured and confident Speedy at its head. One could see Bill was quite satisfied with the way things were going and it was also obvious he was enjoying himself.
After the result was put up showing the 15XX in the first place at that time, I must say I felt a deal of sympathy for Fred Winsall. Last year he held on to the leading position for over 4 hours before being knocked off the perch. This year over 5 hours went by before he was relieved of the number one place. That's all part of the Competition, I suppose."
Interesting Facts
First competition to have a completely overseas entry (distinct from just a driver), with two model engineers from South Africa entering a SAR locomotive.
When Bill Perrett received his prize he acknowledged that the "coal was better than he thought it would be" which got a rather large cheer!
Dr J. B. Hollins' run was abandoned when a doctor was repeatedly called for over the p.a. system, Dr Hollins was at the time driving the B1, so had to stop and run over to the clubhouse to treat a host society member for heat exhaustion. He was given a re-run later in the day, finishing in last place.