The 1st Annual Spring Windup
March 27, 2008

The Spring Windup was the concept of Mike Horner, a fellow spring-drive enthusiast. He felt that we should have an event at least once a year where clockwork locomotives would feature prominently. I enthusiastically concurred, so the First Annual Spring Windup was held this spring.

Although there were half a dozen attendees, there were only two actual participants -- Mike Horner and I (Marc). But between us we had a wide variety of spring-driven examples, including commercial models and toys as well as scratchbuilt and kitbashed locomotives.

All engines ran well (though some of the toy flanges didn't like my pointwork) and the event was great fun. Something that became evident through the course of the day (which we already knew) was that the British makers considered their products to be models, while the Americans considered theirs toys. British products, in general, were more heavily made and they ran longer and smoother than their US counterparts. Also, British clockwork engines are generally reversible, whereas American toys are not.

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment.