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FEATURE
DAVID SHIRRES
Biggest challenge yet
W
ith its focus on innovation, there’s always something new at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ (IMechE) Railway Challenge, especially as the competition had a record twelve entries this year. The challenge was held over the first weekend in July and was managed by the Institution’s Railway Division, with around twenty volunteers running the event. Under the guidance of a steering group led by Professor Simon Iwnicki, the Division produces the competition’s rules and a performance-based locomotive specification. This is changed each year to encourage modification of previously entered locomotives. The IMechE provides a small number of staff to administer the event, arrange the facilities required and seek sponsorship.
Rail Engineer | Issue 154 | August 2017
This activity is led by Sandra Balthazaar, the Institution’s education manager, who is charged with inspiring the next
generation of engineers, including through outreach activities in universities. This year, the competition was sponsored by the Railway Industry Association, RSSB and Wabtec. Regular readers may recall that Rail Engineer has reported on every Railway Challenge since the first competition in 2012. Each year, the competition is held on the three-kilometre track on the Gretton family estate near Melton Mowbray, operated by the Friends of the Stapleford Miniature Railway (FSMR).