History

A Brief History of LittleLEC

Peter Langridge, who was inspired to create these competitions, wrote:

While attending IMLEC competitions I found that the desire to 'have a go' was quite strong, but realised that it would be pointless with my RobRoy. Eventually the idea of a competition exclusively for smaller locomotives formed. I believed that the competition may be supported by like-minded people, so in 2007 I approached the Guildford Model Engineering Society Council of management with an idea to hold an efficiency competition for little locomotives. The idea was that locomotives entered should be subject to a dry weight maximum of 50lb and rather than pull a heavy dynamometer car, I worked out a formula for the GMES track. This was based on previous results from OMLEC/IMLEC events held at GMES and would give a fairly accurate efficiency result, providing that the weight of all the passengers and all trolleys was known.

The thinking behind the idea was that many people had 'cut their teeth' on a small model, and had then put it away in favour of something bigger. It would be good to encourage these models out of the cupboard and into use. There may also be many young or inexperienced drivers with small locos, and the competition may give them some encouragement to gain experience. As is so often said, it is much more difficult to drive a small loco than a large one!

A running time of 20 minutes was considered best for these smaller models. A one-day trial was held in August 2007, this creating so much interest that it was decided to hold a two-day, open event in 2008. With some help with publicity from the Model Engineering magazines, the event attracted six visiting locos and six from GMES. This number of entries enabled each entrant to have two separate runs, with the best one counting toward a final place, thus allowing some experimentation with the load carried. The first event enabled the preliminary Competition Guidelines to be put into the near final form shown below. Near final because the guidelines are continually updated as more is learned from each successive event, and different tracks may required modifications to the guidelines.

The experience gained from this first event showed that the 'two run' idea would be good for the competition if it were to continue. This it would clearly do, as some of the entrants who came from the Worthing Society said that they would like to take the competition to their track in 2009. The entry list was, similar to that at GMES though with some different contestants. A successful competition was once again enjoyed by all who entered. It was at this time that Model Engineer magazine agreed to take on sponsorship of the competition, supported by Warco, with a trophy provided by Station Road Steam.

With the intention of spreading interest, the Birmingham Society of Model Engineers were asked if they would like to host the 2010 event at their Illshaw Heath track, which they willingly did. Another weekend of fun and good company was enjoyed by all, with again a similar number of entries and some new contestant

The spirit of camaraderie has continued in the following years with the competition being hosted by model engineering societies around the country so that a different range of locomotives and competitors can take part.

Sadly, Peter passed away in 2021 and so the organisation of LittleLEC year on year has been taken on by the Guildford Model Engineering Society where Peter has been member since the early 1980s.

Model engineers who have not entered the competition previously would be most welcome to join in the fun.