Tiny, working trains from a self-taught innovator
Feb 2, 2007 - 8:05:41 AM
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At 'sixty plus' as he puts it, the enthusiasm for his lifelong hobby needs to be shared with others if such talent is to be built on in this part of the world.
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By Frederick Noronha, IANS,
[RxPG] Mumbai, Feb 2 - Tiny trains, steam engines and other such objects clutter the table before Iqbal Ahmed, who is credited with building the world's smallest working steam engine.
'I don't have any engineering degree,' Ahmed says proudly, as he displays his miniature creations at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay -, the premier technological education training institution of post-independence India.
Since 1962, Ahmed, who lives in the Sadar area of Nagpur, has been creating miniature trains and steam engines. 'At present, I'm working - the Fairy Queen,' says the moustachioed soft-spoken gentleman.
The Fairy Queen, built in Leeds in 1855 and owned by the East Indian Railway once, is the world's oldest steam locomotive in regular operation today, plying between New Delhi and Alwar in India. John Bull, probably the oldest operable steam loco, built in 1831, is preserved in static display.
Ahmed says he found it 'very difficult' to enter the Guinness Book of World Records, but he did and a certificate credits him with building the 'smallest working steam engine with a flywheel measuring 6.8 mm across - machine standing at 6.8 mm high and 16.24 mm long'.
Some of his other creations include vertical steam engines, Mary Beam engines, and the Victoria horizontal steam engine.
Each works perfectly, and Ahmed - whose visiting card identifies him proudly as a 'Guinness world record holder' - explains that his business in Nagpur is linked to restoring old cars.
Ahmed's grandfather was in insurance business, and he came from a well-to-do family. As his granddad purchased less-damaged wrecks for renovation, Ahmed observed and learnt.
He never heard of 'model engineering' then, but a friend brought him some books on model making from abroad.
Today, his visiting card shows the 'world's smallest steam engine'-juxtaposed against a human thumbnail, for which he is listed in the Guinness records.
Ahmed has also made it to a listing in the CraftsmanshipMuseum.com.
'I made these miniatures myself. Unfortunately nobody has come forward to buy them yet. I have all the designs and concepts in my head, and don't need any designs -,' he explains to engineering and IIT students.
Ahmed's regret is that no youngsters are coming to learn these skills from him and as yet there haven't been any plan to build a museum of such railway and other miniatures.
At 'sixty plus' as he puts it, the enthusiasm for his lifelong hobby needs to be shared with others if such talent is to be built on in this part of the world.
'Nobody is coming forward for that -,' he says, not without a tinge of regret.
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