The last steam clock: Designer of Gastown landmark plans to retire, sort of

In 1974, the City of Vancouver built a steam Bell in the town of gais and approached the watchmaker Ray Sanders.
The problem is that no one has ever built it.
But Sanders is ready for the challenge.
With the help of his former high school metal
He designed a 16-foot-
Play the tall Clock of Westminster bells.
An hour later, a steam, like an old steam locomotive, sent a fifth whistle on the top of the bell.
Every day of the year, with rain or shine, dozens of tourists stand in Camby and Water Street waiting for the steam to blow.
Clock has become one of Vancouver\'s popular attractions
The Google search for \"Gastown Steam Bell\" turned into 108,000.
Sanders\'s international reputation earned him a commission to build more such clocks.
There are two Sanders steam clocks in Japan, one in Indiana and two closer to home, in Noble Woods and Whistler.
Sanders put his seventh steam Bell in the crate this week.
Go to cartoon bar, Australia (
Just west of Sydney)
It will anchor the Scenic World Square, a popular tourist attraction in the Blue Mountains. The 18-foot-
The tall cartoon clock is the most exquisite clock in Sadr.
It has 12 brass whistles, all of which are adjusted to different notes that will play Waltzing Matilda and steam on the 13 th.
This will also be his last time.
Sanders gave up the steam clock after nearly 40 years of construction.
\"It\'s a very difficult thing to build this clock,\" Sanders said . \".
\"I have been doing it for almost four years because I had a whi accident that affected me for a year.
When he finally got back to work, he had another accident.
\"It may be that I am repairing the steam Bell in the town of gais,\" he said . \".
\"I held the roof over the pipe and I was cleaning up all the leaves in the drain and the roof came down and hit me on the shoulder.
My shoulder sleeve was hurt.
I have to do everything by directing others.
Sanders declined to disclose his age, but admitted that he was within the \"range\" of 70.
He\'s not going to retire completely.
He will still make new \"carved clocks\" to recycle the treasure trove of antique clock mechanics he has collected over the years.
He is very proud of the cartoon Bell.
\"This is the most complex steam Bell ever built by man,\" he said with a smile . \".
\"This time is a real struggle to get the same.
There are 12 notes, all for a certain pitch, which is hard to do with a whistle.
They should not play music.
I did a lot of custom work.
Process whistles so they get the correct notes.
\"The world of scenic spots is located at the site of a coal mine that once had the steepest railway line in the world.
As a result, Sanders designed miniature coal trucks, copies of which, in their 1890 s, carried coal to the mountains, up and down a miniature railway inside the glass shell.
\"These coal cars are actually full of lead, which is why the clock mechanism is driven.
When the coal cart goes along the track, it touches the switch, the steam opportunity starts and wraps it up again.
That\'s why keep the clock running.
Above the railway is a globe with LED lights showing the location of the big city.
There are small picks and shovels in the corner, which is another recognition of mining.
It is a collective effort to combine all this together.
\"The whole case is marked by avant-garde architecture (in Coquitlam)
Sanders said.
\"I just drew it out and sent the design to them.
They have a water jet cutter that can cut everything off without leaving any burn marks.
Then I customized the steam engine in England.
There is an automatic refueling system inside.
\"I made all the coal cars and made the global coal cars.
This picture was painted by a friend of mine. of the globe)
According to NASA\'s space picture
Weather system and everything.
The construction cost of the Katoomba steam bell is about $300,000.
Back in the 1970 s, the bill for the gales town clock was $58,000, more than double the $25,000 that Sanders thought would be spent.
\"I didn\'t make much money for any of the clocks I did,\" he said . \".
Sanders was given a show in the town of gais because a city official saw the story of a Vancouver Sun newspaper calling him the city\'s chief horologist (
Fancy name of watchmaker).
He grew up fascinated by clocks.
\"My dad gave me some alarm clock to take apart and I did a good job,\" he said with a smile . \".
\"But I didn\'t put them together.
Then I started fiddling with clocks and went to Vancouver Institute of Technology to study painting.
\"He repaired the clock for ten years at Woodward and then started his own shop, the sculpture studio.
He collected a large number of antique clocks, which led to the Sun and the steam Watch board in the town of gais.
However, the steam clock is not actually driven by steam.
\"It runs by gravity,\" he explained . \"
\"The clock in the town of Gais is run by a steel ball that is falling by gravity, and it is crushed by a steam engine.
Steam blows the whistle and starts the steam engine.
The Gastown clock, made of brass, copper and glass, is designed to look like it was built in 1900 or 1890.
But it was actually published on Sept. 26, 1977. “I ask (tourists)
\"How big is the clock, they say \'Oh, it\'s over 100, \'\" he said \'. \".
\"I said, \'No. ’ (
If they don\'t believe me
I showed them my driver\'s license and said \'Look at the plaque \'.
And then they said \'Oh.
Are you still alive?
I said, yes, I\'m still alive.
The steam Bell is not the only name of Sarns.
He built more than 200 public clocks, including street clocks for Kerrisdale, Mount Pleasant and Coquitlam.
He also fixed local landmarks such as the Berks clock, the Seymour Center clock and the Vancouver City Hall clock.
\"I have a question,\" he said . \"
\"I will be in Palm Springs during the day --
Save time change (Nov. 3).
I usually do a dozen different clocks in two clocks.
Change the time of the day and lubricate them.
I have to inform all of these people to stay there before I come back.