Table of contents for September 2022 in Old Glory

The crisis at Crich Tramway Village which saw tram services suspended from May 18 at the popular working tramway museum, following the issue of a prohibition notice by the Office of Rail & Road inspectors who detected dangerous traction poles at two locations, has sparked awareness of the need for ageing overhead equipment and traction poles to be inspected on heritage tramways throughout the country. Summerlee Industrial Museum, some of whose traction pole bases are over 110 years old, originating from the electrification of the 3ft 6in gauge Rothesay Tramways in 1902, has taken the Crich issues to heart. Museum manager Lu McNair said: “We follow ORR guidelines and like other heritage tramways have ongoing challenges with maintenance and repairs of our tramway’s overhead line infrastructure. Safe operations are our…

This 1955 David Brown 50ID crawler was literally pulled out of a shed where it had been standing for at least 10 years in Sussex just days before the High Weald Working event at Danehill. The crawler is one of approximately 500 made. It has never been restored and had not run until Thursday 16 June, when William Mansi and his mate engaged the exmilitary hydraulic hand start mechanism which fired the diesel six-cylinder tractor up just like that! The clutch levers were free and with the crawler moved around they engaged the Boughton 20-S winch which worked as well! The outfit has certainly been looked after before it had been put away that’s for sure. It was great to see at the show and added a fine dimension to…

Back on the calendar after a two-year absence, the 61st Carrington Steam & Heritage Show remembered those not with us any more and celebrated various anniversaries as a record crowd attended over the two days of 28-29 May, says the editor. I have always had great affection for the Carrington Rally - it’s one I first attended in 1962 at the age of nine where I fell in love with the Rundle’s 1898 Aveling & Porter AC6 compound traction engine Elizabeth with its funny smokebox at the time, made from a compressor chamber I believe. The rally has been through so much since then, particularly suffering bad weather in this century. New leadership came on board approximately six years ago, under Alex Bell’s chairmanship with ‘action man’ Robert J Crawford…

Our Technical Editor, Derek Rayner, meets up with David Webster and discusses with him the unique engine - Aveling & Porter No. 4885 Samson - which he purchased in the summer of 2021. The engine made its debut with him and his family at the Yorkshire Traction Engine rally at Scampston Hall near Malton in early September; a report of which appeared in OG 381. THE ENGINE’S EARLY HISTORY According to Michael Lane’s book on the history of Aveling & Porter, the firm produced only one engine for the use of travelling showmen. This was No. 5635, named His Majesty, which was exhibited at London’s Smithfield Show in 1904. It was first owned by John Caris & Sons of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and later went to Mrs J Thomas, a stallholder, of…

If you have something for this column please send it to: colinjtyson@hotmail.com Hollycombe Steam in the Country, based on the Hampshire/West Sussex border, finally reopened its attraction to visitors on June 19 for the first time since last October – and there was both steam and diesel trains running on the 2ft gauge line which started operating from noon, says Phil Barnes. As was the service pattern in 2021, the first couple of trains are diesel-hauled, in the hands of air-braked Barclay No. 764 of 1988. This is done to give a slower warm-up period for the steam loco of the day… and saves coal of course. At around 1pm steam takes over and on the opening day this was in the hands of Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST No. 38 of…

When we think of American manufacturer Bucyrus-Erie Co. and associated British company Ruston-Bucyrus Ltd., we think of its vast range of crawler excavators from the very smallest to the largest ever to roam the planet. Bucyrus-Erie’s main products were rope-operated and hydraulic excavators, but it also produced many other types of earthmoving machines, some of which were ‘one-offs’ and built to special order. In this category were several Bucyrus-Erie giant bucket wheel excavators, built over a long period of time, and each to a unique specification. Where geological conditions allow, bucket wheels, defined as continuous excavators, can deliver the highest output of any digging machine. Continuous excavators include any machine that excavates and dumps material in a continuous stream as opposed to the cyclic action of shovels and draglines. Other…

Two English Electric-built Dick, Kerr & Co 3ft 6in gauge locomotives are currently the subject of restorations at the New Zealand Diesel Traction Group’s base at Ferrymead Historic Park near Christchurch on the South Island, reports Phil Barnes. Coincidentally, both locos were built in Preston and both locomotives now ‘reside’ at Ferrymead - half a world away from the UK! The younger of them is Df 1501 (see OG 332), this being works order 1927 of 1954 and significantly the first mainline diesel locomotive to work in NZ. The repair/restoration list for it is massive and will take several years. Some of the necessary work will include lifting the loco so the bogies can be restored and the installation of six ‘new’ traction motors which have been stored in Auckland…

Previous issues of Old Glory have provided details of various steam rollers in South America. In Uruguay another roller which started its days in Kent is to be found in the Zorilla de San Martin park in Melo, the capital of the Cerro Largo Department and some 250 miles north-east from Uruguay’s capital of Montevideo. This is Aveling No. 7697 - a slide-valve compound dating from 1912. This one also retains its Royalty plate so further details have been able to be obtained via the helpful staff at the Lincolnshire Archives. The Aveling records indicate that it was a ‘Standard’ 8-ton compound roller of the time - but interestingly designated 2TDA. The roller had a short box, the boiler had a Klinger gauge glass and the tender was not cut…

Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB) confirms its plans for the weekend of 10-11 September 2022 as part of Winchester Heritage Open Days. Participation in Heritage Open Days has become an annual event for FoKAB and, as last year, will be spread over two days. On Saturday there will be a display of rare historic local buses and coaches. This will be at the Cattle Market car park in Worthy Lane, Winchester between 12:00 and 17:00 and will consist of up to 12 vehicles, ranging from 1931 to 1970. Free vintage bus journeys will operate half-hourly between Winchester Broadway and the Cattle Market. On Sunday, there will be a vintage bus Running Day between 10:00 and 16:00 based on Winchester Broadway. It will feature all available vehicles from FoKAB’s collection…

The 3ft gauge Fintown Railway reopened on a five days per week basis on Wednesday 15 June. Trains will run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays until mid-September, with former County Donegal Railways railcar 18 in charge. Gardner-engined railcar 18, built by Walkers of Wigan and the Great Northern Railway of Ireland for the CDR in 1940, has been on loan to the railway by its owners, the North West of Ireland Railway Society, since Easter 2003, and will mark 20 years at Fintown in 2023. Seamus McElwee of Comlacht Traenach na Gaeltacht Lair said: “We’re delighted to be open again this year and are hoping for a good season as we were badly hit by the Covid lockdowns. Our local credit union has been very kind to us…

Brixham is a harbour town at the south of Tor Bay in south-east Devon, it has always been a busy fishing port and remains to be so. James Hamilton visited for a taste of something different. It is recorded that in 1890 300 trawling vessels worked from there. In the early 1800s organised racing of the trawlers began, they were highly competitive events with pride and honour at stake. They continued through to the 1900s and grew in popularity as racing sailing boats had become a popular pastime of the the upper class. Respect for the sailing ability of the fishermen overcame any class distinction and the well-to-do were keen to pit their sailing skills against the trawlermen. Despite having the advantage of sleek, graceful purpose built racing yachts over…

It‘s been great to see out over the last couple of years the superbly-presented original-style 1920 Marshall 6hp Q Class traction engine No. 73040 of Michael Oldham. The engine is doing the rounds now that things are more back to normal, following purchase from Michael Webber. The engine is unique in so many ways, even compared to the other known Q, No. 70321 which is having a new boiler and firebox at present. It was in 1911 that Marshalls of Gainsborough came out with its upmarket traction engine design called the Q Class or Q-type. It cost you at least another £65 at the time and depending on specification even more than that. The first one to be completed was No. 59506, but it would change its number to 61672…

All eyes in the miniature stream world turned to the Echills Wood Railway in mid-May for a superb gathering of engines that attracted a large number of visitors to the site. Situated at Kingsbury Water Park near Sutton Coldfield, the railway itself has a running track of some 2km and runs a variety of trains over its 7¼in gauge track. Many locomotives are owned by members, with standard gauge locomotives being used, while narrow-gauge locomotives along with diesel and electric variants also take to the track with trains operating every few minutes. But the visiting road engines took centre stage at the railway’s miniature steam weekend, and what a line-up there was. Starting things off, getting a lot of attention was St George, Mark Johnson’s engine that’s based on an…

BENSON Benjamin S Benson of Baltimore, USA was a crawler track pioneer. He patented steam-powered machines in 1881 and 1886. A feature of the latter was Pedrail-like round pads on the tracks, an idea that was revived on the 1911 Yuba Ball Tread gasoline tractor created by W J Benson (a relative?) and C A Henneuse from C L Best. The Benson name also cropped up at the Benson Automobile Co of Cleveland, Ohio in 1901. It built about a dozen steam cars that were based on bicycle maker Henry F Eastman’s design made in the same city in 1900. This had a single-cylinder engine and the unusual feature of an all-steel body. The Eastman Metallic Body Co subsequently took its ideas to Detroit. BENTEL Like Eastman, the originator of…

Perched high above the historic city of Genova on the northern Mediterranean coast of Italy is the terminus of a little-known metre gauge railway – the Ferrovia Genova Casella (FGC) - which, as its name suggests, runs between Genova and the inland town of Casella up in the Appennine mountains. Genova is well known for its invention of Jeans and for providing England with its flag of St George and also as being the site of the famous Casa di Cristoforo Colombo - the Christopher Colombus house - before he sailed off to discover America – the achievement of which the city is justifiably proud. Leaving the somewhat elevated location of the line’s southern terminus in Genova, adjacent to the Piazza Manin, the train screeched its way along and round…

It was great to be back on Richard Parrott’s farm at Weeting, Norfolk in superb weather on 15-17 July. There were over 125 full-size steamers on site plus miniatures and so much more including a brilliant 'vintage harvest' section with combines from eras long forgotten working away along with a superb tractor section and a great crowd of course. When it came to the steam line, as expected it was 'Burrell heaven’ but there was much more here as well with the ex-W J King 1929 Foden No. 13274 six-wheeled three-way tipper of Mike Hibble looking splendid and making its debut in steam. Sadly it was in trouble with the two lubricator steam return valves not doing what they were supposed to, and blowing by, but that’s nothing compared to…

The next stage in the process involved rebuilding all of the motion and gears. “The problem was that they were all missing, apart from some second-hand connecting rods that had come from a similar engine,” James explained, “Even a new crankshaft had to be manufactured.” This work was mainly carried out by James himself with the new crankshaft starting out as a 680kg billet of 12in diameter steel. Many days of milling followed which eventually resulted in the shaft approaching the correct shapes, albeit square in section. “The blank was then sent away for stress relieving so final machining could take place,” James added. To complete the work on the motion, the big end journals were machined, in a big CNC milling machine belonging to DWS Engineering in Crewkerne. One…

It was great to see 1936 Wallis & Steevens No. 8105, OFF980 out at the High Weald Steam Working Rally on 18-19 June, its third rally in the new ownership of Cliff Wood, who bought the engine a couple of years ago. This ex-War Department roller now lives at the Amberley Chalk Pits Museum since it was shipped up from Somerset. Cliff has now retired and has sorted out much on the roller; he's rebuilt the water pump and pipework, which actually works like it should now. The engine has been repainted and the roof sorted out. Cliff is still getting used to the Advance, but he has done a fine job on it and the engine looked good at the High Weald event. Got a story? Contact Old Glory…

It was good to catch up with Steve Ward from Hitchin, Hertfordshire and his lovely overhauled 1921 Aveling & Porter BS No. 9370 10 ton steam roller, YA1177 Bertha. The engine was new to Clutton Rural District Council, later Somerset County Council, as No. 57 in the fleet who kept the engine well maintained until 1963. It was sold to R Raynor, Langport, Somerset. Steve purchased it from W Pourson of Malvern in Worcestershire when it was called The Baron, and Steve rallied it for over 30 years. However at the beginning of lockdown he removed the tubes to find the boiler barrel had considerable wastage. It was sent to David, Sam and Andrew Bicknell’s boiler works at Liphook, West Sussex where it received the full works. This included a…

It was all systems go at the 2022 Kent County Show which was back going again on its traditional date of 8-10 July. The largest crowd seen here for over 15 years attended this three-day show held on the former WW2 fighter base on the top of Detling Hill. There was a good line up of vehicles that make up the heritage section of this show and included Will Day’s ‘new’ 1923 Burrell 5hp single-crank compound No. 3918, PU578 Victoria. This ex-Nick Baker engine, which came to Kent via Berrybrook Steam, looked very smart and together over the three days of the show and attracted great interest. The engine originally worked in north Essex before heading to Hull where it worked for a threshing contractor until entering preservation in the…

Steam engines have been around for a lot longer than most of us and they’ve seen many things. Strife, pestilence and plague, they’ve lived through them all. Enthusiasts in Ireland have, like the rest of the population, been waiting patiently for normal life to resume, says W S Carson. This year, on the May Day bank holiday weekend, the Shanes Castle Steam Rally returned to its usual date, the gates opened and over 20,000 members of the public flowed in to wander among the various exhibits including classic cars, tractors, stationary engines, working displays, historic military vehicles and, of course, the 33 steam engines and 11 scale models. Willie Rochford summed up the excitement among the entrants, “It’s great to be back at Shanes Castle. We’ve been coming up from…

In a relaxed and friendly atmosphere Kelsey Media staged the rescheduled Tractor World Show at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire on 21-22 May. As expected the crowd was not as big as when the show is normally held in late February-March, but it was acceptable and the event paid its way. There was an excellent show of tractors, trade stands, horticultural, stationary engines, commercial vehicles, steam miniatures, models and on the Sunday the exhibits were joined by cars, so there was plenty for the punter to enjoy over the two days. Large numbers of visitors came from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Holland and Belgium who were all made very welcome. The H J Pugh sale featured no less than 1,300 lots with £25,000 paid for a…

W J King started in business in 1905 as a threshing contractor at Bishops Lydeard, Somerset. The business grew and by the 1920s they were into road making and quarrying as well as threshing, they also owned a farm and three quarries in the local area. In fact, Kings went on to own six quarries over the years, but not all during the steam era. Over the years Kings bought several traction engines and steam rollers second-hand, but in the 1920s they bought a number of steam wagons and rollers new. The wagon fleet was mainly Foden C type three-way tippers, but they also owned wagons made by Sentinel, Tasker, Yorkshire, Garrett, Burrell and Clayton, while the rollers were mainly Burrells. Over the years W J King owned over 100…

If you have something for this column please send it to: colin.tyson@kelsey.co.uk Whilst there was considerable uncertainty among the heritage railway sector about whether genuine coal would be freely available this summer, railways of differing gauges are reporting mixed results. Tom James, a locomotive driver at the Bluebell Railway, reports: “A considerable supply of ovoids was purchased to ensure our ability to run steam-hauled services; however operational experience of the product showed they were not ideal for our use. The primary component of the fuel is crushed anthracite, a form of coal very low in volatiles, which is difficult to ignite and which then needs a fierce draft to burn – although once alight provided a good degree of heat over a reasonable time. “The gradient profile of the railway…

Although the early rally at Ackworth, situated a couple of miles south of Pontefract in Yorkshire, is billed as a Scammell Gathering & Historic Vehicle Show, there are a number of other attractions on display that are worth a look too. As well as the commercials, cars and tractors, there was a gathering of miniature steamers to enjoy, most of which paraded around the ring at this traditional family event. David Reed paid a visit to enjoy the miniature engines on show. To start things off, YK12 DFC was Alan Hartley’s 6in Foden steam wagon that was built by John Rex in 2012. “It was with Karl Slater for five years,” Alan said, “And then I bought it in 2017.” Continuing the Foden theme, Sir Lionel was a 4.5in Foden…

Interestingly Chris and James own the unique ex-works 1931 IHC A-5 4.5-ton truck that was in commercial use until 1958 and is now restored in chassis/cab form by these great West Midland restorer/collectors. It was last seen out at Tractor World 2013 on the P & J Tours charity stand where just under £3,000 was raised for Prostate Cancer UK. Our story starts when agricultural grain reaper giants McCormick-Deering joined together in 1902 to create what was said to be the biggest multi-conglomerate company in the world. It supposedly incorporated some 17 companies and called itself International Harvester Company. A few years later, in 1906, the International Harvester Company set up in Great Britain. It had its offices in Finsbury Pavement and a warehouse and workshop facilities on the A12…