Indice dei contenuti per March 2021 in Old Glory

As reported in our last Old Glory magazine 1901 Aveling & Porter LC8 No. 4885 8hp slide-valve compound showman’s road locomotive, ME6052, arrived at Allison Engineering in Shropshire during the middle of December. The boiler assembly is now stripped down and has been looked at by the boiler inspector and is now awaiting its new tubeplate to arrive, as we were writing this in late January. This is a unique AP engine in more ways than one; it’s the oldest side slide-valve compound in preservation today, remembering when this engine was built the company were also making overhead slide-valve compound engines at the same time and for a few years afterwards. This is the largest Aveling & Porter ever to grace the UK fairgrounds from 1935 remembering it was built…

Just as Old Glory was going to press, we received the very sad news that Maurice Houghton passed away from Covid-19 in the early hours of Saturday 23 January, he was 83. Maurice was a great champion of Ferguson and Massey Ferguson and John Deere equipment and worked for FA Standen for over 50 years as a mechanic/technician, like his father who had worked on sand and gravel lorries. He was very popular throughout Cambridgeshire and further afield, a tremendous asset to his employers all those years in more ways than one. In retirement he took up tractor restorations, which he undertook with his son Gary also a motor technician and former stock car racer, together they created some award winning tractors from a Ferguson 35 grey and gold moving…

Despite the Dartmoor Railway Community Interest Company entering administration in February 2020, daily caretaking continues at Okehampton station in co-operation with owners Devon County Council. At the end of December, Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines stated that an Okehampton to Exeter service could be reintroduced in 2021 and that an accelerated delivery schedule could be achieved. On a grander scale, debate is still ongoing on plans to reopen the ‘northern route’ throughout from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton and Tavistock as a diversionary route from the southern route to the west via Dawlish.…

Since I have had more time in the workshop this year, having been in lockdown and not attending any shows during the summer, I have built two more 1/8th scale Massey Ferguson models for my collection and a purpose-built display table, all built from scratch.” says Somerset’s Alan Clapp. He goes on to say, “The most difficult model so far has been the 15-row MF 30 combine seed drill, having never worked on one it made it all the more challenging, but I did manage to find a parts book and instruction book which certainly helped.” Alan added: “the Massey Ferguson 28 disc harrows were not quite so hard to make and these both fit in with my theme of working on the land, planting and harvesting with Massey Ferguson.…

Part 3 Last time, I reminisced about my first two lorries, both of which coincidentally dated from the late 1920s, writes Nick Baldwin. I hinted at another ‘B’ in the shape of a Bradford Utility shown in the background of a Bean photograph. This had been family transport since my father had worked for its maker, Jowett Cars Ltd of Idle, Bradford. It had taken me to school and later first I, and then my future wife, learned to drive in it. Its vague steering, feeble Bendix brakes and 20bhp horizontally-opposed water-cooled twin took plenty of getting used to, which stood me in good stead for my next fleet addition. I was living in Norfolk in the late 1970s where a maltings at Tivetshall near Great Yarmouth employed a very…

This very smart 1958 Gipsy was supplied new to Robert H Crawford & Son of Frithville near Boston in Lincolnshire, a very well-known and highly respected name. It worked as a service vehicle in their agricultural engineering business until 1975. In the 1950s choosing a diesel engine for a small commercial was unusual, unless the rest of the fleet of larger vehicles ran on DERV (an acronym for diesel engine road vehicle but often applied to the light oil fuel itself) and the fuel was bought in bulk. Of course, it had the big advantage of vastly improved economy. Opting for a diesel bumped the price up by £125 to £755. The registration number SFU 145 is the original; it came from the old County Council of Lindsey – part…

Australia’s only operating horse trams and the only 5ft 3in gauge horse tramway in the world will be running with more certainty by spring 2022, reports Hugh Dougherty. This is the expected time when the South Australia Government completes a replacement of the existing, mile-long, causeway used by the trams to link Granite Island with Victor Harbor, just along the coast from Goolwa in South Australia. The project, worth AU$31.1m (around £17m), future-proofs the horse trams by providing them with a firm foundation for their track. The existing timber causeway on which the trams currently run dates from 1864 and was originally built as a pier. The tramway opened in 1894 and the causeway will be replaced by a new concrete and steel structure, built beside the existing one, which…

www.kelseymarketplace.co.uk Good news Legacy Vehicles have done it again with the sale to the Holt family in South Yorkshire of Reverent Peter Green’s 1907 Burrell 6hp No.2933 single-crank compound three-speed traction fully sprung engine Marmaduke. The engine was new to E W Bloomfield, Stowmarket through Thurlows and the specification was called the Aberdeenshire by Burrell’s, ironically this sole surviving example of this type never went to Scotland. By 1947 it was with Elson & Cann of Crediton, Devon. It was later with Giles Romanes in 1954 before moving into Sussex, then crossing the border to Hampshire with Charlie Russell, then on to Peter Green’s ownership in 2006. The engine was a favourite of Gerald Russell and was seen in his hands at various rallies in its green livery and in…

It with deep regret that we have to report the passing of Martin Fagg on Tuesday 12 January, he was 61. Martin was encouraged into steam by his father who is an excellent carpenter while Martin trained as a precision engineer at Farnborough to the highest standard. He showed all his skill with his first major restoration with 1921 Aveling & Porter No. 10048 10 ton piston-valve roller FX8307 Emma which travelled around under its own steam, but looked in concours condition. We see this Bob Moorman picture with Martin cleaning it at the 26 April 2003 Cheffins Vintage Collective sale where it raised £28,000. He was a pioneer in the GDSF heavy haulage ring with the then owned Anthony Heal McLaren Boadicea, which he operated with great skill for…

There is no doubt that 1923 Aveling & Porter 4hp compound steam tractor No. 9435 Nessie caught the imagination of those that saw it displayed in the National Traction Engine Trust’s marquee at Great Dorset Steam Fair over the years, says David Reed. Nessie is owned by Thomas Fields-Pattinson, who has done most of the restoration. “It was new to A M Carmichael of Dunblane in Scotland in 1923 who were road construction contractors,” he said, “It was a convertible and would have been used for hauling stone.” It appears that the engine worked all around Scotland on road construction, “They would have steamed from Dunblane to wherever it was needed.” Thomas added. By the early 1930s a lot of work was taking place on the A82 alongside Loch Ness,…

Top vehicle recovery technician and very skilled engineer Ian McConachie was given permission by his wife Lucy over Christmas and the New Year to stripdown the just wonderful 23 August 1899 Allchin No. 1105 7hp single-cylinder traction engine Ellen. The engine was new to James Coulta of Grantham before travelling over to W F Story of Corby, Kesteven and then to Story Brothers of Barrowden, Rutland. It was with Cyril Grace of Old Dalby, Leicestershire who placed the full-length canopy on the engine and it was a regular at the Birmingham Science Museum May events where the editor first came to know this engine. It was later with Eastwood Commercial Vehicles and it’s no coincidence that Ian works on commercial vehicles himself that have fallen off the road or have…

SCHUCO From Schuco comes a 1/18 scale resin model of an Opel Blitz 1.75 tonne box van [1] in maroon Porsche racing service livery for £180.99. Opel built this somewhat American design of Blitz from 1952–60, with nearly 90,000 produced. They had a 2.5 litre six-cylinder engine and were also used by the German post office. Also in resin, to 1/32 scale is a Schlüter 950 V tractor, available either with [2] or without a driver’s cabin [2b]. The price is £148.99 with or £136.99 without. Schlüter was founded in 1898 in Freising, near Munich by Anton Schlüter, initially building engines. Their first tractor, the DZM 25, was launched in 1937, and from 1964 onwards they concentrated on building large tractors. The 6.6 litre, 95hp, six-cylinder diesel engined Super 950…

Robert and his family have contributed so much to the whole of the vehicle preservation movement, not only in the agricultural sector, but commercial vehicles, steam, cars and so much more. Robert’s father set up in business in the early 20s and was the village blacksmith, which led him to becoming an agricultural dealer, haulier, farmer and sometime scrap merchant, he was certainly a person who could think ahead of the game at times. Crawfords always had strong connections with Marshall’s of Gainsborough starting in 1932 when they bought one of the very first 15-30 single-cylinder tractors and in 1934 a John Fowler 25 crawler, which again set things up for the future with this Leeds company. This led to Crawfords becoming agents for these makes until 1995, when Track-Marshall…

PART 3 As mentioned in the first two parts of this series, the steam shovel was an American invention, the first by Otis in 1935, and few were built up to the 1870s. At that time rapid expansion of construction work during the Industrial Revolution, especially railways, prompted several manufacturers to build and market excavating machines. In Great Britain these included successful builders: Ruston (1874), Whitaker (1884) and Wilson (1887), and less successful Chaplin (1876) and Barclay (1887). In addition to the above, according to the excellent book “Steam Railway Cranes” by John S. Brownlie published in 1973, there were more than a couple of dozen British manufacturers whose main product was railway breakdown cranes. Some of these produced steam shovels by converting a standard breakdown crane into a steam…

A short distance from the River Rhine on the edge of the German city of Duisburg is the Wittlaer-Bockum waterworks, writes Busso Hennecke. This engineering marvel was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century in order to provide safe and clean drinking water for the expanding population of the Ruhr area. The old Duisburg waterworks - Aakerfähre - had reached its performance limits by that time and exploratory drilling took place around 1908 in order to test the water quality in the Bockum area. The location eventually selected was Angermund, close to where the small river Anger joins the Rhine and where cheap land was fortunately available. Both the cities of Duisburg and Düsseldorf would benefit from having a permanent drinking water supply from there, which this project was…

HJ Pugh will be staging the rescheduled Tractor World Show sale on 20 March at its HQ at Ledbury at Hazle Meadows. They have already 70 tractors entered, including a well restored Ferguson Brown A on pneumatics with original-style tyres and the tractor carries wings. Also in the sale are stationary engines, implements, commercial vehicles, part and literature so do look it up. There is still time to enter and if you have some steam equipment from models to full-size kit Howard and Henry are always delighted to talk to you about things. It would have been the 20th anniversary of this show which the editor created all those years ago now - time has certainly flown!…

JOHN BAILEY - AN APPRECIATION From Germany, Stephen Cotton has so kindly put an article together on his 1900 Fowler road locomotive No. 8903 Lord Roberts and its previous owner the late John Bailey. We also unravel ‘mystery man’ Stephen Cotton and why he became interested in road steam in the first place. MODEL ENGINEERING SHOW Dorset correspondent Paul Richie takes us back in time as he looks at this show that takes place at Alexander Palace, in normal circumstances. STANDFAST A fascinating story is told by Rohan Lamb, Archivist and Historian of the Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club (MSTEC), of a unique Sentinel waggon that was supplied in 1925 for a specific job in Melbourne associated with the city’s conversion of its early cable-hauled tramways to the more modern…

It’s with deep regret that Old Glory has to report the passing of one of the great commercial vehicle restorers, who drove his preservation vehicles all over the UK, Harold Victor Harvey. Vic, as we all knew him, came from Hurstpierpoint, Sussex and died on 1 December at the age of 84 and had some health issues for some time previously, says David French. Vic was a proper ‘gentleman’ always polite and enthusiastic in whatever he did. His family were farmers and he was brought up on Fordson E27Ns and Massey Harris 744D tractors, which he had in this collection to the end, both looking superb. In 1973 he started Vic Harvey Transport with an AEC Mandator artic and AEC Mercury rigid - the fleet increased to some 10 vehicles…

Seen in November 2020 at Horsham under test after the solid tyre wheel conversion is 1923 Scammell S12 HR9157 of Les and Dee Searle from Sussex. This chain-drive S12 artic was new to Ushers Brewery, Trowbridge, Wiltshire and used for carrying beer, hops, malt and pieces of brewing equipment in the south-west. The venerable lorry carries the Scammell 5.25 litre (with splash feed lubrication) ohv petrol engine and a four-speed transmission. In the mid 1930s the lorry was sold to Edwards of Swindon who mounted a chain-driven dynamo where the Scammell fifth wheel coupling plate would have been placed and it was then used to tow and drive their dodgem cars. It was given a very fine body to go with the conversion. Later on in its life during the…

It’s with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my dad (John) peacefully on 27 December at the age of 94, says David Bosworth. He was a butcher/master butcher all his life until his retirement in 1991 except for a short two-year break when he served with the RAF in India and Burma during the final years of World War 2. He always held a fascination with machinery, probably after seeing the traction engine and threshing gang coming to the family’s farm at West Hallam. As a result of this interest he purchased a Robey threshing drum and a Field Marshall single-cylinder tractor in the late 1960s, which he restored with the help of the family and friends. Subsequently he jointly purchased Marshall S type steam roller No.…

Elizabeth Greenwood of the North Staffordshire & Cheshire Traction Engine Club reported the sudden death of Club chairman Phil Jeffs over the weekend of 16-17 January. He was a devoted family man and worked tirelessly for the North Staffordshire & Cheshire Traction Engine Club over the years. The committee say that he will be a hard person to replace. Phil rallied 1931 Fowler DNB No. 18507 10 ton tarspraying roller Morning Star and 1924 Fowler D5 No. 15787 road locomotive Cynorthwywr. All at Old Glory send their condolences to the family, friends and the Club over the sad loss of Phil.…

With the Covid crisis having temporarily curtailed Jim Deegan’s plan to run a steam train on the recently-laid 3ft gauge track at Maam Cross Station, the Connemara Railway chairman has drafted in a diesel locomotive and two carriages from his own, same-gauge, Crooked Valley Railway which runs around the grounds of Jim’s home. “Diesel will do in the meantime!” quipped Jim. Former Bord na Mona Deutz loco LM194, along with two four-wheel carriages finished in CIE livery, complete with ‘flying snail’ logo, were brought to Maam Cross near the end of December as a positive statement of operational intent. “We brought the loco and coaches across and have run them, just as a private trail, over the trackwork,” said Jim. “That was highly successful, and it was the first passenger…

Simon Nuthall, from Cirencester, bought Fowler traction engine No. 9691 early in 2020 but did not take delivery until August, when its new garage had been built. The engine was delivered and driven into its new shed by the previous owners Melanie & Simon Fisher and Roger Luck, who had owned it since 2004, restoring it over 10 years and rallying it since, says Bob Moorman. Fowler A4 6nhp compound traction engine No. 9691 was built in 1903 for the Australian market, being ordered through Fowler agents Welch Perrin in Sydney, to be used in direct ploughing scrub clearance. The engine was built with extra wide rear wheels (20”), a large firebox and a drop-down tender to facilitate burning wood. During the 1920s the engine went to work in the…

Nearly everybody likes a fair. In the 1960s, one of the highlights of my year was when the fair rolled into my home town of Northallerton, transforming the High Street for a couple of days each May and September. It was the lights, the colour and the excitement that provided the attraction, nothing could beat it. It was also the complexity of the rides themselves that caught the imagination, and I spent many hours watching them being assembled before the fair actually opened. Now progress has decreed that the waltzer, Noah’s Ark and rocket rides of my youth have mainly been replaced by attractions that rely on hydraulics to construct, the magic might still be there but not quite in the same way. Of course older rides can still be…

For some considerable time there has been an Aveling & Porter steam roller close to the entrance to the Museum of Technology and Transport (MOTAT) at Western Springs, Auckland. Its specific identity was established following a visit there by our Technical Editor about a dozen years ago now. Marty Radford advises that there has been an aspiration by the museum authorities to move it from its ‘gateguard’ duties for several years but the continual heavy traffic on the adjacent roads has precluded that since it would have meant a temporary blockage of one or both of them to achieve the move, as a crane would be required to stand on the road to lift the roller. However, with the eventual relaxation of the extremely harsh lockdown which was imposed on…

Today, the steam ship La Palma can be found moored by the cruise terminal building on the Muelle Sur (south mole) in Santa Cruz on Tenerife and is the subject of an on-going restoration project headed by Fundación Canaria Correillo La Palma, writes Phil Barnes. The ship was built by W Harkess & Son of Middlesbrough, England and launched in February 1912, not long before the Titanic disaster and the same year as the famous TSS Earnslaw was assembled and launched in New Zealand (OG 358). La Palma entered service in April 1912, working for Elder Dempster Lines and was classified as a ‘Correillo Maritimo’ (maritime mail) vessel, which gave her special status. In 1930, she changed owners to the Spanish state company Trasmediterranea, still involved in the same role…

In the June and July issues Tim Gosling wrote about the restoration of a Great War Thornycroft lorry. With that one completed the family turned their attention to the next lorry in the restoration queue, an American-manufactured Peerless also a veteran from the Great War. As you can appreciate, finding serviceable original parts for these machines is very difficult indeed, but sometimes you do just get lucky. Tim Gosling explained: Many friends know of our interest in trucks from the Great War and I regularly receive e-mails from them to advise me of up-and-coming auctions which they think I might be interested in. Back in July I was notified of an upcoming Cheffins vintage auction in Cambridgeshire where there was a pair of wheels which might be of interest. I…