Table of contents for December 2023 in Old Glory

You are ALL welcome to join in, please do! If you have a story or pictures no matter what, do get in touch peterlove@madasafish.com Tel: 01323 833125. David Reed Editor-at-large - Former York school teacher who has worked with the editor since 1995 and has a wealth of knowledge on steam, commercials and tractors. Derek Rayner Technical and Vintage World Editor - Derek’s knowledge is extensive, a steam roller owner since the 1960s and a world traveller in search of nothing but the best. Bob Moorman Rally Archive Editor - This former engineering inspector is a fount of knowledge and has been rallying since the 70s. His own restos are award winners, as his ex-Kings 1927 Foden will be now that it’s finished! Mike Neale Diecast Models Editor – It’s…

Newly arrived in the UK in early autumn is 1916 Robey 6hp traction engine No. 33348 Z200 that was new to the Sally family of Enniskerry, County Wicklow. They sold it on after just a few months of ownership to Henry J Fox, who used the engine until the 1950s when it was replaced by a Field Marshall Series 2. The engine was one of the first engines to rally in Republic of Ireland in the 1960s, still in the Fox family's ownership. It was tsold to Dave Davis who rallied it for 20 years from his base at Tavistock, Devon, before Eddie Fox brought the engine back to his family ownership and has rallied it in the Republic for a number of years now. The Robey is due its…

Good news, but well-known for some time, the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society’s 2024 London to Brighton Run is back, on Sunday 12 May 2024, and the big news is the start will be at Brooklands Museum, Weybridge, which is an ideal starting venue. It has every facility you can think of and watching the vehicles leave the award-winning Museum is well worth enjoying to the full. Remembering it is not in the Mayor of London’s LEZ zone. Further details as they emerge.…

The South Eastern Vintage Tractor Club will be hosting the 2024 National Vintage Tractor Road Run on 31 March 2024. For those of you who are not familiar with the NVTRR it is a charity road run of around 300 vintage tractors with many entrants attending not just from the local area, but from across the UK. The run takes place every year on Easter Sunday and in 2023 took place at Dumfries & Galloway, hosted by Glenluce Vintage Tractor Club at Kirkland Airfield, Stranraer. Preparations for the 2024 run are well underway and a sub-committee, co-chaired by Will Cranfield and John Parnaby, have already secured a headline sponsor in McCormick Tractors, created publicity material and printed entry forms. They are planning an evening meal and live band entertainment for…

The West Lancashire Light Railway Trust Chairman Michael Spall attended a reception at No.10 Downing Street, hosted by the Minster of Charities Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP. The invitation to this prestigious event was to celebrate the heritage and community work undertaken by the volunteers at the heritage narrow gauge steam railway located in Hesketh Bank, Lancashire. Michael Spall said; “it has been a real honour to represent the West Lancashire Light Railway Trust and its volunteers alongside other outstanding charities and their leaders at this event. It was particularly pleasing to hear the Minister for Charities and the Government recognises the fantastic work and commitment given by the many charities and their volunteers. My personal thanks to Katherine Fletcher MP for South Ribble for arranging the invitation, being a…

A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR I’m delighted to boast that this is Britain’s best-selling magazine for steam and vintage machinery enthusiasts. You’ll find it all in Old Glory: the latest news, places to visit, black and white photography of machinery in working times – all produced by top writers and photographers. If you have enjoyed this issue of Old Glory and love original style and gleaming restored machinery, or are fascinated by Britain’s rich industrial and transport heritage then why not subscribe or give a gift to a friend or loved one? You will save money on the shop price and receive every issue direct to your door. Peter Love, Editor SUBSCRIPTION BENEFITS • Enjoy one whole year of Old Glory• Get each issue delivered directly to your door in…

CLASS 2: LOCOMOTIVES – 2½ - 3½in gauges (On SMEE Stand) 1-Peter Wardropper, 3½in 2-2-2 locomotive ‘Jenny Lind’, based on LBSC’s design with additional details from works drawings. 2-Peter Wardropper, 3½in gauge 2-6-2 locomotive ‘River Darenth’, built to LBSC’s ‘Betty’ design. CLASS 3: LOCOMOTIVES – 5-7¼in gauges and above Lower Hall, marquee side 1-Bruce William Harvey, 7¼in Gauge Society 0-6-2T locomotive, LNER class N2 No. 69580. 2-Ian Arthur Hunt, BR Britannia 4-6-2 class locomotive ‘Firth of Tay’ built as running in 1961 with a BR 1D tender. 3-Alan Crossfield, 5in GWR 57xx class 0-6-0 pannier tank locomotive No. 7713, built as running in the late 1950s. Highly Commended: Neil Madden, 7¼in 2-6-4 BR class 4 tank locomotive. CLASS 4: ROLLING STOCK Any gauge, near main entrance 1-Guy Harding, A pair…

A little while ago, Old Glory’s longstanding friend in Germany, Busso Hennecke, drove to the city of Kassel and visited the Technik-Museum Kassel (Kassel Technical Museum), part of which was located in some of the former Henschel Production Halls. Henschel’s went out of business some five years ago, but over time they manufactured much steam-powered equipment, including locomotives and steam rollers, as well as trams, aircraft and many other products. Not surprisingly, Busso found a number of the firm’s products on display in the museum and these included a very early electric locomotive dating from 1905, a motor roller – No. 5458 of 1959 - some machine tools and also an item which looked very much like a kitchen stove. Unfortunately, he was unable to identify the use to which…

During a cruise ship stop at Tallinn in Estonia, Old Glory correspondent Phil Barnes found Estonia’s only sea-going steamship in the marina by the Hestia Hotel Europa, not far from the cruise ship terminal. The vessel in question is the Admiral, which was originally constructed as an auxiliary supply boat to service the Russian Navy and also to undertake tugboat duties when required. She was built in the Dubitski shipyard in St. Petersburg as yard No. 711 and was launched in 1956 and was originally known as the Admiralteets. After many years of use, she came out of service in the early 1990s and was registered as a historic vessel at the Estonian Maritime Museum. Roll on to 1996; this being the year that she was rebuilt in Tallinn from…

ELSTON George Elston (1857-1931) of Welby in Lincolnshire was a threshing contractor who in his spare time in the 1890s made small portable engines. These were typically used on pumps and for powering showmen’s organs. Using one of these engines to power his lathe, he also built a miniature traction engine ten feet eight inches in overall length. This together with one of the portables still exists. ELWARD John (and sometimes Mary) Elward of Polo, Illinois, USA took out the first of many traction engine patents in 1881. The ideas were refined with a 4x4 machine in the following year. This had turntable steering at either end with power to central bevels by flexible shaft and thence drive to ring gear in the wheels. Interestingly, this one is in John’s…

Well it’s that time of year again, Happy Christmas everyone! Great Dorset Steam Fair Following my Old Glory editorial in the November 2023 when I stated that the GDSF 2022 road structure and the World War One trenches have all been filled in, Martin Oliver GDSF MD, has just told me that is not correct whatsoever. I actually drove down the main road, looked over the fence on my way to Somerton on Friday 23 June, and genuinely thought that was the case, but, I clearly didn’t have my glasses on and Martin assures me the structures are all still there and intact. Martin and his team are working tirelessly to make the 2024 event possible, but are not yet in a position to let us know the full situation.…

Early in the summer Richard Willcox sold his superb 1878 Hornsby 4hp No. 3444 which he has hardly rallied for three decades. It was one of the stars at the 1990 Stourpaine Bushes Great Dorset Steam Fair and we see the engine on 1 September that year at the show. The engine has been fully recommissioned by Allison Engineering and has been in steam a number of times already. These pioneering portables were classed as the best in the early days of steam power, they were sold all over the world and were very reliable.…

Old Glory was recently invited to see the latest progress on Swanley, the 1909 Burrell 8hp three-speed road locomotive No. 3131 in Kent. The tender, made by Sam Henwood, is all fitted now and painted. The brake gear is nearly there with Dave Main’s involvement and parts from Henwood and castings from Ragsdale's, machined up by Brian Hope. The crankshaft is in place and the new pistons and rods have been made by Brian Hope and are to be peened over by Michael Lugg by the time you have read this. The motion has new big ends as well. The objective is to have the engine back in steam in late spring 2024. A new second gear is to be made during the winter.…

There is a museum at Villersorp on the Western Cape of South Africa and to draw attention to the museum a Ransomes Sims & Jefferies portable stood by the road attracting people's attention as they drove by. Wilfred Mole says that due to climate change and massive excess rainfall in the area recently severe flooding occurred which unfortunately swept the engine away, never to be seen again……

OXFORD DIECAST A new livery of C J Copner’s ice cream has been produced by Oxford Diecast on their 1/43 scale Bedford CF ice cream van [1], the fifth version of this popular model to be issued, retailing at £19.95. Although a traditional style white and pastel pink livery, the ice cream business was started by Chris Copner in 2009 in Abergavenny in South Wales. The body of the van is by Whitby Morrison and the model represents a 1979, V-reg example. Make mine a 99! The latest version of Oxford’s 1/43 Land Rover Series III SWB hardtop is an attractive-looking Royal Mail Postbus [2], also for £19.95. MFS 345P was one of a batch of eleven such Land Rovers delivered in 1975 and converted to PSVs at Lockerbie, this…

MINIATURE HISTORY Dear Editor In the May edition of Old Glory you mention the freelance miniature Eskdale, seen during a visit by the RRA as part of their AGM. You might be interested in the early history of this engine, Eskdale, originally named Winifred, was constructed by the late Tom Fisher, an engineer living in Reading. Shortly after WW2 he found a brand new boiler that had been built for a customer who then did not collect it. The cylinder from a small stationary engine was fitted and the first steaming of the complete engine took place in 1948. Being licensed for the road, in 1951 Winifred was driven from Reading to Littlewick Green where it attended a local fete. This was a round trip of about 18 miles. At…

Back in February 2023, I received a message from Richard Freeman, stating that he had heard that 2023 marked the 175th anniversary of William Marshall setting up his business in Gainsborough and would I be prepared to bring the Marshall Club merchandise stall down to the Haddenham steam rally in September. He explained that every year at the Haddenham rally, there is a special display of exhibits and literature and in 2023 he was proposing that it should be Marshalls of Gainsborough. I agreed that, even though the Marshall Club had not been to the rally previously, it would be possible to attend. Over the next six months I was in constant communication with Richard, sending him Marshall literature which could be used in the display and we met for…

Rob Dickinson, who was later to create his ‘International Steam’ website - internationalsteam.co.uk/rollers/indiarollers.htm - has very kindly sent these two photographs to the magazine as he believed they would be of interest to readers. They depict steam rollers in use in India almost fifty years ago, at a time when these machines had disappeared from the roads in Britain and when preservation of road steam vehicles such as these was in full swing here. Rob’s first visit to India was during January 1976 and was an introductory family tour of India when, amongst other places, they visited the city of Calcutta - now Kolkata. He was pleasantly surprised whilst there to come across a Gainsborough-manufactured Marshall steam roller which was engaged in roadmaking duties - something he’d not seen at…

On Saturday 28 October, in showery conditions, H J Pugh of Ledbury held their latest Vintage Collective Sale at their excellent site HQ. It was made up of 934 lots, staged in two rings and featured a selection of stationary engines, tractors, three steam engines, implements and tools going under the hammer. It saw much stock from the Murdoch McKenzie Ltd collection from Scotland, with the Alexander Shanks, Dens Iron Works, Arbroath, Scotland 5hp hot bulb engine No. 1106/20 selling for £6,000. Although free, the engine needed the full works. Still in situ south of Glasgow was the mighty National gas engine No. CTC2860, which sold here for £2,600. The new owner will need to remove the engine from the building, a considerable task. All from the same stable, the…

John Blanchard (86) has decided to sell his extensive one-mile quarry railway system all as one. It’s made up of 30-60lb rail, bridges and turntable. There are four diesel railway locos from Hunslet, Ruston and Grangesberg plus two closed carriages, two people carriers and a brake van. There are numerous wagons of different descriptions including a lowloader, Hudson ballast bogie and others. There is a massive back-up from stores, machine tools, cranes and more. It is all based in the West Country. Please get in touch with the editor for more details: peterlove@madasafish.com…

Seen out in new ownership on Sunday 8 October at the Royal Hill at Edgerley on the banks of the River Severn is Charlie Brown’s new purchase, 1921 Aveling & Porter D class compound 8 ton road roller No. 10072 Achilles. Charlie is a potato farmer and a keen vintage aircraft preservationist. He was assisted on the trip out by Fox Bebbington. The roller was supplied new to Bridgewater RDC then to Somerset County Council as fleet No.50. In 1963 it was sold to Buncombes who later sold it on into preservation. The engine has had a raft of owners since. Old Glory wishes Charlie every success with his new purchase. Got a story? Contact Old Glory Email: peterlove@madasafish.com Tel: 01323 833125…

On Thursday 13 April 2023 Amberley Museum took delivery of a unique 1929 Leyland Titan TD1 bus, recently acquired by The Southdown Omnibus Trust Collection. The historically important bus has joined the fleet within the collection at Amberley Museum from Stagecoach where, until recently, the bus had been preserved as part of their Heritage Fleet. Leyland Titan TD1 (number plate UF 4813) was new to the Southdown Motor Services in the summer of 1929. The bus came to Stagecoach following their acquisition of the successors to Southdown Motor Services. Amberley Museum are delighted to welcome UF 4813 into the fleet collection. This bus has been a regular sight on the roads of Hampshire and Sussex for many years and a regular visitor to events and rallies in the south of…

After the Stars of Sandstone 2019 event the famous mountain section, with its double-headed NGG16 Garratt-hauled trains, had suffered major damage from the inclement weather of that year. The line was in need of major repairs. The very nature of the terrain and ongoing changing weather patterns meant there was no guarantee that similar damage would not occur again. Towards the end of 2021 it was decided to lift the whole loop and terminate the line at Vailima Siding. The loss of this exciting section of 2ft narrow gauge railway will be sorely felt by many Sandstone visitors, particularly the many photographers who filmed it and the few steam drivers who demonstrated their skills in driving trains around it. However exciting news was to emerge from this! A rail project…

It’s not always easy to find a Christmas present that suits in one way or another. Mike Neale takes a look at a number of new books that have shown up on the Old Glory radar that are available this Christmas. Many of them can be found in many good bookshops, and from Flâneur Automotive Literature & Automobilia, Freshwater, Isle of Wight (https://flaneur.co.uk/) HAMM - More than 100 years of road rollers from Tirschenreuth By Road Roller Association member Alfred Meyer. German version published in 2021 by Podszun - Motorbüchen Gmbh (www.podszun-verlag.de) An English language version is now available. A4, hard covers. 533 photos plus 85 ‘catalogue page’ illustrations. ISBN 978-3-7516-1050-6. Price 39.90 Euros plus €16.61 shipping to UK. The German firm of Hamm in Bavaria was established there in…

The event is sponsored by J Mould’s (of Reading) tipper and demolition business and it was staged on 18 June. The 40 or so entrants this year ranged in age from John Miles’ fabulous Morris R removal van of 1929 up until the McGovern Brothers’ massive Scania articulated lorry of 1996. The McGoverns had several of their historic fleet running. Although the bulk of the vehicles were of the 1970-90 period it must be remembered that these relatively modern-looking vehicles are between 33 and 53 years old now, time flies! There were also several fabulous older commercials to be admired too. I viewed the run at first at picturesque Chearsley. After an early convoy of small vans, which had set off at 9.15am with Ray Webb’s Citreon AK400 marking the…