Table of contents for January 2022 in Old Glory

It is a great pleasure to meet John Somerscales and his dog Ted at the very successful Newark Vintage Tractor Show on Saturday 13 November. He was with his newly purchased 1924 Aveling & Porter DD 8 ton piston-valve compound roller which was originally exported to Australia. The engine was clean and tidy and a credit to John’s work with the engine and accompanying living van. John has recently completed an excellent restoration on a 1950 Land Rover Series One. The steam element at this show certainly enhances it. Apart from John’s engine there was Wallis & Steevens 8 ton Advance No. 8058 Ambition on display. Although a smaller show than in 2019 a bigger crowd was certainly in attendance at this season-closer. The main feature was a display of…

Allison Engineering has recently completed Hollycombe’s ‘Steam In The Country’ 1916 Mann Dog Cart No. 1120 Nobby U3781. The three-speed engine has been off the road for some years needing a new boiler and a ten-year test. This has been done by Allison Engineering along with a new tubeplate, tubes and part rear backhead to bring this delightful engine back on the road again. As the engine will have to live outside, as unfortunately Hollycombe Steam In The Country does not have an exhibition building to house its collection of engines and equipment, the engine is at present having a Mann-style canopy fitted to which sheets can be attached.…

Hayling Light Railway diesel locomotive Edwin has now returned to the line’s Eastoke Corner Depot on Hayling Island Seafront, after a full engine rebuild at Jim Stokes Workshops. This was a first for the company, based at Waterlooville, Hampshire, more normally associated with the restoration of classic Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Jaguar racing cars. The 2ft gauge loco was built in 1969 by Ruston & Hornsby of Lincoln, and after industrial service first arrived on Hayling Island in 2005. Here it was fully refurbished by volunteers, receiving a much-improved driver’s cab, a coat of bright ‘JCB’ yellow paint, and given the name Edwin, after the son of Bob Haddock, the railway owner. 2007 saw its return to service, hauling narrow gauge passenger trains on the…

Got a story? Contact Old Glory • Email: peterlove@madasafish.com• Tel: 01323 833125 Vale of Rheidol Railway has completed commissioning of Hanomag 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt NG/G13 works number 10551 built in 1927. The ex-South African Railway’s locomotive No. 60, named Drakensberg, will be available to haul VoR passenger trains in 2022 in addition to the line’s iconic 2-6-2Ts. The German-built NG/G13 ceased work in South Africa in 1973 and was purchased by Swiss enthusiasts in 1986. It returned to steam in 1998 and ran on the 60cm gauge Schinznacher Baumschulbahn line in Switzerland until changes to the track layout rendered it unable to traverse the full circuit at the site. A successful conclusion to three years of negotiations by Vale of Rheidol management resulted in the locomotive being transported across Europe to Vale…

Got a story? Contact Old Glory • Email: peterlove@madasafish.com• Tel: 01323 833125 A number of Old Glory readers came and spoke to the editor at the spectacular Classic Motor Show organised by Clarion and held at the NEC Birmingham over 12-14 November. To enter the show you had to show your vaccination certificate and there were a good number of people taking the sensible precaution of wearing a mask. The show is normally held over 13 halls, with on average 72,000 people attending. This year it was staged over six halls, with over 63,000 people here, so things were very tight and packed in! Despite the show’s smaller size there was plenty to see and do with the live stage very busy with the Discovery + Live Stage featuring Wheeler Dealers’…

Dec/January offer* Cast iron flywheels Cylinder head Base casting Hopper casting Drawings in book form Liner material Piston material Rocker arm Governor arm Bearing caps In addition to the above parts included in the offer are:- Cam follower Brg Crank guard casting Head gasket (2) Spark plug Transfers (2) Timing plate profile Con rod profile Cut gears (3) Cam profile Oil cups (2) Piston rings (3) Springs (6) Crank web profile (2) Mag bow profile £495 ex works uk post £16.50 Sample exploded view from drawings The Senior A full size model open crank engine Twin cast iron flywheels Tank cooled cylinder Automatic inlet valve Spark ignition Drawings in book form 7 castings Piston material Liner material Cam bearing Cam profile Cut gears (2) Piston rings (2) Valve springs (2) Spark…

The Smallwood Vintage Rally usually takes place at the end of May, but due to Covid uncertainty was postponed and actually took place at the beginning of September. It didn’t seem to matter though, with a high turnout of entrants entertaining large crowds over the weekend, writes David Reed. As ever, steam was the main draw, and didn’t disappoint. There were getting on for 30 full-sized engines in attendance, which were supplemented by a good selection of miniatures. With the parade around the ring being one of the highlights of the day, Saturday evening saw many engines leave the confines of the rally field to take part in a short road run, which culminated at a location where the crews could take on some refreshment. So looking at the engines…

Dear Editor At Tinkers Park in East Sussex we have a steam-powered stationary engine made by a company called Donkin - I think the company might be called Bryan Donkin. The engine has been stuck outside for a long time and we’ve just got round to restoring it - we would like to know more about it and the Bryan Donkin company. We think the company may still be in existence, making gas regulators instead of steam engines. I have seen another one of these on YouTube but it’s a different model to the one we have at Tinkers Park. I attach some pictures of the Tinkers Park engine so readers can see what the Donkin engine looks like. We would like to getsomeinformationonwhattypeof engine it is, what HP it…

But over 12-14 November Alex Sharphouse and his teams did just that, ably assisted by Morris Lubricants brand ambassador, TV presenter and engineering enthusiast Guy Martin, who was involved in parts of the original build with Talisman, says David Warren. The whole event was staged in the memory of Alex’s nephew Angus McIntosh, who died aged just 24 in 2018 from Cystic Fibrosis. So far the event has raised over £8,000 for Cystic Fibrosis Trust and there is still time to give - visit http://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/talisman-tour Over 12-14 November Alex Sharphouse and his team undertook an amazing commercial road trip to transport ex-Whitehaven Harbour 1917 Avonside 0-4-0 saddle tank No. 1772 Askham Hall (originally Sella Park) from Threlkeld Mining Museum near Keswick through the heart of the Lake District to Old Hall…

The Bluebell Railway held its autumn ‘Giants of Steam’ Gala on October 8-10 with two visiting locomotives; the National Railway Museum’s Schools Class locomotive No. 30925 Cheltenham, courtesy of the Mid-Hants Railway and main line railtour stalwart Bulleid ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35028 Clan Line – the latter making a rare appearance at a heritage line. It wasn’t the first time that Clan Line had been to Bluebell, having made a service trip a couple of years ago in order to make use of the railway’s workshop facility. From the home stable, it was good to see BR Standard No. 73082 Camelot fresh out from an intermediate overhaul having been the focus of workshop activity during the past quarter. Like many other small organisations, Camelot’s owning group, the Camelot Locomotive Society, have…

Got a story?: Contributions welcomed by Derek Rayner, email: derekinvicta1915@gmail.com By post: Old Glory, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL Advice came from one of Old Glory’s Australian readers that he’d discovered an Aveling & Porter portable engine located in President’s Park, Springs - an eastern suburb of Johannesburg. He’d been ‘exploring’ various sites on the internet and this eventually led to a request to a reader conveniently living in that area, Sandy Buchanan, who has previously provided information which has appeared in the magazine. However, a check was first made in the records regarding the information suppled from Australia in that the caption relating to the portable indicated that it was Aveling & Porter Royalty No. 4422. This somewhat mysteriously turned out to be…

PART ONE I’ve loved steam since I was a youngster. Some of my earliest memories are of watching the steam train on the Isle of Man railway as it travelled on the, now closed, Peel line and as a teenager I was thrilled to be invited to visit the engine room of the Isle of Man Steam Packet ferry, Ben-My Chree (V). I loved the atmosphere in the engine room and the thrill of operating the port turbine (under very close supervision, of course) and that experience influenced me in my career choice when I joined the Merchant Navy as an engineer. The Buggy started as an idea after I’d bought some second hand castings for a 3” Foden. Unfortunately, I was never inspired to start work on them but…

Auction house Bonhams recently sold a 1923 Tilling-Stevens TS3a petrol-electric motorbus, which was reputed to have originally been operated for Thomas Tilling in London. The vehicle was formerly owned by the late Frank Glew, who was in the process of fitting the chassis out in the style of a Southdown charabanc. The Ipswich Transport Museum intend to marry the chassis to their Ipswich built 1922 double-deck Ransomes body which is from a former Eastern Counties Road Car Company (ECRCC) vehicle DX 3535. The chassis was funded by a generous legacy from the late Roger Harrison. The body, already in the museum’s possession, is thought to be the oldest surviving part of any Eastern Counties vehicle and this provides the correct chassis. Ipswich-based ECRCC ran one of the largest fleets of…

Got a story? Contact Old Glory • Email: peterlove@madasafish.com• Tel: 01323 833125 On Saturday 13 November a small remembrance steam gathering was held at Goblands, the Pierce family farm at Hadlow, Kent, reports Bob Moorman. It was organised by Paul Ransley to raise money for “Help for Heroes.” Fresh home-made cakes, made by Paul’s wife Jan, along with hot drinks and burgers were available for a donation towards the charity. The event invitation requested that you “Bring your long arms and shallow pockets”. There was a good attendance which helped raise £600. There were four engines in steam, three of which were built before 1880. The engines were one of the resident Fowler single-cylinder ploughing engines, No. 3195 of 1877, Barrows & Carmichael 6nhp portable No. 316 of 1865, A…

Featured on the front page of Sealey’s new promotion, is the CCKIT01 – a new 7-piece Car Cleaning Kit which includes everything you need to make your car shine! This kit ensures that every aspect of car cleaning is covered, comprising a 20L Wet & Dry Valeting Machine with Accessories (PC310), 170bar Pressure Washer with TSS & Rotablast® Nozzle (PW2500), Ø180mm Lightweight Polisher (ER1700P), 500ml Super Polymer Polish (SCS702) Forta Microfibre Cloth (CC68), Genuine Chamois (CC72) and a large sponge (CC64), even down to the basics! The 20L Wet & Dry Valeting Machine with Accessories (PC310) cleans carpets, car interiors, fabrics, and upholstery. Its powerful pump forces cleaning fluid into fabric and carpet and 1250W suction power leaves surface virtually dry after one pass. Supplied with a carpet lance, handheld…

he event at Balls Cross near Wisborough Green in West Sussex has been going for many decades now, through thick and thin, in aid of Macmillan Nurses. Over the years it has raised many thousands of pounds for this excellent cause. With so many events off this rally meant so much more to local Surrey and Sussex collectors and they came here in force over September 4-5. Besides the 70 tractors and crawlers, there were masses of stationary engines, possibly the largest number seen this year. A smaller display of cars and commercial vehicles also made this ‘homely’ event very special besides some autojumble and trade stands and four full size steamers and a selection of models dotted around. The show highlight for us was Peter Mellish’s threshing working; in…

DECEMBER 26 Boxing Day Six Bells Road Run, starts Holms Hill Farm, Cross In Hand, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 ONE, at 10am. A very popular tractor road, over 100 tractors take part, all ages. Festive drinks and mince pies are part of this event. Tel: 07860367420. Boxing Day The Barn Classic Car Meet, The Barn Restaurant, Wiley, Warwickshire CV23 0SL. 11.30am – 2.30pm. Further information, 01455 554634. Boxing Day Larling Angel Road Run, The Angel Inn, Larling, Norwich, NR16 2QU. Over 130 tractors take part, start 10am, breakfast and lunch available from the Inn. Further details: 01953 717963 - info@angel-larling.co.uk Boxing Day The Distinguished Genteman’s Eccentric Drivers Club Brunch, Hestridge Airfield, Somerset BA8 0TN. Further information, tel: 07500451412. Boxing Day Jolly Thresher Steam & Vehicle Meet Lymm, Cheshire WA13 ORN.…

Dear Editor Following the item on the French family ownership of Foster No. 3267, I thought you would be the person able to set the record straight with the RLS on one small point. The Foster is on record as being with Jos Francis of Hunters Farm for a period. Jos Francis should in fact be Joseph French and Hunters Farm was indeed the French’s premises in Novington Lane. Following Joe French’s move to Toll Lodge, Warbleton in 1933, Hunters Farm was sold. The purchaser’s were the Shiffner family, landowners of the Coombe Estate, Offham, near Lewes. Amongst the land owned by the Shiffner’s came Warningore Farm, adjacent to Hunters, and the two were to become one. The incoming tenants of Warningore Farm at Michalmas 1933 were Mr and Mrs…

KEYSTONE Although Keystone excavators are notable for their unique design, operation and appearance, their manufacture by the Keystone Driller Company must be regarded as a sideline to this company’s main line of drilling equipment, as its name implies. In 1882, Robert M Downie established the Keystone Portable Steam Driller Company at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. A few years earlier he had observed how very slow it was and what hard work it took to sink small test holes by hand. Five feet of a three-inch hole was considered a fair day’s work for two strong men. So Downie perfected a portable drilling machine claimed by his company as the originator and developer of the modern, self-propelled well drill for farm and residential water supply, blast holes, and mineral prospecting. In 1891…

Preparations have begun to move the Sandstone 3ft 6in gauge locomotives and other assets from storage at the old Germiston Steam Depot for their 400km journey to Sandstone Estates in the Eastern Free State of South Africa. The locomotives to be moved are Class 15F No. 3052, Avril, previously owned by the late David Shepherd, Class 25NC No. 3488, GMA/M Garratt No. 4079, ex-Rhodesia Railways Class DE2 diesel electric No. 1207 and ex-SAR steam crane No. 578. Loading was expected to be completed by November 3 with arrival at Sandstone scheduled for November 5. Visit sandstone-estates.com for details on the move.…

Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0WT No. 2378 of 1907 Utrillas relocated to the Lancashire Mining Museum at Astley Green Colliery in July from the West Lancashire Railway and made its first public steaming on Sunday October 11. Privately owned by Graham Fairhurst, the locomotive was rescued from the Minas de Utrillas system in Spain.…

A quite fascinating line up of out-of-use steam rollers in Switzerland has been sent by the DWCS (Swiss Steam Roller Club) Archivist, Ernst Huwlyer, for which we are very grateful. This depicts a number of rollers owned by the national construction firm of Walo Bertschinger at the firm’s works at Dietikon, following the decision to replace them by diesel rollers. Several of their rollers were also retained by Walo and were plinthed at various locations in the country as a tribute to their long service with the firm. The Walo fleet numbers and details of the rollers seen are as follows:-No. 23 - SLM Winterthur No. 4124 of 1924 [scrapped]; No. 7 - Fowler No 8890 of 1901 [in private preservation]; No. 1 - A&P No. 7615 of 1912 [in…

As we come to the end of one year and anticipate the New Year ahead, one can only feel things will be better! Our year finished on a total high with what Alex Sharphouse team achieved over 12-14 November with the latest adventure for Fowler B6 replica Talisman and the amazing B6 Foremost and the Davis family’s A7 known as Jo. If Michael Davis was still alive I am sure he would have a broad grin across his face, as this is the kind of thing he would have totally approved of. The impetus for Alex pushing forward to make this event happen was to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis Trust, in honour of his dearly-missed nephew Angus McIntosh. He sadly passed away after a lifelong battle with this genetic…

We welcome Simon and Alison Hollaway to the steam preservation movement with their recent purchase of 1921 Aveling & Porter E type single-cylinder 10 ton piston-valve roller No. 10126, registered FX8651. They had done everything on the car scene with their Jensen sports cars and others in their fleet and decided to take up the steam challenge and recently bought Sally, a former Edison of Dorchester fleet engine, through Legacy Vehicles. It worked from the Brecon Beacons depot and incidentally was stationed with No. 10393 that we featured in OG 381, on page 40, letters column. The engine has been out and about around Spilsby, Lincolnshire with haulage contractor Simon and Alison. It was lowloadered on Sunday 17 October to the Rundles-Epton Gathering in the rain at Carrington. Unfortunately some…

Ruth is the last carriage to arrive in the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project that started in 2016. Built by the engineering team at Festiniog Railway Company, Ruth is a beautiful semi-enclosed Directors bespoke carriage. With extra head room, comfortable padded seats inside for eight people in two separate compartments and semi-open ‘balcony’ seating with a roof for two on each end, it is also the first carriage at the railway to have USB speakers. It has sliding partition panels in the middle splitting the space into two separate internal compartments or it can be hired as a whole carriage for up to 12 people. The carriage has been named in memory of the Honourable Mrs Ruth Adorian. Georgina Townsend, daughter of Mrs Adorian, says “My mother was the…

The end of July saw the passing of Mr George Harvey of Eccleshall, Staffs, reports Andrew Millington. George was a Fergie / Massey fan all his life and at one time owned two Ferguson-Browns. George was there at the start of the vintage ploughing scene and ploughed for many years in the Staffs and Shropshire area with a considerable degree of success using T20s (one a P3), a grey and gold 35 and latterly a three-cylinder 35. In more recent times George took a back seat advising his grandsons Daniel and Alistair on the finer points of ploughing. George attended many rallies and road runs, latterly in the comfort of his MF 565. For his funeral George said he didn’t want black, red and grey was his choice of colour…

PART TWO UNIVERSAL HOBBIES A new release in 1/50 scale is a diecast and plastic Komatsu WA475-10 [6] with an RRP of £69. There are no opening parts but it has a functioning front bucket and support arms. Komatsu was founded in the 1920s by entrepreneur Meitaro Takeuchi near Komatsu City in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The WA475-10 wheel loader is fitted with Komatsu Hydraulic Mechanical Transmission and has an operating weight of 56,240lb. OXFORD DIECAST A new version of Oxford Diecast’s 1/76 scale Aveling & Porter 6nhp road roller has been produced, namely Janet No. 10991 [7], in the authentic, cheerful bright red, black and gold colour scheme of John E. Golding, Car Body Repair Specialist of Loughborough, Leicestershire. Registered BC 9483, Janet was built in 1924 as a single-cylinder…

If you come from the Thames Valley the place to be over 28-29 August was the Sun Inn, Hillbottom, Whitchurch Hill, near Reading, Berkshire. All was laid on by major preservationist, road and waste contractor Richard Hazell whose son just loves Massey Ferguson tractors. The event was held at Richard’s excellent Sun Inn - the field used for the event is where the Stoke Row Rally takes place in normal times. After everyone had assembled a great Saturday evening was taken in with the showman’s engines and featuring Doctor Busker. Sunday was a casual road run around a number of local hostelries before a late lunch at the Sun Inn. On the Sunday the weather was excellent and an enjoyable time was had by all. There were just about everything…

Peter Love, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL Tel: 01323 833125 peterlove@madasafish.com Dear Editor Just thought I would drop OG a line regarding a mounted photo in my collection that has some specific significance today - 26 April - as it’s exactly one hundred years to the day that a Sentinel Waggon from Beattie & Co, London was sent to Buckingham Palace to fetch coal from the Royal Cellars and redistribute to the poorest Londoners due to the shortage of fuel owing to the miner’s strike. I was going to travel up to town today to photograph the exact location, i.e. a then and now image, but work and Covid restrictions have stymied that plan! Very happy if you want to publish the…

There are some machines that were destined for war service. One such example was a 1918 Motor Rail and Tramcar Company’s Simplex ‘protected’ locomotive that is fitted with a Dorman 4JO petrol engine. It never saw active service though, being stored at Purfleet Wharf in Essex before being sold in 1919. It ended up with Leeds Corporation’s Knostrop Sewage Works where it remained until 1981 and was displayed at Armley Mills Museum before passing to the MRT. It became well-known in restoration circles, being featured on the Channel 4 programme ‘Salvage Squad’ with the restored loco subsequently visiting numerous other narrow-gauge railways both in the UK and abroad. Originally having a similar appearance to that loco was another 1918 Motor Rail and Tramcar Simplex. Whether it actually made it to…

There have been several references in recent issues of the magazine to the discovery of a number of previously ‘unknown’ steam rollers in India, especially ones of the TATA-MARSHALL type, which rollers were part-manufactured in the country. These comprised a boiler and engine unit supplied by the well-known Gainsborough company of Marshall, Sons & Co. Ltd under contract to the Indian Government and which were completed in India by TELCO (the Tata Locomotive and Engineering Company) at Jamshedpur. The discovery of one of these now somewhat rare rollers in Gwalior and its subsequent transportation to the Heritage Transport Museum on the Bilaspur - Taoru Road, Gurugram, (Haryana) - together with its refurbishment, has featured in these pages recently (OG 359 and OG 361), courtesy of information supplied by Tarun Thakral,…

The family-run 2ft gauge Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway in Kent has launched an appeal for £250,000 to help secure the half-mile line’s future. The collection will be familiar to Old Glory readers due to the traction engines and tractors also kept there. Brothers Bill and David Best started the line around Bill’s farm in 1975 but founding father Bill Best died aged 90 in 2020 and Bill Best Jnr has managed to acquire the site from his four brothers. Whist the bulk of the collection has managed to stay intact, Schwarzkopf 0-4-0WT No. 9124 of 1927 Bronhilde has been sold to the Richmond Light Railway – a similar private concern that holds occasional open days, and several other items of value have been sold to immediately prevent the site…

This Ransomes & Rapier 6-wheel, 5-ton hand crane is one of five preserved in New Zealand today from the seventeen that were delivered to that country in the 1870s in three batches, writes Phil Barnes. It was built in 1874 and was originally numbered 11 on the Westport (South Island) section but due to a renumbering in 1909, became NZR 287. As such, it worked on the national system until 1969 when it was sold to the Otago Branch of the Railway and Locomotive Society. The crane was subsequently delivered to Dunedin by freight train and then road trucked to the Ocean Beach Railway (OBR) in South Dunedin, which was NZ’s first preserved railway (founded in 1963). The crane subsequently saw use on this fledging railway, being used on a…

Similar to other events, Normanby Hall Steam & Vintage Gathering was cancelled in 2020, but over the weekend of 18 & 19 September a good and varied selection of miniatures and other vintage equipment was on display. Steam miniature owner Mal Jordan went along to have a look. The event at Normanby Hall has been ongoing for over 25 years and the organisers, having cancelled last year’s show due to Covid 19, wanted to get the newly-named Normanby Hall - Steam & Vintage Gathering up and running again as soon as possible. Normanby Hall near Scunthorpe in north Lincolnshire has many of its own attractions in its grounds, along with a narrow-gauge railway, which has around two-thirds of a mile of track through the woods, and this section is organised…

Cheffins concluded part one of the late (2005) Roger Austin sale at Raunds, Northamptonshire on Wednesday, 30 November when the older restored, needing bodywork repairs, 1946 Scammell Showtrac GUR148 was sold for £167,500 after protracted bidding. This was number 10 off the line of the 18 made, which 17 survive today. It was new to Flanagan’s Amusements of Watford and has gone to a local collector who has connections with the original owners. Roger Austin, ran a car salvage business, was a devoted supporter of the Fairground Heritage Trust and started his large-scale collection in the 1980s, encompassing many 100s of pieces of fairground memorabilia at its peak, alongside the 27 vehicles and trailers which were offered at the sale. Also offered as part of the collection was the 1927…