Innehållsförteckning för February 2022 från Old Glory

Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies 7nhp agricultural traction engine No. 26995, erstwhile Mendip Lady (see OG August 2021), recently spent several weeks based at the excellent Ipswich Transport Museum, writes Colin Tyson. The museum is home to many Ransomes products including ‘Electric Lorry No1’ which, built in 1914, is actually two years older than No. 26995. No. 26995 was steamed the 20 miles back to its home near Colchester with owner Richard Hemington, but not without a detour first to visit Ipswich waterfront and the site of Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies’ original Orwell Works, where the engine was built in 1916 as part of a large order for the British Army’s Forage Department. The Orwell Iron Works was established in 1845 and eventually covered a large area along Ransomes Wharf and…

It’s with sadness we have to report the passing of Richard Vernon on Friday17 December - he had been valiantly fighting cancer for some years now. The editor had known Richard for over 45 years and enjoyed his company on many occasions at his farm. Based at Cotebach, Leicestershire, he built up quite a collection of farm-related machinery and liked steam, veteran tractors, crawlers and more. He went on to have a down-sizing sale which saw the ex-Lambert 1909 Fowler B4 ploughing engine No. 11637 disposed of. He was a great friend of Tom Wheatcroft of Donington race circuit fame and help Tom build up his own machinery collection. Richard even went to the 1998 Oscar Cook sale at Billings, Montana, USA and bought a tractor back from that sale.…

Tim Major reports that December 11 last year saw the return to service of 1930-built London Transport tram No. 1858 at The East Anglia Transport Museum. The return to service follows extensive works to the ‘A’ end controller and to the axle box horn ways. The car arrived in Suffolk in 1964 following a period on display at Chessington Zoo after withdrawal from service in London in July 1952. 2022 marks the 70th anniversary of the closure of the London tram system and 60th anniversary of the closure of the London trolleybus system. To mark this, No. 1858 and four London trolleybuses also resident at the museum will feature at an event to commemorate these anniversaries. The tram was operating at the popular ‘Ride the Lights’ weekends leading up to…

Despite many Boxing Day events being cancelled, due to the Omicron variant, a number of traditional events did take place over the country, even though the weather forecast was not good at all. The largest steam and vehicle gathering took place at The Red Lyon, Slidford, Horsham, Sussex. It saw Chris Cook debut his mighty 1901 Fowler B5 No. 8726 road locomotive, which he ‘roaded’ from his base near Crawley in poor weather conditions. The event, as usual, was well supported by the Searle clan and we saw here: 1920 Burrell 6hp No. 3829 crane engine Her Majesty, 1920 Burrell 6hp No. 3847 showman’s Princess Marina, 1901 Fowler B5 No. 8920 crane engine The Great North and 1923 Foden No. 11340 4 ton steam bus Puffing Billy. They were joined…

After the cancellation in 2020 of the annual steam up of miniature engines on Poole Quay, the event was able to take place in July 2021, having moved from the usual month of May, writes Paul Ritchie. This year marked its eleventh year in fact, and with a few changes to recognise the climate of coronavirus, the event was as popular as ever. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council sponsor the event by providing the coal and rally plaques and overseeing necessary road closures and security, with local engine owners Paul Ritchie and Helen Cobb managing the rest of the event. With the stunning backdrop of Poole Harbour and the legendry Brownsea Island, together with the glamour of fine boats, including many from local builders Sunseeker, Poole Quay is a fabulous…

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As we have said Victory was one of the fleet of ploughing engines that Cyril Philp owned and they came up for sale on Saturday 24 June 1995 with other steam engines, tractors, commercials and many threshing drums. I had visited the site a number of times over the years and had been made welcome by Cyril at his premises near Castle Hedingham when he was alive; he had saved many things from the cutting torch including 1899 Clayton & Shuttleworth 6hp TE No. 32900, which no one had wanted in 1957 I believe, when it came up at a local sale and Cyril bought it after the sale from the local coal yard where it had been stationed. This engine was not included in the sale of course. Paul…

The full lockdown situation in early 2020 in respect of the Covid-19 pandemic provided Lance with an opportunity of doing some clearing-up in his garage, during which exercise he came across some more photographs of a similar nature and of around the same age to those which have previously appeared in the magazine. He therefore contacted our Technical Editor, Derek Rayner, to ascertain whether these additional photos would be of interest to readers. Having received a very positive response, Lance proceeded to have them digitally copied and sent them to Derek for assessment and research. The results of these investigations are chronicled below. FIG 1 Clearly this is a show stand promoting the Cole firm. Fortunately, information on its reverse indicated that this was Lincoln Show in 1927 - a…

The Appleby-Frodingham Railway Preservation Society plan to once again run tours around British Steel’s Scunthorpe site in North Lincolnshire during 2022. At the time of going to press there was limited capacity still available for the railtours being held on April 9 and 30, with further dates going forward due to be released. Visit www.afrps.co.uk for updates. Socially-distanced brake van tours are also being offered for groups of up to six people per veranda for a recommended donation of £50 per veranda. Tel. 07889 297271 for further details. More dates are due to be announced for evening tours, utilising a DMU with low level lighting to enable passengers to view the burning slag piles on site. Driving experiences utilising recently withdrawn Pacer DMU No. 144017 are being offered for £200…

Shantytown Heritage Park on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island is a recreated ‘gold rush’ pioneer town, located about seven miles south of Greymouth, writes Phil Barnes. One of its many buildings is a representation of a West Coast foundry that made and repaired equipment used in local sawmills, gold mines, coal mines and also for maritime purposes, etc. The building itself is a ‘new build’ using a design based on a Dispatch & Garlick-produced corrugated steel milking shed, as used locally on dairy farms. This was opened in 2010 and represents the Dispatch Foundry buildings of the 1880s. Dispatch & Garlick are the current successors to the Dispatch Foundry which was, and still is located in Greymouth. In pride of place in the middle of the building…

Belgian reader Stefaan Balyu went with his motorhome on a holiday trip around the country last summer and on the way through Krombeke, which is part of greater Poperinge, he spotted an unusual-looking portable engine in a display area of a store belonging to a plumber. On this occasion, it proved not to be possible to go into the showroom but he was able to obtain some photos and details of the engine from outside. The single-cylinder engine was on wooden wheels and it had a return-flue boiler. A plate on the front indicated that it had been manufactured by the firm of G Deprez, Jemeppe-Liége, in the Walloon Region to the east of the country. This plate also provided the information that the engine’s works number is 471, with…

Held at Bridgewater Market, the New Year’s Day traditional vehicle gathering was as popular as ever and this year especially, with more steam entry entrants than ever says Allen Bedford. This included the STEC insignia 1905 Burrell No. 2767 8hp single-crank compound King Sedgemore, which is back with the original owners. Also seen here and a recent addition to the area, is 1907 Wallis & Steevens No. 2932 8hp traction engine. The biggest just had to be 1920 Fowler BB1 No.15529. More on this event next issue.…

It was good to be back at the Newark Vintage Tractor & Heritage Show on 13-14 November, organised by the Newark & Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society on their fine showground. There was a new bright fresh look to this show, we all knew it would not be quite as big as in previous years owing to the Covid situation, but the final product was excellent. Gone was the line of ‘dreaded’ feature marquees, which were not very welcoming, and often uninspiring, damp and normally very cold. In their place was the sale area on the Saturday, and on Sunday the tractor autojumble. It worked so much better with just one feature marquee where the Ford & Fordson Association, David Brown and Ferguson Club were placed inside, with a fine Fordson-related display…

PART TWO Although I was the third owner of the boiler, I was its first user and it has given 10 years of reliable steaming. This winter has seen it retubed and tested successfully and the opportunity was taken to smarten the lagging with an alternating mixture of mahogany and ash strips. It runs at 100psi and is equipped with a blower and whistle. The whistle was an early (if not the earliest) find for the buggy and was bought at an autojumble at the Folk & Transport museum at Cultra near Belfast in 1994. I’ve no idea of its origin but have seen something similar in pictures of the narrow gauge locomotives that were plentiful in Ireland in the past. The rear deck, behind the boiler, is made of…

After suffering changes of date on more than one occasion this year the annual gathering of steam engines took place at the White Horse public house on the weekend of 4-5 September, attended by ten and four full-size engines and 4 miniatures, writes Paul Ritchie. Organised by the pub with the support of local engine owners the Farwell family, it’s always a popular event with many engines roading in from nearby yards. Appearing for the first time at the event was Mike White’s 8nhp Mclaren No. 1148 Hercules, having roaded to the Farwell’s yard from the recent Swanage Railway Rails to Road event for the weekend in the safe hands of Mike’s daughter Lorna and fellow crew members Aaron Watts and Joe Hawkins. Also making a first-ever appearance at any…

The change of date certainly affected the entry at the Woodchurch Rally near Ashford, Kent on 14-15 August when it came to full-size steam and some other exhibits. However, when it came to the miniatures it was perhaps the other way as some 42 steamers were seen at this excellent venue. The editor takes this first glimpse of just some of the miniatures he came across late on Saturday afternoon, where a 6in Burrell showman’s engine starred. The rain leading up to the previous weekend made the runway impassable and the inevitable cancellation of the event. Nevertheless organiser Bill Giles did not hand in the towel as some would and decided to move the event on by a week and all that meant. All I can say is it worked…

PART 10 PAGE Draglines came to the fore in the early part of the 20th century in the Chicago area where ex tensive drainage canals were being excavated. John W Page is credited with inventing the world’s first dragline. Page was a partner in contracting firm Page & Schnable who won a contract to excavate part of the Chicago Drainage Canal in 1904. The company needed a machine that could dig below its own level and deposit the material well clear of the excavation, an impossible task with steam shovels of the day. The new machine consisted of a wooden boom, double-drum draw works, and steam boiler mounted on a revolving frame adapted from a rail-mounted derrick crane. More importantly, unlike later competitive buckets of that era, the dragline bucket…

The sad passing of eminent Derby area enthusiast Tony Robinson brought about a bidding war for the special items that he had amassed when brought to Crewe Railwayana Auctions at the end of October. Front runner in the race went to a Derby Friargate totem sign (£14,000), with runner-up Derby Nottingham Road totem at £12,000. An enamel street direction sign for Derby Friargate, which closed to passengers in 1964, fetched £2,500, as did a large running-in board from the same location. Also from Derby Friargate came a cast iron ‘Derby’ seatback sign (£1,800) followed by a Derby Midland totem and a local Pear Tree & Normanton totem - each realising £1,600. Also from Mr Robinson’s estate came an ‘end to end’ totem duo of a BR (W) Penzance totem (£3,900)…

Following the suggestion of one Anthony Coulls, Fowler A9 road locomotive No.15649 of 1920 Providence, owned by Howard and Barry Stafford of Houghton-le-Spring, was called upon to ‘power’ an electrical item for the A1 Locomotive Trust at Darlington on October 21. The group that built A1 new-build locomotive Tornado are well on with building their new LNER Class P2 main line locomotive Prince of Wales and in order to test the new axle driven alternator (ADA) which will be fitted to all the group’s locomotives and support coaches, they had a requirement for a source of power that would not generate electrical interference. As the test ring comprises a squirrel cage induction motor with an electronic speed controller, it was likely to produce a significant amount of electrical noise in…

The 2ft gauge Bally Hooley railway at Port Douglas, north of Cairns in Queensland, has been closed due to Covid for a couple of years now but Kevin Hoggett now reports that it has ceased running permanently. The large local sugar cane mill, Mossman Central, which previously operated the train, has recovered the track for use in the cane fields and the railway’s locos are to become static exhibits at the Marina station in Port Douglas. Unfortunately, the present operator, John Morris, who has run the train since 2002 when the sugar mill was no longer able to, is advancing in years and his family don’t want to continue the operation. Somewhat disappointingly, despite the situation being made known in the vicinity, a new operator cannot now be found so…

Negotiated by engine dealer Alan Painter 1901 Fowler B5 8hp road locomotive No.8726 BS8535 Major Scholfield R.E has left the Billy Treloar estate in Northumberland and is now with keen veteran collector Chris Cook from near Crawley, Sussex. The family run an extensive haulage fleet so the ex-South African road locomotive is very appropriate indeed. It was seen publicly in the UK at the Great Dorset Steam Fair some 26 years ago having been brought over here by the South African owner as a wreck. The engine had extensive boiler work and new belly tanks made by Bicknells and has always looked a treat. It was one of the star Fowler engines at the 2016 National and World Ploughing Championship and SPC anniversary event in September 2016 held at Crockey…

PART ONE I returned the following weekend with good friends of mine Barry Lucking and Adrian Herbert to prepare the wagon for transporting back to Kent. The first job was to dig it out of the ground and free up the wheels, the front ones moved quite easily and swivelled, the steering box having been removed many years before, but we failed to get the rear wheels to move. The wagon looked as if it was used as a spares department over the years, as the entire tipping body and mechanism were missing, even the riveted chassis brackets and hinges had gone. The steering box, water pump and drive mechanism, water heater and most of the brass had gone. What was left had rusted or rotted with only the rear…

After an enforced break in 2020, the annual Saunders collection Christmas road run returned in 2021 on Wednesday 29 December. A fine selection of the fleet headed out onto the road between Christmas and New Year says Simon Colbeck. Making its first appearance on the run was Fowler B6 Super Lion no. 19782 The Lion of 1932 and a fine sight it made sat outside the pub as the sun went down. This year’s route included the long climb up Arlesey New Road which produced some superb sound effects from the participating engines.…

From Paul Kirkbride comes the news that, after over three years of hard work, 1913 steam tug Kerne returned to steam on 11 November at her Sandon Dock Liverpool restoration base. Volunteers from the Steam Tug Kerne Preservation Society have replaced all sixty of the heavy walled stay tubes on the tug’s 1936 twin furnace scotch boiler. This is a difficult task as each tube is treaded to the tubeplates at both ends and each thread starts in a different position. After tube removal the thread positions were gauged using a tool devised and made by the team before the tubes were thread cut to suit each tube position. As the boiler is of riveted construction this traditional method of replacement was adopted rather than welding the tubes in place,…

PART ONE UNIVERSAL HOBBIES In impressive 1/16 scale from Universal Hobbies is a diecast & plastic grey Ferguson TEA-20 with high-lift loader [1], selling at £79.00. The ‘banana’ loader arm raises and lowers, working steering is fitted and there is a detailed engine. UK-produced TEA-20s were built by the Standard Motor Company from 1947-56, fitted with a Standard petrol engine from the Vanguard saloon. In the same scale they have also produced a Fordson Super Major New Performance tractor [2], for £69.00. The original Super Major of 1960 was replaced in 1963 by the improved New Performance version, which had a new Simms Minimec injector pump which boosted power to around 53.7hp, and modified gearbox ratios. It was only built for a year, as Fordson tractor production ended in 1964.…

Almost 4000 tickets were issued to eager transport nostalgia buffs in Winchester on Sunday 12 September as the Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB) annual Running Day returned to the streets of the city after almost two years absence. Normally held on the first Bank Holiday in May and not held at all in 2020 due, of course, to the COVID pandemic, bright sunshine made the day a most enjoyable one for people who had come from far and wide. Whilst the event was part of the hugely popular Winchester Heritage Open Days (HODs) series of events, it always attracts bus enthusiasts and former residents from far and wide, who come back to sample the delights of King Alfred buses. The green and cream King Alfred buses (the company was…

Dear Editor I was interested to read the story about Ernie Lucas and Fowler showman’s engine The Lion in Old Glory issue 370. I can add a few anecdotal snippets about The Lion. I have lived in Downton all my life and when I left school in 1952 I went to work at South Wilts Bacon Curing Company which was also in Downton. I was part of the maintenance department. During my time there I met Archie Parrish (Peter Parrish’s dad) who knew of my interest in steam traction engines and he suggested I go to Coombe Bissett to Mr Farris’s premises where the engine was kept for some time. I cycled to Coombe Bissett many times to help out with cleaning, etc. Over the years I followed the engine…

Now in his 60s and living in California, USA and hoping to downsize to the east coast of America and Virginia in the not too distant future, Dave Anton placed his 1919 Fowler BB1 ploughing engine, unrestored and in pieces, up for sale on Facebook, for just one day courtesy of Emily Burgess’s efforts and persuading. This was in October and within less than an hour of putting the engine up the deal was basically done, with a queue of other people willing to take the project on, if the proposed buyers had second thoughts. The Anton’s from East Sussex are an interesting family and David and his younger brother Colin served their time at the mighty Reed Paper Mills, Aylesford, Kent. Dave as a general engineering apprentice, while his…

The ‘Roaring Twenties’ spawned dozens of new excavator manufacturers in America. Except for a few early-established companies such as Marion and Bucyrus, most American major excavator and crane manufacturers who flourished during the 20th century brought out their first machines in the 1920s. Names such as Koehring, Link-Belt, Lima, Manitowoc and Northwest come to mind. But since this decade also witnessed the twilight of steam power in excavators, most of these new manufacturers never produced steam shovels, their machines being powered by internal combustion engines or electricity. In Great Britain, steam shovel manufacture was dominated by Ruston-Bucyrus Ltd (R-B) and its predecessor companies Ruston & Hornsby Ltd and Ruston, Proctor & Company, who built their first steam shovel in 1874. But by the mid-1930s, even R-B had shipped its last…

300mph is fast. In an aeroplane, it could be described as quite mundane. In a car, it’s a speed few get to experience, but in a boat? The fact that only one man has exceeded this speed, and lived, tells you all you need to know. Ken Warby set his world water speed record in 1978, peaking at 345mph, and averaging 317.59mph, and this in a wooden boat, with a jet engine, hand built by Warby in his back garden. But in 1948, some 30 years earlier, two men were looking at exceeding 250mph, and secretly hoping for 300mph, in a boat built of wood, and powered by a jet engine. The duo of John Rhodes Cobb, a wealthy fur broker, and Reid Anthony Railton had been cemented by none…

During a visit by Thomas Kautzor to Italy, now free of lockdown restrictions, he visited the working traditional printing establishment of Stamperia Tallone in Alpignano in the Piedmont region, about 10 miles to the west of Torino. On display there he found US-built H K Porter locomotive No. 6286 of 1919 (600mm gauge and ex-Italian military) which is preserved with two enclosed bogie coaches and one open four-wheeler. The loco is a favourite with children who visit there for educational reasons and is often used as a ‘backdrop’ for group photographs. This historic print shop and its locomotives can be visited by appointment with the owners (Snr. Tallone’s grandchildren) - www.talloneeditore.com/tallone/index.php/component/sppagebuilder/79-guided-tours While Porter No. 6286 was only ever on display at the site, FS 829.001 (Costruzioni Meccaniche di Saronno (C…

BROOKLANDS We take a personal look at Britain’s first permanent race circuit, built in 1907, which has lately been extensively seen on TV. ROSIE THE RAMBLER Colin Anton personally knows Rosie The Rambler, a 1904 RAC London to Brighton veteran, and he tells us his own story of what the 60-mile event involves in more ways than one. COUNTY OF SALOP CLUB It might have been kept quiet, but Old Glory was there to celebrate the County of Salop Club’s 60th anniversary. ARMSTRONG WHITWORTH ROAD TEST The editor road-tests Armstrong Whitworth 10R19 steam roller with owner Marcus Kenning in Lincolnshire, and comes up with some interesting thoughts. ELECTRIC HAULIERS Keith Haddock shows us with some amazing electric-powered gems. THE LEADER RESTORATION STORY P2 Bob Moorman tells us more about his…