Innehållsförteckning för June 2022 från Old Glory

Well, as they say, all good things have to come to an end and so it was with great sadness that many of us will have heard the announcement from Joby Carter that the wonderful Carter’s Steam Fair is up for sale. Coming as it did ahead of the fair’s flagship spring May bank holiday event at Pinkneys Green in Berkshire, social media channels have been awash with support and sadness about the family’s decision to finally call time on travelling the world’s sole surviving vintage steam funfair. Catching up with Joby during the fairgrounds 41st and final build on the historic Pinkneys Green site, he gave the following views and perspectives on the fair and the reasons why now is the right time for this to be Carter’s final…

The Caterpillar tractor fraternity was left shocked by the unexpected passing of Robert Wilson on the 23rd February 2022, says Paul Tofield. Robert, along with his father Allan, amassed an impressive collection of Caterpillar, Holt and Best tractors, along with a number of Allis Chalmers, Cletrac and International crawlers. Although the collection was essentially private, over the years Allan and Robert hosted a number of visits including the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club Chapter Two AGM in 1995 and again in 2008. Robert and Allan, as founder members of Chapter Two of the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club, were the “go to” people for parts and advice for crawler tractors in general and Caterpillar in particular. Robert was especially helpful for sourcing unusual tractors and parts in the United States,…

We couldn’t have asked for better weather to host 25 apprentices for our 2022 Steam Apprentice Club Driving Weekend, reports Kate Plant. Having not been able to hold the event since 2019, due to Covid, everyone was raring to go and the sunshine made it all that more enjoyable. All apprentices, mentors and parents thoroughly enjoyed the two days and what a fantastic way to spend your weekend. It was held over the weekend of 9-10 April 2022, starting each day at 9am where apprentices began with taking off the engine sheets, learning how to fold sheets, learning all about cleaning the engines, plenty of Brasso and rags were used to clean all brass-work before learning about lighting the fire and the process of steaming up the engine. The apprentices…

The tiny village of Bodle Street Green, East Sussex, saw some 250 exhibitors turn out for Peter Love’s FBHVC ‘Drive It Day’ Charity Gathering & Road Run event. He was helped by some very experienced marshals including Bryn Kemp, Trevor Manuel and John ‘D’; the secretary was Richard Wade with the raffle under the control of Wendy ‘D’. The sleepy village had not been visited by so many veteran, vintage and classic vehicles until Sunday 24 April, and in glorious weather. Remember, where we were standing, a fleet of Wallis & Steevens engines lived until after World War Two and the Star Brewery delivered its beer to the now defunct White Horse pub, with a Foden Speed-Six steam wagon. The exhibitors comprised the FBHVC ‘family’ from steam vehicles, cars and…

Despite it being very cold early on, the sun came out and so did the crowds; people were still coming through the pay gates at 3pm even if the first exhibitor left after only an hour! The highlight of the show has to be the South East Bus Festival as section coordinator Roland Graves said: “It was not our biggest amount (136), but was on a par with last October when the rearranged Heritage Show took place.” It was good to see Peter Stanier (now in his 80s) out and driving with his usual verve, his 1929 Leyland Lioness LTB1 with Burlingham bodywork. This ex-White Rose of Rhyl, Wales vehicle was looking safe after its tyre problem was resolved. It was good to see, from the Tinkers Park collection at…

If you have something for this column please send it to: colin.tyson@kelsey.co.uk Northumberland’s Aln Valley Railway marked ten years in operation at Alnwick’s Lionheart Station by operating steam at Easter. Trains ran over the current one-an-a-half-miles of track towards Alnmouth, which the project aims to reach to allow interchange with the East Coast Mainline and to restore Alnwick’s branch which was axed by Dr Beeching. Heading trains was Austerity 0-6-0 saddle-tank number 60, HE3686 of 1948 which, after a working lifetime on colliery railways, came to Lionheart in 2018 and has since been restored. It joins the railway’s other operating steam locomotive, Richboro, a 1917-built Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0t, which has been the main steam workhorse of the line. Other rolling stock includes a ‘Pacer’ unit, several industrial diesel shunters, assorted…

The US Government were in difficult negotiations to agree a price for the sale of all of the American trucks to the French Government. The French did not want all of the Dennis, AEC and Karrier lorries so a separate deal was done between the US Disposal Board and the British car manufacturer Clement Talbot. The result of this was that for £1.2 million all of the surviving US Army AEC, Dennis and Karrier lorries were sold to Clement Talbot in France and then returned to Britain where they would be refurbished and ultimately offered for sale at half the price of a new example and with a six-month guarantee. It wasn’t just lorries that Dennis supplied to the Americans. With the rapid growth of the AEF came a requirement…

Seen on Sunday 23 January in East Sussex was 1920 Aveling & Porter GND No. 9183 KE18 The Pirate, a side-valve compound tractor belonging to Barry and Matthew Yeoman. The engine is all stripped down since its 2020 purchase from Tristan Jones of Cardiff, who rallied the engine for a good number of years before it succumbed to boiler moth. Many older readers from northern England will remember the engine with Jack Hardy of Fowler Headway showman’s fame. The neat 5-ton tractor was collected by Brian Allison Engineering; Brian is going to replace the boiler barrel and firebox. They also collected the firebox kit made by Mendip Steam. Barry, nearly 80 now, said its time to downsize and concentrate on a neat tractor that fits their requirements. It’s suggested that…

The Bury Transport Museum, based next to the East Lancashire Railway, has given notice to leave for traction engines and other pieces of equipment, says Michael Holden. The notice is for four weeks and accommodation for these pieces of equipment is urgently needed. Engine owners have been contacting as many people as possible, but have come to no success. Ideally, it is best if all the engines can stay together, but the owners are said to be prepared to go separate ways if need be. The pieces of equipment that need a new home are: Marshall 1906 7nhp 3-speed single 46376 HO5556 Pearl; Marshall 1919 10nhp single portable 71396 Doris; Marshall 1905 6nhp single Britannia portable 43090 Conchita; Marshall 1929 12nhp duplex S type portable (due to start restoration); a…

David Vaughan gives us a progress report on the restoration of Brighton’s last tram. In the November 2017 issue of Old Glory I reported on a major project to restore the last tram to be built for the resort of Brighton. It was built at the Lewes Road works of Brighton Corporation in 1936 and carried the number 53. It was one of the last opentop trams to be built in the UK and had a fairly short life, the system being replaced by trolleybuses in 1939. Tram 53 was the only survivor of the fleet after the rest had been scrapped at the beginning of WW2. It served as a shed on a pig farm for the next 35 years and, after an early, but failed attempt at preservation,…

With the spring and summer season for 2022 now well underway it is good to see how many events have survived the two years of ‘lockdown’. More importantly perhaps it is good to see that interest from the general public, as opposed to hardened enthusiasts, does not seem to have tailed off. David Vaughan reports on one event that has reverted to its regular slot, the Great Central Railway’s Easter Gala held at the line’s Quorn and Woodhouse station. The event did take place last year but on a later calender date, and this year it celebrated its 10th anniversary. Your reporter arrived in fine style aboard a genuine Foden traction wagon pulled by Burrell road locomotive No. 4093 of 1931 Dorothy, with owners Dennis and Brian Smith enjoying a…

The Epping Ongar Railway celebrates its successful first decade of operations with a series of events on Thursday 2, Friday 3, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 June, to mark the anniversary of the re-opening of former London Underground line as a heritage railway. Thursday 5 June sees a recreation of the re-opening train, with steam and diesel locos in operation, while the Friday and Saturday will see the railway’s traditional steam gala take place, with visiting locomotives, and will include an evening Real Ale train. The Sunday will be a mixed traffic day with steam and diesel in operation. The events include the launch of a book to mark the 10th anniversary of re-opening, as well as a photographic exhibition of the line both before and after preservation. As usual,…

Moving back to Niall’s roller restorations, it was not long before another engine came to Ruabon. This was NX 3974, a 1923 Fowler DN1 10-ton single cylinder road roller No. 15851 Victorious, “It has carried that name since it has been in preservation and possibly before that,” Niall said. This roller was built in 1923 for Leamington Spa Corporation and worked with them until 1963 when it was sold into preservation. Early on, it was bought by dealer J Lambe of Bromsgrove before passing through the hands of a couple of owners during which time it was dismantled and stripped down. The roller was returned to working order by its next owner, Tom Walker of Hereford who rallied it for a number of years before selling it on to a…

1) SENTINEL The extremely well-known Shrewsbury firm of Sentinel’s made very many steam waggons over time but they only manufactured four steam buses. The first of these was No. 5102, registered NT 4950 (Shropshire Co. Co.) in August 1924 [Fig. 1]. This was fitted with a 32-seater body by E & H Hora of Peckham, London, on a Sentinel Super type chassis. It was exhibited at the Leicester Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) Show in July 1924. Prior to that, the bus had been on display in Scotland - at the Royal Northern Agricultural Society’s ‘Great Summer Show’ held at Kittybrewster, Aberdeen, on 11 July 1923, followed by the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland’s show in Inverness between Tuesday 17 and Friday 20 July. From the firm’s point…

Late last November, Andy Plunkett attended the first public steaming of former Queensland Government Railways C16 class steam loco, No 106, Pride of Toowoomba. It was one of fifteen built during 1914-15 by the Toowoomba Foundry, better known as the Southern Cross works. This organisation also manufactured portable engines, some of which have previously been featured in these pages. A total of 152 of this saturated steam class of 4-8-0 tender engines were built for Queensland’s 3ft 6in gauge network. During the early 1920s, the almost identical but superheated C17 class arrived, following which the C16 class were relegated to mostly heavy shunting roles. The only survivor at the end of steam in Queensland was No 106 which fortunately ended up in 1970 on open-air display at Queensland Rail’s steam…

An interesting scenario has been revealed by Australian enthusiast Stuart Kean, via Rob Dickinson, whose ‘International Steam’ website is well-known to many steam enthusiasts, whether they be interested in rail, road or stationary types of engine. In the late 1980s, Stuart met the Chief Boiler Inspector of the state of Andhra Pradesh who told him that there was not one steam roller, road engine or private locomotive on the books for the whole of the State. However, he was also advised that a lot of boilers had become available in the early 1980s when an astronomical rise in the cost of coal meant that many such boilers were pressed into use for agricultural processes which required steam. Since these generally ran at low pressures, it was considered that repairs being…

Easter Day saw new beginnings for the Burrell Museum at Thetford, when it flung open its doors for 2022 with new manager John Pidgeon at the helm who supplied the pictures here. John was delighted with the way the event went and the support given by members and fans of the make during the Easter weekend. Not only were the four full size steamers doing their stuff out in the open, including: 1920 DCC No. 3833 Queen Mary, single-crank 8hp compound No. 2479, 1905 single-crank 6hp compound No. 2770 Sir Gordon and 1915 Burrell single-crank 8hp compound No.3695 Lord Derby. The line up of miniatures chugging around the adjoining car park and local roads was also enjoyed by the punters and owners alike, and, as expected, Burrells were number one…

The oldest Clyde-built vessel in the world, MV Kyles, is set to make a splash at the Irvine Harbourside Festival in August, by sailing under power on the Rover Irvine to mark the 1872-built cargo coaster’s 150th birthday, writes Hugh Dougherty. Built by John Fullarton & Company of Paisley, the unique ship was bought by the then-fledgling Scottish Maritime Museum in 1984, after a varied career on the Clyde, off the north-east coast of England, in Wales and finishing her working life at Bude in Cornwall. The Scottish Maritime Museum raised nearly £40,000 for a hull repair, repaint and restoration of her original cabins through a fundraiser, which far exceeded the museum’s original target of £15,000 for basic repairs. Now, Kyles, which was converted from steam to diesel in 1953…

After two years of waiting, the National Vintage Tractor Road Run eventually took place on Easter Day, Sunday 17 April, at Llanilid Farm, Pencoed, near Bridgend with over half the entry being Massey Ferguson and Ferguson tractors, says Anne Bates. The event attracted 420 entries (including 40 modern tractors at the back of the field) and was raising money for two worthy charities: the Welsh Air Ambulance and Marie Curie Cancer. After the customary tractor blessing by the Reverend Glenda Oglesbee and speech by the founder, Ashley Godsall, it was time for the off. The tractors were led from the start line by entrant number 500, who was 3½-year-old Gwilym on his little electric New Holland T7 tractor under the watchful eyes of his mum and grandmother. Gwilym peeled off…

Bucking the trend in diminishing coal stocks for heritage steam is the Doon Valley Railway, thanks to the line being situated in the heart of the former Ayrshire coalfield, both deep mine and opencast. The line, which runs steam days throughout the season, had a delivery of 13 tons in summer 2019 from Hargreaves and thanks to the impact of the Covid pandemic, very little was used. “We still have the bulk of that,” said chairman, Gavin Steel. “We also, wisely, ordered a further order of ten tons in late February, again from Hargreaves, and that was delivered in March, a week before they sold the last of the Garleffan trebles at Killoch. That means we will have plenty of coal to run steam in the summer.” The Ayrshire Preservation…

The 2021 Historical Construction Equipment Association (HCEA) International Convention and Old Equipment Exposition was held at Concordia, Kansas, USA. The event was hosted by local organization Prairie Plowing Days on the Kurt Kocher Farm some 9 miles south of Concordia. It was a ‘working’ event, named locally as “The Big Dig” because two pond dams and a new road were constructed on the property by antique machines, as well as rock crushing operations and a 1950s concrete batch plant in operation. Part 1 of this report in the previous issue focused on crawler tractors and scrapers seen at the event. This article covers the rest of the machinery. EXCAVATORS The variety of machines working on the dam construction included two crawler draglines, a 3/8-yard Schield-Bantam C35 and a 7/8-yard capacity…

CLAYMILLS STEAM PUMPING ENGINES P2 David Reed concludes his visit to Burton upon Trent’s famous Claymills steam pumping station, described by English Heritage as ‘The most complete pumping station in the country.’ ELECTRIC HAULERS Keith Haddock with the fascinating story on of some pioneering dump trucks. Ex-LLOYD JONES BROTHERS’ Owner David Hilditch together with David Reed tells the story of one of the most famous Sentinels in the UK, which worked longer than any other. BRILLIANT BEAMISH David Reed visited Beamish, The Living Museum of the North during their April Steam Gala, which certainly proved to be a great success on 9-10 April.…

These features are all planned at the time of going to press. We reserve the right to make changes and amendments if necessary. ORDER YOUR JULY COPY NOW OUT FRIDAY 24 JUNE Tel: 01959 541444 – shop.kelsey.co.uk…