Old Glory July 2014

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OLE AM A WRH OF STE ME SUM

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JULY 2014

L E N I T N SESPECIAL ISSUE

No 293

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Contents 30 No 293 | July 2014 NEWS 6-27 News & Events 87-89Old Glory in Miniature News

FEATURES 30

Sentinel steam tractors Although Sentinel built just 121 steam tractors, compared with 6570 waggons, we are fortunate that several fine examples survive in preservation.

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Sentinel portable engines A look at the history and the survivors of these rare beasts, with just one example in the UK.

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Sentinel fireless locomotives Recalling the time that Sentinel got involved in an industrial steam locomotive saga involving a high pressure fireless design.

56

Alignment: the technical bit Neil Gough is making steady progress on his McLaren road loco – and found that J&H McLaren didn’t always get everything right!

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60

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Gallery: the quarrymen The restored excavators and diggers working at the recent Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum open weekend. Eight wheels on my waggon: Pt 2 Richard Straughan concludes the story of constructing his Sentinel DG8 waggon, which made its debut last month. Preparing for Armistice 1919-built Bagnall 0-4-0 Armistice has just returned to traffic at Bredgar, appropriately for the start of centenary commemorations of the First World War.

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News updates at oldglory.co.uk www.facebook.com/ OldGloryMag 82

Veteran Mac’s on a roll An 111-year-old Leeds-built McLaren road roller No 725 of 1903 that’s been in New Zealand all of its life.

90

Too Savage by half Brian Porritt constructed an Edward George design Savage Little Samson engine in half scale.

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REGULARS 42 Road Roller Notes 44 Enginelines 46 Helpline 52 Vintageworld 74 Reviews 76 Steam Archive 80 Museum Guide 94 Events Diary 114 ‘Tail lamp Tom’

READER SERVICES 36

Save money with a subscription to Old Glory 103 Advintage – The biggest Steam & Vintage Marketplace

80 Save money when you subscribe

See page 36


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Front Cover: Main photo: Sentinel two-speed Super tractor No 6426 of 1924 ex-Australia on its UK restored debut at Belvoir Castle rally in 2010. BARRIE C WOODS This issue was published on Thursday June 19, 2014. The August 2014 issue of Old Glory (No 294) will be on sale from Thursday, July 17.

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Having trouble ďŹ nding a copy of this magazine? Why not Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?

58

Meet the team Derek Rayner

Colin Tyson Editor

Technical Advisor

Mike Dyson

Steve Dean

Correspondent

Correspondent

Andrew Bruce

Roger Hamlin

Advertising Executive

Correspondent

Malcolm Ranieri Photographer

James Hamilton Photographer

OLD GLORY JULY 2014 | 5


News&Events

Steam navvy makes good progress

Lots of man-hours have been put in to get the steam navvy shovel to this condition. Volunteers are awaiting the arrival of the reconditioned boiler. PETER LOVE

THE six members of the Excavator Trust who have been working on unique Ruston steam navvy 306 are making good progress, reports Peter Love. Named ‘Hooley’, after Ruston archivist Ray Hooley who initially saved it, the team has virtually all of the mechanical parts completed, with the boom and bucket being fitted on Friday, May 16. The cylinder has been sorted and Ian Hartland has overhauled the control levers, using his veteran lathe and drilling machine. The boiler assembly has been with Israel Newton & Sons Ltd at Cromford, during the winter months, where a certain amount

of work was required. However, the firebox was condemned after a close examination by boiler inspector John Glaze. The new firebox is awaiting its crown sheet pressing, which has been outsourced. An extension has been granted by lottery funding commissioners regarding the boiler assembly, which it’s anticipated will be back in the Lake District by July. The team members anticipate that with everything on their side the navvy should be steaming later this summer (an HLF requirement). The new cab and sundries can then be fitted. (Threlkeld gallery, centre pages 54-55).

Sunderland steam in May Day return

A FEW years ago, a couple of commercial rallies were held at Herrington Country Park near Sunderland, and this venue was revisited over May Day weekend 2014 by the Pickering rally team, writes Anthony Coulls. Crowds flocked to the show, certainly in a way I’ve not seen people queue to get into a rally for years, and 10 full size engines attended – from Paul Dunford’s Burrell roller to Anthony Lister’s Clayton traction engine. Supported by a fine number of miniatures and a selection of other exhibits one would expect to see at a show, it was felt a success by the enginemen I talked to, despite ground conditions preventing movement on the Sunday. On the Monday, a parade was attempted after Alan and Andrew Borthwick tested the ground with their Aveling roller Ayesha (pictured) in the shadow of Penshaw monument. The lack of a programme is perhaps something for the organisers to consider, certainly for the education of visitors – I overheard several families saying ‘look at that train over there’.

Edward Goddard (left) chairman, County of Salop Steam Engine Society, receives the award from the mayor and mayoress of Shrewsbury, Councillor Jon Tandy and Mrs Diane Tandy.

Tourism award for Salop steam society CHAIRMAN of the County of Salop Steam Engine Society, Edward Goddard, attended Shrewsbury’s annual civic awards ceremony, held recently at the town’s Guildhall, and received a gold award for tourism on behalf of the society. 16 | JULY 2014 OLD GLORY

Edward said: “The scheme is designed to recognise the town’s unsung heroes, as well as major organisations that bring benefits to the locality. I am really proud for the society to have been recognised for its valuable contribution to tourism.”


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Rushden rally triumph

Above: Something completely different. Nuffrush is the remains of a 1919 Ruston & Hornsby powered by a Nuffield diesel. Above right: Allchin single cylinder engine No 2146 of 1922 was supplied to Story Bros of Barrowden, Rutland and for many years was operated by Bill Story who sadly died earlier this year. BOTH: MIKE DYSON

T68 Manchester tramcar donated to Heaton Park TRANSPORT for Greater Manchester revealed on May 21 that two T68 tramcars would be preserved, with No 1007 being donated to the city’s Heaton Park Tramway. No 1007 was symbolically handed over to the Heaton Park Tramway Trust during a stop at Heaton Park Metrolink station during a May 26 farewell tour. While the tram is not suitable for operation over the existing heritage tramway, a proposed extension built from the current Lakeside terminus to just a few metres away from the Metrolink stop, but at a higher level, will be

built to a specification capable of allowing No 1007 to operate. This addition to the collection will give the unique ability to display the development of tramcar design from its Manchester Carriage & Tramways Co horse-drawn car of the 1880s through to today’s multi-bogied articulated cars. In 1992, when the first section of Greater Manchester’s Metrolink light rail system opened, its Italian built Firema-Ansaldo T68 class articulated cars became the first trams to operate in a British city centre since the closure of the final Glasgow routes on September 4, 1962.

THE Rushden Historical Transport Society’s cavalcade on May 3-5 was a triumph and enjoyed excellent weather, reports Mike Dyson. This event has all types of transport – in quantity. There were well over 300 cars – not including Land Rovers. A good collection of traction engines with local Northamptonshire Allchins well represented, including roller No 1131 of 1899 now in the capable hands of the Northampton & Lamport Railway. The roller languished in Northampton council’s yard for many years but is now fully restored and a credit to all the volunteers who raised money and worked on the roller. Star of the fair was David Downs’ 1895 Savage Gallopers. The ride has now been in the family’s ownership for more than 50 years and is the centrepiece for any fair. Without doubt an outstanding event, the rally does require a more comprehensive programme with more information about the exhibits, even if the resultant larger size means that the charge has to be increased from the current very modest £1.50.

Out with the old and in with the new: Monday, May 26 was the last day on which the original Metrolink T68 trams could be photographed operating alongside their Bombardier M5000 replacements. MIKE HADDON OLD GLORY JULY 2014 | 17


Vintagew rld

Progress at Old Petrie Village, Queensland

THE QUEENSLAND Vintage Machinery Club usually has a steam day at its premises at Old Petrie village to the north of Brisbane on the first Sunday in the month. In early April, an invitation was extended to the South Coast Machinery Club at Pimpama to attend.

On this occasion, it was possible to see Bill Ives’ Marshall roller No 80161 of 1925 in steam – while Robey portable No 25143 of 1906 was steaming gently outside the sheds that house the club’s collection of engines and equipment. Progress was under way on the large Fowler ‘stump-puller’ No

Fowler‘stump puller’No 15721 with work in progress. Note the almost horizontal strakes which are typical on this style of engine.

Restoration is now under way on the recently identified Aveling roller No 10821 of December 1923.

15721 of 1921 – an engine that travelled illegally to England a few years ago along with a large Marshall traction engine. Both were the subject of a court case regarding their illegal exportation and following this the Australian Government funded their return to Australia and donated them to the club at Petrie. This latter engine is now housed in a new extension to the club’s premises where also to be seen there are tractors, a restored Thornycroft truck and a number of stationary engines, as well as the club’s Marshall traction engine No 33881 of 1900 Jen-ifer. Dismantling and renovation work was also in progress on one of the several Aveling rollers that once graced Brisbane parks which are still to be found in the vicinity. This was as a result of Wayne Hargreaves taking an interest in the machine. The identity of this one remained a mystery for

Bill Ives’Marshall‘S’Type 8-ton steam roller, supplied in 1925, was out and about and being driven around the site with (below) its agent’s plate, indicating it was supplied via the Queensland Machinery Co, Brisbane. It also carries its owner’s plate – MRC (Main Roads

several years but after some extensive and time-consuming research in the Aveling archives by Derek Rayner, it was realised that a mistake had been made when the boiler test number had been stamped on the hornplates at the time of build. The roller was thus confirmed to be No 10821, a Type DD, originally noted as supplied to Noyes Brothers, Sydney, but later diverted to a contractor in Brisbane by the name of Carr. The majority of Aveling products for Queensland were supplied via Clark & Fauset of Eagle Street, Brisbane. Another British product in steam during the visit was a large mill engine manufactured by Stewart’s of Glasgow in around 1926. This worked at Moreton Sugar Mill at Nambour, Queensland, before transfer for preservation at Petrie.

Robey portable No 25143 was outside the sheds and enticing visitors who came to the nearby regular weekly Sunday market to also visit the steam and vintage vehicle collection.

Open weekend in Denmark THE ANDELSLANDSBYEN Nyvang (Open Air Museum) near Holbæk is to stage its Damp- & Nostalgi (Steam and Nostalgia) weekend at the splendid open air museum on July 26-27. There will be steam rollers in action as well as miniature steam engines, together with veteran tractors, motorcycles and cars. A number of stationary engines will also be on display. 52 | JULY 2014 OLD GLORY

The Stewart of Glasgow mill engine which originally worked at Moreton Sugar Mill at Nambour. ALL: DEREK RAYNER


ReadeRs obseRvations fRom aRound the woRld Contributions welcomed by Derek Rayner, Technical Adviser derek@invicta1915.freeserve.co.uk

The Aveling & Porter piston valve type roller at Nakhon Phanom, identified as No 10375 of 1922.

This Aveling-Barford roller, also at Nakhon Phanom, unfortunately remains unidentified as a result of gaps in the firm’s archive records.

More Thai road roller discoveries WHEN David Welch was on holiday in Thailand earlier this year, he travelled north, almost to the Thai/Laos border, and came across a couple of steam rollers at Nakhon Phanom that had not previously been recorded. His curiosity was aroused as a result of this discovery and he determined to find out more. One of the rollers was located at the Tessaban Office and was an Aveling & Porter of the piston valve variety – uncommon in that area – and since David owns a similar machine in the UK, he was able to determine its identity without a problem, even though the worksplate of the plinthed roller was missing and its boiler test number was not immediately apparent. The other roller was a somewhat more common Aveling-Barford machine of the late 1940s at the District Highways Office, and unfortunately David was not aware of where to find the location of identifying stampings on this type of roller. However, temporary Thai resident, Mike Pass, who has previously submitted items to Old Glory, came to the rescue. As luck would have it, Mike was already scheduled to visit Laos to check on the identities and current whereabouts of some railway locomotives for his ongoing researches into surviving steam locos in south east Asia and very kindly made a detour to confirm the identities of these two rollers. By visiting them, Mike was able to determine the boiler test number of the Aveling & Porter roller – 9066, which confirmed its identity as A&P No 10375 of 1922, and he also found an appropriate number over the firehole door on the Barford roller. Unfortunately, details in the firm’s records were somewhat sparse by the

The incomplete remains of a Ruston & Hornsby roller at Udon Thani. ALL: DAVID WELCH

time this roller was manufactured and it has not been possible to positively identify it. The last example of this type for the home market was A-B No AH425 of 1950, now owned by Michael Goakes, chairman of the Road Roller Association. This is the last one recorded in the Aveling-Barford records and, rather surprisingly, the newly discovered roller in Thailand has a ‘higher’ boiler number than that in the records for this one. Incidentally, Aveling No 10375 was supplied

new to George Porter of Clapton, London, and is last detailed in the records of the Road Locomotive Society as being owned by A&M Cole of Sleaford in 1950. The fact that the roller is now in Thailand therefore adds more information to the RLS records. Another roller that David came across was an, as yet, unidentified and incomplete small Lincoln-built Ruston & Hornsby, at Udon Thani, some 10km south of the town on the Khon Kaen road. OLD GLORY JULY 2014 | 53


MuseumGuide A celebration of water engineering

Waterworks Museum Broomy Hill, Hereford HR4 0LJ Open every Tuesday all year (static) 11am-4pm Engines working second and last Sundays in month until October, 1pm-4pm Tel: 01432 357236 www.waterworksmuseum.org.uk

Hereford’s Victorian pumping station is now Grade II listed and designated an Ancient Monument.

THE county of Herefordshire, on the Welsh border, is bereft of lakes and it doesn’t have the right geography for reservoirs. With no significant underground aquifers, the river Wye was the only effective source for large quantities of drinking water. Victorian engineers selected a site west, and upstream, of Hereford city centre where a pumping station (now the museum’s main building) could be constructed above the flood plain and with Broomy Hill behind for the treatment works and supply reservoir. This enabled them to supply the original centre

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of Hereford, known as Hightown, with water by gravity. A visit today to the all-volunteer run Waterworks in Hereford comes highly recommended for engine enthusiasts and their families. For not only is there plenty of interaction to keep little ones amused, but the roll call of famous name manufacturers where an example of an engine, pump or turbine is on site, and maybe working, is astounding; Harveys, Thornycroft, Joseph Evans, Hayward-Tyler, Warner Bros, Easton Anderson & Goolden, Worth Mackenzie, Glenfield & Kennedy, Eagle,

Hindley, National Gas, Worthington-Simpson, Bamford, Allen, Blackstone, Lister, and the relatively local Thomas of Worcester for starters! From 1851 to 2000, there’s a whole century and a half of industrial heritage to savour. Dominating the museum is the 1895 Worth-McKenzie of Stockton-on-Tees steam engine – the oldest triple-expansion, double-acting, inverted, condensing steam engine still operating in the UK. Originally installed to draw raw water from the river Wye and deliver it to the treatment works on Broomy Hill behind the pumping station, clean

water descended from the treatment works to the highpressure pumps, below the centre cylinder of the engine, for return to the water tower tank. It once pumped a million gallons of water every 12 hours. Another major exhibit, although not part of the original Hereford set-up, is the c1932 Tangye of Birmingham single cylinder horizontal diesel engine and triple-throw pumps, which was rescued and brought to Hereford in 1990. Originally designed for the Indian market, this example is


Waterworks Museum – Hereford

Dominating Hereford is the 1895 Worth-McKenzie of Stockton-on-Tees steam engine.

c1932 Tangye of Birmingham single cylinder horizontal diesel engine.

one of only two known to have been installed in the UK and was used at Milton Springs to provide water in the Pembroke Dock area. Among the many engines, pumps and smaller sanitation and water-purifying objects designed to beat the threat of typhoid and cholera from water in rural areas, is an interesting Hayward-Tyler & Co of Luton 1hp hot air engine. Installed originally at Taplow Lodge on the Cliveden Estate in Buckinghamshire, the engine was housed in a cellar and pumped water for the household and garden from a deep well. It was discovered in 1991 by the National Trust and following recovery it was restored by local enthusiasts and recommissioned in 1995. Until 2004 the engine was run once a year in Buckinghamshire. This is believed

to be the only remaining hot air engine of this size in the UK. Nearly all the exhibits are under cover and all are wheelchair accessible. An Accredited Museum, much behind the scenes work on accession and archive has taken place – and the accreditation is much deserved.

Hayward-Tyler 1hp hot air engine.

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