James Coombes Engine

Hi I have purchased a James Coombes table engine been searching the net but can't find any history on the original engine or engineer all I get is the Stuart Model Engine or James Coombes the actor. If any one has any information it would be much appreciated. May be I am looking in the wrong place so if am could some one point me in the right direction.

Many Thanks in advance and lots of hope Keith.

Keith

Have sent you a PM re James Coombes.

Hi Robbo, thank you so much for the information, I am even more curious now I will see if I can find moor on James Coombes and the engine. Will come back if I find out any moor.

All the best Keith.

Keith's post revived a long term grouse of mine. Usually, when a contributor starts a serial for, say, a steam loco, they start with multiple pictures of the original, and where available, manufacturers drawings. However when stationary engine serials are presented, it is usually "from an old book", or, "a patent office drawing". No book title, no patent number. I realise that the author may only have literally just a drawing, but these are seldom reproduced. I can recall occasions where the author says that he has changed or omitted some part of the engine, undoubtedly for very good reasons, but why can we not have view of how the full size engine looked, and decide for ourselves what can reasonable be modelled and what can't? Perhaps the designer of the James Coombes engine could supply additional information to help Keith discover more about his project.

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I cannot help you with any information upon the original engine other than the small snippet on the Stuart site that says it was originally installed in a Bristol collery and is said to have operated for a 100 ish years.

I have however made the model from Stuart castings I think about 2 years ago as my first project. There is a link to my build thread here. **LINK**

Much help and advice was given by this sites members to enable the construction to go reasonably smoothly.

Nick

Edited By Nick_G on 30/11/2016 00:13:07

I agree with Maurice that it is always nice to have an original photo or etching to see what the prototype looked like. I have found this when making larger versions of various designs that the published model may have had detail left out often to keep costs and production of castings within a reasonaly price range but having the photo or even additional info that can now be gleaned from the net it is possible to build from the box or add that missing detail back in if desired.

I would think that the Stuart JC suffers from this as it makes use of the same cylinder, flywheel etc that are the same over several models where in reality all the prototypes would have had unique castings.

If you did want to enhance the basic Stuart JC then then a quick google of "table engine" or Entablature engine" will bring up plenty of images that details could be borrowed from.

J

Hi all, I feel I should make it clear the engine I have purchased was off of ebay ready to run I am a complete novice.I have a Mine Lathe and attempt small bits and pieces But I am learning, I have been interested in steam from eight when my Father gave me my first Mamod witch I still have. I intend to do moor research on this engine but after reading the piece that Robbo posted I think it might be a dead end but I will try. Thanks Nick for your link I will read it from beginning to end as I intend to strip the engine down and repaint and clean it. Thanks Jason I will give it a go.

If any one has a snippet of information please post it.I would like to know what happened to this engine, was it scraped or preserved, were there any moor of these engines cant believe only one was ever built.

PS. If any one has any Warnings about taking it apart and rebuilding it please let me know the one thing that dose concern me is the timing I assume it is the same as for any single cylinder engine.

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It was very often the case that only one was ever made of many kinds of engine.

It was early days of this then cutting edge technology and developments were happening fast. The JC was not a very efficient design. But in this case it did not matter as coal was 'on site' and it's job was pumping water so I presume this is one of the reasons it had such a long working life. That and of course they must have made a good job of it's initial construction.

Many engines that did have a semi production run varied considerably so that they would perform best to their suited need and application. - Flywheel size, governor design, auxiliary pumps etc, etc. would probably in real life have varied greatly.

But as I said. It was not unusual in any way for an engine of this time to be a single one off.

Nick

Edited By Nick_G on 30/11/2016 15:28:03

Hi All, I have spent a many hours on the Net searching to no avail perhaps this engine should be called "THE JAMES COOMBES GHOST ENGINE" I can find nothing on the engine or James Coombes his Son or his Grand Son It seems to be the end of the road. I would like to give a big thank you to you all for taking part thanks to you I have learnt a little moor .Keith

This engine and the Coombes family has been researched by members of the South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group and details published both in their newsletter and in their publications (for sale through their website).

It worked ion the workshops at Frog Lane Colliery Coalpit Heath

There are photographs of the engine when in use taken by George Watkins - originals in the National Monuments Record Swindon but also published in several locations

Happy to provide more details