ME 4473/Traction Engines

Just read the latest ME on line.

What a good selection of articles. Diane seems to have touched on everything in this issue without going over the top on any of them.

Liked the Brunell article, very informative. I know it's not model related but still interesting. A lot of the old ME's from the 50 thru to the early 80's often had similar articles in.

And plenty of traction engines

Only flicked through it online will wait for my printed one to have a good read.

J

Thanks chaps. Your cheques are in the post

More of Ramon's Eta 15D coming up in 4474 too!

Diane

I'd like to echo the thoughts above.

Regarding traction engines it should not be forgotten that Model Engineer was very important in reporting on the early traction engine rallies of the 1950s and 1960s. It provided information at a time when there were few other publications suitable or willing to do the same. I am sure that without Model Engineer the expansion of interest in road steam would have been that much slower.

Kind regards

John B

If ever I was going to build anything steam I'd go for a traction engine. Reasons being it's something that once done isn't reliant on anybody or tracks.

Steam it when you want, run it, within reason, where you want and subject to the usual rules and boiler inspections you are your own man - or woman as the case may be.

I could get enjoyment out of building a small IC engine which is something that's been in the back of my mind for a long while. However once done and run I would have no further use for it but to me the reward would be in the design and build.

With a loco or traction engine the time scale and costs involved if you are working to a decent scale are so great that unless you are building to sell you are committed to run the thing.

Unless you have a large property to drop a track down you are then reliant on clubs.

A traction engine breaks this reliance other than on the boiler inspectors.

Mind you I have just had a very nasty thought,

Post WWll the Beeby Brothers at Rempstone Leicestershire had teams of ploughing engines that they used commercially. In an effort to move with the times and save time in the morning raising steam they gutted a couple of engines and fitted a pair of diesels on top of the boiler rescued from a couple of scrapped WWll German Submarines.

**LINK**

Just found this but they don't look like submarine engines to me. Fitted in 1951 they are more likely just truck engines.

These would make good and unique models

I think there are a few ploughing engines about with surplus US Sherman tank engines, get drawing John.

Or what about scaling up the Aveling DX roller with its IC engine as the 2" is a bit small.

Jason,

I must admit that tools, tooling and methods interest me far more than models but it also has a spin off for modellers as well..

PS

Diane, the last cheque never made it here. You didn't sent it Ketan by mistake did you as trying to get him to part with that £2:00 is bad enough.

Edited By John Stevenson on 05/01/2014 13:30:04

Ha ha... no, you can't buy Ketan for less than a fiver!!

Further to John Billard's comments above, I very much agree - until the appearance of Old Glory there was nothing to do with Road Steam on any newsagent's shelf. It was, as you say, down to Model Engineer to publish (frankly) anything of interest. Even now, apart from the two 'mainstream' road steam publications, you very rarely see Traction Engines in any medium. Compared to railways it has always played second fiddle and yet it has a tremendous following and, as I have always said, it is largely where the youth of this hobby is to be found; I think that JS's comments pretty much sum up the reasons why ... in a word, 'independence'.

Diane

Don't know whether readers of this forum know but the traction engine guys have their own forum which has a lot of traffic.

**LINK**

Well worth a look..

> the traction engine guys have their own forum which has a lot of traffic.

Mostly in a long queue down a country lane waiting for a chance to get past?

>ducks<

I do agree that traction engine have a lot to offer youngsters who probably don't want to be part of a club.

I think tanks and cars (and boats and planes) probably appeal to this group. Planes and boats have well established and now separate self-build followings. Few people have cottoned on to building cars other than from kits (an exception Alex DuPre). Tanks does seem to be a growth area and I await MEs first tank build series with interest - I want to know an easy yet cost effective route to making tracks.

Neil

A couple of points relating to the above, there is a Rushton and Proctor roller with the motion removed and fitted with a Nuffield engine that belongs to Alan Eaton that is rallied local to me in Northants and round about. It is known as " Nuffrush". I started building locos way back, but switched to road steam about 15 years ago, I now have 2 road locos and have nearly completed another, and the freedom to take and run them anywhere is a real bonus to me.

Chris Gunn

Primarily aimed at full size engines, but there is an active model section, where I am running an insouciant build diary for my Burrell SCC engines. I'm also about to start a parallel thread looking at the theory of compounding, steam flows, valve gear and valve gear design. I can think of at least three members on TT who also do, or have, posted here, and there are probably more.

I'm building traction engines partly because of the freedom from needing a track and partly because I had some passing association with them as a small kid. I've got no real interest in 'playing' trains and to be honest I don't suppose I'll run the traction engines that much when, and if, I finish them. I'm more interested in the machining and in trying new techniques. After the engines I quite fancy a go at making a clock.

Regards,

Andrew

insouciant

I had to get the dictionary out for that one!

> I had some passing association with them as a small kid.

I remember seeing the film 'The Iron Maiden' ("MIghty In Strength and Endurance" then later seeing her for real at something like an St Athan's airshow (this would be mid-late 70s). I later got a small (00/HO type) kit of her, and was given a large coffee table book called 'Steam On The Road' which had several pictures of the engine. Apparently a Fowler ploughing engine converted to a showman's. She seemed awesomely huge to me as a boy.

I guess the book is still at my Dads, I should reclaim it!

You can probably guess it made quite an impression on me - I always wonder why this famous engine doesn't turn up in the 'round the rallies' report each year.

Neil

I think Edward tends to report new model engines, newly restored engines or ones that have not been on the rally scene before thats why he does not show the well known ones.

Iron Maiden was originally a Road Loco not ploughing engine and started it slife hauling stone, it was later converted to a showmans. Unlik ea lot of the recent conversions this one was done only a couple of years after being built and was carried out by Fowlers.

J

Insouciance: a relaxed and happy way of behaving without feeling worried or guilty

Sounds like life in this part of the world. Now where did I put that corkscrew?

Russell.

My dictionary just showed it as, happy or carefree.

Perhaps I should move to your country Russell, our world seems to have been the opposite to that for the last few months.

The wife says there is light at the end of the tunnel now, personally I reckon it's just a train coming the other way!

Edited By V8Eng on 07/01/2014 10:07:17

I can remember from my early childhood, the "steam roller" owned by the Dunedin City Council, in place of the cyinder, and valve gear on top of the boiler, there was an IC engine of some sort in place, I must have been about 4yrs old.

V8Eng, not that many years ago it would have been termed as gay(not todays meaning). Ian S C

Ian - was that a conversion or was it made like that?

Diane

> Iron Maiden was originally a Road Loco not ploughing engine

Well I did read the details nearly 40 years ago...

Neil