For those who like Traction Engines

[davknigh]

More from Steam Era, Milton, Ontario, Canada; September 2007.

 

A live steam model of a Case engine

The real thing

A trio of Sawyer Masseys

One from the Port Huron Thresher Company, Port Huron Michigan, USA

Cheers,

 

David

Edited June 30, 2020 by davknigh
Adding date of pictures

[The Stationmaster]

Still at Woodcote  - Burrell Showman's Tractor 'Furious'

 

 

A very impressive tanker body on a Foden lorry chassis - if only ...   ...

 

An Aveling & Porter Tractor

 

 

Richard Hazell's Wallis & Steevens Tractor - barely 30 miles from the factory where it was constructed, with his three Sentinel lorries in the background

 

 

You don't see many of these - a 1911 Aveling & Porter steam roller with a Shay engine inside the oil bath for the crankshaft  There are a couple in UK preservation this one being the most local to our part of the world.  Aveling & Porter built a number of smallshunting engines for railway use but none of them used a Shay engine following more traditional traction engine drive methods.

 

 

The engine drives the rear wheels via shaft directly off the end of the crankshaft

 

Another less than common sight.  J&H Wilder were agricultural engineers who built a few traction engines as part of their farm machinery business.  Having gone through several name changes over the years the company still survives although it has moved at least twice since this engine was built - just under 6 miles from where it is seen below at the 2009 Woodcote rally.

 

 

 

And finally from this batch a Tasker built small road tractor

 

 

[96701]

Gosh, don't they make big machines in the States?  Somewhat smaller Much Marcle show 2018. Plenty of machines to admire, just a small sample.

 

 

 

 

 

[figworthy]

Great Dorset Steam Fair in 2016

 

Adrian

[DaveF]

 

A few taken around Cadeby some 50 or more years ago.

 

The Rector there was Rev E R "Teddy" Boston who owned both a Foster traction engine "Fiery Elias", and an Aveling and Porter steam roller "Thistledown".

He also had a 2 foot gauge railway in the vicarage garden on which ran "Pixie", a Bagnall 0-4-0ST along with other locos.  

There was his very extensive 00 gauge GWR model railway in a "shed" in the garden as well.

 

I spent many happy days at Cadeby along with Mum and Dad when I was a teenager and in my twenties.  

From time to time I was able to steer Fiery Elias and Thistledown and sometimes drive them.

I remember that Mum was very good at steering traction engines at rallies.

 

3 of the photos show Teddy's engines, the others were visiting engines.

 

 

Cadeby Foster engine Fiery Elias Sept 64 JRV022.jpg

 

 

Cadeby Foster Fiery Elias and Aveling Porter Thistledown on rectory drive Sept 70 C458.jpg

 

 

Cadeby Foster Fiery Elias hauling Pixie from low loader back onto track Sept 70 J2295.jpg

 

 

Cadeby traction engine, thresher and car in tow June 70 C430.jpg

 

 

Cadeby Aveling and Porter steam roller Lord Elpus August 1968 C Scan-131130-0008.jpg

 

 

David

 

 

Edited June 30, 2020 by DaveF

[Ruffnut Thorston]

I believe that the Rev. Awdry based "Trevor" on the Cadeby Foster Fiery Elias....

[The Stationmaster]

Another Wallis & Steevens product - in this case a road roller

 

 

A Clayton & Shuttleworth engine at Knowle Hill Rally back in 2004

 

 

Built in 1925 'Ex-Mayor' is a Burrell Special Scenic showman's engine - a real top of the range job which went to an well known Yorkshire showman although he sold the engine on  fairly quickly becai use he had sold the ride he'd bought it to power.  Nor a regular attendee in our part of theworld she's seen here at Knowle Hill in 2004

 

 

Now for something rather different.  this Ruston steam navvy was a regular attendee at Knowle Hill and stood in the middle of a temporary 'Y' shaped narrow gauge railway loading tippler wagons with rocks,  The wagosn were then shunted to the other leg of the 'Y' and tipped into the receiving area just in front of the machine.  The empty wagons were then shunted back to the other leg of the Y and reloaded.  Two engines were in use - the fairly well know little Kerr Sturat 'Peter Pan' and a modern vertical boiler engine built by Alan Keefe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tigerburnie]

Aberdeenshire again

[davknigh]

Another batch from Milton, Ontario. Unless otherwise stated these engines were built in Canada. They are all wood burners as coal was not as easily available, or more to the point was expensive as opposed to wood.

 

A closer look at the mechanism on a Waterloo engine

A Sawyer Massey built in Hamilton, Ontario

An engine by George White and Sons, Built in London Ontario or Brandon Manitoba

A Geo. White and a Waterloo engine keep each other company

 

[rab]

My brother's 25 year 'labour of love' restoration

Edited July 3, 2020 by rab

[Johann Marsbar]

Some of the selection of engines on display at the museum at Mount Pleasant in Iowa on a very brief visit there (like 30 mins !) back in 2011. They had decided to close early as it was "quiet", but let me in (for free) to look round the main display building, if nothing else.

Some rather strange looking (certainly to my eyes) engines in there......

 

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Johann Marsbar

[DIW]

A genuine question for the knowledgeable to answer for me:

 

I can see that with all(?)/the majority of the traction engines, the boiler is the structural member which keeps the front and the back of the machine together - as opposed to the regular steam locomotive, where the frames perform the structural function and the boiler gets on with the business of railing steam. So, on a traction engine, is the boiler certification affected by the structural function? E.g. is the certification for longer than 10 years due to thicker steel in the traction engine (or same thickness but smaller boiler), or is the maximum safe pressure lower, or is the certification the same or shorter due to the need to mount stuff on the boiler?

[didcot]

So for traction engines, steam rollers etc inspection is required at 12 months intervals up to max 14 months. The extra 2 months give some latitude booking Inspectors. A full internal visual is done and some plate thickness checks where possible. Then follows a steam test at full working pressure. It includes an accumulation test which ensures that the boiler can't produce more steam than the safety valves can get ride of. 

Every 10 years a full visual and hydraulic test is required. That means lagging off, blanking plates on instead of safety valves and fittings. Pump it up to 1.5 times working pressure (if I remember correctly) and check for obvious defects. 

There will be a minimum thickness for boiler plates of certain sizes. Below that it will require replacing. 

From a stressed chassis member point of view I never had an inspector mention that. I suspect the forces on the boiler under full pressure are greater than those applied by piston stroke, torque or shear weight of the vehicle. One would assume that the manufacturers would have done some rudimentary calculations to prove fit for purpose. I'm sure there would have been regulations for boilers then, especially as early boilers were prone to exploding.

If you look a ploughing engine, the winding drum puts a bending force along the boiler barrel. I've seen ploughers ride up on the front perch bracket when working hard. There are some very scary old photos of ploughing engines split in two where the boiler has failed during ploughing propelling both halves along way up the field. One wonders if they were ever inspected.

Hope that helps

[rab]

1 hour ago, didcot said:

 

If you look a ploughing engine, the winding drum puts a bending force along the boiler barrel. I've seen ploughers ride up on the front perch bracket when working hard. There are some very scary old photos of ploughing engines split in two where the boiler has failed during ploughing propelling both halves along way up the field. One wonders if they were ever inspected.

Hope that helps

Going way back, (50 years) to my ONC/HNC I seem to remember something about a hollow cylinder being stronger when stressed sideways than a solid bar of the same volume of material.

Probably totally irrelevant, like most of what comes out of my sawdust substitute for a brain

[didcot]

25 minutes ago, rab said:

Going way back, (50 years) to my ONC/HNC I seem to remember something about a hollow cylinder being stronger when stressed sideways than a solid bar of the same volume of material.

And in torsion. Hence certain propshafts are thin wall tube, but a slightly larger diameter. Helps with balancing as well.

[The Stationmaster]

Now to the other side of the world (for me at any rate) a couple of photos taken during a weekend off when I was working out in Aus in early 2005 - both at the Queensland transport museum collection in Ipswich

 

First is Garrett traction Engine  No. 29788 built at Leiston in December 1911.   It was exported to Australia in 1914 originally to Clark & Fauset in Brisbane QLD  and later worked for a local council plus various other jobs.

 

 

The other engine in the only bit of the museum accessible when it was closed for wider access was a Marshall steamroller, carrying builders number 79671 which was completed in August 1925 and originally purchased by the Queensland Machinery Co although later ity was used by Brisbane City Council.

 

 

 

 

 

[Johann Marsbar]

A couple of engines that were present at the 2000 "Warbirds over Wanaka" event in New Zealand......

 

 

 

 

[peach james]

So, yes, some thought does goe into the fact that the boiler is a stressed surface on traction engines- the general rule is that on a model, you need to be at least one SWG thicker than the equal boiler on a railway engine.   Steel boilers the rules are different, because you have to allow for corrosion, and a full sized engine already has the advantage that at some point you can crawl into it to check...unlike models.

As far as plowing engines in rather deplorable shape, I am under the understanding that Murray and Ewan Lloyd Jones walked away from a job with Dick Wooley in the early 1970's due to the rather thin condition of the engines.  This was doing pond dredging with them- which is a brutal task at the best of times.  There are photos, linked in off "Traction Talk" of the engines, and the working conditions.   The only thing harder I know of is the specially rebuilt Ottermyers in Germany, where they were using a pair (!) of engines bigger than BB1's to pull a 2m deep plow.  >600 HP to do so...

I love steam, but seeing what was being done...that's hard work for each pence !

James

[didcot]

Fowler Elsa taken from the top of a tram at Statfold in 2018

 

Fowler Showmans Repulse, I think, also at Statfold

 

[Nearholmer]

A pretty hurried photo, but the engine is at least “in the wild”.

 

Last year, I was cycling through the back of St Albans, near Verulamium, And spotted this in the distance chuffBig towards me, so pulled to the side of the road to grab a picture.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

15 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

A pretty hurried photo, but the engine is at least “in the wild”.

 

Last year, I was cycling through the back of St Albans, near Verulamium, And spotted this in the distance chuffBig towards me, so pulled to the side of the road to grab a picture.

Looks like either a Fowler or Mclaren stump puller, but that might not be correct as it’s a single cylinder. 

[petethemole]

It's a Clayton & Shuttleworth General Purpose Engine http://www.steamscenes.org.uk/engines/clayton-shuttleworth/general-purpose-engine/48154/

 

Steam Scenes is a great site for identifying traction engines and rollers if you have limited information, such as the reg. number.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

I found this ages ago, it’s of a Burrell engine (I think) and traction wagons working in Arizona, of all places. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated. Here’s a link to the Site, with some more info.

[Johann Marsbar]

A few from the Powerland Heritage Park in Brooks, Oregon, back in 2017.....

 

 

 

 

 

They do hold a large steam rally there once a year, which is very popular, from what I could gather.

 

A very interesting place to visit which consists of various individual museum collections on one large site, though not all of the attractions are necessarily open at the same time!

I went specifically to look at the tramway museum operation, but was amazed what else was on site - particularly the collection of vintage trucks which had actually only reopened the day of my visit following erection of an enlarged museum building.

[petethemole]

7 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

I found this ages ago, it’s of a Burrell engine (I think) and traction wagons working in Arizona, of all places. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated. Here’s a link to the Site, with some more info.

 

That's a Fowler engine.  The clue is the maker's plates in two arcs on the smokebox door.  Perhaps somebody should have looked at the photo before painting this: https://www.bensonazmurals.org/traction-engine