Above: Elevenyear old Robert Unsworth steers Al/chin 6 nhp compound at llit• clrlvl11r,day at F/ookborough,Grangeover Sandsin July last. Robert is obviouslyenjoyinghimsC'i( SN' 1,/sletter in this magazine. Robert doesn't say, but I suspecthis Dad took the photograp/1, Front cover:Another of Nick Bosworth'scollection of pictures taken at Cromford Rally/11700.5. This shows TaskerClassB2 Tractor No. I 424. The engine of 5 nhp, was built in 1910 and Is a 2 speed, compound machine.
Back cover: Nick took this photograph at Ons/ow Rally in 2006. It shows Burrell Scenic Showman'sRoad LocomotiveNo. 3888 'GeneralGough'. The engine was new in 192I and is a 8 nhp double crank compound machine. One might almost call this a standard Burrell Scenic locomotiveas there are many very similar to this design.Howeverthe sayingthat 'no two A11rrclls are alike' is very true. This one has front wheelsof an older style than most of rl,i~ b11iltltrnrlod and was never fitted with a li~ing crane to the bunker as were most scenlcs.In emly pte,djrvation the engine ran with the top gear missing;it is said that the engine fell Into u c.ollt11d111'1nr,World War 2, whilst doing demolition work and the top gear was broken off. Yfa, r 111~/11r/'i now fully restored to original condition and has a reputation for beingo tmrtiru/nrly ·,flung rrrnmhcr of its type.
STEAM APPRENTICE CLUB
Editor
Nanette Sanders, Frog Cottage. New Road, Porchficld, Isle of WighL PO30 4LS
Tel: 01983 523317 sac.raisingsteam@nlet.co.uk
President
John Durling, 19 Mill Lane, BartonunderNeedwood,BurtonuponTrent, Staffordshire DEl3 SHE
Chairman
KcviJ1Munn, 56 BlackJands Drive, Hayes, Middlesex Tel: 020 857 3 9 I 80 e-mail: kevinsteam@btinternet.com
Vice Chairman
Elaine Massey. 21 Down Close, NorthoJt, Middlesex UBS 6NS Tel: 020 8248 6570 elainermassey@ntlworld.com
Membership Secretary
John Cook, Dolfarni, Church Lane. Kirkby la Thorpe, Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34 9t·H.J.Correspondence only.
Membership fee £7.50 per annum. SAC Co-ordinators
Steve and Donna Taylor Tel: 01530 835213 steve.Lailor@btinLernet.com
Emily Drury ecdrury@hotmail.co.uk
Matthew Lund Tel: 01329 832462 matt.lund@engineer.com
Gareth Haase Tel: 07720718008
Kevin Lawrence Tel: 01229 838144 Barry Sumsion Tel: 01633 262197 barry@kearJine.co.uk
The Editor welcomes any contributions of articles. shorter items or photographs for inclusion in future issues. All material submitted i~ volunLary and payment cannot be made for any material published. The opinions expressed in the magazine, with the exception of Club announcements, are those of the contributors and do not indicate the views of the Club as a whole. A II items are held copy1ight by the contributor and the NTET. The Editor reserves the r.ight to amend or refuse contributions. The Magazine is normally published during the early parr of January, April, July and October. The Club accepts no liability for failure to meet intended publication dates.
The Steam Apprentice Club is a section of the National Traction Engine Trust.
NTET is a Registered Charity, No. 291578. Registered in England No. 1302197. Registered Office: 4 Church Green East, Redditch, Worcestershire B98 8BT.
Typesetting and Artwork by Kcarlinc Graphic Images Ltd. Fairoak House Business Centre. Church Road, Newport, South Wales NP19 7EJ
Printed by TSG Creative Solutions, St Neots, Cambridgeshfre PE 19 8EL
FROM THE EDITOR
So far: this year the weather has limited some of the rallies that you have been able to attend. Having to cancel rallies is not just disappointing for you but a nightmare for organisers. A lot of work goes into organising a rally, who is attending, how many, beer Lents, parking, setting up of all the fencings, security, first aid and lots of other important jobs that all need planning. When the rally gets cancelled it takes just as much work to undo aJl the plans that have been set in place. Everyone has to be notified hopefully in enough time to allow them to attend another rally somewhere else. So if some of your rallies have been cancelled and you have been left disappointed we can only say sorry about that and lets hope the weather improves and we can all have some fun.
Talking of cancelled rallies, a rally that John and I were to attend did get cancelled and we managed to attend the rally at Masham instead. What fun we had. Yes it was wet, and 'muddy' is an understatement. It's the only time that I have had water over my wellies in the caravan awning but we all managed to enjoy our weekend. Morning Star didn't even get as far as the rally field, it had to stay in the car park of the campsite opposite along with a few others. There was no engine movementfor the weekend and the engines on the road run had to be the ones that were across the road. Despite all this the rally managed to be a success with lots of visitors braving the sludge.
After visiting Masham, John and I went to F1ookburgh rally. The fields were water logged for a few days but after a few strong winds it dried out enough for the rally to nm as normal. It was nice to see so many apprentices eager to take part in the driving day despite the weather and I'm hoping to hear from you about how much you enjoyed yourselves.
Our next visit was the Great Dorset Steam Fair which I get really excited about every year. I can't talk to you about this as I have to write the magazine weeks before you get to see it so at this time of writing I have not yet been. I know it is confusing sometimes it is for me too. It takes a few weeks for the printing process so if I waited until after the 3
DORSET CAVALCADE from Paul Cook
1933 Ruston& Hornsby5nhp TractionEngineNo. 169166 'QueenBess',Reg.No. TL 3433.
I 912 Marshall 4 nhp I 0 ton Rollerno. 60207 'Tutor'. ,I
steam fair you would not get your magazine until November. Hope you have had fun with the rallies that you have been to and I hope to catch up with a few more of you at Old Warden.
Nanette Sanders, Editor
CHAIRMAN'S BIT
I have just returned from the Great Dorset Steam Fair, which as usual is a fantastic spectacular event. Tt was good to see some of you and talk to you to find out what you want from the club. The committee of the club will be having its end of season meeting in late October or early November so if there is anything you want us to consider that happened this year or suggestions for next year please let me know via the normal contact avenues. Going back to Dorset, as you will see from the picture elsewhere in the magazine we have 'smartened ourselves up' so we can be more easily picked out at events we attend. Look out for the blue gazebo and our flag at events next season of which we wiJl give you advance notice of where we will be attending. The main event at Dorset was the cavalcade where you as apprentices have the opportunity to steer and drive many different types of makes of engines. My thanks on your behalf go the organisers of the GDSF and the enginemen who kindly allowed you the chance to drive the engines at such an event as Dorset. See if you can spot yourself in the pictures elsewhere in the magazine.
Kevin Munn, Chairman
And here they are in their new SAC refinery. From le~ to right, back row: Kevin Munn, Chairman; Elaine Massey, Vice Chairman; Emily Drury; John Durling, President; front row: Nick Bosworth; Gareth Haase; Matthew Lund.
MAIL BAG
Dear Editor,
The 7th and 8th of July was the fust rally for our newly acquired engine from Scotland. Our engine is a Robey portable 8 nhp that was built around 1940 and went across with a batch to Ireland. Its exact identity is unknown as the number plate is missing.
Above we see Richardstandingby his family'sRobeyportableand on the rightthe full pictureof the engine.Note the very tall chimney. Does anyone know why the chimney is so tall?
Belowwe see Harry Lyon'sRobinson & Auden tractionengine drivinga saw bench. The engine,a 6 nhp machine is No. 1376 of 1900 and the only tractionengine of its make in existence.
Due to the recent weather most of the engines didn't get to the rally field until Saturday night or Sunday morning, so we were one of the few to be on the field all of the time. We were in the working area next to Hany Lyons unique Robinson & Auden traction engine and saw bench. On the Saturday night there was a little road run down to Helmsley market square that a sma11number of exhibits attended.
Gold medal tractor 100
This year at Woodcote Rally
Richa1:dHawthorne and Trevor Smallbone had planned for the past year to get together as many gold medal tractors as possible. Well this is how it went.
Above:Three of the engines outside the 'KingsCharlesHead' on Friday13th July;'Cock of the North', No. 3397, 'LittleDorothy',No. 3862 and 'Charlie',No. 3355.
Below:'lane Eyre',No. 3626 sittingoutside the Burrelltent on the eveningof Friday13th.
On Friday 13th July there was a 14 mile road run around Woodcote. We set off around 10.30 from the rally field and went through South Stoke, round to Goring !]ilf and through Cray's pond • ~· \ (not literally). We ,· \· r:::::js stopped for water after that and then down to the 'King Charles Head', Goring Heath for lunch. After that they a 11L..____::_:::....:...._
thundered up past Common Wood and down through Woodcote and back to the rally field. When we got back they lined all the engines up in the car parking field so we could get photo's of them all.
The RalJy
On the Saturday and Sunday there was the usual line up of engines and there was a special line up for gold medal tractors and a whistle for 'Charles Burrell and Sons'. On Sunday Jane Eyre, No. 3626, owned by Richard Hawthorne, my second cousin, son of Ran Hawthorne a founder of Woodcote Rally, was put on the blocks as it would have been when they were being sold new.
Richard Warren, Yann.
All 18 Burrell Gold Medal Tractorsin the arena on Saturday 14th July.
Richard has sent in a picture of Bill Summerellsroller, Avelimg & Porter, No. I 057 5, a 6 nhp I O ton machine.
COMPETITION RESULTS
With this issue we bring you reproductions of some of the competition results from this year's Great Dorset Steam Fair.
On this page we have, on the left, the 2nd placed entry in our "Steam at the Fair" competition. This was an A3 sized poster from Miss Clegg, aged 18. Below we have the pencil sketch from Daniel March, aged 13 of Andover. Although not choosing to use colour the drawing was effective to win Daniel 3rd place.
Over the page we have the 2nd place winner of the Colouring Competition. This was entered by Rebekah Ford, aged 11 from Chandlers Ford.
continued on page 12
The next three entries, on this page and page 13 top, are the winning entries from Jennifer Massey in the Photographic Competition for those 16 years old and over.
At the top of this page we are on board the Burrell sjngle crank compound traction engine No. 2575 Buller. She is a 6 nhp machine of 1903, registration no. TA 1489. The photograph was taken at the Chatham Dockyard steam rally in April this year.
The photograph on the left is of a 2 ft narrow gauge locomotive. She was built by Orenstein & Koppel of Berlin in 1922. Her name is Elouise and her number is 9998.
The photograph was taken at Tilford on Easter Saturday this year and she can usually be found on the Old Kiln Light Railway where she has been since 1986.
The last photograph in Jennifer's winning entry is of a ship. You may wonder what a ship has to do
with a competition run by the Steam Apprentice Club. Well she is obviously a sailing vessel but she also has a I 107 hp 2 cylinder horizontal compound steam engine by Humplu·ey & Tennant. This photo was also taken at the Chatham Dockyard Steam Rally in April this year. The ship is HMS Gannel, weighs 1130 tons, rigged as a barque and originally launched in 1878 from Sheerness.
Gaining first p1ize in the up to 15 years old category is Stephen Myers. Stephen has presented three rather unusual photographs. Starting with his first, shown at the foot of page 13, he has captured the reflection of a showman's engine in the polished hind hub cap of another showman's engine. His second entry is also unusual, having been taken through the clear glass of a Jight bulb which itself appears to adorn the canopy of another engine. Through the light bulb can be seen BuITell 5nhp traction engine No. 2417 of 1901. I find the third of Stephen's photographs uncannily like NTET's logo. It shows the shadow of an engine outlined on the side of a tent. Three very unusual pictures, J think you will agree.
Second place in the up to 15 category is James Bailey. Two of his entries feature a 2" scale "Minnie" traction engine, whilst his third picture is a black and white photo of an engine
t work. Black and hite photographs can be very effective when showing a good tonal range with an interesting well composed subject.
First we see the 2" scale
"Minnie" type traction engine parked outside Highcliffe Castle, Dorset. The engine was completed in 1996 is named Dot and registered no. N J 09VJT.
The second photograph shows Dot double parked under Fowler No. 16044 Iron Ada, a 10 ton DH class traction engme.
Finally we see James' s black and white entry which shows Burrell traction engine No. 3126, registrered no. BJ 7155, a 6 nhp compound machine. The engine is threshing at the rally at Berwick St John.
BOOK REVIEW from John Durling
Driving and Operating Traction Engines
by Mike Dyson
Haven Publishing, Nelson's Lane, Haddenham, Cambridgeshire, CB6 3UH
Tel 01353 740470
Hard back, 210 x 297mm, 144pp, 213 colour and 8 b/w illustrations
£25.00 + £3.50 p&p.
ISBN 978-0-9556147-0-5
Also available from the NTET sales team - www.NTET.co.uk
Within the steam movement in general, and the NTET in particular, there has been a feeling for some time that this book needed to be written. No one would wish to take anything from Michael Salmon's excellent work but it is now 40 years old and needed updating for modem road and ral1y conditions and the current safety culture. Mike Dyson's book could be considered to be the answer.
The format fo11ows the logical progression from the historic perspective tlu·ough descriptions of the various engine types, including a chapter on miniatures. He then starts on the true purpose of the book which is the operational aspects; water and steam, fuel and fire, lubrication and then to the all important driving.
The subjects of the laying up for winter which is necessary for engines only being worked in preservation is well covered, as is the work and preparation for the boiler inspections and many examples of the routine maintenance needed to keep an engine in good order. He also gives many pointers to the signs that an engine isn't working at her best.
The detail covered by the text and the high quality pictures really brings to life the subject and informs the reader in an interesting and easily understandable way. I am pleased to see that he is also prepared to express his own opinions on various aspects of the current movement and the way we are sometimes obliged to operate our engines within irksome constraints.
Mike has been an engine owner for some 20 years and the experience thus gained comes through in his writing. He has also been fortunate enough in recent years to have carried out 'road tests' on many engines of differing type and size. This combination has lead to many small tips and pointers appeating throughout the book which most of us in preservation driving simply wouldn't have had the opportunity to discover.
Mike's style of writing is particularly readable, not dwelling too long on any one area. One aspect I find interesting is the inclusion of snippets of useful infon11ationall through the book, including the captions of many pictures. To gain most from this book, you actually have to read it thoroughly.
Whilst accepting that most engine owners/drivers enjoy taking their engines on to the open road Mike has acknowledged that not al] are willing or able to do this and a chapter on driving at rallies covers this aspect well, including references to the merits of the Steam Apprentice Club and the NTET Voluntary Competency Scheme. However his descriptions of the joy and satisfaction to be gained from a successfully completed road journey bear testament to the fact that Mike has covered many miles both on his own
engine and on others; allowing him to clearly describe how things should be done and what to do if things don't go exactly according to plan.
Mike's contention is that this book is not meant as a primer for the total novice nor is it intended to take the expe1ienced engineman's knowledge to new heights. The target of this book is the man or woman who has some interest and knowledge and a desire to learn more. I would particu]arly commend this to the older Steam Apprentices who will find much of interest. Having said that, I enjoyed reading Driving and Operating Traction Engines and, as most would agree, there is always scope for learning something new.
LATE ENTRY IN COMPETITION
Here is another drawing that didn't get to Dorset in time to be entered in the competition. It is from 8 year old Ryan Yater of Horam. Ryan didn't get into the competition but he has got his drawing in Raising Steam!
MORE MAILBAG
Dear Editor,
The driving day was held at Cark Airfield, Flookburgh, Grange over Sands on Fiiday the 27th July 07. In the morning there had been a number of showers but these cleared up about mid morning and we had a sunny, if windy afternoon.
This was my first 'Steam Apprentice Club' driving day and I wasn't sure what to expect. We eventually found John Durling's caravan which was flying the Steam 17
Apprentice Club's flag at about 9.10am and met up with John.
Once all the apprentices had arrived John gave us a health and safety talk after which we were introduced to our teachers and their engines. There were about ten apprentices to seven engines which meant we could drive all day.
I was introduced to Robert Herring who owns an Allchin tractor No. l 652 called Little Mo. It is one of only.two Allchin compound engines in the country. Little Mo already had water in her boiler but Robert showed me how to clean out the ash pan.
Before the fire could be lit we had to clean out the smokebox and the boiler tubes. Robert showed me how to light the fire and how to get sufficient 'draft' to get it burning well. We went round all the oiling points to oil up the engine.
Little Mo's boiler holds about five hundred gallons of water and this took over two hours from lighting the fire to get up to her working pressure of one hundred and fifty psi. During this time Robert and I cleaned and polished the engine.
After dinner Robert and I took Little Mo for a drive. Because of all the rain we have had recently, we were unable to go into the main arena as originally planned but being an old airfield, we had plenty of runway to drive on.
I did most of the steering to begin with but after a while I had to ask Robert if he would steer as my arms were aching. We spent all afternoon driving and Little Mo was wonderful. We finally finished about 4.50pm.
My Dad had mentioned to Robert that we would be visiting the rally the next day (Saturday) and he very kindly asked if I would like to help hun again. Robert had done most of the work when we arrived. Little 1vfojust needed to get up to her working pressure.
Thanks to Robert I had a second clay with Little Mo and I rode into the main arena on her. A very special thank you to Robert Herring for all he taught me and for giving me such a fantastic weekend.
Robert Unsworth, Lancashire. See Robert's picture of himself on 'Little Mo' on page 2 of this magazine.
Dear Editor
I enclose a photograph of my first steam engine, a Wilesco Roller Old Smokey. I am pictured with the engine before me and my Dad steamed it for the first time.
Matthew Hand, age 5 - See Matthew 's picture on page 18.
Comingin yournextRaisingSteam
A Roller found in a Dorchester playground from Gareth Haase Engines of War from Matthew Lund More GDSF pictures
more Competition results and all your regular features
NEW APPRENTICES
Lawrence Allen, St Albans. Christopher Anderson, Surrey. Samantha Atherton, Cheshire.
Elizabeth Baines, Notts.
Charlotte Baines, Notts.
Shane Bascombe, Dorset. Shannon Baines, Dorset. Jake Bennet, Fro me.
Andrew Brooks, Cheadle. Jack Brown, Notts.
Victoria Burton, Notts. Adam Callow, Chichester. Rebecca Callow, Chichester.
Honor Cave-Toye.
Daniel Chamberlain, Dorset. Edward Crabb, Storrington. Micheal Cross, Cornwall.
Anthony Daneil, Clapham. Rhys Erwood, Devon.
Eloise Frankham.
Andrew Fisher, Banbury. William Focker, Bedfordshire. Kevin Follett, Wiltshire.
Harry Ganod, Norfolk.
Wills Hannah, Devon. Natalie Hey, Rossendale. Jonathan Hicks, Peru-yn. Clive Hogan, Hampshire. William Hurley, Lincoln.
Dan Joy, Dorset.
Lewis Keefe, Middlesex.
Douglas Kenyon, Cambridge.
Richard Kinsman, Honiton. Emily Kitchen, Radlett. Owen Knight, Farmborough. Thomas Landsell, Chesham.
James Littlewood-Dunne, Lines.
Dean Maidment, Poole.
Owen Mitchell-Fryer, Cornwall. Natalie Mitchell-Fryer, Cornwall.
Damien Mottram, Cheshire. Joseph Pope, Swanage. Lydia Plumb, Noli'olk. Tyler Purnell, Somerset.
George Richards, Poole. Catherine Richards, Poole.
Simon Richardson, Ston-ington.
Philippa Ro1fe, Bucks.
Eleanor Rolfe, Bucks. Ryan Sherwood, Southampton. Ady Smith, Cheshire.
Alexander Smith, Cheshire.
Luke Spare, Camborne. Tom Tooley, Lines. Karl Trussler, Berks.
Alexander Tyrrell, Wilts.
Christian Tyrrell, Wilts. Jake Tweedy, Gratton. Harriet Tweedy, Gratton. Zak Whiteley, Salisbury. Hannah Williams, Shropshire. James Williams, Wrexham. Steven Williams, Wrexham.
