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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. All items are held copyright by the contributor and the NTET. The Editor reserves the right to amend or refuse contributions. The magazine is normally published during 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.
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Have you got an image or story you’d like to share? Why not send it to sac.raisingsteam@ntet.co.uk!
Front cover: Aveling & Porter E Type Roller No. 10707 Pegasus at Beamish. Nick Bosworth
Rear cover: New build Fowler B6 Road Locomotive Talisman at Beamish. Nick Bosworth.
Thoughts from the Editor
Jim Huntley
Hello and welcome to the Autumn edition of Raising Steam!
What a season it’s been! I hope you’ve all managed to get out and about to lots of rallies, driving days and road runs! I think our crew managed over a dozen rallies over the summer. I wonder where next year will take us?!
The SAC had a large presence at the Bedford Steam Rally this year, with Lady Sylvia and the miniature playpen in attendance which was good to see! It’s also been good to see so many members making use of the miniature playpen, both at Bedford and at other rallies throughout the season.
The competition entries from you members at the Bedford rally were once again absolutely brilliant, and I know the judges all had a very hard time choosing the winners. Do check them out later on in this edition, I’m sure you’ll be just as impressed as we were. Please do enter next year when the time comes!
There have been plenty of driving days held over the year which from what I hear have all gone very well, with lots of happy apprentices. It would be brilliant to hear from those of you who went on them to hear what you got up to and what
you learnt, which might encourage other members to join in with future SAC driving days, so please do write in!
Meanwhile, down the yard, has added another portable engine to his collection, meaning there are now 19 engines in the shed, we’ve successfully steamed the steam fire engine we were working on, and we’ve been rebuilding a threshing machine amongst other projects, general maintenance of the engines and rallying the engines. Enough from me, I hope you enjoy this edition of Raising Steam. As ever, if you’ve something you’d like to write in about or just send some photos in, please do - it’s much more interesting seeing what you’ve been up to than me!
Happy Steaming!
Thoughts from the Chairman
Nick Bosworth (Acting Chair)
Welcome to the Autumn edition of Raising Steam!
This summer has been a time of anniversaries and celebrations. We are now in the 45th year of the Steam Apprentice Club, the club has now had over 7000 members throughout its history, and the Bedford Rally in September saw the 10th anniversary of the unveiling of Lady Sylvia, our 4” miniature. It was 10 years ago at the Bedfordshire Steam and Country Fayre where we unveiled the biggest project the Steam Apprentice Club has ever undertakenbuilding our own miniature! The build
was started in 2012 at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, and continued through 2013 and 2014. Built from a Steam Traction World kit, where all the parts were assembled and painted by members of the Steam Apprentice Club. Lady Sylvia was named after Sylvia Dudley, one of the founders of the SAC. Over the past 10 years Lady Sylvia has been one of our most valuable tools, travelling all over the country to help us teach our members. I must thank John Rex for the recent donation of a water cart kit to accompany Lady Sylvia. We’ve had a number of new volunteers come forward (more are always welcome), and thanks to them we have
been able to attend more events this summer. Rona Steam & Vintage Rally, Netley Marsh, South Cerney, Chertsey Show, The West of England Steam Engine Society Rally, Shrewsbury Steam Rally and Bedfordshire Steam and Country Fayre have all come in quick succession. I have not been able to attend them all myself, but I would like to thank our teams for the time they have given towards our displays and activities over the summer. Over 100 apprentices have attended driving days in 2024. Again, I would like to thank all of the volunteers and organisations who take the time to organise the driving days on our behalf.
In 2007 I went along to a meeting of the SAC Committee to see about getting involved. I was 21 and had not long left the SAC myself. Little did I know that over 17 years later I would be writing my final report as Chair of the Steam Apprentice Club.
Earlier this year I announced my intention to step down as Chair of the SAC at the NTET AGM this November, and appealed for additional help to run the club. Thankfully we now have several new volunteers, including a candidate to take over the chairmanship of the club and take it forward. It is my pleasure to introduce Paul Stingmore, our candidate for SAC Chair. Paul is a newcomer to our organisation and, should he be elected in November, will take over as Chair. Some of you may have met him at the Bedford rally a few weeks ago.
Whilst my time as chair is coming to an end, it is still my intention to support the SAC team going forward and help wherever I can. Therefore I conclude my final report by wishing the SAC team, our members, and everyone who promotes the future of our hobby, the best of luck in the future.
Happy Steaming Nick Bosworth (SAC Chair)
A Welcome...
We’ve recently gained a few new committee members and helpers in the SAC - I’ll be getting them all to write an introduction in due course, and first up is a welcome from new committee member Paul Stingmore.
Hi everyone, I’m Paul. By the time of your reading this, I should be your new Chairman! I’ve got lots of ideas about what we might do next and will share them in future issues.
Before I introduce myself properly, I want to extend a huge thanks to Nick, Becky and Louise who have all done loads for the SAC in the last few years. All 3 will continue to be active in day to day delivery of the club, but I’m hoping that between Gareth and I, we can pick up a bit of the additional work!
I’ve met a fair few of you over the summer already but for those I haven’t, let me tell you more about me. I got into steam by going to a driving day hosted by the SAC (quite a long time ago!). There I was introduced to an engine owner who took me under his wing and taught me to look after and drive his Fowler Road Loco and Ploughing engines. Within a couple of years, I had bought my own collection of Fowler parts…fast forward 20 years and the Fowler is now on the rally field. I’m keen to bring that type of experience to as many apprentices as possible!
Aside from steam, I also have a vintage car and love going out for drives in that with my partner and our 2 dogs (Mabel and Evie). We’ve also just started our next project, the rebuild of a 1940s showman’s wagon.
I’m really looking forward to meeting all of you, helping you get more steam experience and eventually to seeing you drive engines of your own!
A New Apprentice Project!
The club were recently at the Bedford Preservation Society rally at Old Warden. This is a fantastic rally and getting bigger and bigger. Louise, Gareth, Danielle and Oliver were giving lessons on the miniatures and arranging for drives on full size engines.
Unknown to us, quietly watching throughout all of this was John Rex. John has a number of miniatures and owns John Rex Model Engineers which makes and sells parts and kits for them.
John was so impressed by the Apprentices and by all the effort to get you all involved with steam, that he decided there and then to donate a 4” water bowser kit to the club for use with Lady Sylvia. The kit is currently flat pack, and will need to be assembled and painted. We will aim to get apprentices doing this at rallies from next spring. Hopefully by mid summer it will be painted and assembled and in use with Lady Sylvia!!
If you see John at a show, please do go and introduce yourself as an apprentice and thank him!
John Rex Model Engineers can be found here: www.miniaturesteam.com
Summer Competitions - The Winners
We were delighted to be back running our competitions at the Bedford Steam Rally and to receive so many competition entries to our competitions which were judged during the week at the Steam Fair.
Each and every one of you showed such talent and skill that our judges had a VERY hard time deciding who should be the overall winners. And here they are...
The Photographic Competition
Ethan Webb
Elliot Jones
The Colouring Competition
First
Toby Stapley-Smith
Second
Nathaniel Doughty
Third
Aster Churchill-Salter
A very realistic scene with a lovely authentic colour scheme for the Marshall.
A nicely shaded and neatly done scene, with a brightly coloured engine!
The Model Competition
A lovely bright colour scheme for the engine and the farm!
First Second
Ethan Webb
A neatly executed 3d printed model of a Fowler road locomotive.
Elliot Jones
A very brightly coloured Lego model of a showman’s engine!
Member Mail
SAC Member Christopher Wilkins has written in to tell us about his time helping with the engines at the Hollycombe Fairground Extravaganza.
As the Great Dorset Steam Fair is not on anymore, we went to the Hollycombe Fairground Extravaganza. We have been volunteering at Hollycombe Steam Collection for 3 years and on most weekends I have been lucky enough to have been helping on a selection of full size engines including Hollycombe’s Brown & May portable which powers Hollycombe’s set of steam swings, the collections 7nhp Marshall traction engine Dorothy, and Lady Olivia (a Garrett 4CD showman’s tractor).
At this year’s Fairground Extravaganza, I was tasked with getting Lady Olivia and Dorothy into steam. Once both engines where in steam I oiled them both up before starting Dorothy. Then when my Dad came back from helping with other things we started to generate with Lady Olivia ready for when we opened to the public. It is good fun and a good experience generating with a showman’s engine but can get repetitive, so we swapped between the two engines. This gave whoever was generating a break. Throughout the day and into the night it was fairly easy to keep it all going as we where only generating for the lights on the engine. This meant that we were running at 110 volts and drawing 15 amps. After we closed on the Sunday, all exhibitors and volunteers were provided with a BBQ by the collection to say thank you for their support. Whilst everybody was drinking at the bar I was left to generate into the night.
On the last day (Monday) I got Lady Olivia ready. After Dad had finished car parking duty, he came back and helped me for the rest of the day. As Dad was on generating, I was asked if I would like to have a go steering Chris and Laura Lawson 8nhp Marshall traction engine. It was a great experience and was very kind of them to let me have a go. All in all it was a superb weekend with many visiting rides and engines including The Masterpiece which stood in the fairground in pride of place. We had some visiting fairground rides which included Holland’s Cake Walk and Meakin’s Dodgems. I would also like to say a big thank you to the team at Hollycombe and to Chris and Laura Lawson for letting me play with their engines.
NTET Driver Training Course
NTET DRIVER TRAINING SCHOLARSHIPS
The NTET is awarding Scholarships to participate in the NTET Driver Training Course which is held in May each year. The Scholarship covers the course fees for one year, NOT incidental expenses such as travelling, accommodation and food.
The scholarships are open to non-engine owners being members of nonengine owning families, who are members of the NTET.
For more details of the Scholarship and Course, visit: www.ntet.co.uk
Applications including a cv and a statement of why you wish to attend the 3 year Driver Training Course should be submitted by 31st January to the General Secretary of the Trust: general.secretary@ntet.co.uk
Member Mail
SAC member Harry has written in to tell us about his first year as a member of the SAC.
My name is Harry and I've been a SAC Member for just over a year. I've always had an interest in road steam but coming from a non-engine family it's quite difficult to get hands-on experience with engines. During the 2023 season at the Marsworth Rally I was informed about the SAC and what it could offer me. Without a doubt I signed up as a member and attended the Bedfordshire rally where I had a go on my first engines.
The day started by learning the basics and getting a feel for engines on the miniatures and then I got the opportunity to steer a Wallis and Steevens tractor, followed by an Aveling and Porter roller named Miracle. Bedford that year was amazing and I couldn't wait to do more. Then the driving days came around and I managed to get a place on the Horsham and Hertfordshire driving days. Horsham was an outstanding day, I crewed on the Foden Omnibus Puffing Billy which was a huge learning curve to learn the complications of switching to and from double high, I then managed to have a drive and steer of Burrell Crane engine His Majesty, then the day came to a close and I couldn't thank Dee and Les Searle enough for such an amazing day.
Unfortunately the weather didn’t allow for the Hertfordshire Driving day to happen which was a shame but there was nothing anyone could do to prevent it. After the long wait of a year I attended the Bedfordshire steam rally again, but this time back at Old Warden! The SAC’s organised for me and my friend to crew on Paul Stingmore’s Fowler R class No.10242 Resolute and what a brilliant day this was. From a 5am wake up call to a 5pm car journey home, We lit up the engine and chuffed around for the day allowing for some key skills to be learnt like firing and water management on the move. I am forever grateful for what the SAC has done for me and my experience with steam. I
From The Archive...
Another set of lovely old photos from the archive. If you’ve researched the history of any engines, then please send what you ve found out in to share with other members.
A lovely Wallis and Steevens compound ’oil-bath’ steam tractor No. 2946. Note the unusual mounting of the water tank around the base of the chimney
Burrell 8nhp single crank compound showman’s engine No. 1993 Diamond Queen of 1897. Supplied new to John Whittington of Sheffield to work with his set of three abreast gallopers in the South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire area. A stunning engine.
A terrifying reminder of what can happen when a boiler is neglected, and maintenance shoddily carried out. This 1870s Fowler single cylinder ploughing engine No. 3616 owned by Pamplin Bros exploded on June 15th 1904. Somehow the driver survived with minor injuries, however a nearby farmworker was hit by a part of the engine and killed. Amazingly, the engine was rebuilt and continued in use for another thirty years!
Edward Danter is seen here at work demolishing bombed buildings during the Swansea Blitz on 21st February 1941. Kitchener was supplied new to John Collins then sold to Danter’s in 1931.
In The Workshop...
We’ve been busy removing a set of tubes from a small vertical boiler. Where the tubes were so rusted, they were so weak that they collapsed when we attempted to drift them out of the tube plate. This meant that we ended up trying to use a taper reamer to drill them out them - we got very lucky in that the taper reamer ended up catching in the tubes, which broke the hold on them and allowed them to be pulled out with the drill. Just goes to show that sometimes you just have to get on and see what happens!
Steam It Sunday
The NTET’s annual Steam It Sunday event was rebranded to Steam It Seventy this year to celebrate 70 years since the founding of the NTET. It was great to see so many NTET and SAC members steaming their engines up of all sizes, some as far afield as Australia. Here are a few pictures shared on the Steam It Sunday Facebook page.
Then and Now
For this editions ‘Then and Now’ we take a look at Marshall 5 ton steam tractor No. 65650 of 1914. Photos thanks to Neil Thompson and Ben Mathews.
Then: Photo taken in her working days when owned by Thomas Savage of Aberystwyth. She is seen hauling a brand new Marshall portable from the
Competition
Thankyou to those who got in touch to guess what the photo was in the last edition, we had one correct answer, this time, from Charlie Lodge.
We had The Masterpiece connected up to the ‘salt bath’ to test the dynamo and governors of the engine. The salt bath is a large container full of salty water into which contacts from the dynamo are place. The salty water produces a high resistance to the flow of current, which puts a heavy load on the engine. By inserting and removing the contacts, the load can be varied and the governors set.
For this editions question, can anyone tell me what this part is, and what the next step is to do before fitting it to the engine? Hint: it’s sat on a large drilling machine...
Send in your guesses or answers to sac.raisingsteam@ntet.co.uk and we’ll publish the correct answer in the next edition of Raising Steam.
