LTEC Journal November '14

The Journal of

The Lancashire Traction Engine Club

November ‘14 www.lancashiretec.co.uk www.facebook.com/LancashireTEC

NEWS COMMITTEE NEWS

CLUB MEETINGS

There is not much to report from the Club committee at the moment.

The treasurer indicated funds are still healthy. The subsidised club trip to the Black Country Museum cost a little more than expected as the coach also had to be subsidised due to low numbers of members attending the trip.

The club have also been approached by the Lymm Historic Transport day to see if we could offer any practical support to the steam section at future events.

As this is an event rapidly growing in popularity, and right in the heart of our area, the committee have agreed that, in principal, it is something we should look at; a new focus for the club’s activity. See elsewhere in the journal for a full report of this year’s event. Unfortunately the 2015 event will clash with Kelsall rally, which many of our members regularly attend.

However Chris Adamson, the event’s Steam Secretary and member of the LTEC, will be happy to hear from anyone who may be interested in exhibiting at the next event, on June 28th 2015.

The winter round of meetings will begin on November 2nd. Our guest that night will be Mr Atkinson. He has spoken to us in the past about the history of the Manchester Ship Canal. This time he will entertain us with an illustrated talk about Cotton Mills.

December’s meeting will be on 7th and will be the ususal Christmas nonsense.

The quiz this year will be presented by Jonathan Bregazzi - so I suggest you read up about steam-powered aircraft and unique steam-powered milk floats/ estate tractors if you fancy your chances of winning the quiz and presenting next year’s. The annual photographic competition will also be held. Find your best three photos and bring them along on the night, or email them to Richard on all-other-jobs@lancashiretec.co.uk Meetings are held on the first Sunday of the month, from November to April, at Flixton Conservative Club, adjacent to Abbotsfield Park. They begin at 8.00pm.

All members and friends are welcome to attend.

MEMBERSHIP NEWS I am glad to report that the difficulties that were apparent when I inherited this post have now been totally ironed out!

I thank those who have renewed their membership for 2014/15 - they are now properly documented in the records.

Those of you who have not renewed (you know who you are!!) will receive a reminder with this Journal and if you do

not renew then this will be the last Journal you receive.

Membership is holding at the levels it has for the last few years but we could always do with new members. Please encourage those who you feel might be interested.

Aidan membership@lancashiretec.co.uk

engine notes

By George Coles The rally season has just come to an end with the Acton bridge Steam Party attended this year by 18 engines (a record?) and the late Peter Froud who started the event in 1968 would have described it as a ‘good do’. Absent again this year was the steam tug Kerne which was unable to come up the River Weaver as it is still closed to large vessels due to the repairs at Sutton Weaver bridge.

Kerne is currently empty and stripped down ready to go into Cammel Lairds shipyard in the next few weeks. She will have repairs to the boiler supports and replating of the hull below the boiler, financed by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

It was good to see Hughie Winterbottom’s S4 Sentinel Waggon back on the rally fields again this year following a major overhaul, which has taken a number of years. He has recently advertised it for sale but tells me that he does not really want to sell it but has nobody to crew it for him. Fellow Sentinel owner Diane Carney acted as crew for him to drive it to Malpas rally and to Acton Bridge

During the summer Alan Thwaites of Warrington has purchased TWO traction engines! The first is the unique Robinson and Auden 6HP Single dating from 1900 which was owned for many years by Harry Lyon of Bedale, North Yorks. It is now in very poor condition and will need a complete rebuild. It will require a new boiler which will be made by Israel Newton and Co and the whole job is expected to take about 4 years. His other new engine is Marshall 6HP agricultural No 74614. This is in full working order and appeared at the Acton Bridge Steam Party. He purchased it only two weeks previously from Nigel Myers of Thirsk, North Yorks.

Earlier in the year Julian Stafford of Comberbatch Nr Northwich moved to Cumbria and sold his Aveling Roller No 9024 to a new owner in Somerset. His Aveling Barford Diesel Roller was sold to Clive Hearsey of Comberbatch which he brought to the Acton Bridge Steam Party.

I have just heard that Lee Chadderton who attends local rallies with his 4 inch Foster engine has sold it and bought a full size engine – a very old 10 ton Compound Aveling Roller.

At Malpas rally I was John McDonald-Smith of Knutsford give a demonstration in the arena with his Tasker B2 Tractor. He showed us how fast it could travel. I have just been told that he drove it to the Dorset Steam Fair in three days!

The Tasker and crew, ready for the off on their epic trip from Knutsford to Dorset.

TO RUBBER OR NOT TO RUBBER

By Richard Fairhurst Back in 1998, when I bought my engine off Dick Wood, he had three engines at the time, one running and two off the road, none of which were for sale.

He knew I was looking for an engine and offered me one of the two he wasn’t using.

There was an Aveling with a tree growing through it, which I could have had, on the condition that I took the tree as well! Then there was the Fowler which had saplings growing up around it and, as it was more of a runner than the Aveling, I opted for that one.

The rear wheels on the Fowler have cast rims bolted to the spokes. At some point in the past Aberdeen Council riveted steel tyres on the rims in 4 sections, with at least a half inch gap between each segment. The edges had been gas axed off, and as it looked unsightly this was one thing which was on my long “list of things to do”.

Several factors made me fit rubber tyres:• As the roller has a differential, at some point the wheels end up with the gaps lining up. Subsequently there is a intermittent jolt when travelling, normally happening when on a long straight section. It was awful to see how much the engine jolted. The gaps needed to be addressed.

• I have had several experiences of not being in control of the engine, both going up and down hill. One incident which springs to mind was when going over a hump back bridge. Trusty assistant Dave had gone to the other side to warn oncoming traffic and got bored of waiting so came to see where I

had got to. The engine had give up trying to go up hill and was gently sliding backwards even though all the motion and wheels rotating in the forward direction. Not to be recommended.

• A long discussion with Dick Wood’s son, Paul, who now owns Evening Star (the other Fowler that Dick owned before he passed away). Paul had had tyres fitted a couple of years ago and he could not sing the praises of them enough. Grip, smoother ride, quieter, etc were all plus points.

One slight downside is that anoraks and rivet counters won’t like them as they are not original, but my answer is that they can be easily removed should the next owner wish to do so.

I deliberated for some time, but there were several things which needed addressing anyhow. The edges of the steel tyres required tidying up, the gaps required filling and both wheels required repainting - the paint was coming off, and the lining which had been on it since I bought the engine, looked like it had been done with a yard brush.

Having rubber tyres fitted addressed many of the issues. The edges of the steel tyres would be tidied up, the rubber would fill in the gaps, and after being autoclaved, there would not be much paint left.

Decision was made and, in mid January, with the help of Geoff Baker and a wagon, we loaded up the wheels and took them to Batley in Yorkshire.

The wheels went as is, still with paint on and a bit oily.

The first part of the process was to put the wheels in the oven, so that all the oil and grease would be removed. The wheels were then put in a lathe so that the edges of the tyres could be trued up. The gaps between each tyre segment were cleaned out. The steel tyre surface was then shot blasted, and initially the gaps filled with rubber, to be followed with a thin strip of rubber 18” wide continuously rolled onto the wheel until the desired thickness was achieved. I opted for 1½”.

The whole wheel was then put in the autoclave to vulcanise the rubber. At this point

the paint was somewhat beyond a wash and polish, so the whole wheel was shot blasted and primed. The final part of the process was to put the wheels back in the lathe and trim the rubber to the required profile.

On the Monday before Easter, Geoff and myself made the trip back to Yorkshire to pick the wheels up. Then I just had the job of painting them.

It was interesting to see the wheels after shot blasting. The roughness of the castings, the amount of blow holes and the repairs.

There is even, cast into the wheel, “Made in England” which had been hidden under copious amounts of filler and paint.

Myself and trusty assistant Dave, have since spent many hours filling, rubbing down, more filling, rubbing down, priming, rubbing

While we were at it, the tender, gear guard and flywheel had the same treatment.

Another job we did while the wheels were off, was the fitting of the pipework for the tar spraying gear. I had all the necessary bits but,

up till now, had not got around to fitting them.

In fitting the pipework we have had to make several brackets, none of which were plain and simple. We also had to find the location of, and refit studs in, the bottom part of the tender. The spray nozzles now require fitting and a cover manufacturing, as per the works photograph, but that’s one of the many jobs on the list for next winter.

The final comment I can make after making the 24 miles round trip to Cheshire Steam, is that I wish I had fitted tyres sooner. down, undercoating (many times), rubbing down (many more times), top coat (colour called Mercedes Red), rubbing down, top coat, and finally lining.

I could have robbed a bank after that, since I had no finger prints for quite a while (but the “get away” roller isn’t fast enough)

Lymm Historic Transport Day: Report

By Chris Adamson BACKGROUND Lymm is a village very keen on its events and in 2013 looked to add to its annual stalwarts of the Easter Duck Race, May Queen and Dickensian celebrations.

The first Lymm historic transport day was in June of that year and proved an immediate success. The original event was pretty much organised by one man and (limited by budget) put on the best show possible.

Fortunately the event proved very popular and certainly successful enough to guarantee a second year.

2014 EVENT Unlike the original, the show is now more conventionally organised by committee and pretty much run as a rally. Each section being headed by a representative and all coordinated by the principal organiser Mr Alan Williams at monthly meetings from Sept until June.

The 2014 event was much larger and encompassed a far greater range of exhibits than the first.

The day started at 10:30 with a Grand Parade through the village centre, my own Aveling and Rob Haughton’s Burrell Devonshire were the last vehicles but we were greeted by an extremely enthusiastic crowd. (An interesting point to note that this was the first time steam had been officially allowed through Lymm in a number of years – due to a fear of cracking the block paving).

A park and ride scheme was introduced, included in the price of the event ticket you had a vintage bus ride

into the village. A sunny day contributed to attracting a crowd approx. 7000 strong.

The May Queen field played host to the entertainments, cars, stunt motorbikes and fairground including the usual array of rallyfield cuisine. Indeed this may have contributed to the booming day in the village centre food outlets!

The day ended with a fly-past of two vintage bi-planes, these did several circuits of the area to the sound of Mr Warinus Strodes fairground organ playing the ‘RAF march past’.

Local traders have informed me it was easily their busiest day of the year, outstripping both Dickensian and May Queen!

THE STEAM SECTION On the original transport day a lone roller ‘Samson’ flew the flag for our cause.

Pretty much being left to themselves the lone organiser was utterly unaware of the practicalities of exhibiting steam.

With the 2014 event looming there was an interest from the new committee to have a steam section. The plan I was faced with, a ‘trail of steam’ around the village. Those who know Lymm will know if someone was designing a village just to be awkward for traction engines it would probably look something like Lymm.

However their request was for 5 engines to be placed at various points around Lymm centre (pubs mostly). The landlords of the pubs in question were very welcoming and indeed asked if we could come back more often!

CAN YOU HELP NEXT YEAR? The 2015 event will take place on Sunday 28th June. We are aware that there is a clash with Kelsall Rally that day but I would like to make a plea for any engine owner interested and available to contact me. I can provide a secure location for overnight storage, for as long as necessary.

FEES? – There is no plan for the event to pay a fee to engine owners for the exhibition of their engines. However, for one day’s steaming, the coal allowance of at least 10 x 25kg bags per engine is very generous. All money raised by the event is invested in the following year’s show.

ONE DAY EVENT? – I am aware that several members would prefer it to cover the whole weekend to make it worthwhile (myself included). It is something I will bring up with the organiser to gauge its feasibility. However, for the present it remains one day. There may be nothing to stop you parking in front of the pub for two days though, with the landlord’s permission!

The feedback from Mr Haughton and Mr Bozon from the 2014 day was that it was as enjoyable, if not more so, than a conventional rally. The general consensus was that, being set around a village rather than on the field gave, it the feel of a miniLlandudno. Sam’s Folwer ‘Bonzo’ being parked outside the Spread Eagle had the added bonus of its crew being plied with free beer as Lees brewery were a principal sponsor.

You can contact Chris on 07841 871398

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Whilst every care is taken that information contained herein is true, accurate and fair, the publisher, editor or the Lancashire Traction Engine Club Ltd cannot take any responsibility for events araising from the use of this information. Any statements or opinions given in the journal are not necessarily those of the publisher or the club.

There are vacancies on the committee. If you would like to offer your services to the club and join the committee, please make your thoughts known to a current committee member, who will bring it up at the next committee meeting.

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