Sold September 2005 Back to Archive

A well-made Allchin traction engine to the W.J.Hughes design for "Royal Chester". Widely-regarded as the first close-to-scale drawings produced for a model traction engine, Hughes had access to the full-size engine in the 1950s (an engine now in preservation) and produced a highly detailed design which remains extremely faithful to the original. Written up in the "Model Engineer", Hughes subsequently published the construction articles as a book which is still available.

Although often tackled by newcomers to model engineering attracted by its modest size, the design calls for a considerable amount of experience to build successfully, both in the ability to tackle complex individual parts and also to cope with the sheer quantity of bits - basically if it was on the original engine, it appears on the model.

Copper boiler, feed by mechanical pump on the second shaft and injector. Three cock water gauge with blowdown, pressure gauge. Two speed with differential and back axle-mounted winch. Mechanical lubricator for cylinder with drain cocks operated from footplate.

The trailer is a well thought out and nicely executed job in its own right. It has a set of ramps allowing the engine to be loaded onto the back for transport - a quickly detachable long handle makes pulling and steering easy. With the engine off the trailer, the long handle is removed and a tow-bar fitted allowing the engine to pull its own trailer.

The engine was built many years ago and has never been steamed, although it has been run on air. The governor requires work to complete and the mechanical lubricator lid is missing.

Length 26 inches
Weight 80 pounds