Sold August 2008 Back to Archive

I'm not usually a great borrower of tools and other bits of workshop equipment, however when I had to collect this engine, friend Dal lent me his two-ton four-wheeled trailer to fetch it. Big mistake, we got it loaded and safely (as we thought) home, only to find on arrival back at Station Road Steam HQ that the back wheels of the engine had gone straight through the bed of the trailer.

As we speak, Jacksons at Lincoln are cutting out a new piece of exterior ply from a specially ordered huge sheet in order to get a single 8 x 5 foot piece without a join (and, happily, Dal is still speaking to me).

A 6 inch scale traction engine, substantially complete, from the same builder as the 4 1/2 inch Allchin currently in stock. Built along roughly the same lines as an Allchin, it's basically a large, freelance engine although of quite decent proportions.

Steel boiler with expanded tubes, feed by mechanical pump. Cast iron cylinder block, slide valve actuated by Stephenson's valve gear with pole reverser on footplate. Mechanical lubricator, drain cocks designed for rod operation, but currently missing operating linkage. Two speed transmission, all by gears.

The builder only ever ran the engine on air, it runs well in forward gear with a healthy bark to the exhaust, reverser still provides some optimisation opportunities as we say. The safety valves would be fine on a 3 inch scale engine and might just about serve for a 4 inch, but are much too small for this size of boiler.

Length 88 inches
Height 65 inches
Width 44 inches
Flywheel 20 inches diameter
Rear wheels 33 inch diameter
Front wheels 20 inch diameter