Williamson column engine

We've always been fans of Tubal Cain's elegant "Williamson" design. Based on an engine produced by the Williamson Brothers of Kendal, Westmorland which was shown at the International Exhibition of 1862, it has an almost architectural magnificence.

Only problem is it's rather small, standing at little more than 11 inches high. Its commensurately small component parts need a correspondingly high standard of machining to produce an engine that runs as well as it looks - sad to say, hitherto we've not seen that engine...

That is until now, when of the nicest stationary engines we've seen in some years has arrived in the works.

Built to exhibition standard by renowned designer and model engineer Anthony Mount, this is a Williamson engine scaled up from the original design by around one and a half times. Fit and finish of machined parts is excellent, the understated grey and black paintwork sets off the fine proportions of the engine particularly well.

It runs beautifully on air down to low speed, a combination of fine workmanship and its larger scale giving increased mass to the flywheel.