'Traction Engine 'Building Project - Chingford & District Model Engineering Club,

John Baker Building a Traction Engine

"Fowler Showmans Engine"

This Traction Engine which is nearing completion (2003) has taken over 20 years to build,
I started building it in 1980.
It is a 4" scale live steam (coal fired) fully working miniature version of the full size engine.
Some items were purchased as castings the rest being scratch built.

Building a Traction Engine of this scale requires a good deal of special equipment.
As the final weight is around FIFTEEN cwt, is 3ft wide and 8ft long.
One rear wheel alone is over ONE cwt, so plenty of 4"x 2" wooden blocks, axle stands and
trolley jack are indispensable.
From the start the boiler must be kept off the ground, as it is the engines chassis and every thing
is fitted to it and various components, when attached, protrude below the foundation ring
of the boiler and could get damaged.

All steel welded boiler, with expanded steel tubes and hollow stays for horn plates.

Now fitted with hornplate assembly with crankshaft, first, second and
third gear shaft bearings.

Smokebox, chimney and front perch bracket fitted.

Dynamo mounting plate, rear axle, belly tank, footplate and rear tank all fitted.

A mobile car engine hoist is also very useful when fitting the hornplate assembly
or moving the flywheel, crankshaft, cylinder block and other heavy items.

Up on its wheels, with crankshaft, flywheel and cylinder block fitted.

My chosen method of working was to first make and fit each part, then remove for
painting and lining, then final fitting.
My aim was to prevent the iron and steel components rusting during the long building process
( over 20 years).
All painted brass areas (belly tank and footplate assembly) were first sand blasted and
immediately painted with etching primer and then final paint finish and lining added.

The footplate side and rear tank assembly, having been marked out is being
checked out on the main assembly.

The longest job was making the four wheels, around a year in total.
The rear wheel hubs are three oval castings that weigh about 15 lbs per hub.
Each hub was slotted to take 10 x 1" wide spokes each side, each spoke is 'T' shaped which
requires milling to shape, it than has two bends to fit between the wheel rim and hub.
As the hub is oval this means each spoke is a different length and bends at different points
to a different angle.
An assembly jig is required to hold the hub and rim (in four parts) in position.
Then each spoke is is adjusted and fitted with four - 2 BA size bolts to the rim and two
countersunk bolts to the hub, until the wheel is complete.
Each spoke is then removed in turn, glued and bolted back into the hub and the rim bolts
replaced with iron rivets.

Footplate assembly fitted with handbrake, towing bracket, winch fairleads and the
three speed gear train in place.

To continue with the wheels, now the fun bit - boring the axle holes, the rear wheels
are 30" in diameter (O.D.) and needs the axle hole bored to its final 2" diameter.
I was lucky to have access to a very large lathe at evening classes.
With its GAP BED removed and the wheel held in a very large four jaw chuck (oval hub remember)
there was about 1.1/2" to spare between rim and lathe bed.
The setting up took all evening to get the rim running true, the wheel then remained set up
until the next evening for bored to size.
With the lathe running at its slowest speed of 45 rpm the ONE cwt 30" diameter wheel
seemed to travel very fast indeed.
Various muscles were quite tense, but all worked to plan.
Then start again for the other rear wheel.
Fortunately the front wheels have round hubs and were much easier and quicker to make.
Having completed all this work , all that remained was to glue and rivet the
solid rubber tyres to the rims.

This shows the second and third shaft housing with lubrication pipes, winch drum
behind 'near side' wheel, final drive gear and differential gears behind 'offside' wheel,
also water pump (top right) and two water gauges (centre).

The final assembly of main parts, ready for fitting the wheels.

Some of the now painted parts awaiting final assembly.
Front right are the solid polished brass 'Olivers' (twisted roof supports as in 'Oliver Twist').
Top right, the roof with four wooden and four brass angle spars fitted to strip wood planks,
then covered with cotton sheet before painting to weather proof the roof.

Late summer 2003 the fully assembled engine on its specially adapted trailer at the
clubs railway track for boiler hydraulic testing.

Having removed the roof to make access easier the boiler is having its initial hydraulic (water) test.
The boiler is first filled with water until it is completely full, it is then pressurized using a
hand pump and then checked for any signs of leakage.
This is one of several tests that have to be made before the boiler is given a safety certificate.
(by the way that's me with the cap).

There are strict rules regarding the testing of pressure vessels and the club has several
members that are authorized to carry out the testing.
Yes it did pass and the next job is to test the boiler 'in steam'..

Following the Hydraulic test I then need to check the boiler under steam pressure so
brought my Engine along to one of our Sunday meetings to give it a try out.

To make life easier I have removed the roof (again), while I give the boiler a live 'steam' test,
to check everything is working correctly before it has its official certificate test.

On the evening of Wednesday 11th August 2004, having completed all the boiler testing and
necessary registration and insurance paperwork, I was ready to run 'Endeavour' for the first time.
I am about to reverse her off the trailer.

Underway in steam for the first time, initially moving very slowly just to check that all
the linkages and gears were working correctly, which can not be carried out properly while on the trailer.

"This beats walking", with a good head of steam I was able to run her properly for a while, but
as you can see from the glow from the fire box it was starting to get dark, which means
I must finish installing the lights, these will be powered from the dynamo (in front of the chimney)
belt driven from the flywheel.
The pair of brackets on the roof are to hold an extension tube for the chimney,
used to keep the exhaust smoke and steam clear of the engine when used as a static power unit
to drive fairground rides etc.

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