Has anyone restored a steam traction engine?

i love going to steam rallies seeing all the traction engines and steam rollers. i have a real like of them. not old enough to drive one. fred dibnah says its hard to make a rusty wreck sort of thing back into a beautiful engine again. how long does it take to restore one? a fowler agraculural engine owner let me stand on the footplate of his engine, got covered in coal dust but don't mind getting dirty.

 

Firstly I have not restored a full sized traction engine (I stop at 1/3 full size). How long does is take? It depends.. is the best answer. Unless you or a friend has one sitting around, you have to find one for sale at a price you are willing to pay . They do not come cheap. Then you need to determine what needs to be done. With machines it's not just cleaning off some rust and applying paint. What is needed is enthusiasm and committment (both time and especially money). Sorry to not give a specific reply but it can vary from week for a repaint to a lifetime... Look at Traction Talk for restoration diaries. That will give you examples.

 

Perhaps the simpler solution for you would not to try jumping in at the deep end and for you to go and join a collection of some sort. For example I am a volunteer The Hollycombe Steam Collection in Hampshire in which i have been able work on and learn alot about steam in general. This sort of thing might suit your needs more than a full size restoration project!

Regards
Jake

 

I was very lucky to drive a steam roller at a rallie at nothampton race course some 35 years ago not easy from what i can remember very hard to drive if fact ;i was only 22 but use to go to a lot of steam rallies with my late husband ;now 57 and love working on the king feeding the lads;

 

My father and I restored a Fowler roller to ex works condition back in the 1960's.

Ok it was complete but in a state after being dumped with a suspect boiler but I had other ideas as I suspected the fusible plug had gone because the tank inspection cover had been smashed losing all the water. this was the case.
We got it for the grand sum of £50.
Then the work started, we built a large shed big enough for two engines and a workshop at the back.
The only problem turned out to be the plug this was replaced and the boiler inspector said it was in superb condition.
The engine was restored to original condition with a few modifications being made.
The piston rod packings and those of the valve spindle kept blowing due to necking caused by condensation collecting in the packing casing rust.
Considerable corrosion had reduced their diameters so as to need re-packing regularly, we made new ones from stainless steel solved the problem.
I drove this engine until 1968 when a M/C accident put me in as wheelchair, my dad lost heart and sold the engine.
I have since seen a picture of this engine and unless the caption is wrong it is a disgrace.
On balance it was hard work but rewarding were my circumstances different. would I do it again? of course I would.
My only regret was that I was not able to progress to the preserved railways and do the same on loco's

Cheers Dave

 

Ours was a ruin, we got it in June 2003, and it still isn't done - but I have had 3 house moves, 2 jobs and 2 children and a marriage to hold together as well. Steam isn't the only thing in my life and the roller has had to take its turn. In total it will have been more like 6 months work if you condensed it all together. Some people take longer, some people take less, some people have more money to spend on their engines, few have less than we have. Ours is out in the open, so basically much stops at this time of year. That said, we're getting closer...

 

It depends just how much of a rusty wreck the engine is, and just how you define 'restore'!

Some of the 'unrestored' engines available these days are little more than a cylinder and a pattern! The boiler will need largely replacing, the motion is missing and there's no boiler fittings. In those cases you'll need a lot of time, a fair amount of money, and access to suitable machine tools - alternatively you'll need very deep pockets to contract out the work to other people.

It is still possible to find engines that are essentially complete, they've been parked up under cover and nothing has been removed from them. In those cases much will hinge on the condition of the boiler and just how you think a 'restored' engine should look.

My own roller fell into the latter category. It had been in various private collections for just over 40 years before being brought out, dusted off and looked at by a boiler inspector. A retube and a couple of broken stays later it was unseized and back on the road. I subsequently bought it and ran it for a few years before it needed some boiler work at the end of 2009. The exact amount required grew a bit, but since Oct '09 I've stripped it right down and am in the process of fitting a new barrel, tubeplate and totally restaying it.

I've now just got to fit and rivet the tubeplate in, then fit the stays before I'll be able to rebuild it all - hopefully seeing it back on the road later this summer. By the time I've finished it will still be in the original 1914 condition it was when the council finished with it in the 1960's, and no end of people will still tut-tut about it's 'tatty' condition. To my mind I am not 'restoring' the engine, I'm simply carrying out essential maintenance - in the same way the council did! The biggest compliment to me will be if nobody can see what I've done to it.

Hopefully it will have taken less than 2 years by the time I've finished, which will have been achieved working on my own in the corner of a muddy field (Ok, I've had help to do the riveting! Lol and a lot of moral support from others). The difference is, unlike Mr. Coulls, I don't have a life outside steam, I don't have a wife and I don't have a family. I've been working on it every weekend for the last 16 months with only 4 or 5 off for good behaviour!


...Oh, and drat - it seems i've fallen out of the closet and stopped lurking. :doh:

 

Could this be a call for a sub forum, Traction Engines? And welcome to the forum!

 

Which presumably means you're also not in any financial position to buy your own, even unrestored, at this point in time.

If you don't already know a friend with an engine who you're able to join, then it might be worth investigating the "Steam Apprentice Club". Membership is open to children and young adults up to the age of 21 (legal age to drive a steam powered vehicle on the road). They usually organise a couple of experience days during the year at various venues where you're able to learn in a hands-on way about running/driving road steam engines. As a member you're also eligible for free entry at some rallies.

In the road steam arena the vast majority of engines are owned, maintained and operated by private individuals, and perhaps a couple of their friends. That means away from specific 'experience days' you have to rely on the generosity of engine owners, or form friendships with engine owners, to be in a position to get involved in the dirty stuff!

 

Oh Dave, that really Sad..I feel for you! I really don't know what I would do if I wasn't restoring some locomotive or another.
Jim

 

I have restored a traction engine from derelict in my back garden! Its 15ton, and took 10 years. As for an additional section to the forum, no need to worry, as there's already a brilliant site from us Traction engine owners at www.traction-talk.com

 

I bought my first engine when I was 20 (an 12 ton aveling roller 8827) and have since had 2 more engines. Dedication and not being scared of hard work is what its all about.

If anyone is Essex based and fancies a day out on an engine let me know.

Stan