Sold November 2007 Back to Archive

Another PoP which has come in and, whilst not as shiny and show-stopping as Burrell-Builder's which I sold recently, has also had a good deal of work to turn it into a decent running engine.

Bought in fully assembled form from ModelWorks in 2005, this was reputedly the factory control model. Since purchase, the owner has modified the engine fairly comprehensively, in some areas to suit his own personal taste, in others to improve performance or reliability. Work to date comprises:

• Piston O ring grooves enlarged to imperial size (214) and O rings replaced with Viton 90 rings.
• Bleed valves added to valve chests.
• Damper added to ashpan.
• Chassis shortened by 3 inches and timber 'ballast box' style body added with seat and footrests.
• Cab shortened and moved forward over safety valve (as per Foden lorries).
• Front axle narrowed and positive camber added to front wheels to give a more 'scale' stance and appearance.
• New die blocks and small end pins, and sundry other fittings in the engine modified to improve fit.
• Tyres pinned to wheels.
• Traction engine style whistle fitted and the blower valve moved from the turret to the regulator valve chest.
• Slow starting notch added to steam port in regulator chest.
• Oil pots added to trunk guides and valve rod guides.
• Oil ports added to eccentric straps and big ends
• Blast nozzle modified to take screw-in inserts to allow for correct set-up to be achieved.
• Steering column shortened and support bracket improved.
• Wooden brake 'shoe' added to flywheel brake.

The basic specification comprises a silver-soldered boiler, working pressure 90psi, feed by injector and mechanical pump. Two cast iron cylinders, simple expansion, slide valves actuated by Stephenson's reversing gear with pole reverser in cab. Two road gears with final drive by chain.

I found the short truck body with seat and footrests comfortable, the whole thing fits easily into the back of an estate car.