Sold April 2009 Back to Archive

A well made Burrell traction engine to the Plastow design, complete with driving/passenger trailer, electric blower, spark arrester, set of firing irons and a large bag of coal - basically the complete rallying kit!

Silver soldered copper boiler, feed by injector and mechanical pump, twin pop-type safety valves replace prototypical Ramsbottom type (which in my experience either leaks endlessly or accumulates horribly on three inch Burrells - two out of three that come in we remachine to pass enough steam). Cast iron cylinder with slide valve actuated by Stephenson's reversing gear, pole reverser on footplate. Mechanical lubricator. Draincocks are rod-operated from the footplate and, along with the trunk guide drip tray drain are piped neatly away underneath the engine, clipped to the cladding sheet.

Fit and finish of all parts is good, the engine has been built to a high standard. There are neat little detail touches like the toolbox slung under the footboard, opening to reveal a set of appropriately-sized spanners.

As usual with our traction engines these days, it's been through Ashley's expert hands in the workshop - after a full day of servicing, cleaning and testing it he still found time to have half an hour's running round the estate in the sunshine (purely to check it out you understand, nothing to do with steaming anything with four wheels and a firehole door given half a chance...). There's a clip of the great man at work here.

Length 45 inches
Weight 250 pounds