Sold March 2013 Back to Archive

Whilst I've had 3 inch scale versions of the Savage "Little Samson" in before, I'd never, until the last couple of weeks, seen a 6 inch version. Now, rather like waiting for a bus, in the last fortnight I've had the opportunity to drive two of the three engines built in this scale to date - I could easily be persuaded to keep one of them for myself!

Already a well-proven design in the smaller scales, at half full size it makes a really useful engine - big enough for two people to sit on comfortably (that's No.1 son, Sam in the pictures - he and I are both 6' 5". He's 11 stone, I'm - er - a bit more, but we can ride on the engine together with plenty of room for our legs and no tendency for the front end to hop up and down).

This one has been built as a steam tractor, with canopy and rubber tyres. Commercially built, it was completed at the end of 2010 and has had next to no use since delivery - it drives like a new engine.

Steel CE-marked boiler by AJB Engineering, expanded tubes, 140psi working pressure. Feed by mechanical pump and injector. Twin safety valves. Single cylinder with slide valve actuated by Stephenson's gear, pole reverser on footplate. Mechanical lubricator.

We've had a good deal of fun with this one - it's one of the nicest engines of this size I've driven in the last couple of years. The machine is easy to drive, the steering light and positive, controls fall easily to hand and the boiler makes steam like it's going out of fashion - all in all a very nicely sorted machine. If you need more information, give me a call and I'll enthuse a bit more, if you'd like to come and see it working, fix up a day and bring your overalls...

There's a clip of the engine running around our yard last week here.

The engine is complete with a four wheel water bowser.

Length 80 inches
Weight 1 ton 5 cwt