Sold July 2020 Back to Archive

We don't often see Cramptons in any gauge, but especially not in the larger scales. This one has come to us from the builder, the first 7 1/4 inch gauge version we've bought in 20 years - I only know of one other (which means that by Monday morning two dozen people will have emailed in pictures of their engines...).

Based on descriptions by M Sharman and E Twining, a set of drawings for the engine was worked up based around a stretched 3 inch scale Burrell traction engine boiler, built for the project by Franklin & Bell.

Boiler feed is anachronistically arranged via a pair of injectors (Giffard had yet to invent them when the prototype was built), hidden away in a nod to authenticity, with a pair of crosshead pumps as backup. The pressure gauge is similarly a new-fangled gadget, not present on the full-sized engine.

If ever there was a candidate for a good tidy up, this engine is it. Whilst cosmetically tired, we'd heard from one or two people that the engine was a bit of a goer, so finally got around to giving it a run.

Ashley's test notes sum it up fairly succintly: "Runs nicely in both directions with two working axle pumps and two injectors. A nicer running engine than it looks".

Having driven it I have to agree - mesmeric in action, it's difficult to take your eyes off the frying pan-sized eccentrics gently rotating next to the footplate. With twelve inch diameter driving wheels it accelerates gently but feels as if, given its head on the track, it would have a good turn of speed. A recent visitor who has driven the engine at the previous owner's club reports it as something of a flyer.

What it could really use is a serious tidy up and repaint - whilst mechanically it runs with a good deal of elan, it needs burnished steel, polished brass, varnished wood and a decent paint job to recreate some Victorian splendour!