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This year’s Stoke Row Road Run was blessed with many exhibits and excellent weather. Engines made their way from the Greenaway’s yard and other locations to The Sun at Whitchurch Hill for lunch. An inundated landlady made everyone very welcome. … Continue reading
The Club will be visiting the premesis of David Wren Davis on Saturday 1st June. This will involve a tour of Prestwood in Buckinghamshire including a stop at a micro brewery. Hopefully the tour will be steam powered, although this won’t be with the Burrell “Britannia” (hope I’ve spelt it right!) due to other commitments.
The tour will start at 1.30pm.
Places are limited, so please confirm by email or telephone to secretery Carole Davis if you would like to attend;
email: carole.davis15@googlemail.com
telephone: 01276 709994
Wren Davis location is marked by the red “A”
For those who prefer not to read maps the sat nav address is HP16 0HP.
Don’t forget the May TVTEC club meeting next week (13th). Alan Stevens will be coming along to show the second part of his cine film collection from the 60’s and 70’s.
Sam Love and Pedler with the Threshing set at an Appleford Rally
At The TVTEC April meeting next Monday 8th April, James Wren Davis will be talking about the recent heavy general overhaul of the families Burrell 8nhp showman’s engine No. 2668, “Britannia”. This promises to be an evening worth turning out for. See you there.
Brittannia seen at an unknown rally in the 1980’s
Robert Cox has sent this picture of another bridge sign, this time in North Wales. Do you know of any more?
Bridge restriction sign in North Wales
Club member Tristan Leverett reports:
A rather nice little local landmark for steam enthusiasts within the Thames Valley is a little known and fairly hidden piece of history. Now don’t get too excited, its not some rusty old engine lying in a back garden with free to good home sign on it, but actually a lovely old cast iron sign!
At the bottom Northbrook Street in Newbury is a road called Mansion House Street, on its corner a rather imposing Victorian brick Town Hall building stands complete with cast GR red post box built into its walls, it also hosts an easily ignorable sign designed for the eyes of traction engine drivers passing through the town.
Cast Iron sign advising Traction Engine drivers where not to drive in Historic Market Town Newbury.
Like the cast iron sign on Henley Bridge heeding a warning to engine drivers to only take one load at a time, people must walk past it everyday and probably never read it. But next time you’re that way why not pay a visit to the sign and take a moment to think what it was like back a 100 years when the busy streets of Newbury weren’t cluttered up with generic chain stores, ugly buses but shops with painted signs and gold leaf frontages, traction engines and steam wagons feeding this old market town, picking up loads from the narrow boats on the Kennet and of course avoiding Mansion House Street and the invariable bobby that would have been there waiting ready with his book and pencil the minute he heard a barking engine on the approach!
Member Trevor Clay who owns Burrell 3″ scale traction engine “Bill” provides some interesting information on weights and speeds:
Comparing scale weights and speeds of miniatures against full size weights and speeds
I have often wondered about how hard miniature engines have to work when being driven around rally fields, lanes, hills etc so I have tried to establish the scaled up speeds and towed weights that are typical of miniature traction engines.
I have made some tables that should provide an understanding of the relationship between the different scales and a full size engine.
For example:- Quite often, when I am giving rides, I have got a typical towed weight of 750lbs behind my 3” Burrell. This is made up by the following:- 2 trailers (total weight 150lbs), myself (200lbs) and a load consisting of 2 adults (200lbs each) or 4 children (100lbs each) , and can be pulled over soft wet grass at a speed of 2 to 2.5 mph. Tarmac is better as a speed of up to 3.5 mph is possible with ease whilst on the flat. These weights are approximate and can easily be exceeded. This equates to just over 21 tons and with a speed for a full size engine equating to 8 to 10 mph on grass or 14 mph on tarmac.
Some more comparisons
If you take a 2” engine and assume it is on tarmac or dry hard ground. With a speed of 1 to 1.5mph and a typical load of 200lbs to 250lbs this equates to 6 to 9mph with a load of 19.3 to 24.1 tons with a full size engine.
Below are two tables that give examples of various weights and scales.
Table showing:- Scale weight to true weight.
| Scale | Scale Weight (lbs) | Conversion Factor | Scaled up Weight (lbs) | Weight (tons) |
| (“/ft) | ||||
| 1 | 500 | 1728 | 864000 | 385.7 |
| 2 | 500 | 216 | 108000 | 48.2 |
| 3 | 500 | 64 | 32000 | 14.3 |
| 4 | 500 | 27 | 13500 | 6.03 |
| 4.5 | 500 | 19 | 9481 | 4.23 |
| 5 | 500 | 14 | 6912 | 3.09 |
| 6 | 500 | 8 | 4000 | 1.79 |
Table showing:- True weight to scale weight.
| Scale | True Weight (tons) | Conversion Factor | Scale Weight (as lbs) | Scale Weight (as tons) |
| (“/ft) | ||||
| 1 | 10 | 1728 | 13 | 0.01 |
| 2 | 10 | 216 | 104 | 0.05 |
| 3 | 10 | 64 | 350 | 0.16 |
| 4 | 10 | 27 | 830 | 0.37 |
| 4.5 | 10 | 19 | 1181 | 0.53 |
| 5 | 10 | 14 | 1620 | 0.72 |
| 6 | 10 | 8 | 2800 | 1.25 |
It looks like the smaller scale engines are most likely to be worked hardest, even if the driver only is being pulled. I have heard about a 1” Minnie pulling a car back in the 1950/60s and that equated to a lot of weight if you scale it up.
With the speed, it is very simple to convert from scale speed to the equivalent speed of a full engine, you just multiply by the speed of the model by it’s scale, ie
Table showing actual road speed to scale speed.
| Road speed (mph) | scale “/foot | ||||||
| 1” | 2” | 3” | 4” | 4.5” | 5” | 6” | |
| 1 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2.67 | 2.4 | 2 |
| 2 | 24 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 5.33 | 4.8 | 4 |
| 3 | 36 | 18 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 7.2 | 6 |
| 4 | 48 | 24 | 16 | 12 | 10.67 | 9.6 | 8 |
| 5 | 60 | 30 | 20 | 15 | 13.33 | 12 | 10 |
| 6 | 72 | 36 | 24 | 18 | 16 | 14.4 | 12 |
| 7 | 84 | 42 | 28 | 21 | 18.67 | 16.8 | 14 |
| 8 | 96 | 48 | 32 | 24 | 21.33 | 19.2 | 16 |
| 9 | 108 | 54 | 36 | 27 | 24 | 21.6 | 18 |
| 10 | 120 | 60 | 40 | 30 | 26.67 | 24 | 20 |
I have used an excel spreadsheet to convert scale weights or speeds to and from true weights or speeds and this could be available via email. If you would like a copy then contact alittleandoften@gmail.com.
Trevor Smallbone reports that it was 50 years ago last October, that Ran Hawthorne used his Fowler roller “Busy Bee” to roll in the Bridle Path in Woodcote, as before it was no more than a gravel track.
Fowler Busy Bee rolling The Bridle Path Woodcote 20th October 1962 – click to enlarge
In the article, it’s nice to see is the little lad on the footplate next to Brusher Sparks is our Membership Secretary Richard Hawthorne! Ran is hanging on the back with John Hawthorne standing on the Scarfier.
Busy Bee rolling the Bridle Path. On the left hand side is where Co-Op is now located.
“Brusher” Sparkes at the controls
Please remember to pay your annual subscriptions if you have not already done so. The membership secretary is after you!
Membership costs £10 per year and is due in January. Members enjoy excellent club evenings on the second Monday of each month and get opportunities to become involved in a great part of Britain’s heritage.
Please email Richard Hawthorne or send your money directly to:
27, Underhill,
Moulsford,
Oxon,
OX10 9JH
Member Andy Smith has sent through some pictures of his latest project: Half size Tasker B2 chain drive tractor. Nice work Andy!
The Thames Valley Traction Engine Club 