cat63 | Elvaston Steam Rally

Is where we spent this morning, with lots of fantastic contraptions. I must here apologise to g8bur for not knowing what the correct designations of any of them are though :-)

This is a picture heavy post and will likely nom your dialup and ask for seconds...

First some splendid full size engines.

This one had an exceptionally tall smokestack

As a Trek fan I had to get a picture of this one - it's called Enterprise :-)

One of the engines had a pet!

There were lots of miniature engines too, of varying scales.

I particularly wanted a picture of this one, as it's called Harry, like my late Dad. The text on the side reads "Mighty in Strength and Endurance".

A Showman's engine

Many of the engines had lovely decorative emblems, oftern in brass. I saw enough tins of Brasso in use todaythat I have strong suspicions about where most of that company's profits come from these days :-)

This is my favourite - I love owls. Unfortunately, I've forgotten too much Latin to be able to translate the motto. Amusingly the online translation site I tried only got as far as I did, knowing that pro =for and et = and :-)

Random steamroller! :-)

I especially liked the engines that had their work histories appended and this one was one of the best - it was installed in 1905 at a reservoir in Somerset to pump water to six houses. In 1975 it was replaced with an electric pump. Which had to be replaced itself in less than a year....

More pictures from the show in my next picspam post which will be a crosspost to 100_snapshots.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That must have been a fascinating day out for you. I love almost anything mechanical.

Great pictures :-)

Thank you!

It was brilliant. We cunningly arrived before it started to avoid huge crowds coming in (which, given how long it took to get out was definitely a good idea :-)) and had a walk around before things got too crowded.

Rob was brave and had a go on th flying chair thingy. I don't do heights so I stayed on terra firma and tried to take pictures of him with limited success. What I should have done was use the movie mode of course, but I didn't realise that until it was too late.

I wouldn't have minded a go on the roundabout, but at £2 a head, I thought they were taking the mickey a bit...

A marvellous selection of pictures! The first one is a 'portable engine', by Marshall of Gainsborough by the look of the crest on the side of the firebox); these engines don't drive their own wheels, but are pulled to their place of work, usually by horses. They were first made before traction engines, but continued to be made alongside them, and indeed after them.

The motto 'Pro Rege et Lege' on the brass means (if my 45-year-old Latin schooling serves me well) 'For King and Law'.

Did you hear the Field-Marshall running? Those tractors have a 5.7-litre single-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine, and are sometimes started with a blank cartridge similar to a 12-bore one; this can be quite fun to watch (and hear)!

Great shot of the Amanco 3hp and its pump. The Associated Manufacturers' Company named its engines according to what they considered to be the work that each one could do in terms of human or animal endeavour; thus one of the smaller ones was called a 'Hired Man', and one of the bigger ones a 'Four Mule Team'.

Thank you!

The first one is a 'portable engine', by Marshall of Gainsborough by the look of the crest on the side of the firebox);

I hadn't realised that - some of the machines had information boards that explained about their origins and uses, but not nearly enough of them - I would have loved to be able to read more about some of them.

The motto 'Pro Rege et Lege' on the brass means (if my 45-year-old Latin schooling serves me well) 'For King and Law'.

Thank you! That sounds right now you say it - my Latin was more recent than that, but my brain has failed to retain much of it.

Did you hear the Field-Marshall running?

I don't think so - but there were some rather alarming bangs from that side of the field when we were watching the gundogs and birds of prey, so that might explain those!

Great shot of the Amanco 3hp and its pump.

Thanks - i was amused by the "Beware of the crocodiles sign, especially as they'd actually put two model crocs in the water tank :-)

I failed to note what model it was I'm afraid so I don't know if it was a Labourer or a Heffalump :-)

...some of the machines had information boards that explained about their origins and uses, but not nearly enough of them...

Sadly, this is becoming more and more common. We go to a lot of rallies every year, and a good information board is not all that common now. The stationary engine folk used to be relatively good at it, but at Prestwood today, perhaps one in five had anything like a halfway decent board on display. Some exhibits come with no known history, but in those cases, the exhibitor might at least say so, and provide a general history of the type instead.

...there were some rather alarming bangs from that side of the field when we were watching the gundogs and birds of prey, so that might explain those!

I suspect it would - the first half-dozen or so firing strokes of a Field-Marshall engine are very loud indeed.

i was amused by the "Beware of the crocodiles sign, especially as they'd actually put two model crocs in the water tank :-)

Makes a change from the more usual rubber ducks floating in the engine's cooling hopper or the pump's water tank:-)

...I don't know if it was a Labourer or a Heffalump :-)

<gwgl>
From this Amanco-related page, it seems that the 3hp (I cheated, and looked at the information sheet on the enlarged version of your picture) engine was known as a 'Three Mule Team'.

We go to a lot of rallies every year, and a good information board is not all that common now.

That's a shame. Enthusiasts will probably know a lot of the techy stuff, but even they may not know the individual history of every machine - and there isn't time to talk to all the owners, even if they weren't busy fettling :-)

Enthusiasts will probably know a lot of the techy stuff, but even they may not know the individual history of every machine...

True; the general stuff is often googleable, but only the owner (or previous owners) will usually know the life story of that example of an engine, pump, generator, or whatever they're showing. An information board only needs to be made up once, so there's no real excuse for not putting at least some basic details of the exhibit on display.

...and there isn't time to talk to all the owners, even if they weren't busy fettling :-)

It would certainly have taken me all day and more to talk to every one of the stationary engine exhibitors at Prestwood, let alone the steam and other vehicle exhibitors. Strangely, a few of them can get quite grumpy at having to put down their mug of tea, fag, paper or whatever, get up out of their deck chair and come to the fence, or climb off or out of their vehicle, to talk to someone who asks them a question. Thankfully, most that I've spoken to are keen to talk about their exhibits.

One lucky day, many years ago, I even got a go at steering a steam roller around a rallyfield - it takes quite some effort to turn the steering wheel on one of those machines!

Thankfully, most that I've spoken to are keen to talk about their exhibits.

Yes - we got chatting to the owner of an old beer delivery truck and he explained that he actually used to deliver for that company before he retired, and in the village where we live, to boot! His vehicle had a display of its old tax discs in it, going back to 1954 or so, which I thought was a nice touch - he told us he found them all crammed into the tax disc holder when he bought it! :-)

Elvaston Steam Rally

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject