The Dodman
I have long hankered after owning a traction engine - in reality this is very, very unlikely to ever happen, although I may one day commence on my 'next best' dream - a pair of Fowler BB1 Ploughing Engines in 4" or 6" scale.
On the journey to school I often saw the superb little steam cart or waggonette built in 1897 by the late Sidney George Soame from the Perseverance Works in the next but one village of Marsham. This features briefly at the start of the film 'Genevieve' on the London Brighton run, a small wooden wheeled, canopied cart fitted with vertical boiler and twin cylinder steam engine, it has the distinction of being the second powered road vehicle to have been built in Norfolk. Sadly, the opportunity for a ride in it never occurred, as the vehicle (which is preserved in full working order by the Hon. William McAlpine) now resides in Hampshire, I guess I never will. Incidentally S G Soame was the originator of the steam powered fairground ride, an idea capitalised on by an Engineer from the neighbouring village of Hevingham, Frederick Savage, who went on to develop manufacture of the fairground ride into an international business based at his St Nicholas Works in Kings Lynn.
The ovepowering need for steam propulsion, combined with memories of the Soame Steam Cart, along with a great fondness for both 'Buttercup', an almost entirely timber constructed internal combustion engined vehicle and the 'Auskin' an Austin Seven based light steam truck from the works of Norfolk's sole remaining commercial steam engine builder David King have festered over the years and ultimately resulted in the decision to build some form of 'novel' steam locomotion in 1987. Over the years I have collected all sorts of 'Junk' and in August 1998 commenced the construction of what may best be described as a form of light steam tractor, utilising a reversing 2" x 2" Atthillsingle cylinder vertical engine and also one of Tony's little scotch crank steam feedpumps, a David King Newton coil boiler (which had initially been built for a steam launch that was never launched due to impending marriage) and various other re cycled 'treasures' such as the bearings from an old scrapped cricket pitch roller, lathe changewheels, cast iron wheels, a broken ground and chromed 2" diameter piston rod from a 30 ton hydraulic press, even the seats and backs off a couple of nice looking wooden kitchen chairs from the tip are being included (which prompted the question recently if it was some sort of mobile commode !) along with a neighbours bathroom wall (re cycled tongue and groove boarding) which has been used for lagging the tanks and making the toolbox (the good stuff) and kindling for the fire (the rest of it).
Originally referred to as the 'Locomotion' it has now been acquired a name - 'Dodman' is the Norfolk dialect word for a snail, in terms of it's build progress to date and its likely locomotory prowess when completed this may still be a little on the optimistic side !
This was the conjectural drawing of what, one day, the village residents would be forced to suffer, as hissing and whistling we puff round at a staggering 1-2 miles per hour. (If you want to see steam at speed then have a look at the Steam land speed record attempt progress) A near neighbour, valued friend, advisor and provider of many useful materials has a hand cranked street organ so the ultimate aim is to tow this to the village fete and then drive it by steam - to the delight (hopefully) of the local population.
Pictures will be added / changed as progress is made.
August 1998 - saw the main chassis welded up, back wheels, axle, final drive gear, front wheels and axle completed.
December 1998 - saw the steering gear installed.
February 1999 - saw the boiler plant and feed pump fitted and comissioned, the main engine run under steam for the first time here (just 'G' cramped to the frame) This is a view of the Newton coil boiler showing the inner coil of 2" steam pipe with the 1/2" wound round the outside, normally the fire grate comes part way up the first coil but it has been removed for clarity.
This shows the complete boiler plant while out of its casing during its ten yearly ultrasonic and hydraulic inspection in July 2001
March 1999 - saw the water tanks preliminarily fitted, the coal bunker and seats installed, gauges fitted, the Phoenix Foundry produced both name and makers plate in cast brass. Oh and most important - the front wheel direction indicator was installed !
These pictures were posted March 1999
The Newton coil boiler and scotch crank feedpump in the foreground - the main engine behind - the 'Christmas tree' steam manifold may yet yield to a cast bronze manifold being manufactured as it looks so scruffy and has poor thermal qualities. Underneath, the steering arrangements can just be seen..
The main Atthill engine is a reversing 2" x 2" single cylinder unit - here it has yet to be tested under load as the transmission has not been installed (or even designed) so far but a box of odd gears and bearings is about to be dusted off for this purpose.
Here is Ben, proving that his inclusion on the makers plate as an engineer, while a little premature, may not be entirely misplaced, playing quietly while I fitted the patent Dodman steering direction indicator, he showed me what he had been doing a little later, he often watches me using CAD on the PC for drawing, below is the General Arrangement that he had been drawing using 'Etch a CAD' - The seats are on the left, the steering wheel, gauge, whistle, boiler lagging, chimney, plates, chassis and front wheels are all included - although there are no back wheels as they were 'too tricky' - not bad for five and a half ! There is hope for preservation in the future.
June 1999 and first steaming took place completing phase one, this progress having been greatly accelerated by the gearbox fairy, who's donation of an old 23:1 ratio gearbox saved having to build one from scratch from my collection of gears of varying shapes sizes and random DP's, chain drive from this to a layshaft and gear drive to the back axle gives about 85:1 drive reduction from engine to roadwheels - painfully slow on the road
A new engine driver tries his hand (while operating on compressed air), competently starting, stopping, reversing and managing dead centres on the engine were quickly learned - steering is quite another matter - despite the front wheel direction indicator !
The drivers view or near enough - and with 100 psi on the clock ! The steering wheel is from an old hand cranked drilling machine.
A shifty looking character, caught making a very slow getaway into what turned out to be a torrential downpour ! This was the Dodman's first road run. A blocked blower nozzle some minutes after this picture was taken resulted in a prolonged stop due to low steam pressure and ensured a thorough drenching - thoughts of needing some overhead protection began germinating.
The meaning of life - at last - happily transforming coal and water into enjoyment while flattening the grass (thereby increasing the intervals between mowing) ! photo courtesey Tony Finn - one of several good friends made through Russ Kepler's excellent 'on line' model engineers list an international 'virtual' model enginering club.
August 1999 saw the project approaching completion of phase 2 and looking quite good - most of the niggling problems have been ironed out and after a good few hours steaming we are gradually learning some of the Dodman's little tricks and eccentricities - the ultra slow speed is fine on the rough but another gearbox giving a faster road speed is next on the list of essentials.
Almost there, basking in the evening sun having just dropped the fire following several hours in steam and looking resplendent after having had the water tanks lagged and being fitted with toolbox and rear towing hitch.
In September 1999 the canopy was unexpectedly constructed, mainly due to the earlier soaking and some cheap 2.4 metre lengths of tounge and groove cladding becoming available (which were sawn to the next Imperial size down I hasten to add, steam is not designed to cope with metric !). While not being quite an all weather cab it will at least keep driver and steersman half dry (or more / less depending on wind direction) - it also provides somewhere to hang the shovel and fire irons, tea can, polishing rags etc. Of course it will also mean finding and fitting coloured lights and building a dynamo or generator to power them - more work.
OK so the lane may not actually be wide enough for a Fowler BB1 ploughing engine - but at least you can see where the Dodman has been by the marks it leaves on the tarmac. (Photo courtesey Stuart Clarke)
Tidying and lagging the pipework, fitting the front mounted organ drive / dynamo engine, brakes, a winch, various guards, 'decorative features' a trailer to carry extra fuel, water and the rest of the family are all planned and the possibility of fitting a steam powered crane jib is being considered.
March 2000 saw the lighting plant in its final stages of completion, a mixture of ancient and modern, the 12 volt canopy lighting is powered by an Atthill 2" x 2" vertical engine driving (via a modern HTD belt to avoid the inefficiencies of belt slip) a unique wooden open framed two pole machine, thought to be the only example of the 'Blickling Pattern' from Fakenum Dynamo Works (of whom, very little history has yet been fabricated). Developing around 12 - 15 amps at full load. It is possible, given sufficient commercial interest, that a complete unused batch of these unusual wooden dynamos might be discovered in the future.
Village Fete 2002, having dragged its crew and trailer of water / fuel there (slowly) for the second year, with canopy painted and lettered, extension chimney fitted, brass and copper gleaming, dynamo engine running at full load with the canopy lights aglow the Dosman project has largely reached completion.
Now sporting a nice new copper exhaust steam feedwater heater (on the other side) to economise on fuel use and a big brass stirrup pump to transfer water from the trailer tanks to the ones on the engine. Having got used to some of the annoying little habits of such a small boiler, there is chance for her builder to tinker with odds and ends (like getting round to making a proper footplate) and speak with the general public who come in their droves to marvel !
Next project is for an organ to drive when on display
Here the dynamo / organ engine are shown under load, running at a steady 350 RPM on the governor with the lights consuming around 6 amps and the Golden Dodman studiously pointing the way ahead for Adamek & Son, Engineers, Steam Engine Proprietors and Showmen !
Please look in again for further progress or evidence of insanity !