Images of Engines.
TE1a
My '67 TE1a, was found locally to me via ebay in July 2009, there was little interest in it due to a somewhat sparse description. I spoke to the seller and asked if i could view it, after going over to see it I decided it was ideal and struck up a deal with him.
Little did i know that actually what I had bought was one of the very first TE1a's with the straight control lever and TE1 on the smoke stack. I was assured it had been run in the past and steamed up well, this was confirmed when at the Masham Steam Rally we had a grand steaming. Oil was liberally applied to all moving parts and the water pre boiled to speed up run time and as soon as pressure was up it ran ticking over gently. Rust started to emerge from the piston bore, clearly it hadn't been run in quite some time and the fibre washer on the safety valve took the liberty of disintegrating on the second run, again this was obviously due to being idle so long.
A replacement was sourced and now it runs well.
SE1
My SE1 is believed to be from the same era as my TE, however I have yet to confirm this, It was bought from a member of www,mamodforums.co.uk for a decent price. It had been up for sale for a while with a little interest so after some deliberating (not much mind) I took the plunge and bought it.
I had it steamed up 25/07/09, However I stumbled accross a few initial problems, the safety valve would not come loose try as I might it would not shift so I got the narrownose pliers on it a bit of a no no on brass I know, but it did shift with minimal effort and was soon steamed up and chugging away nicely. After a while it started to leak from the safety valve and what I had discovered is that with the heat the valve had loosened due to the boiler expanding.
These teething troubles aside it ran well and will soon be having some cosmetic work done as the base and firebox are a little tatty. The Brightwork is exceptional considering it's age.
I have just bought a Mamod SR1a Roller which is in poor condition owing to the fact that the chimney stack is missing and the whistle has been used for another job. The boiler thread insert may also need re soldering.
On the plus side it can be easily and relatively cheaply repaired with no real drama.
It should keep me busy over winter and be very rewarding to restore it.
It dates from around 1967-1970, The planned colour scheme is polished brass and black coachwork.
The Roller has now taken an interesting turn due the bodge on the boiler proving a pain, I bought the main parts of an early TE1 to construct a long boilered roller. The SR1/A piston and cylinder were fitted to the TE1 engine frame along with the crank and flywheel. I bought a pressure guage from a mamodforums member to go inplace of the absent whistle so that looks great too. The remaining roller parts have been painted with humbrol and are now being left to cure, once this is done assembly can be completed.
1965 TE1,
I bought this little treasure off Ebay for £45 on a buy it now it's totally original and everything works what a bargain.
1970's MM1 x 2
I was given one by a friend after he asked to to make it work and the level plug stripped and now needs repairing.
The second was bought from a mamodforums member, the same fellow i got my SE1 off for £20 and is a solid runner.
1960's Griffin and George SE3:
Again bought from another mamodfirums member local to me for a good price, I hadn't seen the engine before but I agreed to go see it, the restoration is incredible it looks new. This engine needed very little apart from a new washer on the safety valve and the timing doing, With the aid of a small screwdriver the timing was set in a few seconds and the safety valve washer has arrived from MamodParts so all is well.
Mamod SW1 Era unknown:
Bought from the same guy my SE3 came from for a bargain price of £40 it is black with Fred Dibnah Livery, It requires a few small jobs, The engine frame needs re rivetting and the crank refitting. Two small copper pipes need to be run to the stack for the exhaust. Once a whistle is fitted its a mint wagon for little cost.
