Clayton & Shuttleworth tandem compound traction engine No. 40582 of 1908 on display at the Tern Valley Rally on August 16, complete with the tree that was growing through it. Photo: Malcolm Ranieri.

The Millington family, of Tybroughton, near Whitchurch, Salop, have been associated with steam traction for over three generations. Joseph Henry Millington, a traditional horse drawn waggoner, bought his first Yorkshire steam wagon in 1926. Grandson Robert Millington, together with his young family and wife Josie, has given him no cause to turn in his grave, the tradition he started all those years ago is kept well and truly alive on their Holly Bank smallholding.
This Clayton, the latest addition to their steam heritage fleet, already named by the Millington’s The King, is perhaps the most impressive; it certainly is the most unusual. The tandem compound - with one cylinder in front of the other, unlike the conventional side-by-side arrangement - was shipped to Argentina soon after leaving Clayton & Shuttleworth’s Lincoln works in 1908 having been bought by their agent in Buenos Aires, Juan y Jose’ Drysdale y Cia.
Only three such machines are thought to survive and the existence of the other two has long been known by UK enthusiasts. One is in Northern Italy (featured in Steaming Vol. 38 No. 1) and the other is still domiciled in South America and is said to be a ‘runner’. Robert Millington has his doubts about that, saying that, “UK regulations would undoubtedly sideline it as a scrapper”. The re-appearance of No. 40582 in Britain was perhaps more of a surprise, arriving as it did via Holland.
Having been first used in Argentina the ‘straw burner’ was later shipped to Uruguay where it worked out the remainder of its useful life before being dumped, out of use and surplus to requirements. The period of the engine’s inactivity is not definitely known but a tree stump (with 28 clearly countable rings showing) had grown up and through the space between the driving platform and the firebox and this may give some indication. Given that the tree must first have been a sapling, and the platform is over five foot high, the said tree may have been growing for at least around 35 years. The estimated retirement year is therefore thought to be between 1960 and 1968.
Having been located in South America by Dutch-based Lanz tractor dealer, Delegro, Anton Derksen of the firm shipped the engine to his Molenweg premises in the June of 2003 after being delayed for some nine months awaiting an export licence from the Uruguayan Government.

At the Millington’s yard. It’s not going to get in that garage door, Robert!

No such delay followed its shipment to Shropshire, for after Robert Millington struck an acceptable deal, the big straw-burner only remained in Holland for two weeks, being delivered to the UK, by road, in time for them to unveil it at the 2003 Tern Valley Vintage Show at Eccleshall, nr Stafford, on August 16/17. The surprise appearance of the Clayton & Shuttleworth at the event was turned into even more of a feature, when taking more than a little licence, the huge un-restored hulk was towed into the parade ring preceded by a ‘man with a red flag’. The Millington’s friend and fellow traction engine owner Rod Swain was the carrier of that long-gone symbol of a ‘mechanical contrivance’ on the move.


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