A traction engine, a windmill in deepest Suffolk and a full-time job derived from his hobby – it sounds like the perfect life for newly-accredited boiler inspector Jonathan Wheeler as he relates the history of his engine to Alan Barnes.

In recent years Jonathan Wheeler has penned a series of fascinating articles for the East Anglian Traction Engine Society’s journal under the banner ‘Oliver’s Travels’. They recount, in Jonathan’s inimitable style, various aspects of the history of his 1920 Ruston Hornsby traction engine, which was named Oliver in 1978. Now in its 85th year, the engine shows no sign of retiring gracefully and, although its working activities have changed in their nature over the decades, it is still regarded as very much a working engine. Long days spent threshing have been replaced by driver training courses, and road haulage is now limited to charity road runs. It may also be the only traction engine to have provided power for a PC and internet link! When Oliver appears at rallies it always seems to be involved in ‘doing something’, whether that be demonstration log sawing, driving a threshing drum or giving rides to scores of delighted children. It is obvious that Jonathan and his son, Sam, like to use their engine and, when you meet them, their enthusiasm for steam is clear to see.
Oliver is a general purpose traction engine of Class SH and was built by Ruston & Hornsby Ltd, Lincoln, in 1920 as Works No 113043. The engine was ordered in February 1920 by W Godfrey & Sons of Ickleton, Cambridgeshire and was delivered on 15 June. Shortly before delivery it was displayed at the Bath & West Show. The technical information rates the engine at 6nhp, weight 11 tons, front axle weight three tons, rear axle weight eight tons. Working boiler pressure was 140lb per square inch, water tank capacity 120 gallons and fuel capacity 3cwt. In use today, the engine uses 10 gallons of water and between 15-20lb of coal per mile.

It is thought that, as well as being involved in the timber business, Godfrey & Sons were also agents for other Ruston products, probably oil engines, binders and hay rakes.
As far as Jonathan has determined, the new engine was put to use driving a saw-bench at the firm’s workshop and also for hauling timber as and when required. However, it may have been used more as a ‘demonstrator’ as its time with the firm was very brief and, in 1921, it was replaced by a Ruston oil engine and the traction engine was sold to Coxhalls of Hinxton, a firm of threshing contractors. This move nearly led to disaster as, in 1924, a serious fire destroyed their threshing machinery but fortunately the traction engine survived, although badly scorched.

It was then sold to CR Pumfrey & Sons of Duxford, possibly after being classed an insurance ‘write-off’, and they had it repaired and repainted.
The Pumfreys owned other engines that were all bigger than their new incumbent, so No 113043 was consequently referred to as ‘the Little Ruston’ and was usually driven by Sidney Pumfrey, assisted by his son, Dick. The engine was put to work driving a variety of machinery including a new Ruston & Hornsby 54in threshing machine, a 22ft Garrett straw pitcher and a five-knife Maynard chaff cutter. The engine, with its shorter wheelbase, was smaller and more manoeuvrable than some of the other engines and was allocated its own special threshing round, which took in all the awkward stack yards and farms with narrow gateways and difficult entrances.

Above: Robert Pumfrey’s Ruston Proctor 7nhp traction engine No 50278 of 1914 Success with Ruston Hornsby No 113043 on the occasion of Oliver’s 83rd birthday on 15 June 2003. The cul-de-sac ‘The Rustons’ was built on the site of CR Pumfrey & Sons at Duxford. With neighbours wondering what all the fuss was about, one of them produced the original deeds for the land where his house was built, confirming and adding to Robert Pumfrey’s family history!

The ‘Little Ruston’ was used commercially by the Pumfrey family until the early 1950s, when it was sold for scrap along with two other traction engines, a Ruston Proctor and a Burrell. They were paid £12 for each engine by Robert Duce of Cambridge and, luckily for the Rustons, the scrapman chose to cut up the Burrell first. In 1955 the first East Anglian Traction Engine Rally was held and Sid Pumfrey’s younger brother, Bob, decided to buy back both of the surviving Rustons. He had to pay twice the price he had sold them for, despite the fact that they had never left the Pumfrey farm and were still laid up in the same field from where the scrapman had said he would collect them. Interestingly, the Ruston Proctor had been bought new by the Pumfrey family and this engine, Success, is still owned and rallied by Robert Pumfrey and his family.

Between 1955 and 1978 Bob Pumfrey, helped by Sid’s son, Dick, rallied their two Rustons the length and breadth of East Anglia until Dick died. Coincidentally, Dick Pumfrey was born in 1920, the same year that Oliver was built, and, following a career in the Army, he worked as a Ministry of Transport vehicle inspector. Dick became the owner of the engine when Bob died in 1968 and, following his death in 1978, the ‘Little Ruston’ was sold to Geoffrey Wheeler, Jonathan’s father. Geoffrey, a superb artist and draughtsman as well as a steam enthusiast (featured in Old Glory No 178) immediately set about rebuilding the engine in his back garden. With help from John ‘Crowman’ Miles and his nephew, Gary, a new firebox was fitted.
At that time Jonathan was working at TT Boughtons in Amersham and the advice and expertise from their ex-steam fitters was invaluable in getting the Ruston back in tip-top order. With the work completed, the engine was repainted into its original Ruston livery, an attractive shade of dark green. Later that year and back in action once again, the Ruston appeared at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, in those days held at Stourpaine Bushes. Here a renaming ceremony was held and the Ruston was christened Oliver by Michael Oliver in memory of Geoffrey Wheeler’s father.

End of the On-line article.
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