The Metcalfe family have made boiler feed injectors and a multitude of precision-engineered parts to keep steam alive for a century-and-a-half and, according to Richard H Metcalfe, they intend to continue for as long as there is a market for the skills they have acquired. Keith Langston reports from the rolling hills of north Cheshire.
The vast majority of enthusiasts will openly admit they have only a basic working knowledge of steam technology, sufficient to bolster their appreciation of the engineers’ art and enough to enhance their enjoyment of their hobby.
LMS 4-6-0 locomotive No 6100 Royal Scot, fitted with one No 13 injector and one No 12 exhaust injector, supplied by Metcalfe. METCALFE COLLECTION
To Richard Metcalfe, the whole ethos of engineering and, in particular, that connected with steam, is very obviously much more. It’s an all-consuming passion and, after spending time in his company, you would be justified in forming the impression that, to him, save for his family, little else really matters.
However, when you get to see beyond the portrait of the highly motivated professional artificer and businessman, there are clear glimpses of a very amusing individual with a wicked sense of humour, giving all the indications that there’s an elaborate prankster lurking just below the surface. This very interesting gentleman, who is perfectly at ease explaining the intricacies of a Metcalfe Live Steam Automatic Restarting Injector (or, indeed, the workings of any other of their vast range of products), would, when given the opportunity, just as enthusiastically enthral the listener with tales of his Colditz-type escapes from boarding school!
Situated in the beautiful Cheshire uplands bordering the Pennines, the village of Sutton, only minutes away from Macclesfield and within easy reach of Manchester, is no stranger to engineering activities. Cutting through this delightful rural part of England are lengths of the Trent & Mersey and the Peak Forest Canals. It was in and around the village of Sutton that the famous engineer, James Brindley, served part of his building apprenticeship between 1733 and 1740, under the master canal builder Abraham Bennett. Brindley, of course, went on to greater things when he was recruited by the Duke of Bridgewater to build a section of the waterway that later became known as the Bridgewater Canal.
The company, which now trades as Metcalfe Railway Products Ltd, was formed in 1996 and supersedes previous partnerships and engineering associations with which Richard and his engineering forebears worked. The family are still involved with the business on a day-to-day basis and, in that regard, the present Metcalfe generation, Richard and Jane, are assisted by graduate engineer Nigel Boyle and storeman/fitter Mike Stevenson.
The family’s 150-years-plus experience in all matters relating to steam is no idle boast and it started with a previous Richard Metcalfe (1829-1886), who was one of the first engineers and drivers on the Pembroke Dock & Tenby Railway, an undertaking which later became absorbed by the GWR. That gentleman was, in the 1860s, awarded a purse of £50 by the railway – a considerable sum in those days – and it was accompanied by the citation ‘to a meritorious engine driver Richard Metcalfe’.
His son, James, was set to work as a solicitor but the partners of the practice soon realised that he was not totally committed to the idea of pursuing a calling in the legal profession. In fact, the young man’s employer had to resort to writing a letter to Richard, explaining the reason why the young Master Metcalfe would be better suited to another job. He wrote: “Take James away and make him an engineer for he draws engines all day and wastes my paper.”
Up to and including the present day, the male members of the Metcalfe family have all been apprenticed to railway companies – RD Metcalfe to Doncaster Locomotive Works, R Metcalfe to Crewe Erecting Shop, R H Metcalfe to East African Railways and now Richard C Metcalfe, who is currently engaged as an engineering apprentice on the South Devon Railway. The company are fortunate in being able to call upon Richard Metcalfe Snr who, although retired, can assist as a technical adviser.
A Metcalfe exhaust steam injector, built in the US under licence. METCALFE COLLECTION
When not working in Devon, young Richard helps out at HQ but, if truth be told, the greatest attractions to him at home are his restored tractor and the family’s steam vehicles, which he has now started to take to local shows. The young lady of the family, daughter Anne, is currently a student and, when not about her studies, is as likely as not to be found somewhere near a horse and may even be spotted with brother Richard, enjoying the steamers.
There is, however, an even younger steam man in the making. Gareth has the distinction of being able to fit neatly into the top of the coal bunker of either of the family’s engines during road runs. He has his own model steamer but, from the look on his face when the two big machines are ‘lit up’, he definitely aspires to greater things! Gareth would never forgive Old Glory if we failed to mention his pal, a very active Jack Russell called Mallard. No surprise in that name!
Over many years, various patents were filed as the family made the relevant inventions including the celebrated Exhaust Steam Injector, in which steam pressure of 3psi results in a delivery pressure of almost 300psi. The company’s current activities include both the manufacturing and refurbishment of components for steam locomotives and traction engines. In fact, at the time of our visit, work in progress included the refurbishment of back-head injectors, vacuum brake equipment, safety valves, whistle and fusible plugs for a Tralee & Dingle Railway locomotive and a newly manufactured Slide Bar Support Bracket, in phosphor bronze, for a Fowler road locomotive.
Why phosphor bronze? Richard explained: “Not only is the end result much stronger, and therefore likely to be a longer-lasting product; with phosphor bronze we can maintain much greater accuracy during the casting process. Using traditional cast iron we might have had to create up to three work pieces before achieving the required dimensional accuracy. Accordingly, it makes good engineering and economic sense to use what is, of course, a much more expensive material, but effecting, at the same time, big savings in production costs.”
