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A cooperative effort: Ransomes restored in Argentina

On September 21, 1919, a group of 33 farmers, growers and producers founded the Agricultural Union of Avellaneda Cooperative Ltd in Argentina. Attempts to form such a cooperative had begun as early as 1897 but had met with little enthusiasm by the strongly independent farmers, but this new venture was to prove to be the beginning of very successful enterprise. The cooperative still plays a leading role in the organisation and development of the region’s agricultural industry.

The original aim to form an association of farmers and growers and pool experience, expertise and take advantage of economies of scale has changed very little in the nine decades since the cooperative was created. To mark the 90th anniversary celebrations, a festival was held in September 2009 at the Industrial Park of Avellaneda. And one of the major attractions at this event was the appearance of a restored 1927 Ransomes Sims & Jefferies ‘Colonial’ traction engine.

This engine was one of four steam traction engines which had been owned by the
cooperative in the 1920s and which were primarily used to work the threshing equipment which the group had also acquired. In addition to the engine which has already been restored the cooperative also owned a second Ransomes, a Case and a Clayton & Shuttleworth. Unfortunately the second Ransomes and the Case seem to have disappeared, indeed may have been scrapped many years ago, but the cooperative still owns the Clayton and there are plans to restore this as well.

Unfortunately some parts of the Clayton are missing and these include its worksplate, so its identification remains a mystery at present.

The acquisition of the group’s first engine seemed to be the first major project undertaken by the cooperative during its formative years and the details concerning the new engine appear in the written records of the meetings held at the time.

Members of the cooperative’s administrative council studied the various proposals
which had been submitted by the members to modernise the group’s threshing equipment. It would appear that several different machines had been demonstrated and it is likely that representatives would have visited other farms to see the engines at work.

There seems to have been an issue with the timescales which is recorded in the minutes of one meeting – ‘Having studied the various proposals submitted and due to the short timescales involved, it has been decided that despite its higher cost we have resolved to acquire a 50hp Ransomes engine together with a 54in threshing
drum.’ Cooperative manager Mr Gerente was authorised to sign the contract and make the funds available for the purchase of the engine and what was also termed ‘ancillary equipment’. An order was duly placed through the agents in Buenos Aires and on September 30, 1924, Ransomes delivered the new engine, No 35302, to Robert Pusterla & Co.

Rachel Gill at the Museum of English Life in Reading was kind enough to search out some information on this engine. The specification included wide wheels and extensions, a Pemberthy injector, modified valve gear and a canopy – and the engine appeared to be one of a batch of similarly finished engines. It may well be that some of these were also exported to South America at that time.

Working practices in Argentina seemed little different to those adopted by the threshing contractors of the UK. The Ransomes hauled a train which included a water tank, carts fitted with winches and the threshing drum from farm to farm to carry out farmers’ threshing requirements. Crops included not only wheat but also flax and peanuts which were also grown in the region. The threshing crew would turn up at each farm just as the harvesting operations were coming to an end and the harvested crop would be threshed in the field. During its journeys from farm to farm the Ransomes would burn coal but once on site it would burn the straw from the newly harvested fields. An account from 1933 translates as – ‘The mound of wheat, using forks and winches, was loaded into the thresher which separated the grain from the rest of the plant which was used to fuel the engine, the grain was bagged, loaded on to carts and taken to the store.’

The cooperative would appear to have been pleased with its new steam engine and a second Ransomes was ordered in 1927 – again through agents Robert Pusterla of Buenos Aires. This was No 38117 – a larger 60hp compound engine which was built under factory number N885 and once delivered was soon at work for the
cooperative. It seemed to have a long working life and there is some archive film footage of the engine at work taken in 1947 while the available records seem to indicate that it was not finally retired until some time in the early 1960s.

While no trace of the first Ransomes engine can be found the second was laid up in the yard outside the cooperative’s headquarters and here it remained for nearly 50 years. In 2007 the idea to return the engine to full working condition was discussed by a group of the members with the aim of the project to complete the rebuild in time for the engine to appear at the 90th anniversary celebrations in 2009. The engine was still basically complete, although it had lost its chimney and the smokebox door and the number plate had been removed many years previously and placed in safe storage to prevent the brass plates going ‘missing’.

Mario Brac was appointed manager of the project, with support from Diego Suligoy and a team of engineers and workers from the cooperative who worked on the engine during their spare time. The engine was moved to one of the workshops where it was carefully dismantled. Although outwardly the old Ransomes did appear quite rusty this only affected the surface and was easily removed. The boiler was tested and proved to be sound as was the firebox but all the boiler tubes had to be replaced with a new set. The first few months of the project concentrated on the re-tubing and the boiler work but by early 2008 the team moved on to the rest of the engine and completed the dismantling. All the parts were cleaned and wherever possible taken back to bare metal before being primed and painted.

The wheels were found to be in excellent condition, apart from the strakes on the rear wheels which were badly worn and broken in places and so new ones were fabricated. By the summer of 2008 the boiler and firebox were complete and the engine was back on its front wheels with blocks in place to support the rear. A new belly tank had been fabricated and fitted and glass fibre insulation had been fitted around the boiler and secured with twisted metal clips. Painting of those parts which would be difficult to access once the engine was rebuilt and so was carried out as the work progressed. The motion was rebuilt with all the machining being carried out at the cooperative’s own workshops.

The engine had originally been fitted with a canopy but nothing of this had survived apart from the supports which were too far gone to be used. With the help of a few old pictures a new canopy was constructed with a wooden framework overlaid with thin planking and canvas and supported by a new frame built from steel section and shaped to the correct profile. Work also continued on the refurbishment of the rear wheels and by the end of 2008 they were ready to go back on to the engine.

With only nine months to go before the planned debut of the engine at the September anniversary celebrations, the beginning of 2009 became a frenzy of activity as the team worked hard to meet the target date. Steam and hydraulic tests were completed satisfactorily and the boiler tins were fitted and the painting completed. The new canopy was painted and fitted and the original brass name and number plates were cleaned and put back into position.

At the beginning of September the final running tests were carried out with the Ransomes steaming gently around the yards outside the cooperative’s headquarters and performing very well, much to the satisfaction of all those who had been involved with the restoration project. The few minor problems which came to light were duly attended to and the engine was ready for the main event with a few days to spare. At 10am on September 21, 2009 the restored Ransomes steamed into Avellaneda Industrial Park to be greeted by a large and very enthusiastic crowd that had gathered for the occasion. For the rest of the day the engine steamed around the event treating the visitors to the spectacle of live steam for the first time in over 50 years and a few of the luckier ones were treated to a footplate ride.

The engine will remain at the Industrial Park on display and no doubt will be steamed when the opportunity arises. In the meantime the project team has already turned its thoughts to the Clayton & Shuttleworth and there is every possibility that in a few years’ time the restoration of this engine will also have been completed.

Our thanks to Diego Suligoy for providing information and photographs and also to Rachel Gill at the Museum of English Rural Life at Reading University for additional detail.