Britain's best selling steam & vintage magazine!

In praise of the wheel

Yet an enthusiastic steam buff with a keen eye for line coupled with a profound appreciation of structural proportions might well view the same components in a different light.

Especially if the wheels have been carefully fashioned with due regard to the principles of good design where form follows function and the finished product is aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

A fine example of the latter appears on page 10 of OG 258 where the colour print of the small 5hp yet quite handsome Burrell road locomotive The Busy Bee, recently restored by the engine’s owners the Edwards family, is equipped with a pair of front wheels which are robust in construction and compellingly attractive to the viewer.
The component parts of the wheels blend together with spokes (ideally in number) of a precise length, which ensures the hubs are in harmony with their superbly fashioned brass hub caps.

And this in turn creates a combined wheel centre that’s in perfect proportion with the diameter and circumference of the wheel rims. The completed wheels exhibit a splendid ‘presence’ which supports, guides and enhances the engine’s front end in a stylish and purposeful manner.

Michael Donovan,
Kingsbridge, Devon