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Not so Little Gem - In Miniature

Last May the Central Park in Dartford was the venue for a steam and vintage rally held to celebrate the town’s association with the great Victorian engineer Richard Trevithick. The park, which is only a stone’s throw from the town centre, has areas of formal gardens, lawns and playing fields as well as several hard surface paths, the latter providing an ideal surface for the miniature steam engines which were among the variety of exhibits being displayed at the event.

Perhaps Trevithick himself would have been impressed by the quality of the scale steam engines on show that day. Among the interesting selection of miniatures, I was particularly taken by the 6in scale Burrell single-cylinder Agricultural Traction Engine displaying the name Little Gem. Without too much difficulty I managed to persuade Mick Harrington, the owner of this fine engine, to move the Burrell away from the main rally area to a quieter area for a few ‘snaps’ and Mick was kind enough to tell me of his involvement with finescale miniature engineering and the story behind his Burrell.

Mick had started planning the building of the Burrell at the beginning of 2008 and he’s certainly no stranger to miniature engineering – having built many fine engines in various scales over the years. His introduction to model steam engineering came many years ago with the purchase of his first miniature, a 3in Burrell which he bought as a fully finished model. This was followed by another Burrell, this time a 4½in scale engine which he found in a very sorry condition, requiring several months carrying out a complete rebuild.

He still has this particular engine although several others that he has subsequently built have been sold on to new owners. These include another Burrell, a Foden steam wagon, a 4in Foster and a Fowler R3 road locomotive. This Fowler was built to 4in scale and Mick was about two thirds of the way through the build when he had a change of mind.

“Despite having made several smaller scale engines and although I was making pretty good progress with the Fowler, I came to the decision that I would really like something larger. The restoration of a full-size engine was out of the question as I certainly don’t have the space to keep one – not to mention the cost which would also have been prohibitive. However perhaps a 6in scale engine would be just the thing.

“The work on the part-built Fowler was postponed and I began to consider my options for the next build. My first miniature had been a Burrell and the drawings and castings for a 4½in scale model were readily available but eventually I opted to use the plans, parts and castings for the 6in Burrell produced by EKP Supplies in Barnstaple. I placed the order and then came that impatient time when I was keen to start work but had to wait for the various castings to arrive. The welded steel boiler was supplied by AJB Boilers in Derby and this was delivered as a complete unit fitted with tubes and fully tested.

“While steaming a completed engine is great fun and I certainly enjoy my rally days; I think that it is the hands-on engineering, especially working to such precise tolerances, that gives me the most satisfaction and I always try to do as much of the work myself as possible.

“My workshop is equipped with a good range of hand and power tools which I have collected over the years and I also have two lathes – a Chester Conquest and a Chester Crusader – which can cope with most of the work. I also have an old Beaver milling machine which probably dates from the 1940s and which I bought from a retired engineer many years ago. This is a superb machine and although it may possibly be regarded as something of an antique it still does ‘the business’ and hopefully I’ll never have to part with it.

“However, there are some aspects of the build, such as the boiler construction, where I had to enlist specialist help. Other jobs which I contracted out were the cutting of the gears and the fitting of the rubber tyres. As far as the gears were concerned, I machined the blanks and sent them to a local firm, R & N Engineering in Higham, to be cut. I have used this firm several times in the past few years and I have always found their work to be excellent and I would recommend them to anyone.

“While the gears were away being cut the boiler unit was delivered and then I started work on the hornplates and bearing assembly and once completed they were fitted to the boiler.

“The wheels are delivered in sections and after machining the hubs, the steel spokes were fitted and once completed the wheels were sent away to Leake’s Rubbers to have the tyres fitted.

“Next came the work on the cylinder and motion and here careful finishing of each part really does pay dividends. If you take your time and concentrate on getting everything absolutely right you have a pretty good chance of ending up with a smooth running engine.

“The drawings and parts had been scaled up from a set of 4in plans and sometimes this can cause one or two problems. However, I was pleased and also somewhat relieved that, apart from one or two minor niggles, the building of the engine progressed very smoothly and no major problems were encountered.
“I do all the painting myself and most of the parts are painted as they are finished. I elected to use Burrell Maroon, supplied by Phoenix Paints, and everything is spray painted to achieve the best finish. It is possible to achieve a reasonable finish by brush painting but on a miniature any uneven brushwork does tend to stand out like a sore thumb. Likewise, the lining, which I also do myself, has to be applied with great care as some of the lines are very narrow and any which are even slightly wider than they should be are very obvious.

“I found myself spending a lot of time on the engine. I was not in a race to get it done but I was very keen to finish the project and see how my first 6in scale miniature would perform. The whole build took about nine months and I was probably spending some 60 hours a week working on the engine.

“Once it was built, I spent several weeks steaming and testing and making minor adjustments to the gears and motion to ensure that the engine was running as smoothly as possible. The Burrell performed very well and I was somewhat relieved that this ‘running in’ period did not throw up any major problems. After all the work I had put in I could not face the prospect of having to take the whole engine apart to deal with a serious fault.

“With testing completed, the Burrell was ready for her public debut and I took the engine to the Festival of Transport at Hellingly, East Sussex, in August 2009. I have a customised trailer that I tow behind the van and this is used to transport the engine which weighs in at just over a ton and a half – it’s not something you can just pick up and tuck under your arm! That was the Burrell’s only rally appearance that year but many more events followed in 2010 and 2011.

“With the Burrell completed, I returned to the part-built Fowler which had been put on hold and I completed the outstanding work – with the finished engine eventually going to a new home.

“Having completed one 6in Burrell, I now find myself working on a second. A friend of mine was very taken with Little Gem when he saw her and asked me to build one for him. The build was started a few months ago and I am about halfway through the work so it should be ready by Christmas. This one is painted in Burrell Crimson Lake so it will be a slightly different finish to Little Gem and it will be interesting to see them side by side.

“When that engine is finished I’ll then decide on my next project… my workshop has to be kept occupied or the machines tend to sulk.”