Yesterday I advanced on the 'old lady' with measured tread and an ignition key
held in a
threatening pose. Prior to joining this list nearly two years ago, I had never
given Old
Joe a second thought because he'd never caused a problem in earlier years.
Having used the key in anger, I am delighted to report that fuel pump motor,
pressure
relief valve, metering unit, injectors, distributor, alternator, all other
electric
motors, relays and servos all handled the roll-over with nary the bat of an
eyelid.
In a phone conversation last night with an old friend who owns a truly
delightful 1910
Burrell Showman's Steam Engine (called Beelzebub) with a full size roundabout
((carousel)
with many charming reciprocating horses) the story is somewhat different.
In spite of a thorough boiler pressure check and annual certification in early
November,
Beelzebub has two leaking glands on a high pressure steam pipe and the handle
broke on the
coal shovel. The carousel will not be able to be tested until the summer owing
to the fact
that erecting and assembling it takes a day and it weighs about 15 tons.
Furthermore, the
50 volt DC generator will not be able to be checked as it can only be run with
a full
electrical load imposed on it. In spite of all this, Beelzebub went out for a
gentle
stroll around the lanes, frightened a few horses with his whistle and gently
gasped his
way home without further incident. Total expenditure for the exercise was about
eighty
gallons of water from an obliging village pond and the consumption of just
under two
hundredweight of coal. Sadly, the planned lunch of bacon and egg cooked on the
coal shovel
in the firebox could not take place. I understand much work with wire wool had
taken place
on the blade in the morning as steam pressure built up - but all was not lost.
The massive
slices of bread taken to sandwich the bacon and egg were toasted using a hazel
twig as a
fork, making a handy and fortifying snack as the pond was 'attacked.' While no
thinking
person would spurn Beelzebub, it has to be said a much younger Triumph is not
only
smaller, its rather cheaper to run (and restore) and you can heat a can of soup
on the
inlet manifold. Takes fifteen minutes with the engine running
Jonmac
Book site: http://www.toolbox.ndirect.co.uk/triumphbook
BMIHT: http://www.heritage.org.uk
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