Special Scenic Showman's Engine - "Fearless" :

This model is based on the classic Burrell design that once travelled the country with traditional fairgrounds in the first half of the last century. These mighty engines were used to transport the fairground rides from town to town, then with the help of the rear mounted pole crane, were used to assist the assembly of the rides. Once built the locomotive had a front mounted generator which could then power the rides with electricity.

The special scenic version carried a second generator known as a field exciter which helped with speed control of the large DC motors which drove the fairground rides. This can be seen behind the smoke stack on a bracket and was driven by a secondary belt from the front dynamo.

The crane is mounted onto a support at the rear of the engine when required and a winching drum mounted inside the nearside rear wheel pays in and out a cable which is run around a pulley system clearly seen at the rear.

This model has all the features seen on a typical example of this type of engine and was an education to build. In total approximately 500 hours were needed to design and build this model.

The locomotive itself has a compound cylinder arrangement with high and low pressure cylinders providing the power to the crankshaft. The piston movement is controlled by two side mounted slide valves which direct the steam to the correct cylinder port.

A working two speed and neutral gearbox is mounted to the right of the footplate and a full working differential is driven from this inside the main body of the engine.

A dummy governor is mounted on the top of the steam chest with a whistle and safety valves.

The flywheel has a working brake controlled from a wheel just behind the flywheel. To the opposite side of the engine is a working handbrake. The main crankshaft is set in small roller bearings to assist in free movement. Roller bearings are also provided for the main drive axles at the rear. Power is supplied by an 18 volt DC motor hidden in the belly of the engine and all functions are driven from this motor. Lighting is controlled from a switch inside the footplate area. The front mounted dynamo has a dummy mounted isolator and amp and volt meters mounted in the usual place at the side of the dynamo bracket.

The front axle has a central pivot and is leaf sprung as was the normal case for this type of engine. Road lamps are provided either side of the perch bracket.

The canopy is supported by barley twist posts or “Olivers” as the showmen used to call them. On top of the canopy is a chimney extension which helped to keep smoke and sparks at a safe distance above the crowds and canopies when the engine was in steam.