Many of you will have noted the Hornsby portable no.40144 sold at the David Ambler sale last week by Thimbleby & Shorland. Well, after working out who the lucky new owner was, we got an invite for the first start up once they had it home. One thing that was noticed before sale day was … Read more
It was whilst attending a deceased collectors dispersal sale at Grassthorpe, near Newark in September 2011 that my son Mike and I saw a pile of bits on a pallet. The first time round viewing things we just went past, but later on seeing the name Pilter and the chevron gears we looked again and … Read more
Hornsby Engine History Last week, I drove to Kippen, some 40 miles north of London, Ontario where the Sad Iron Engine Show was having its annual get together. Turning into the driveway of this lovely farm, its location marked by an old engine at the entrance, I drove through into a grassed parking area. As … Read more
Back in February 2018 a small Fielding & Platt engine appeared for sale on Facebook Market Place. When I first saw it I passed it by as the pictures made it hard to tell just what it was, but upon closer inspection later in the day I realised just how unusual the engine was and … Read more
Isn’t it wonderful when you stumble across stationary engines even when you are not looking for them? That was the case on a recent trip to Maryland and the Calvert Marine Museum. Now, it’s not surprising to find engines at a marine museum, most museums have their collections of outboards, Inline diesels and even steam … Read more
Some of you know a lot about producing electricity, me? I’m a total genny idiot and I’ll admit to that but Henham 2023 a few mets got together and had a light up and, it was brilliant, 2024 see a proper pen for light sets and the genny boys had a fantastic time in there … Read more
Like many, I love to wander around the steam shows looking over the frequent displays of venerable old Ruston and Hornsby horizontal diesel engines, many thousands of which were built and shipped to all corners of the world in the first half of the twentieth century. I ‘m always fascinated by the smoothness with which … Read more
Over the last 15 years or so I have built a couple of crank guards for my own engines were it is next to impossible to find any for sale. These were for a Ruston 7IP and a Crossley G110, in both cases they were done with basic tools except for a hand operated rolling … Read more
Ater two busy viewing days and some strong bidding in the run up to sale day, the David Ambler sale conducted by Thimbleby & Shorland was sure to see some serious money changing hands. Star of the sale had to be lot 30 the Tangye patent oil engine bringing a very respectable £11,600. Followed by … Read more
All though it happened almost 9 months ago, as the biggest engine rally in the UK at present, I thought it would be of interest to share the story of our 2024 show at Newby hall. The terrible weather we experienced early in 2024 and indeed all the way up until the beginning of May … Read more