Last weekend I noticed in a Facebook post that an old friend, Kevin Church, was co-driving a traction engine at an Old Time Rally a relatively short distance from our home. As a lover of all forms of engine powered transport it seemed sensible to grab my cameras, jump into a car and go to see some of the larger varieties in action.
The rally was well attended by a few thousand people and also featured classic cars, motor bikes, tractors, trucks and military vehicles, all spread out over a very large field. Any fear of not being able to easily locate the traction engines was soon dispelled – you simply heads towards the rising smoke.
Kevin was soon located, along with the engine’s owner, Mike. They were in the process of hitching up what looked like a very large field cannon – which, on closer inspection turned out to be more of a “prop”, artfully made of of a wide assortment of bits from old trucks, traction engines, scrap tubing and the like.
Along with many, I find the frustration with modern vehicles is not being able to see what the drivers are doing as they pilot their vehicles. This is not the case with these beasts. The connection between man and machine is on full show – which adds immensely to their attraction.
In this age of electronics it is also great to be able to actually see how these machines work. Pretty well all of the “oily bits” are on show and, with a top speed of about 12mph, there is no need to swathe them with aerodynamic aids.
The downside is that getting them from A to B takes some considerable time. Most had arrived on low loader trailers. Kevin and Mike had decided to, literally, get there under their own steam. This involved spending seven and a half hours to travel the forty or so miles – not helped by the need to stop three times to take on fresh water.
Naturally there were a number of other engines there – along with some miniature versions.
Here are a few more shots of these glorious machines.
