Also in this Issue - Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club · Main use was in railway ... Above A...

Newsletter from the National Steam Centre

Issue 561 October 2017

Also in this Issue

Bellarine Steam Crane Secret Diesel Holden Red Motor

Above Steampunks from Gilbert & Sulivan Opera Victoria battle it out over the Ruston tracks at the

National Steam museum .

October 2017 STEAM SUPREME 2

First Public Demonstration of the recently restored rail mounted crane took place in the Drysdale station turntable paddock . The crane was originally built by Thomas Smith of Rodley for the West Australia Government Railways . It was eventually acquired by the Bellarine Railway and apparently made it’s way across the Nullarbor one piece at a time when ever space was available on a returning truck . Restoration has just being completed at the Bellarine Railways Laker Siding workshop in time for it to be shunted to Drysdale for the machinery show. The Firms Origins can be traced back to the 1820’s to the makers of winches and hand cranes in Leeds UK . In 1861 Thomas Smith took over specializing in making the smaller type of steam cranes employing a central pivot with the boom counterbalanced by the boiler at the rear. This arrangement came to be know as the “ Leeds crane” and was often mounted on a rail wagon or directly to the ground as for a dock. Main use was in railway yards, quarries and construction sites. Later

electric power and IC engines became an option soon to be followed by crawler tracks which opened the way for much more versatile machines . With the hook being replaced by various buckets they become draglines, excavators and shovels. We have a couple of such Smith Rodley machines at the National Steam museum in the Morris’s collection. The company was taken over shortly before WW2 but still

operates. Left The crane pivots on a 4 wheel railway truck . Note the chocked up outriggers stabilizing the wagon and the grippers with turnbuckles to hold it to the rails . The machinery A frame is mounted centrally on the machinery deck and powered by 2 vertical outside steam cylinders . A simple vertical boiler at the rear also functions as a counterweigh .

Bellarine Railway’s

The highlight of the Bellarine Vintage Machinery Group’s annual Father Day rally was the debut of a 101 year old steam crane. Right The Steam crane attracted plenty of attention loading old wharf timbers, specially provided for the occasion, on to the wagons in the Drysdale turntable siding .


Warwick was lucky enough to get a footplate ride and was fascinated by the machinery and it's controls. With one steam engine to drive all the functions such as lufting , craning , slewing and travelling a number of countershafts are employed that can be independently engaged and disengaged by sliding spur gears as required . In the case of slewing a pair of opposing bevel gears can alternatively be brought into play via clutches to swing left or right. Reversing the steam engine is used for lowering or raising the cable drums. It can all get a handful with so many levers involved especially as there is a number of interlocks but it all makes for great fun and an interesting display . The Rest of the Show Being on a rather compact piece of ground it had something for everybody's interest yet not too much of the one thing with the emphasis on working displays including rope making .

An added attraction , being in the Drysdale station precinct was the charm of the railway environment with restored cream painted station and Thomas type steam train giving short rides keeping grandfathers, fathers and children happy. It was a great Fathers Day outing . Warwick

Boom is raised by bevel gear driven worm

Slewing Bevel gears

Lufting lever Slewing handwheel Forward and Reverse lever

2 speed winding Drive

Above A large road locomotive was busy on the belt giving thrashing demonstrations Left A stationary bailer driven by a very early American tractor created plenty of interest as the helpers struggle to come to grips with the hand knotting of the wire ties.


SECRET OUT I First heard about the conversion of a Holden 186 engine to Diesel operation during a visit to Bob Chamberlain’s Port Melbourne “Man Cave” in 1974 . The visit to, see their unique vintage racing cars , was arranged by Geoff Chamberlain at that time my supervisor at Holden Experimental Engineering . Discussion soon turned to cylinder head modifications to increase power and a project they had done, in conjunction with Phil Irving, to make a special head for the 186 Holden red motor. The drawings done by Phil were soon got out and the design discussed. The unique feature was the utilization of a Heron type combustion chamber in which the underside of head face was flat and the combustion chamber formed by a bowl in the top of the piston . I made the passing remark that it was not unlike a Diesel engine ! This prompted the bombshell that in fact a version of this head was the basis of an experimental conversion of a 186 Holden

Working in the highly competitive and secretive car industry there are stories that at the time are too hot to tell . With the passing of time things cool down and now, with the death of local production, information that was once secret can be pieced together to record a piece of history before it is forgotten . The conversion of a Holden Red Motor to Diesel by Repco is one such story. Warwick Bryce

Left The standard petrol version of the 186 cubic inch 6 cylinder inline Holden Red Motor

Right A section through the inlet port taken from Warwick’s copy of Phil Irving’s cylinder head drawing .No C h 2 . Of note is the high flow inclined inlet port and absence of a combustion chamber in the underside surface allowing larger valves. Both these were done to increase the power of the engine but also were the features that later lent themselves to conversion to Diesel . Drawing obtained with permission of P. Irving and B. Chamberlain.

Absence of Combustion Chamber in Head Face

Cylinder Bore shown for clarity

Individual Inclined Inlet ports


Very little more information was forthcoming about this secret project by Repco Research however over the years enough bits of this story, that was once “too hot” to talk about, have sneaked out and are pieced together below . WHEN WAS IT DONE Bill Chamberlain did not say but I can speculate that it was around 1970 based on :- - The First Red motor (149 and 179 cub in) came out in 1963 and the upgrade to 186 cubic inches by increasing the cylinder bore was made in 1966 . This ran to 1971 before when the stroke was lengthened to make the 202 ( actually 201 but marketing thought 202 sounded better ) . - The Head project had lapsed by my visit in 1974. - Chamberlain / Irving head drawing is marked “issued 12/7/?9 “ either a 5 or a 6 ( unlikely to be 1959 as the red motor was not released for another 4 years) - Ex Repco engineer Bevan Fenner has recently confirmed it would be 1969 and was a project of Repco Research at Dandenong . WHY MAKE 186 INTO A DIESEL. This is still a mystery but we know the engine did duty in the department‘s test car, reportedly a Holden ute, and then on a generator. - Industrial Engines the Holden 6 cylinder engines where widely used for such applications as compressors and concrete agitator trucks and were marketed in power pack form by GMH Parts & Accessories - Operating Costs Diesels were gaining popularity due to reduced operating costs through cheaper fuel and reduced consumption. - Tractors Engines, after ending their involvement with Tractor manufacture in West Australia the Chamberlain’s had designed a prototype tractor in the late 1950’s utilizing a Holden Grey motor so this sort of application may have been seen as an opportunity. ( The prototype is at Science works).

- Repco had set up a Research facility at Dandenong after the winding down of the Repco Brabham activities so would have been looking for worthwhile projects . DIESELIZATION OF PETROL ENGINES Conversion of the 186 to an indirect diesel would be a relative simple process given Repco’s manufacturing capability at that time.

- Combustion Chambers are the main difference between the engines . Bill Chamberlain mentioned that only minor changes were required to the head casting to fit a Precombustion Chamber in place of the sparkplug so this confirms it was an Indirect Injection design that was popular for automotive diesels at that time. This configuration of Diesel engine uses a flat face on the cylinder head and a flat-topped piston with the fuel injected into a separate combustion chamber connected by a narrow passage to the cylinder - The Irving petrol Head being a Heron type has this flat

underside ideally lending itself to Diesel conversion Right Cross section of Petrol engine with a Heron head showing the Combustion Chamber in the Piston . Chamberlain

abandoned the concept due to excessive piston temperature . Subsequent heads successfully used normal bathtub chambers.

Above Prototype of the tractors designed to utilizes the industrial version of the Holden 132 “Grey Motor” . Acknowledgement Wiki. I heard a whisper that it’s performance on the Werribee Tractor Test was disappointing because the engine oil temperature bogey was exceeded before full power was reached. The Red Motor would have dropped straight in .

Glowplug

Injection Nozzle

Precombustion chamber

Outline of Injector and Prechamber overlaid along sparkplug centerline Irving / Chamberlain head

Above One way of converting the Irving / Chamberlain head to Diesel would be fitting a screw in prechamber in place of the sparkplug with appropriate water jacket modifications

Spark Plug


HOW DID IT GO ? Power , I did not hear any figures for the conversion but would estimate it would be no more than 70 actual hp at 2700 rpm and 154 ftlb of torque @ 1600 . This is based on adjusting the 186 advertised figures of 126 hp a@ 4200 rpm then applying Diesel factors. - Diesel Factor These engines only use about 85% of the available combustion air since unlike a petrol engine fuel and air mixing takes place during combustion not before hand on it’s way into the cylinder. Consequently not all the air and fuel have time to find each other (as evidenced by the onset of smoke) and result in approximately a 15 % reduction in power and torque for a given rpm . Power is further reduced in the order of another 30% by the inability to rev because of the extra time taken for this mixing and the higher inertia forces of the heavier pistons and rods. - Comparison of the 85 hp @ 2600 rpm from the 288 cubic inch displacement Perkins P6 Diesel engine which is of similar configuration to the 186 cub inch Holden Diesel supports it could be as low as 60 hp Oh for a Turbo ! On the road , I have no official information but there are a number of first hand reports that it did duty in one of the departments test cars though to be a Holden utility. My experience leads me to think it would be Slow , Smokey, Noisy, and Hard to Start like it’s contempories of the day with only a modest fuel consumption improvement . Bevan Fenner recalls that it ran smoothly and was not excessively noisy for a Diesel. Comments were made that a favourite prank was to ask a hapless apprentice to investigate the engine’s condition as there had been reports of knocking . These days this would be considered bullying THE DIESEL CRAZE Europe The rise of automotive Diesels seems to have been stimulated by VW with the introduction of the Diesel Golf in 1976 in response to the OPEC caused Fuel crisis of early 1970’s . With petrol engines struggling with the newly introduced emission laws and the high price of fuel VW’s answer was a dieselized version of their 1.5 l petrol engine. This was in contrast to the traditional approach of scaling

down of a heavy duty tractor type engine. Anyway it proved successful and caught the European public’s imagination which did not escape USA car companies “spin doctors” notice Detroit This prompted a rash of similar dieselization projects most notorious was the Oldsmobile 350 cub in V8 with only 120 hp in 1978 . Then in 1979 a second crisis hit with Iran /Iraq war and an overreaction saw widespread shortages and prices double. It seemed everyone had to have a diesel . There was even a highly secret project at the GM technical center in Detroit to make an experimental Diesel version of the Buick 3.8 l V6 ( predecessor to the engine used by Holden ) using Ricardo Comet Mk 5 combustion

chamber. I can still hear the horrendous Diesel knock!. GMH was not immune from the oil Crisis and the Detroit Spin with an Olds 350 engine imported and then fitted to a then current model Statesman for evaluation under real driving conditions on public roads. On a long country trip I concluded it had similar acceleration and economy to another test Statesman fitted with an Opel 4 cylinder 1. 9 l engine so why bother ? Well at least the V8 did sound better!

At this time with the Diesel craze at it’s peak enquiries were made to Repco about the 186 Diesel Red motor but alas it was no more. The best Holden could offer in 1981 was the 1.8 l Diesel Gemini from Japan ( a proper Diesel not a petrol conversion ) Off the record it sold like hot cakes until everyone who wanted one had one and the company was stuck with some leftovers. The remainder was put on the company lease car

Below Flat underside of the Heron type would give the required compression ratio of around 21:1 Pic internet

Above Bathtub chamber of standard Red motor head would not give high enough compression ratio for Diesel operation . Pic Warwick

Above Diesel activity historically follows sharp rises in oil price then slows down as prices moderate. Actually today at US $50 /barrel crude is the same dollar number as 40 years ago but when adjusted for the intervening 450 % inflation they were paying the equivalent of $275 in todays dollars .

Red Motor Diesel

USA Diesel Craze

Latest Diesel Craze


scheme at a very discounted rate and soon where snapped up ( me included ) . These little cars became well regarded and commanded high prices on the used car market for years.

Above Ad for Diesel Gemini with 1.8 litre 65 hp and 5 speed overdrive gearbox ( petrol was 1.6 litre 4 speed. ) Along with the confidential marketing strategy of “ It is no good putting an expensive engine in a cheap car “ all cars were a attractive metallic green , had fancy wheels and top of the range trim. . By 1986 oil had dropped to a10 year low and lack of refinement , reliability and service issues of dieselized petrol engines with their indirect injection and lack of turbocharging put US consumers off Diesel cars for the next 25 years . Right Typical Ricardo Comet combustion chamber . This Indirect injection concept was used by virtually all diesel cars up until the 1990’s . The high turbulence speeded up combustion but the large surface area and high velocities meant high heat loss to the walls making starting hard and only producing a modest fuel consumption reduction gain Latest Diesel Craze In the last 15 years electronics have transformed Diesel engines enabling extremely high pressure common rail systems with multiple injection events per cycle giving greatly improved and cleaner combustion. All engines are now specially designed as Diesels with Direct injection for maximum fuel efficiency. Turbochargers provide high boost so power can be produced without the need for excess revs while the introduction of multiple speed (up to 8 ) electronically controlled automatic transmissions means

superior performance is always available . Between you and me I regard these engines as the ultimate development of the piston engine and despite the hype not just a passing fad as the Dieselization of the 186 Holden Red Motor was . Fate of the 186 Diesel On a visit by Repco’s Nigel Tait to GMH engine chief Fred James took the opportunity to inquire about the engine. Nigel confirmed it had existed but was destroyed in a fuel fire when being used to drive a standby generator during the SEC power strike era of the late 1970’s. Ps And the Irving /Chamberlain Head ? The whisper around the traps was testing of the petrol version soon led to the abandonment of the Heron combustion chamber of the initial design . The extra surface area of the piston bowl absorbed more heat leading to softening of the aluminium pistons which usually results in ring groove failure. Revisions were soon made to incorporate a conventional bathtub combustion chamber and cast the heat in aluminium. In this form it went on to be made in small numbers by a number of concerns until very recent times. Although the Diesel version did not go ahead all was not wasted though with the petrol version going on to become a legend with hot red motor fans.

Above A Red Motor fitted with the aluminium version of the Irving/ Yella Terra cylinder head. The Diesel 186 would look similar from this side. Internet pic Warwick Bryce Automotive Engineer 1973 to 2008 Acknowledgements Bevan Fenner , Repco 1953 to 1970 Nigel Tait , Repco 1966 / ACL Chief Eng till 2006 Geoff Chamberlain (Bill’s son ) , GMH 1970’s to 2000’s Deceased Phil Irving , Designer of Vincent and Repco Brabham fame Fred James ,Vauxhall war years then GMH till late 1970’s Bob & Bill Chamberlain , many Engineering enterprises best known for their tractors.


Pirates at the Club It does not happen very often but the other weekend the National Steam centre was invaded by pirates. The goodies and the badies wielding a variety of swords and blunderbusses ( only toys) went from area to area battling it out over our prized artefacts. First the steam section then the arena with the Linde compressor flywheel were seen as prize spoils of war . Attention then turned to the Ruston excavator tracks then finally the capture of Warwick’s tank. What was it all about ? Well it was not altogether clear but apparently it was a throwback to an alternative England during WW 1 when Steam technology was Supreme predominating over internal combustion and pirates moved onto land . To further confuse things, rather than talking , communication seems to be done by opera singing. When suggested it does not make sense I was told it did not have to as long as everyone enjoyed themselves . Why not enjoy yourselves as well and come to the Darebin Arts & Entertainment Centre 26—29 Oct and take in a Steam punk performance of the Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Victoria details gsov.org.au/pirates Fence Great progress has been made with Ken Cuming’s lighting plant display with an impressive new fence going up around the engines thanks to Phil Randall and Adrian Anderson .

Below The new fence is built to our high standard of smart looking galvanized stanchions, tubular railing and mesh infills to match bay 1 & 2 .

Ken has connected up several of the 4 engines that are on concrete plinths,so they can be electrically motored over to simulate running . There are still several more cont —>


engines to come . To avoid a cluttered look the feasibility of displaying these on an elevated stand behind the first row is being investigated to ensure all the details can be seen by those interested in the varying configurations . Once completed we will have an outstanding display of lighting plant technology.

Above Peter Lynch is impressed with the progress as Phil Randall welds up the pipe rails while Adrian Anderson prepares to cut the mesh infills to size Willans Foundation A fair bit of head scratching has gone on over the engine holding down bolts . The original drawing called for holes

about 8’ 6” deep and 7 “ square to be cast into the concrete . With the engine base set in the correct position and supported on packers the bolts would be dangled in the holes and then everything grouted in . On Bill and Phil’s recommendation the plan is now to use the engine base as a template to weld up the bolts into a cage to be cast directly into the concrete . Levelling screws will then be used to align the base before grouting . Trewella Jack A couple of Sundays ago a kind lady dropped off an early model Trewella jack. At times these come in very handy around the club, for example when we had to move the Dorman genset. Trouble is when you want one you can’t always find one as they seem to grow legs if left lying around. To this end the jack has been put in the store shed to the right as you enter the PA door. While on the subject when passing through Trentham the other day I was disappointed to find the old Trewella factory is no more. Continued —->

Left Standard arrangement of engine holding down bolts from the Willans drawings . With the engine sitting on packers expanding grout is poured down the 8 1/2 ft deep holes locking the bolts in . Right A better way is to accurately position the bolts by welding them to the reinforcing and then casting the concrete around them . Bill has just completed the 8 bolts by turning down and threading 57 mm OD reinforcing bar.


Last time I saw it 2 years ago ( see SS 536 ) it was in poor condition and up for sale. Right Now there is nothing left of the factory, established in 1893 , except the old jack tester and a small faded sign. Warwick

This inquiry and photo was recently received by the club I have in my yard this vintage machine Could you tell me what is the proper term to describe it ? I am told it is a steam traction engine but that may not be correct . The only markings on it above the fire box is 3336 with an arrow above it. Ray

Our President Neil replies Ray , This is what is known as a portable boiler, often used to supply steam for various purposes, including soil sterilization in the market garden industry through to operating steam winches and plant.

The arrow above the fire box number would suggest this was in government service at some point (in the same way military vehicles are marked in a similar fashion). This may be your best chance to identify any history of this boiler - you may be lucky searching for the number at places like the Victorian Public Records Office or historic society in your local area.

Identification could be difficult - these boilers often had makers names cast into the wheel hubs, or plates mounted above the firebox on the smoke box door. You may be able to identify the manufacturer from some of the details - like the front fore carriage, how the rear wheels are attached and the smoke box door hinge. Some of these details point to the boiler being made by an English company of Ransomes, Simms & Jefferies. This would require further clarification as features like the rear axle position and the style of throat plate don't quite match. There is also a chance that this may be a locally made boiler, which could make identification more difficult! Hope all this helps! Neil Above What distinguishes this engine from a stripped down portable is lack of any provisions for attachment of cylinders or crankshaft bearing pedestals . Further distinction is the fitting of a dome for taking off the dry steam . Portable engines have no need for theses as the jacket around the cylinder serves this purpose . As remarked it has an extremely tall stack . This appears to be original as there are brackets on the side of the boiler for holding section of it when the engine is being moved. A tall stack would be necessary on a portable boiler as there is no exhaust to direct up the chimney to greater a draft Maybe some of our members can narrow down the engines make and year. Warwick

Mystery Vintage Machine

S S S S S S SS S S SS SS SS


Derek Rayner on a A Nice Thought from Turkey Last issue we mentioned the offer of an unusual and well preserved steam engine in Turkey in the hope a good home for it could be found so that it would be preserved in original condition. I commented that little information could be found on it on the internet. Well thanks to Des Lang , Derek Rayner , the Technical Editor of Old Glory magazine and good friend of MSTEC has got back to us with the following good information.

Derek writes I can add a little to the item at the end regarding the contact from Turkey.

The manufacturer of the engine was Flöther and their location was Gassen a/d Lil. [that’s 'an der Lil' - which can be translated as 'on the river Lil'] At the time the machine was made it would have been in Germany and because of the changed boundaries after the wars], the town is now in Poland and named Jasień.

That will be why nothing has been found about it via a Google search.

Usually when engines of this nature are supplied to drive a sawmill, they are manufactured as this one appears to be, to sit on the floor. They look like a portable engine and they could have been so had they had wheels fitted.

In our usual terms here when describing such a machine, it’s what we call a ‘semi-portable’ engine.

You could suggest to the guy that the big industrial museum in Istanbul may be interested in it. I was there last January. Marvellous place. Please see: http://www.rmk-museum.org.tr/english/index.html

There was a subsequent piece in OG about the many facets of the privately-owned museum as a result of the visit that Colin Tyson (OG editor) and I made there. It may not surprise you to learn that I’d been there previously!!

Hope this helps. Best wishes, Derek

Thanks Derek I have just followed the link the Rahmin M Koc’s Muzei privately owned museum it is an amazing place occupying the site and buildings of a naval dockyard. The diversity of exhibits and standard of presentation is stunning from a submarine to olive oil factory and everything in between . I have definitely put it on my bucket list. Warwick

S S S S S S SS S S SS S S S S SS S S

Above Photo from SS 560 of the fully original Floether steam engine which was brought new by Sensors great grand father in the 1930’s which he wants to see preserved

The Trewella works in 2015 . Below There was an extensive series of buildings although the older parts were derelict some of the better ones were still being used for vehicle repairs .

Above On display out the front was the cylinder from an old steam engine they had converted for testing the capacity of the jacks they produced .

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