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Sheffield Steam


DaveH

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Since 1973 Sheffield has had its own local steam society / club which is concerned not with rail but more with road steam and traction engines.

The "Sheffield and District Steam Society" was formed in 1973 and has put on a steam rally almost every year since (floods prevented an event in 2007!)

In recent years the name has changed to "Sheffield Steam and Vintage Club" to emphasise its interest in other aspects of local transport and not just steam.

The early rallies were held at Oakes Park until a dispute with the council over Sunday trading forced them out of the City to Waleswood and later to Rother Valley Country Park, where they stayed until land was needed for a golf course. They then moved to Renishaw Hall and then to their current rally site at Rackford Road, North Anston. Their rally is held usually on the last weekend in June every year.

The club has members who own steam rollers, traction engines and other steam road vehicles and they frequently display these at events such as those at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Kelham Island Museum and Wortley Top Forge, thereby supporting other aspects of the cities industrial heritage.

The club has monthly meetings, currently the first Tuesday of each month and usually in The Centre Spot on Jaunty Road S12. It also has a monthly newsletter for its members.

Many of its members help support a second event, the ONCA rally (Old and New Charity Association) which takes place in May Bank Holiday. ONCA started in the same year in Mossborough, but has had rallies as far away as Thoresby Hall and Edwinstowe. Its last rally was in 2007 at Barlborough.

The most recent June 2008 rally event at Rackford Road was successful. Here is a picture of the engine line up in the arena.

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Great stuff, Thank you.

Do you have more details of Sheffield Steam-related vehicles ? I'm not a Transport-person, but I'd love to see more. I'm sure SheffieldHistory would like to see more details/pictures/scans/newsletters for the transport-buffs.

Thanks once again.

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Great stuff, Thank you.

Do you have more details of Sheffield Steam-related vehicles ? I'm not a Transport-person, but I'd love to see more. I'm sure SheffieldHistory would like to see more details/pictures/scans/newsletters for the transport-buffs.

Thanks once again.

Oh Dear! I need to come clean on this one,

I joined Sheffield Steam Society in 1993 after following steam rallies for the previous 2 years.

In 1994 I was on the Committee

From 1998 my wife and I have held the positions of Secretary, Membership secretary, Newsletter editor, Rally secretary, Rally safety officer and Section secretary for a section of the rally exhibits (miniature steam engines and models).

My wife resigned the committee in 2006 and I have recently resigned the Committee in the last month, but we are both still members.

While I was Newsletter Editor we ran our own website

sheffieldsteam

this is still at present an active site, but has been reduced to a single page just to give rally details due to problems we have had with it recently.

I have lots of photos of the rallies and used many of them in the newsletters over my time in office, so YES I do have plenty of stuff and I could post some of it here, given time, if other members of this Forum are interested.

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Here are some photos from one of the oakes park steam fares in I beleive 1980 ish

http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o24/TRA...rent=img856.jpg

http://s116.phttp://s116.photobucket.com/a...rent=img851.jpg

Thanks for those bus man. those on the first link are definately recognisable as Oaks Park, but I can't get your second link to work, it comes back as page cannot be found.

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Guest bus man

Please use the first two links they are both oakes park the first shows a pickfords lorry the second a mobile shop both show ex SJOC PD2 2 1156, I suspect that transit may have to say something about the pics or especlly one of them !

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Guest transit

Please use the first two links they are both oakes park the first shows a pickfords lorry the second a mobile shop both show ex SJOC PD2 2 1156, I suspect that transit may have to say something about the pics or especlly one of them !

...yes ..thanks! looks like you got me again , stood beside our mate , the late John Beal . Was'nt this the show where Radio Hallam DJ Roger Moffatt was invited to do the judging - prizegiving , and turned up in a wheelchair and seemed very grumpy ?? ;-)

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I bet he's chuntering about the old buses not having wheelchair access lol

Many people of my age will remember steam waggons in use on the roads in the late 1940s - especially the brewers drays. Not sure which was the more exciting to a small boy - a horse-drawn dray or a steam dray.

I once saw a photo of a steam tram, but it may not have been a Sheffield tram, being used as a snow-plough I think; and I remember my grandfather taking me to some works in Attercliffe where he did his apprenticeship to show me a steam-driven tilt hammer; that would be in the late 40s too.

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quote name='Gramps' post='26445' date='Nov 1 2008, 03:39 PM']I bet he's chuntering about the old buses not having wheelchair access lol

Many people of my age will remember steam waggons in use on the roads in the late 1940s - especially the brewers drays. Not sure which was the more exciting to a small boy - a horse-drawn dray or a steam dray.

I once saw a photo of a steam tram, but it may not have been a Sheffield tram, being used as a snow-plough I think; and I remember my grandfather taking me to some works in Attercliffe where he did his apprenticeship to show me a steam-driven tilt hammer; that would be in the late 40s too.

There were 2 basic designs of steam wagon Gramps.

The older one was the Foden design with an overtype engine, basically a direct adaptation of the standard traction engine design, and not much faster.

The second was the Sentinel design. Interesting that you spell Wagon with a double g (Waggon) as this was Sentinels own spelling. Much more a lorry with their undertype engines and gearing and much faster out on the road, they could compete with Diesel lorries until the last days of steam.

I can't find a steam tram in my rally shots, although there are steam trams on the railways (They look like a motorised shed on wheels like the one in Thomas the tank engine).

However, based on the Foden design and manufactured by them here is a steam bus.

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First notification and advertising of the forthcoming 2009 steam rally.

Added entry into Sheffieldhistory site calendar, should get a reminder on front page on the day

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Added entry into Sheffieldhistory site calendar, should get a reminder on fromt page on the day

Thanks Stuart, much appreciated.

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Thanks Stuart, much appreciated.

I have now also updated the sites web page with details of this years rally

Sheffield Steam & Vintage Club plc

Note that the club is now a PLC.

Having resigned my responsibilities to the club last October I don't know yet if I will be rejoining this year

A "club" sounds like good amateur fun but a "limited company" sounds too legal and businesslike.

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I have now also updated the sites web page with details of this years rally

Sheffield Steam & Vintage Club plc

Note that the club is now a PLC.

Having resigned my responsibilities to the club last October I don't know yet if I will be rejoining this year

A "club" sounds like good amateur fun but a "limited company" sounds too legal and businesslike.

Its now well into May, Steam Club subscriptions were due in April and I haven't paid up, so it looks like after 16 years I've resigned my membership.

Still interested in road steam vehicles though and still willing to post any Sheffield happenings on here.

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I have now also updated the sites web page with details of this years rally

Sheffield Steam & Vintage Club plc

Sorry about the mistake with the dates on the steam club web site

The rally dates are Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June 2009 as on the yellow flyer on this site.

I have edited the information on the linked site and this is now correct.

Hope I have not misled anyone with a wrong date that doesn't exist (Sunday 29 June 2009)

Well done to Stuart0742 for spotting it, as no one from the Steam Club has contacted me about it yet.

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Sorry about the mistake with the dates on the steam club web site

The rally dates are Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June 2009 as on the yellow flyer on this site.

I have edited the information on the linked site and this is now correct.

Hope I have not misled anyone with a wrong date that doesn't exist (Sunday 29 June 2009)

Well done to Stuart0742 for spotting it, as no one from the Steam Club has contacted me about it yet.

Just a reminder that this event is on now and all this weekend.

For once I will not be going myself this year, far too busy with other stuff.

But if anyone is thinking of gouing the details are here

Sheffield Rally Details 2009

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Just a reminder that this event is on now and all this weekend.

For once I will not be going myself this year, far too busy with other stuff.

But if anyone is thinking of gouing the details are here

Sheffield Rally Details 2009

Nice weather this weekend.

Did anyone go to this?

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Nice weather this weekend.

Did anyone go to this?

Dave

I have a friend who I met through a local forums

photography group,

he's a very keen photographer and he did make a visit

to the steam rally.

These are a few of Paul's photos that he very

kindly gave the permission to post up on here.

all photos taken by Paul Buckley

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Dave

I have a friend who I met through a local forums

photography group,

he's a very keen photographer and he did make a visit

to the steam rally.

These are a few of Paul's photos that he very

kindly gave the permission to post up on here.

all photos taken by Paul Buckley

Thanks for that Steve, and many thanks to Paul for allowing us to use his pictures of this event on Sheffield History.

Having been on the committe of Sheffield Steam Club until last October, and having been the rally safety officer until 2005 I instantly recognise most of these engines and owners.

I will attempt to interpret them here although I may not be 100% accurate as I am working from memory from about 4 years ago.

Again thanks to Paul Buckley for providing the pictures.

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This engine is Fowler works number 15462 made by Fowlers of Leeds in 1919, registered for the road as AD 9162 and carrying the name "AJAX" (The ancient Greek hero, not the cleaning powder). It is a 7nhp (nominal horse power) A9 class road locomotive weighing around 12 tons. It is owned by Mr. Middlewood.

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This engine is Fowler works number 14100 made by Fowlers of Leeds in 1914, registered for the road as J 6673 and carrying the name "EMPRESS". It is a 7nhp (nominal horse power) A8 class road locomotive weighing around 10 tons. It is owned by P. Wainwright.

Both these big Fowler road locomotives used to do the heavy haulage and hill climb demonstrations at the rally, at full steam easily being capable of hauling massive loads weighing in excess of 50 tons. At one time they were kept at Kelham Island and their canopy header boards carried the legend

KELHAM ISLAND HEAVY HAULAGE

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Not really familiar with this miniature engine at all

At appears to be in 3" scale (thats 3" to the foot, or if you prefer, quarter size)

It also seems to have the look of a Burrell single cylinder agricultural engine of about 6nhp.

The miniature is not full completed as its boiler lacks its lagging and cladding as well as its final coat of paint (typically green on this sort of engine).

The engine is being prepared for steaming.

That extension on the chimney which is forcing smoke out sideways from the top is a "blower".

This is a small electric fan, often powered from a car battery, designed to drag air through the fire grate, through the fire, down the tubes, into the smoke box and up the chimney to the fan. This will cause heat to be transfered from the fire to the water quicker causing it to boil and build up pressure to working value faster.

The blower will be removed when their is sufficient steam to move away. Exhaust steam from the engine when it is running will then do more or less the same job.

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Another miniature engine in 3" scale.

This is an American CASE engine designed for agricultural use on the praries and it has typical American features, - note for example the flywheel which is on the opposite side of the engine to those which follow classic British traction engine design, presumably because for reasons of visibility it makes sense to have the flywheel on the side of the engine closest to the pavement (or sidewalk if you're American)

Can't remember who this guy is, - he started exhibiting this engine in my final year as safety officer. However he is a friend of Albert Sell, and he appears to be wearing Albert's "Cassey Jones" engine drivers hat. Albert has made and owns several of these miniature engines including 2 American ones, a Minneapolis and another Case although most of the time he rallies a Fowler Fen engine in 3" scale.

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