Burrell Traction Engine

A project completed by Thame Shed

Project History

In October 2023, Thame Shed was offered a model engineer’s workshop, including a milling machine and a large number of unused tools. The gentleman’s daughter explained that her father had intended to build a traction engine from a kit that he had bought many years ago. It was decided thats this would be a fantastic project for the Shed and was bought from her on the understanding that she would see the finished project.

Neil Madden, a member of our team who teaches model engineering in the community workshop, built the traction engine, and several members of the woodworking department built the accompanying trailer.

Building the traction engine was a real team effort at Thame Shed. One group of volunteers worked on the engineering side, and another made the trailer. These groups included skilled engineers with years of experience building model steam engines and a highly experienced woodworking team of retired joiners and woodworkers. 

The kit of the one-third-size traction engine arrived at the Shed in 27 boxes; unfortunately, the instructions were missing! Another challenge was sourcing wood for the trailer – the previous owner had mistakenly burned the original wood! 

Undaunted, the talented teams set to work. The engineers reported that the Model Works/Steam Traction World kit fitted together very well. The people at the Model Steam Road Vehicle Society generously helped, providing drawings and endless advice. Our thanks to this enthusiastic, encouraging team. 

The project took approximately 18 months, and the pressure testing occurred recently. We thank the engineers at Vale of Aylesbury Model Engineering Society for a successful test. 

This beautiful steam engine is now for sale. If you are interested, then please get in touch with Neil directly on 01865 331990.