Stationary Engines, and the hobby of finding, restoring and then exhibiting a variety of internal combustion engines from the late 19th century to the 1950's, has become one of the more popular niche hobbies to emerge in the last thirty or so years. Although hobby interest existed before, it was only when restoration began to be organised and documented, and rallies were started, to give more emphasis to stationary engines, that it attracted greater interest outside the enthusiasts of the time.
In the USA, the restoration movement is considerably larger and with home-grown machines in abundance the industry built around restoration is of a considerable size and turnover. In the UK, we have our own well known industrial engine manufacturers such as Lister, Petter, Bamford etc., as well as the earlier gas and marine engine makers such as Ruston, Crossley, Kelvin etc. Others exist in the archives, but are no longer in existence, which gives the interest to many of finding these old and forgotten engines and bringing them back to life.
Far from being an 'Anorak' hobby, the stationary engine scene has a well-organised social side, and includes local engine clubs which offer regular club nights, rallies and shows. The work put in by the wives and girlfriends has to be acknowledged, as well as the efforts put in by the club secretaries, most of whom have to run the club affairs and finances in their spare time.
The amount of effort that is put into an engine restoration varies from a coat of paint to a year or more of hard work, finding parts and specialist services for the repairs, rebuilding a rusted heap into a working engine. A small core of suppliers has been established to provide the parts and services that are required, most of which are unobtainable from the original manufacturers.
My own involvement in engines goes back many years to when I was a diesel-electric fitter. I had followed the classic route from being interested in engines as a teenager, followed by a long career working first on trucks and then on generating sets. That ended up taking me all over the world while working in the film and TV industry. While most of my work was related to service and breakdown problems, a lot of time was spent on development work, which enabled a wider view of the engine industry and the related peripherals and accessories.
My interest in owning and restoring my own engines came from an initial need to power a Bamford chaff cutter, to provide feed for our horses which are my wife Rita's hobby.
Starting with a small Lister 'D' which was purchased in a series of boxes, a second 'D' was offered by a complete stranger who had heard that we were looking out for one. The third, a Lister 10/2 which is featured in this book, was bought as a pure restoration project with no application in mind. A Lister 6/1 Start-O-Matic and Bamford 1 1/2 HP followed. By the year 2000, we had reached over 30 engines!
The 'book' is intended to be read and enjoyed by both beginners and experienced restorers alike. It is always difficult to aim a book at a specific reader profile, and I have tried to give a bit of something for everyone inside. We both hope that you get a lot of pleasure from reading about our engines, and the book will give encouragement to those considering entering the hobby.
• Appendices • Index • Main •