Engine Punk

I was looking for something else the other day and this 21st Anniversary programme for the West of England steam rally turned up. I had no idea I had it still. Flicking through it, some interesting info about Firedrake No.13 came to light.  My original post about this engine raised a few questions. having visited Dorothy in the Shuttleworth Collection, I found myself wondering about the identity of the "parts" engine. Originally, Dennis Solway was going to use Clayton & Shuttleworth 46817 as a source of parts for another engine but he relented on discovering this locomotive was in better condition than his first one.  Here was the entry for the late Mr Solway's engine. I found this quite by chance So it was Clayton & Shuttleworth 48656 that surrendered its parts so 46817 could steam again. Had it survived despite this unselfish act? Yes! Clayton & Shuttleworth 48656 is listed in my Traction Engine Register. A quick check on the web revealed two interesting ph...

Dennis Solway's Clayton & Shuttleworth engine soon after restoration (Photo : the Solway family) This steam engine was the first one to fascinate me. Mr Solway was the proprietor of the garage at Marazanvose on the A30. His was the nearest garage to Callestick where we lived and an easy walk through the lanes if you had a car to leave or collect. Fortunately, he was a trustworthy soul. In a small community like ours, reputation counted for a lot. Word of mouth would soon advertise good tradesmen or those to be avoided. Solway's Garage was also signwritten as Agricultural Engineers so any firm that farmers patronised - with wheat in the field and a broken down combine - was sure to be a good one. Dennis Solway was where our neighbours went for their car repairs. One of them, John Holland, even worked there.  The back of the garage, with an open view across the fields to the engine house of West Chiverton, was an over grown paddock of fascinating old cars. I got locked into a...