Market Harborough Welland valley vintage traction club open day

[RWHB1]

Some new (to me) engines! Wallis and Steevens 10 ton single cylinder road roller “Midnight” number 7539 BE9360
It was part of an emergency order for 6 rollers by war department director 27Oct 1916dispatched to Leadenham then Cranwell then under construction. The roller took 3 days to build, and 10 days to test and dispatch. No water sprayers or scarifier was fitted.
120psi
7.5” diameter bore
10” stroke
3.88 square feet heating surface
One injector and one pump

After finishing its war service the roller was moved to the war department equipment disposals depot at Caenby corner north of Lincoln. It was regularly hired out for individual construction work like road construction and consolidation. It is believe the engine was then purchased and registered by Lindsey council in Lancashire for highway and airfield work. Subsequently it worked on airfield construction in World War II with RAF and USA teams and afterward was hired to Kesteven council. It was then returned to Lindsey council and was sold in 1957 to a farmer Mr Nicholson of Market Raisen for roadway construction. It was sold to JL Roughton Limited of Alford Lincs. It’s duties apparently including crushing scrap metal including admonition cases steel barrels all cars, jeeps and machinery. It was then sold to Joseph Hindle Smith of Great Steeping 1965 who did much to put the engine in good order after a very arduous life. It was based in the Deeping where it worked on consolidating flood defences for sometime the roller was kept in John H Rundles machinery yard at new Bollingbrook near Boston And became widely known as it worked on tasks like the A1 Wansford bypass, A46, A52, RAF Scampton, RAF Waddington plus USAF airbases at Bottesford and Binbrook. Midnight is an example of the road steam equipment and the excellence of its design. In fact, it forms the basis of all reciprocating internal combustion machinery.

After a long and arduous existence the ruler was bought in 1970 by Mr Brian Wright of Bedworth a Collery engineer who took great care over the role of the 30 years. He then sold it to its current owner and back as a Harboroghian Mike Lee who is well known steaming enthusiast on road, rails, water and all other types of steam equipment. His uncle built for him a full working model traction engine when he was four in 1951 and he soon learned to drive it while sitting on in a trailer as his favourite hobby round his grandparents garden having bought the roller in 2002 he has been fully restored with a new boiler and rear rubber wheel treads which varsity proof approved adhesion After 108 years. It is a very powerful and engine to drive to avoid hostel aircraft tax in World War II while on construction work the engine was painted overall black hence its name midnight the fact that this engine has worked in the most arduous and rough conditions exposed to the elements and awfully handled by unskilled drivers. It’s 108 years of brutally hard work our credit to the quality of its construction and design and there would be appear a little stop it completing another century of steaming.





Two new donations to traction talk also received! Many thanks!


Russ