3" Gauge Burrell Traction Engine - 'Lisa'
'Lisa' is a 3" scale agricultural engine built to Plastow drawings. The engine is based on an early single cylinder traction engine in common use at the beginning of the century, before double drive to the rear axle and springing came into general use.
This locomotive was bought for me by my grandparents in 2000. When the engine was acquired it originally had a steel boiler which failed its hydraulic test, hence the reason for the sale. At the time I didn't have the knowledge or skills to replace the boiler so my grandparents paid someone to restore it with a new copper boiler. Looking back the guy hired to carry out the work didn't do a great job, but lack of knowledge of the hobby at the time it seemed an ok choice. When it came back fittings leaked, it wasn't timed correctly and the paint job was terrible it started to flake off after the first steaming!
Anyway, these errors were eventually corrected by a guy we got to know through a friend of a friend. Who, even though self tough, is a bit of a perfectionist and good with a machine. As a result I have enjoyed many hours watching the engine turn over, seeing how it works and have learnt a little about using a lathe and milling machine in order to fix a few things along the way.
Here is a video of the engine:
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