Jump to content

1930's Narrowboat - engine

BlueStringPudding

By BlueStringPudding
in Boat Equipment

 Share

Featured Posts

BlueStringPudding Veteran II

BlueStringPudding

Posted
Posted

Seen a boat advertised recently with this amazing looking contraption:

 

SAW013_4.jpg

 

What sort of an engine is that? Looks fascinating! :cheers:

 

It's apaprently a 1930's boat by an "unknown builder" Can any of you wise sages of all things mechanical shed some light on it? I'm intrigued!

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Barry Veteran

Barry

Posted
Posted
Looks a bit like a 'Rigas Diseazalis' (or a name very similar) - I think they were made at Riga when it was in the Soviet Union . . .

 

closely related to the old Rigor Mortis

 

 

 

Sorry - couldn't help it

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BlueStringPudding Veteran II

BlueStringPudding

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Amazing looking contraption !

Looks quite modern to me, starter motor, enclosed valve-gear, even an alternator though that may be later. Must admit I can't put a name to it.

 

Sorry to be a dunce - but I am when it comes to engines...

 

But which bit is which!?!?!?!?!? :cheers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
David Schweizer Veteran II

David Schweizer

Posted
Posted
Mid - Brunswick Green or my name isn`t the one our delivery man just called me because my car`s in the way.......

Can't agree with you on that one Phil. I am sitting here with a pot of authenticated Brunswick Green paint, as used on all GWR Locos ( except those painted at Wolverhamopton) and it is a differnt colur altogether, tjhe colour of the engine is too blue and too bright. Brunswick green is a much flatter colour, with a more greyish hue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NB Alnwick Veteran II

NB Alnwick

Posted
Posted
Can't agree with you on that one Phil. I am sitting here with a pot of authenticated Brunswick Green paint, as used on all GWR Locos ( except those painted at Wolverhamopton) and it is a differnt colur altogether, tjhe colour of the engine is too blue and too bright. Brunswick green is a much flatter colour, with a more greyish hue.

 

If only the GWR had standardised like the 'Premier Line' and its superior successor.

 

I think the shade of 'Brunswick Green' used at Oswestry was rather different again or was that the Welsh influence?

 

Now I don't KNOW, but it looks a little remeniscent of a Meadows, particularly the rocker box.

 

I still think it is a Riga - there is one fitted to the Challenger hire boat 'Spirit of Georgia' - a lovely old fashioned engine with a comprehensive cloth bound instruction book in wonderfully verbose Edwardian English . . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Phil Speight Rising Star

Phil Speight

Posted
Posted
Can't agree with you on that one Phil. I am sitting here with a pot of authenticated Brunswick Green paint, as used on all GWR Locos ( except those painted at Wolverhamopton) and it is a differnt colur altogether, tjhe colour of the engine is too blue and too bright. Brunswick green is a much flatter colour, with a more greyish hue.

I wasn`t actually being serious........... however Deep Brunswick Green is one of our standard colours

and it is appreciably darker than the colour the engine appears on my monitor!

I was determined not be serious ever again and now you`ve spoilt it - I should have worked my sheep joke into Carl`s generator contributions after all! It was to do with them not being in a position to make comments to his face...............

This colour thing is really difficult because I`m quite convinced that in the days we are harking back to they weren`t quite as fussy as we are now ( except in terms of actual quality ). For instance I know beyond any doubt that before 1939 companies as disparate as Alfa Romeo , Burrells , Aveling and Porter etc. had many versions of their standard colours that were barely distinguishable from each other and could only have been down to who was mixing the paint on any given day! I don`t think they stood in the daylight with two colour trials asking passers by if they thought the two were the same like Ive found myself doing on occasion.Oh damn - serious again. Ah well , TV stardom beckons , where`s me shades..

Cheers

Phil

PS - no - I`ve no idea what sort of engine it is although the Riga theory looks good. All it has to do is reliably push the boat along - which is why I puzzle at the amounts people spend on engines some times.

A hint ( I`m stuck in the office waiting for Zita to come back ) - if you are looking for an old fashioned engine , Lister , Gardner and the like - try searching away from the canal. Fishing boats are a good place to start , standby generator engines , all sorts - you will invariably pay less , and in the case of fishing boats the chances are that the gearbox will have had a really easy life and the engine itself will have been well looked after for safety`s sake , even if it looks scruffy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
David Schweizer Veteran II

David Schweizer

Posted
Posted
I think the shade of 'Brunswick Green' used at Oswestry was rather different again or was that the Welsh influence?

 

:cheers: The shade may have been different but I am certain that the colour was the same. I used to have a copy of the standard GWR Colour chart issued to all Maintenance Depots, and from recollection the description was Brunswick Green let down with 10% (?) white lead, so the actual shade could have differed slightly from one shed to another depending on how careful the paint mixer was. The Wolverhampton Shed green was a different colour being much more yellow in hue, maybe the Oswestry used this colour as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NB Alnwick Veteran II

NB Alnwick

Posted
Posted
:cheers: The shade may have been different but I am certain that the colour was the same. I used to have a copy of the standard GWR Colour chart issued to all Maintenance Depots, and from recollection the description was Brunswick Green let down with 10% (?) white lead, so the actual shade could have differed slightly from one shed to another depending on how careful the paint mixer was. The Wolverhampton Shed green was a different colour being much more yellow in hue, maybe the Oswestry used this colour as well.

 

The topic may have shifted slightly but I have to agree generally with Phil on the subject of historic colours. The mix of the paint colours varied both chronoligically and geographically and, especially in in the case of railways, the final colour depended very much on the eye of the person mixing the ingredients. In pre-WWII days paint was rarely received ready mixed as we have since grown to expect - it was always mixed as reuired from basic ingredients and pigments. In the controlled conditions of a main works one might have seen a great deal of consistency but it is also easy to understand why there were variations between distant paintshops.

 

I remember correspondence in the Railway Modeller during the 1960s on the subject of GWR paint colours - it ran for months (possibly years) without any firm conclusions except that in practice, colours sometimes varied considerable from the official colour specifications - especially in the case of architecture. Those discussions took place within 25 years of the GWR's existance coming to an end and the contributors included ex-GWR staff with hands-on experience.

 

Another factor that would have impacted on the final appearence of paint on such items as locomotives and passenger coaches would have been the number of coats applied - up to a dozen undercoats (often in different shades to aid flatting) and possibly two or three coats of varnish which itself might have added a yellowish taint.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chertsey Veteran

Chertsey

Posted
Posted
This colour thing is really difficult because I`m quite convinced that in the days we are harking back to they weren`t quite as fussy as we are now ( except in terms of actual quality ). For instance I know beyond any doubt that before 1939 companies as disparate as Alfa Romeo , Burrells , Aveling and Porter etc. had many versions of their standard colours that were barely distinguishable from each other and could only have been down to who was mixing the paint on any given day!

...

 

Fishing boats are a good place to start , standby generator engines , all sorts - you will invariably pay less , and in the case of fishing boats the chances are that the gearbox will have had a really easy life and the engine itself will have been well looked after for safety`s sake , even if it looks scruffy.

 

Good news all round for us then!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NB Esk Rising Star

NB Esk

Posted
Posted

The engine is a "Dorman", and as the nameplate proudly states, "Entirely British Made".

 

Hard to tell from this angle, but it looks like the three cylinder version. Made from the mid 1950's untill the early 70's. Pretty sure it's the LB series which are 1600cc per cylinder.

 

The crossed pistons in my avatar are from my two cyl version...........hope this helps...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Barry Veteran

Barry

Posted
Posted
The engine is a "Dorman", and as the nameplate proudly states, "Entirely British Made".

 

Hard to tell from this angle, but it looks like the three cylinder version. Made from the mid 1950's untill the early 70's. Pretty sure it's the LB series which are 1600cc per cylinder.

 

The crossed pistons in my avatar are from my two cyl version...........hope this helps...

 

Never mind made in Britain - weren't they made in Lincoln?

 

If they were - Yaaaay!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NB Esk Rising Star

NB Esk

Posted
Posted

Hi Bazza, don't want a reputation as an anorak..........Tixall road, Stafford..........s'what it says on mine, anyway.

 

Built when Britain was still great and we knew how to do things like making an engine that ran forever...........probl'y what was wrong, never wore out...

 

 

 

Forgot to say.......note the position of the bolts, securing the big end caps.........sign of a "proper" marine engine...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Barry Veteran

Barry

Posted
Posted
Hi Bazza, don't want a reputation as an anorak..........Tixall road, Stafford..........s'what it says on mine, anyway.

 

Built when Britain was still great and we knew how to do things like making an engine that ran forever...........probl'y what was wrong, never wore out...

Forgot to say.......note the position of the bolts, securing the big end caps.........sign of a "proper" marine engine...

 

That's a pity - only we have, or did until recently, Dorman Diesels in Lincoln

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.