Aveling and Porter
Aveling and Porter was a British agricultural engine and steam roller manufacturer. Thomas Aveling and Richard Thomas Porter entered into partnership in 1862, developed a steam engine three years later in 1865 and produced more steam rollers than all the other British manufacturers combined.[citation needed]
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[edit] The partners
Thomas Aveling was born 11 September 1824 at Elm, Cambridgeshire[1] and was apprenticed to a farmer where he had the opportunity to familiarise himself with the new steam-powered farm machinery of the time. In 1851, Aveling's interest in engineering led him to set up a business in Edward's Yard, Rochester, with his father-in-law producing and repairing agricultural machinery. In 1856 they produced the first steam plough. In 1860, the business moved to Strood, on a site adjacent to Rochester Bridge.[2]
Aveling died 7 March 1882, at his home, Boley Hill House, Rochester.[1]
The sole remaining building was demolished by Medway Council in 2010.
[edit] The business
In partnership with Porter, the steam roller they produced in 1865 was tested in Military Road, Chatham, Star Hill in Rochester and in Hyde Park, London. The machine proved a huge success. Aveling and Porter steam rollers were exported to Europe and as far afield as India and North America.
In 1919 Aveling and Porter joined the Agricultural & General Engineers (AGE) combine. Production of Aveling and Porter steam wagons was transferred to Richard Garrett & Sons. In 1932 AGE went into receivership, bringing down Aveling and Porter with it.[3]
In 1933, Aveling and Porter combined with Barford & Perkins to form Aveling-Barford which continued to make steam and motor rollers. The rescue, part-funded by Ruston & Hornsby of Lincoln, involved the firm moving to Grantham, Lincolnshire, from the Rochester site. After World War II the company continued to make motor and steam rollers as well as expanding into other construction equipment.
Aveling-Barford is now part of the Wordsworth Holdings Group, a family-owned company. The company is based in Grantham, and still trades under the name 'Barford' which uses a modern version of the Aveling-Barford 'prancing horse' logo. Barford manufacturers and sells a wide range of site dumpers.[4]
[edit] Products
Aveling & Porter built more steam rollers than all the other manufacturers combined. They also built traction engines and steam wagons.
The company also built a few pairs of ploughing engines. A pair of which (unique in the UK) survive in the collection at the Thursford Steam Museum at Thursford, Norfolk.[5] The Thursford Collection includes 27 Aveling & Porter steam tractors and rollers and 16 more by other manufacturers.[6][7]
Another example of Aveling and Porters engineering skills can be seen in the massive covered slips at Chatham Dockyard. These Leviathans of steel pre-date the great London train sheds of St. Pancras, King's Cross and Paddington—traditionally understood to be the oldest and largest steel framed structures of the time.[citation needed]
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Traction engine-based railway locomotive, as used on the Brill Tramway
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Early Aveling & Porter Loco in Chatham Dockyard
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Aveling & Porter roller "Britannia" (s/n 8548) at Bromyard, Herefordshire show 2008
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Inside the covered slips at Chatham Historic Dockyard
[edit] Locomotives
| Works Number | Places worked/been/owner | Name | Arrangement | Tractive Effort(lb) | Weight | Status | Date Built | Location | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam Sapper No.1 | 1868 | [8] | |||||||
| Steam Sapper No.2 | 1871 | [8] | |||||||
| Johnsons Cements Works,Greenhithe | 0-4-0WT | ||||||||
| Amberley Chalk Pit | 0-4-0WT | ||||||||
| 121 | Grays Quarries Co Ltd | [8] | |||||||
| 129 | Chatham Dockyard, Kent/Devonport Dockyard, Devon/Portsmouth Dockyard, Hants Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway |
2-2-0T | 1865 | [8][9] | |||||
| 151 | Grays Quarries Co Ltd | [8] | |||||||
| 167 | Grays Quarries Co Ltd | [8] | |||||||
| 182 | Chatham Dockyard, Kent/Devonport Dockyard, Devon/Portsmouth Dockyard, Hants Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway |
2-2-0T | 1866 | [8][9] | |||||
| 218 | Chatham Dockyard, Kent/Devonport Dockyard, Devon/Portsmouth Dockyard, Hants Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway |
2-2-0T | 1866 | [8][9] | |||||
| 718 | Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway | 2-2-0T | 1871 | [9] | |||||
| 719 | Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway | 2-2-0T | 1871 | [9] | |||||
| 807 | Wotton Tramway/Brill Tramway (No 1) Nether Heyford Brickworks (Northamptonshire)/War Department Neasden Depot Museum of British Transport, Clapham London Transport Museum |
0-4-0T | (6 hp) | 9.4 tons | Static Display | 1872 | Buckinghamshire Railway Centre - On loan from London Transport Museum | [10] | |
| 822 | Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway | Steam Sapper No.3 | 2-2-0T | 1872 | [9] | ||||
| 829 | Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway | Steam Sapper No.4 | 2-2-0T | 1872 | [9] | ||||
| 830 | Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway | Steam Sapper No.5 | 2-2-0T | 1872 | [9] | ||||
| 831 | Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway | Steam Sapper No.6 | 2-2-0T | 1872 | [9] | ||||
| 832 | Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway | Steam Sapper No.7 | 2-2-0T | 1872 | [9] | ||||
| 846 | Wotton Tramway/Brill Tramway (No 2) Nether Heyford Brickworks (Northamptonshire)/War Department |
0-4-0T | (6 hp) | 9.4 tons | Used as spares for 807 | 1872 | [10] | ||
| 939 | Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway | Steam Sapper No.8 | 2-2-0T | 1873 | [9] | ||||
| 1023 | Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway | 2-2-0T | 1874 | [9] | |||||
| 3567 | Beadle Bros, Erith Erith Oil Works Enfield Veteran and Vintage Vehicle Society Luton Buckinghamshire Railway Centre |
Sydenham | 0-4-0WT | 9,033 | Operational | 1895 | Chatham Dockyard - On loan from Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Quainton | [11] | |
| 3592 | Tom Price,Newman in northern Wairarapa Tom Price,Petone Puketapu Sawmilling Co, Matapuna NZ Powell Wood Process Co., Rangataua Ellis & Burnand Ltd., Ongarue Marton Sash & Door Ltd |
The Squirt | 0-4-0WT | Probably scrapped | 1896 | [12] | |||
| 4399 | Aveling-Barford Ltd., Grantham | 0-4-0WT | 1899 | [8] | |||||
| 4445 | South Suburban Gas Co, Lower Sydenham Gas Works | Bull Dog | 0-4-0WT | 1899 | [13] | ||||
| 4537 | APCM - Stone Works | 0-4-0WT | 1900 | [14] | |||||
| 5935 | LBC’s Newton Longville Works Elstow LBC’s Calvert Works |
0-4-0WT | 1905 | [15] | |||||
| 6158 | Mountfield in Sussex Richard Garrett & Sons, Leiston Sir William McAlpine |
Sirapite | 0-4-0WT | 18 tons 10cwt | Operational | 1906 | Longshop Museum, Leiston | [16] | |
| 8800 | Vickers Armstrong Ltd,Erith British Oil and Cake Mills,Erith Hollycombe Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Quainton |
Sir Vincent | 0-4-0WT | (18 hp) | Operational | 1917 | Private railway | [17] | |
| 9449 | Holborough Cement Co. Ltd., Kent Bluebell Railway Northants Ironstone Trust Buckinghamshire Railway Centre Chinnor and Princess Risborough Railway |
Blue Circle | 2-2-0WT | Operational | 1926 | Battlefield Line, Shackerstone | [18] |
[edit] In fiction
Two Aveling and Porter products are found in The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry and the TV series based on the books: George the Steamroller and Fergus the Railway Traction Engine.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Thomas Aveling on the website of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ Rochester, The past 2000 years, Published Privately City of Rochester Society 1999.
- ^ The Rise & Fall of Aveling-Barford, 1933-88, ISBN 0-906338-16-6
- ^ Barford Construction Equipment
- ^ "The Traction Engine Register", 2008 edition, pub by The Southern Steam Preservation Society, page 11
- ^ The Thursford Collection - list of the engines and several photos of them
- ^ Old Glory Magazine - February 2009 issue, List of engines in museums
- ^ a b c d e f g h i http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/12/traction_engines_as_locos_2.htm
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/12/lodge_hill.htm
- ^ a b http://www.brc-stockbook.co.uk/803.htm
- ^ http://www.brc-stockbook.co.uk/Sydenham.htm
- ^ http://www.trainweb.org/loggingz/aveling.html
- ^ Industrial Railways & Locomotives of the County of London, Fig 50, IRS
- ^ Kent Narrow Gauge, Middleton Press
- ^ http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/35/Ind_Beds.htm
- ^ http://www.longshopmuseum.co.uk/page/sirapite
- ^ http://www.mdrs.org.uk/2008gallery.htm
- ^ http://homepage.ntlworld.com/candj_simmons/
[edit] External links
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