Model Williamson Brothers vertical columnar engine

Image Details

Title Model Williamson Brothers vertical columnar engine
Creator Thomas Drayton Walshaw
Date of Creation 1975
Description Model made by T. D Walshaw in 1975 (inscribed on underside of base) Thomas Drayton Walshaw (1912-1998) was an engineer and contributor to Model Engineer often under the pen name of “Tubal Cain”. He joined the Institution as a student member in 1931 and progressed to become a graduate (1937), associate member (1942) and member (1954). A change in the format of membership mean he was automatically upgraded to Fellow in 1968. His membership proposal forms for his application to become a student and graduate member are available to be viewed via Ancestry: Walshaw acquired a kit from the model makers Stuart Taylor which provided the castings, screws and materials required to make the model and set about making the model. This process was serialised in great detail in Model Engineer in 1976 (volume 142, numbers 3542-3548). The engine itself was a Williamson Brothers vertical columnar engine. Williamson Brothers, based in Kendal were primarily manufacturers of agricultural machinery. In 1862 they exhibited at the International Exhibition in London and included what was described in the exhibition catalogue as a “vertical column steam engine”. According to Stuart Models, the original engine would have stood around 8ft 4 inches tall and would have run at 130rpm with approximately 30psi steam pressure.
Archive Reference IME/13/7/29
Media Various metals, painted.
Dimensions 254 x 138 x 115mm