Marshall Engines in Burma (and India)

This is part of a series of pages covering the known steam engine manufacturers for Burma. Click here for the full list.

Marshall, Sons and Company, England was the king of steam power in the Raj. They had quality products which they marketed very successfully, even today in Burma and India mill owners all want a Marshall K class of 12" or better and are prepared to pay a serious premium for a good example. If there were a few more places like Burma and West Bengal in the world then the company could well still be churning out such steam engines, but then again they do tend to last for ever unlike their modern successors...

Tangye may have once been a prince but the company ultimately failed (I believe) in its attempt to modernise by diversifying into internal combustion engines. Robey was another very successful company in this field, but they laid less stress on the export market and, unlike Marshalls, they used agents instead of establishing their own businesses in India. In comparison, everyone else was an also ran although when Rustons started to sell diesels they were initially successful.

Use the following links for more pages on surviving Marshall engines:

• Just another Marshall (Burma) - Our first working trip valve engine

• Marshall Heaven (India) - Standard Marshall engines in quantity

• Just Another Marshall (Part 2) (India) - An out of use compound trip valve engine

• Just Another Marshall (Part 3) (India) - Three working trip/drop valve engines, two of which are certainly Marshalls

• Just Another Marshall (Part 4) (Burma) - Alas, not one is still working

The summary that follows necessarily overstates the diversity of Marshall engines in Burma, if all the ubiquitous 11"/12"/13"/14" engines were removed from the country there would be very little left!

Running a Marshall engine is child's play - this was in Mon State in 2005. It has since died and been replaced by a very old Tangye!

This is about as small as it gets for a Marshall, seen working in Irrawaddy Division in 2005:

This tiny engine, even without the 'saddle' it looks like an ex-portable to me:

Having patiently waited for me to finish the video Yuehong then sets about enjoying herself. 

Alas there number is no number on the plate. My guess is that it is nothing like as old as it looks.

This is a 'retired' portable which we found in Kachin State in 2007, which had last been used about two years before. The original mill has been abandoned and a new mini-mill built next door, powered by what appears to be a gasifier, ecologically sound still, but not of any interest to me, I confess!

It was a twin cylinder machine:

Identification was no problem at all, Marshall 24111 which will date it to about 1895:

Despite the lack of identification on the boiler, I would guess that it was its original partner:

We have no direct evidence that this working over-boiler engine seen near Shwebo in 2009 is a Marshall but my experience suggests it is:

We have seen several vertical Marshall 'bottle' engines but this is the only one which has been remotely serviceable, it was working in 2009, I am very grateful to Bernd Seiler for tipping me off about this one:

This Marshall (12” or so as usual), in Bago Division in 2006 is one of the older C class with its number cast on a brass plate behind the regulator, with Hartnell governor set up.

This is a typical larger K class Marshall in Irrawaddy Didivion in 2005 which has lost one eccentric and its Hartnell governor and is now using a Pickering governor. Simplicity at the cost of lost efficiency, but with almost unlimited rice husks as fuel this is not a major issue.

Whereas this one, photographed on the same trip nearby, is more or less original:

This is an alternative view such an engine, in Mon State in 2005. Its mill has since closed.

My favourite Marshall 12" is in Thaton, Mon State, photographed in operation in 2009, a rare event these days as the mini and small mill is more appropriate for the needs of this area:.

The first two pictures do not do justice to its condition, it runs 'like a sewing machine', it has its original Hartnell governor and is 'total shine':

There are a very few 'modern' Marshalls with piston valves and this one, fond in Bago Division in 2006 appears to have been shortened at some stage, because the worksplate is partly obscured, 93352 is one of the highest numbers we have seen here. It ran at a speed which was quite beyond my counting ability but was probably about 150 rpm - maybe twice as fast as other engines..

Frankly most 14" machines are wasted on their mills, they use too much steam and are often in poor condition. This one in Shwebo in 2006 alternates with an electric motor as there are insufficient husks to satisfy its steam needs!

On the other hand this very large Marshall 14" was being installed for a new mega mill, the Hartnell governor is driven by chains instead of the normal belts. It will certainly be needed!

This magnificent specimen (at least 14", maybe 15") was seen by us elsewhere in Irrawaddy Division in store in 2005 but unfortunately we caught it having a day off in 2009. It must be old, all the Marshal plates we have seen (the oldest dates from 1892) refer to 'Marshall Sons'...

Finally we have seen a couple of Marshall KC class compound engines at work. This is the one in Yangon Division at rest (in 2006) and working (in 2007) - we have seen quite a few in India where they are more common in comparison.

Click here for the full list of known steam engine manufacturers for Burma.