Sheffield Steamfest 2026
Traction Engines

This is one of a series of pages I have uploaded to illustrate facets of the steam rallies around the world, mainly in the UK. Such events occur all over the country in the summer months, click here for the Steamfest 2026 index and click here for the Surviving Steam Road Engines index.

My thanks to Wilson Lythgoe for making the effort to get a photograph of every item which was likely to be of interest to visitors to this website.

General Engines

	Maker	Number	Date	Notes
	Aveling and Porter	11733	1926	7HP compound KT traction engine, owned by Pearn’s Steam World at Westbury. Used by the Public Works Department Hobart (No6) for stone crushing until 1929. In 1937 Mr W E Peterson used it for hauling power transformers and machinery to Tarraleah Hydro Station, then purchased by Mr J Paterson of Hagley in 1936for threshing and chaff cutting in the district. It was then sold to Mr Eddington who used it for land clearing. Mr Edgar Cousins owned it from 1949 to 1959 when it was used for chaff cutting, threshing and saw milling. Purchased by Pearn Brothers in 1968 and returned to working order. Underwent a major restoration during the late 2010’s, including a new boiler.
	Buffalo Pitts	8246	1907	7NHP single cylinder traction engine, owned by the Howe family
	Foden	1264	1907	7NHP compound traction engine owned by the Martin family. The engine waspurchased new by Ingram Bros & Lamprey of Sassafras in 1907, where it worked hauling and driving threshing and chaff cutting equipment. In 1928, it moved to the Kentish district, working for a number of families then, in its last years, at  Len Aylets sawmill in Lorinna. In 1960 it was bought by Peter Martin who did some repairs then drove it to Lilydale, where it operated until the early 80’s when the boiler was condemned. Restoration commenced in 2017 and repairs over the next six years included a new boiler, a firebox fitted, and a total rebuild from the ground up.
	Foden	2404	1911	8NHP single cylinder engine named ‘Kris’. The engine’s original owner was a well-known Kentish threshing contractor, Sydney Smith of the Nook. The engine hauled threshing and straw-pressing gear from farm to farm around  Barrington and the Nook area for 40 years. Owners, Kris Carmody and  Robert Diprose, purchased the engine at auction in April 2023.
	Fowler	4048	1880	8HP, the world’s oldest remaining Fowler traction engine built in either 1880 or 1881 depending on the source. Originally exported to New Zealand, it had arrived in Tasmania by 1885. Owned by Leigh and Cameron Burril.
	Fowler	17211	1929	8NHP compound, 3 speed Road Locomotive of the ‘Lion’ Class. First used by the Victorian Country Water Board in Central Victoria. The engine was then brought to Tasmania and sold to the Public Works Department. Most of its working life was spent in the north of the state driving stone crushers at the many quarries then operated by the PWD. In the late 1950s it was put into storage until restoration started in the 1970s as an apprentice project. Changes to PWD management saw work cease and custodianship handed over to the Van Diemen Railway Society in 1983. The engine was steam  tested in January 1997 for the first time in approximately 35 years.
	Marshall	46637	1907	An 8NHP compound traction engine owned by Nigel and Mandy Fish
	Marshall	57686	1911	7NHP single traction engine named ‘Royal George’ running with the boiler from sister engine 52243 built in 1909.  There is an engine of this number in the UK, a kit of parts which is possibly the rest of 52243,
	Marshall	59814	1912	5NHP single cylinder traction engine owned by the Howe family
	Marshall	62515	1913	7NHP, first outing since restoration. Owned by M R and K J Howe
	Marshall	76762	1923	7NHP compound traction engine owned by Howe family
	McLaren	1253	1912	4NHP compound steam tractor named ‘Annie’. Owned by Leanne and Joe Phillips.
	Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies	34323	1924	8HP compound traction engine named ‘Posie’. Owned by Warren Seabourne
Non-working
	Marshall	37733	1902	This 6NHP engine spent most of its working life in the Cressy districts in the ownership of the Blake family who were threshing contractors. Reboilered  in 1929 with a new factory boiler and firebox also built by Marshall. Two different numbers can be seen on the engine. The original number from 1902 is on the steam chest whilst the number on the smoke box door, 84414, is the much later new boiler number. The engine sports the most common ‘colonial’ fittings in a wood basket and canopy and looks essentially the same as when it was working. Awaiting restoration/overhaul.
	Marshall	87965		The last Marshall Traction Engine ever constructed. It was built for the Tasmanian Public Works Department and crushed rocks, for road works, in the state’s north until 1957 when all use of steam ceased in PWD  quarries. Now cared for by the Redwater Creek Steam & Heritage Society. Apparent later traction engines will be steam roller 'conversions'. Awaiting restoration/overhaul.