Aveling and Porter

thumb|265px|right|Traction engine (steam tractor) from Aveling and Porter, around 1865

thumb|265px|right|Steamroller (road roller) "Betsy", manufactured by Aveling & Porter in 1912

thumb|Aveling & Porter engine called Amy, recorded at Fawley Hill, 19 May 2013

Aveling and Porter was a British agricultural engine and steamroller (road roller) manufacturer. Thomas Aveling and Richard Thomas Porter entered into partnership in 1862, and developed a steam engine three years later in 1865. By the early 1900s, the company had become the largest manufacturer of steamrollers (road rollers) in the world. The company used a rearing horse as its logo (based on the traditional white horse symbol of Kent), along with the motto Invicta (meaning "unconquered"; the traditional motto of Kent).

Partners

Thomas Aveling

Thomas Aveling was born 11 September 1824 at Elm, Cambridgeshire. In 1851 he was recorded as a farmer and grazier employing 16 men and 6 boys. The business also included a drainage tile works. In 1859, Aveling invented the traction engine when he modified a Clayton & Shuttleworth portable engine, which had to be hauled from job to job by horses, into a self-propelled one. The alteration was made by fitting a long driving chain between the crankshaft and the rear axle. Aveling later invented the steamroller in 1867. Thomas Aveling is regarded as "the father of the traction engine".

Aveling had a reputation as something of a martinet in business, only keeping on the best men. However, he did provide his staff with recreational facilities with a lecture room and mess room. Lectures were delivered on educational, social and political topics with Aveling himself in the chair and participation from the floor encouraged. When he left school he worked for his father, taking control of Aveling & Porter in 1881. After conversion to a limited liability company in 1895 he became its chairman and managing director until he retired.

Aveling retired from Aveling and Porter in 1928 and died of a heart attack on 5 June 1931 at home in Pettings Court, Ash near Wrotham, Kent. By 1861 Richard had moved to Enfield, London where he married Marianne Atkin (b. 1840) who had also been born in Sheffield.

In 1862 he went into partnership with Thomas Aveling and subsequently moved to Rochester where in around 1863 he had his first child, Edith. 1871 he is recorded as living at Boley Hill House with his wife, four children and four servants. His occupation is recorded in the census as "Manufacturing Engineer". The business produced and repaired agricultural machinery. Aveling had been concerned by the slow pace of agricultural labour arising from the "ancient and defective construction" of the machines.

To Aveling, the idea of portable engines being dragged around by teams of horses when they were powerful to move themselves seemed nonsensical. He compared using six horses to pull such an engine as "six sailing vessels towing a steamer" which was "an insult to mechanical science". His foundry and other premises were too small for the construction of a complete traction engine, so the 1859 locomotive was built for him by Claytons.

His 1860 catalogue describes him as an "Iron Founder and Agricultural Engineer". He was the sole agent in Kent for Fowler's Steam Plough, for Burgess & Key's Patent Reaping Machines. He was an agent (though not apparently sole agent) for Claytons. The front page offers "Every description of Agricultural Machinery supplied at Manufacturer's Prices" and ends with "Castings to order", "Machinery and Steam Engines repaired". Inside was "Aveling's Patent Locomotive Steam Thrashing Train" with engine, threshing machine and straw carrier. Not withstanding his claims as an iron founder, this was made for him by Claytons.

Having solved the propulsion issue, Aveling next turned to steering. His first engines had required a horse in shafts attached to the front wheels for steerage. In 1860 he replaced the horse with a steerable wheel in between the horse shafts. The steersman sat on the back of the shafts and operated a tiller to turn the wheel.

In 1860, the business moved to Strood, on a site adjacent to Rochester Bridge. Preston reports the business as being established by 1861 at which time Aveling was able to build -ton engines.

Aveling and Porter up to 1881

thumb|Aveling & Porter building in Strood immediately prior to demolition in 2010|alt=A river scene with wharf and above it a two-storey red brick building. The building has decorative brickwork and plenty of windows. Along the facade are two three-storey decorated gable features.

With all this expansion Aveling needed extra capital, and so in 1862 he went into partnership with Richard Porter to create the firm of Aveling & Porter. As well as the capital, Aveling was freed of some of the commercial work.

The firm exhibited their Patent Agricultural Locomotive Engine for Threshing, Ploughing and General Traction Purposes at Battersea in 1862. Aveling moved the cylinder forward from over the firebox to the front of the boiler. The steam jacket that surrounds the cylinders did away with the need for a separate dome (the patent stated that the cylinders were placed within the dome). The jacket reduced condensation, and hence priming, in the cylinders, valve gear and now non-existent supply piping. Ports between the jacket and boiler communicated live steam. The crankshaft was now close to the wheels and the long chain could be first shortened, then disposed of in favour of gears. In 1863 Aveling patented two-speed gearing. Exports at this period were to Prussia and Australia.

Testing traction engines was a public affair, one was tested by driving it through Rochester to the station and back, another by driving it up Frindsbury hill. The local public turned out to see such trials and according to the Chatham News of August 1862 they were "well pleased and altogether favourably impressed". Whilst the local public might have been impressed, more generally opposition to road locomotives was building. The Locomotive Act 1865 (the "red flag" act) was introduced which reduced speeds from the previous limit of to in town and outside. To enforce the speeds a man had to walk in front carrying a red flag to warn bystanders.

Aveling pursued his interest in steamrollers, producing the first practical example in 1865. It 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.

Starting in 1868 Aveling & Porter started to supply the government with road locomotives, traction engines and rollers. Up until 1894 they were known as Steam Sappers, since they were built to requirements issues by the Royal Engineers (the Sappers). In 1875, the French government conducted trials of steam sappers and were satisfied enough to order some; subsequently the Russian government conducted extensive trials in 1876 involving soft ground, steep inclines and tests of the ability of a train to be safely brought down hill. The test engine was fitted with a wire cable by which guns could be pulled up hill. Several engines were subsequently purchased and gave satisfactory service in the Russo-Turkish war. Preston regards this as one of Aveling's most important inventions. Also in 1870 he took out a patent on a simplified reversing gear. Eight years later he managed to move the gears between the bearings, not overhanging. The resultant motion was stronger and narrower allowing a more compact engine.

On the 1873 Vienna World's Fair Aveling & Porter were awarded prize medals for their steam-rollers. Also a crane version was to be seen and used for the erection of buildings of Vienna Exposition. In 1874 the Scientific American reported about successful "Improved Road and Farm Locomotive".

Aveling and Porter after 1881

thumb|Aveling & Porter (1890)

thumb|Aveling and Porter (1909)

In 1881 Thomas' son, Thomas Lake Aveling, took over control of the business. Writing in 1899 Henry Smetham commented that the business had "doubled in size about every six years". Employee headcount rose from 400 in 1872 to 1,000 in the mid-1890s and peaked at 1,500. The adjacent foundry business of Messrs Collis and Stace was purchased in 1895 along with the Pelican Yard. However, in 1900 the Public Health Engineer magazine stated that "modern American machinery is rapidly replacing the older forms of lathes and shaping and planing machines".

In 1901 Aveling took part in a joint venture with Vickers Sons and Maxim to build a steel casting facility. Details were finalised and the plant constructed the following year. By 1903 Vickers were reporting poor results due to insufficient orders (in particular field guns) and in March 1904 pulled out, the works subsequently closing in October 1904. A 21-year lease to William Towler (trading as the Medway Steel Company) followed but then the works finally closed.

In the years prior to the First World War the Pelican Yard was built up and used for the assembly and testing of petrol engines for rollers and lorries. On the outbreak of war petrol work stopped and the works were used as a store. Although concentrating on steam rollers (for which there was an expanding market), the company also made traction engines, ploughing engines, steam wagons and tramway locomotives. Other agricultural products were contracted out. In the aftermath Aveling and Porter combined with Barford & Perkins in 1933 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 the Second World War the company continued to make motor and steam rollers as well as expanding into other construction equipment.

The sole remaining building on the Strood site was demolished by Medway Council in 2010.

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.

Products

Aveling and Porter built more steam rollers than all the other British 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. The Thursford Collection includes 27 Aveling & Porter steam tractors and rollers and 16 more by other manufacturers. Aveling and Porter produced a single showman’s engine in 1904 but no orders resulted.

Another example of Aveling and Porters engineering skill can be seen in the massive covered slips at Chatham Dockyard. These vessels pre-date the great London train sheds of St. Pancras, King's Cross and Paddington—traditionally understood to be the oldest and largest metal framed structures of the time.

File:Steamroller by Aveling and Porter (side).jpg|Steamroller by Aveling and Porter from early 20th century. On display at the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo.

Image:Brill_Tramway.JPG|Traction engine-based railway locomotive, as used on the Brill Tramway

Image:Aveling_%26_Porter_engine_at_Chatham.JPG|Early Aveling & Porter Loco "Sydenham" in Chatham Dockyard

Image:Sirapite the Works Shunter - geograph.org.uk - 1774827.jpg|A&P locomotive "Sirapite" at the former Leiston Works of Richard Garrett & Sons

Image:Aveling_and_Porter_Roller_Britannia.JPG |Aveling & Porter roller "Britannia" (s/n 8548) at Bromyard Gala show, Herefordshire 2008

Image:Chatham_Historic_Dockyard_covered_slips.JPG|Inside the covered slips at Chatham Historic Dockyard

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Locomotives

Aveling & Porter built several small shunting / tram locos based on their traction engines. They were basically traction engines with flanged wheels and no steering. Their advantages were that they were cheap to manufacture (and to design in the first place) and they could be operated with minimal training by someone who was familiar with traction engines.

{| class="wikitable"

! Works Number !! Places worked/been/owner !! Name !! Arrangement

!Gauge!! Tractive Effort(lb) !! Weight !! Status !! Date Built !! Location !! Reference

|Booth Bros, Borstal

|2-2-0WT

|3 ft 6in

|2-2-0

|3 ft

|Hollycombe

| || Nether Heyford || || 0-4-0WT

| Std|| || || || || ||

| || Tottenhoe Lime & Stone Co || || 2-2-0WT

|Std|| || || || || ||

| || Johnsons Cements Works,Greenhithe || || 0-4-0WT

| Std|| || || || || ||

| 121 || Grays Quarries Co Ltd || ||

|Std

| || || || || ||

| 129 || Chatham Dockyard, Kent/Devonport Dockyard, Devon/Portsmouth Dockyard, Hants Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway || || 2-2-0T

|Std

| || || || 1865 || ||

| 151 || Grays Quarries Co Ltd || ||

|Std

| || || || || ||

| 235 || Brassey, Wythes & Lucas – East London Railway Contract|| || 0-4-0WT

|Std

| (10 hp) || || || 23/10/1866 || ||

|822

|Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway

|Steam Sapper No .3

|2-2-0T

|Std

|1872

|829

|Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway

|Steam Sapper No .4

|2-2-0T

|Std

|1872

| 830 || Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway || Steam Sapper No. 5 || 2-2-0T

| Std|| || || || 1872 || ||

| 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 || ||

| 3766 || Glenlossie-Glenlivet Distillery, Elgin || || 0-4-0WT

| || || || replaced 1924 || 1896 || ||

| 4006 || Balmenach Distillery, Cromdale || || 0-4-0WT

| || || || replaced 1936 || || ||

| 4399 || Aveling-Barford Ltd., Grantham || || 0-4-0WT

| || || || || 1899 || ||

| 4537 || APCM – Stone Works || || 0-4-0WT

| || || || || 1900 || ||

| 4780 || Croydon Gas & Coke Co – Wadden Marsh Gas Works South Eastern Gas Board || || 0-4-0WT

| || || || || || ||

| 5935 || LBC's Newton Longville Works Elstow LBC's Calvert Works || || 0-4-0WT

| || || || || 1905 || ||

| 6158 || Mountfield in Sussex Richard Garrett & Sons, Leiston Sir William McAlpine || Sirapite || 0-4-0WT

|Std|| || 18 tons 10cwt || Operational || 1906 || Longshop Museum, Leiston ||

| 8800 || Vickers Armstrong Ltd,Erith British Oil and Cake Mills,Erith Hollycombe Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Quainton || Sir Vincent || 0-4-0WT

|Std|| (18 hp) || || Operational || 1917 || Private railway ||

| 9449 || Holborough Cement Co. Ltd., Kent Bluebell Railway Buckinghamshire Railway Centre Chinnor and Princess Risborough Railway Battlefield Line, Shackerstone || Blue Circle || 2-2-0WT

|Std|| || || Operational || 1926 || Nene Valley Railway || Returned to steam in 2025 after overhaul

| 11087 || Tottenhoe Lime & Stone Co || || 0-4-0WT

|Std|| || || || 1925|| ||

Steam Sappers

Prior to 1868 the Royal Engineers had been experimenting with steam traction. Early examples had used modified railway locomotives mounted on a variety of wheels to traverse soft land. The locomotives were far too heavy to be effective, on one occasion breaking through the road near the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich into cellars below. With the development of the relatively lightweight traction engine specifically for road use, the Royal Engineers turned their attention to them.

The first Steam Sapper was ordered from Aveling and Porter in 1868. Steam sapper number 1 was required to operate a circular saw, grindstone, lathe and joiner as well as drawing 5 tons up a 1 in 12 slope. It performed this, but was more than a quarter of a ton over the specified maximum weight of five tons. The heaviest field gun in use at that time was the 64 pdr Armstrong breech loading siege gun weighing . Since pontoon bridges would be constructed to support this gun, steam sappers were required to weigh less than the gun so that they would not overload the bridges. Steam sapper number one had a loading on the rear wheels less than this, and so was accepted. Towing a total of 13 tons on two "lorries" (trailers), it left the Rochester works, ascending the 1 in 12 Star Hill, and delivering the load to Chatham dockyard where it was driven across rough ground of cinder, bricks, clinker, stones and iron designed to test the rubber blocks. In a further trial in October it drew 3 "trollies" weighing in total 16 tons 16 cwt up Star-Hill (part of which was 1 in 11 slope), including stopping and making a complete turn on the steepest part of the hill in a circle of 23 feet. It then proceeded to 1 in 10 Chatham Hill which was described as slippery, and it had to detach the last trailer, and ascended towing the other two (12 tons 6 cwt). It was then tested on soft ground, where it drew trucks up to 6 tons, where a normal traction engine got stuck without a truck, and then after bolting paddles on the wheels it towed the normal traction engine out.

Steam sapper number 2 was purchased in 1871. This was a lighter and more powerful engine than number one. The engine was rated 7 nhp (compared to 6), used spur gears for the drive (compared to chain) and used a differential drive on the rear axle to avoid the need to disconnect one wheel which the earlier locomotive had required. On test it drew up the 1 in 11 gradient of Star Hill, Rochester.

In late 1871 the Inspector General of Fortifications was informed by the RE Committee that only Aveling and Porter had a suitable engine. As a result, five more were ordered in 1872.

Some of the steam sappers were fitted with railway wheels. Yeatman records steam sappers numbers 3–7 as being 2-2-0T locomotives on the Lodge Hill and Upnor Railway. Aveling-Barford have checked their records and have no records of any steam sappers being supplied other than for road use. Nowers states that sapper number 9 was fitted with railway wheels for a trial and that sapper number 12 was purchased with them. In 1873, in preparations for the Ashantee expedition, it is recorded "A second locomotive, called a steam sapper, arrived at Woolwich yesterday from Chatham, accompanied by several waggons to form a train, either for running upon rails or common roads, both engine and waggons being provided with flanged wheels for use if necessary". One of the two steam sappers planned to go to Ashanti was not shipped, and in October 1874 there is an account of a steam sapper propelling three "Ashentee" rail trucks containing dignitaries during an artillery demonstration in Eastbourne. In the table below possible railway use is recorded, in most cases this would be upon the LH&UR.

Sapper number 8 was dismantled and sent in parts to Cape Coast Castle in the Gold Coast to take part in the Ashanti Campaign of 1873. The absence of decent roads made its use as a traction engine unsatisfactory. However it performed well as a stationary engine, particularly working the saw bench.

Sapper number 24 was the last Aveling and Porter engine to be called a steam sapper. It was used by the newly formed Balloon Corps in 1885. The locomotive and another one ordered shortly afterwards were used to haul "balloon trains". Each train consisted of five wagons carrying gas cylinders, a water cart, and a wagon for the balloon, basket and winch. Balloons were normally employed as elevated observation platforms and as such were tethered though observers were trained in how to handle free flight in case the balloon broke away.

Aveling and Porter engines continued to be purchased up to 1899 though losing ground to Fowlers. At least one engine saw service in the Boer War and four were still in service in 1906 with the Army Service Corps which progressively took over responsibility for transport from the Royal Engineers between 1903 and 1906.

{| class="wikitable"

! Works Number !! Sapper Number !! Nominal horsepower !! Delivery date !! Type !! Unit !! Remarks

| 437 || 1 || 6 || 14 Dec 1868 || Traction engine || War Office, Chatham || Named "Prince Arthur"

| 554 || || 6 || 20 Oct 1870 || Portable engine || War Office, Shoeburyness ||

| 684 || 2 || 6 || 21 Sep 1871 || Traction engine || War Office, Chatham ||

| 722 || 9 || 6 || Jan 1872 || Agricultural || War Office, Shoeburyness || Fitted with railway wheels for a trial in 1873

| 822 || 3 || 6 || 28 Mar 1872 || Road locomotive || SME, Chatham ||

| 829 || 4 || 6 || 1 Apr 1872 || Road locomotive || SME, Chatham ||

| 830 || 5 || 6 || 10 Apr 1872 || Road locomotive || SME, Chatham || An illustration shows it fitted with railway wheels.

| 831 || 6 || 6 || 17 Apr 1872 || Road locomotive || SME, Chatham ||

| 832 || 7 || 6 || 26 Apr 1872 || Road locomotive || SME, Chatham ||

| 939 || 8 || 6 || 27 Jun 1873 || Crane engine || SME, Chatham || Sent to Africa in the Ashanti expedition.

| 1306 || 11 || 8 || 1877 || Traction engine || SME, Chatham ||

| 1307 || 10 || 8 || 1877 || Traction engine || SME, Chatham ||

| 1316 || 12 || 6 || 17 Apr 1877 || Traction engine || SME, Chatham || Purchased with railway wheels

| 1317 || 13 || 6 || 1877 || Traction engine || SME, Chatham ||

| 1424 || 14 || 8 || 30 Apr 1878 || Traction engine || Dockyard, Woolwich ||

| 1425 || 15 || 8 || 26 Apr 1878 || Traction engine || Dockyard, Woolwich ||

| 1426 || 16 || 8 || 30 Apr 1878 || Traction engine || Dockyard, Woolwich ||

| 1427 || 17 || 8 || 20 May 1878 || Traction engine || Dockyard, Woolwich ||

| 1529 || || 8 || 1879 || Traction engine || Curragh Camp, Ireland ||

| 1593 || 20 || 8 || 1880 || Traction engine || Bermuda ||

| 1611 || 21 || 6 || 15 Jun 1880 || Traction engine || War Office, Chatham ||

| 1621 || || 6 || 12 Aug 1880 || Traction engine || Curragh Camp, Ireland ||

| 1879 || 22 || 6 || 31 Jul 1883 || Traction engine || SME, Chatham ||

| 2051 || || 8 || 1885 || Road locomotive || ||

| 2058 || 24 || 8 || 1885 || Crane engine || Balloon Corps, Chatham || Named "Balloon". Fitted with dynamo.

| 2060 || || 6 || 27 May 1885 || Road locomotive || Balloon Corps, Chatham || Possibly 1886. Possibly 8 hp.

| 2095 || || 6 || 1886 || Road locomotive || Chatham ||

| 2105 || ? || 6 || 1886 || Traction engine || Chatham || Possibly 1885. Fitted with dynamo and spring wheels. Called a steam sapper but number unknown.

| 2465 || || 4 || 23 May 1889 || Traction engine || RLC*, Chatham || *Road Locomotive Committee. Possibly built 1880. Fitted with dynamo.

| 2482 || || 6 || 26 Mar 1889 || Semi portable || War Office, Chatham ||

| 2749 || || 12 || 13 Jan 1891 || Semi portable || Royal Arsenal, Woolwich ||

| 2763 || || 7 || 22 Jan 1891 || 15T Roller || Royal Arsenal, Dublin ||

| 2940 || || 5 || 26 Nov 1891 || 10T Roller || Royal Arsenal ||

| 3220 || 23 || 6 || 29 Aug 1893 || 15T Roller || SME, Chatham || Convertible

| 4422 || || 10 || 4 Nov 1899 || Road locomotive || || "King" type. Sent to South Africa for the Boer War.

In fiction

Three 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, Fergus the Railway Traction Engine, and Buster the Steamroller.

The road roller used in the 1953 comedy film The Titfield Thunderbolt, which has a duel with a railway locomotive, was one of their engines (works number 5590, Maid Marion).

Notes

References

. Online entry includes "Thomas Lake Aveling(1856–1931)" on the same page. See
. The BRC appears to be the trading arm of the QRS.

External links

Industrial Railway Society article on Aveling & Porter industrial locomotives
A Steam Dinosaur Description of the finding and identification of engine 235.