Hollycombe Steam Collection
Encyclopedia
The Hollycombe Steam Collection is a collection of steam-powered
vehicles, rides and attractions based near Liphook
in Hampshire
. The collection includes fairground rides, a display farm and two railways.
s that were rapidly disappearing from British life. By the early 1960s he had acquired a significant collection of road vehicles and started to collect fairground
rides. In the late '60s he extended his interests again into preserving railway equipment.
The collection was eventually opened to the public and became a major Hampshire tourist attraction. At length the collection grew so large it became impossible for one person to maintain, and by 1984 Baldock decided he would have to close the operation.
A Society was formed by volunteers to operate the collection. This was successful and the collection continued to expand. At the beginning of 1999 a charitable trust
took over the majority of the collection, funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund
grant.
s. There are rides for all ages and the atmosphere is completed with a number of fairground organs and a range of sidestalls.
, a baler, and a stationary steam engine
driving small machinery through a line shaft
.
There is a variety of animals: Shire horse
s, ponies
, sheep and chickens .
The sawmill is used to cut much of the wood used on site and is powered by a large semi-portable Robey Steam Engine. Close by is the engine from the paddle steamer
Caledonia.
and miniature railway.
in north Wales
. The quarry had recently abandoned its extensive internal rail system and Commander Baldock acquired the steam locomotive
Jerry M along with a quantity of track and several wagons. Construction started in 1968 and reached the sandstone quarry by 1971. The line, which is gauge, was later extended to include a loop, which brought the track length to its present 1½ miles. The second steam locomotive Caledonia was purchased in 1968.
Four of the five passenger coaches were bought from the Ramsgate Cliff Railway when it closed; the fifth coach was built at Hollycombe to the same design.
Route
The miniature railway starts at its station opposite the saw mill and begins with a climb up past some crossing gates and into a cutting it then reaches the top of the hill and bends round slightly to the left. The railway then runs with the bottom of the fairground on the left and the woodland gardens on the right. It then heads up into another cutting before doing a 360 degree loop round onto a embankment. On your left there is a pond. Then you meet with the outward line that heads back towards the station. the line then passes some bushes before you come back into view of the station. The line then runs parallel with a 5 inch gauge line and rounds back up a hill passing another pond and on the other side the engine shed and back into the 2 platform station.
Engines
railway runs for ⅓ mile between the sawmill and the farm, passing the fairground along the way. The railway has two steam locomotives:
s and some are used on open days either to plough a field, work a threshing machine, give rides or work a fairground ride.
.
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
vehicles, rides and attractions based near Liphook
Liphook
Liphook is a large village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 4.1 miles west of Haslemere, on the A3 road, and lies on the Hampshire/West Sussex border.Liphook has its own railway station, on the Portsmouth Direct Line....
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. The collection includes fairground rides, a display farm and two railways.
History
The collection dates back to the late 1940s when Commander John Baldock decided to preserve some of the steam traction engineTraction engine
A traction engine is a self-propelled steam engine used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin tractus, meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any traction engine is to draw a load behind it...
s that were rapidly disappearing from British life. By the early 1960s he had acquired a significant collection of road vehicles and started to collect fairground
Funfair
A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...
rides. In the late '60s he extended his interests again into preserving railway equipment.
The collection was eventually opened to the public and became a major Hampshire tourist attraction. At length the collection grew so large it became impossible for one person to maintain, and by 1984 Baldock decided he would have to close the operation.
A Society was formed by volunteers to operate the collection. This was successful and the collection continued to expand. At the beginning of 1999 a charitable trust
Charitable trust
A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...
took over the majority of the collection, funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
grant.
Edwardian Fairground
The Edwardian Fairground is a complete steam fair comprising rides originating from the 1870s and later. The rides include a Tidman 3 abreast Golden Gallopers roundabout, a single Steam Yacht a Razzle Dazzle being a grand aerial novelty ride with a rotating and tilting movement. S Fields Steam Circus was built between 1868 and 1872 and is the oldest surving mechanically propelled fairground device. The fairground also has a set of Steam Swings, a Set of Walker Chair o planes, a big wheel and a Bioscope Show which is an early travelling cinema. The rides are constructed mainly from wood and, where appropriate, are powered by steam engineSteam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s. There are rides for all ages and the atmosphere is completed with a number of fairground organs and a range of sidestalls.
Farm
The farm includes a wide range of vintage steam-powered farm equipment including: ploughing engines, a threshing machineThreshing machine
The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine , was a machine first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was invented for the separation of grain from stalks and husks. For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails,...
, a baler, and a stationary steam engine
Stationary steam engine
Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars , agricultural engines used for ploughing or...
driving small machinery through a line shaft
Line shaft
A line shaft is a power transmission system used extensively during the Industrial Revolution. Prior to the widespread use of electric motors small enough to be connected directly to each piece of machinery, line shafting was used to distribute power from a large central power source to machinery...
.
There is a variety of animals: Shire horse
Shire horse
The Shire horse is a breed of draught horse or draft horse . The breed comes in many colours, including black, bay and grey. They are a tall breed, with mares standing and over and stallions standing and over. The breed has an enormous capacity for weight pulling, and Shires have held the world...
s, ponies
Pony
A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...
, sheep and chickens .
The sawmill is used to cut much of the wood used on site and is powered by a large semi-portable Robey Steam Engine. Close by is the engine from the paddle steamer
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
Caledonia.
Railways
There are three railways: narrow gauge, standard gaugeStandard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
and miniature railway.
Narrow gauge railway
The narrow gauge railway at Hollycombe started in 1967 using equipment purchased from the Dinorwic slate quarryDinorwic Quarry
The Dinorwic Slate Quarry is a large former slate quarry, now home to the Welsh National Slate Museum, located between the villages of Llanberis and Dinorwig in north Wales. It was the second largest slate quarry in Wales, indeed in the world, after the neighbouring Penrhyn Quarry....
in north Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The quarry had recently abandoned its extensive internal rail system and Commander Baldock acquired the steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
Jerry M along with a quantity of track and several wagons. Construction started in 1968 and reached the sandstone quarry by 1971. The line, which is gauge, was later extended to include a loop, which brought the track length to its present 1½ miles. The second steam locomotive Caledonia was purchased in 1968.
Four of the five passenger coaches were bought from the Ramsgate Cliff Railway when it closed; the fifth coach was built at Hollycombe to the same design.
Locomotives
| Name | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry M | Hunslet Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for... |
0-4-0 0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven... ST |
1895 | 638 | ex-Dinorwic Quarry Dinorwic Quarry The Dinorwic Slate Quarry is a large former slate quarry, now home to the Welsh National Slate Museum, located between the villages of Llanberis and Dinorwig in north Wales. It was the second largest slate quarry in Wales, indeed in the world, after the neighbouring Penrhyn Quarry.... . Originally named Vaenol, later renamed Jerry M after a successful racehorse belonging to the quarry owners |
| Caledonia | Barclay Andrew Barclay & Sons Co. Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. was a builder of steam and diesel locomotives, based in Kilmarnock, Scotland, that was founded in 1840 and is now owned by Wabtec Rail.- History :... |
0-4-0WT | 1931 | 1995 | ex-Burnhope Reservoir railway Burnhope Reservoir railway The Burnhope Reservoir railway was an industrial narrow gauge railway built to serve the construction of Burnhope Reservoir near Weardale. An extensive network of gauge lines connected the North Eastern Railway branch terminus at Weardale with the dam construction site.- Locomotives :... , later at Dinorwic Quarry Dinorwic Quarry The Dinorwic Slate Quarry is a large former slate quarry, now home to the Welsh National Slate Museum, located between the villages of Llanberis and Dinorwig in north Wales. It was the second largest slate quarry in Wales, indeed in the world, after the neighbouring Penrhyn Quarry.... where it was named No. 70 |
| Jack | Ruston Hornsby Ruston (engine builder) Ruston & Hornsby, later known as Ruston, was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England, the company's history going back to 1840. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included cars, steam... |
4wDM |
Miniature railway
The miniature railway at Hollycombe is set at 7 1/4 inch gaugeRoute
The miniature railway starts at its station opposite the saw mill and begins with a climb up past some crossing gates and into a cutting it then reaches the top of the hill and bends round slightly to the left. The railway then runs with the bottom of the fairground on the left and the woodland gardens on the right. It then heads up into another cutting before doing a 360 degree loop round onto a embankment. On your left there is a pond. Then you meet with the outward line that heads back towards the station. the line then passes some bushes before you come back into view of the station. The line then runs parallel with a 5 inch gauge line and rounds back up a hill passing another pond and on the other side the engine shed and back into the 2 platform station.
Engines
- Bob 0-4-2 Tinkerbell (currently the most used engine on the line)
- Pauline 0-4-0 Romulus
- Tess 0-4-0 Bagnall
- Jenniffer 0-4-0 vertical boiler engine
Standard gauge railway
The standard gaugeStandard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
railway runs for ⅓ mile between the sawmill and the farm, passing the fairground along the way. The railway has two steam locomotives:
- Commander B, 1899-built Hawthorn Leslie Hawthorn Leslie and CompanyR. & W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilding and locomotive manufacturer. The Company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.-History:...
0-4-0ST, named after the collection's founder, Cdr. Baldock. The engine was originally purchased by the AdmiraltyAdmiraltyThe Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
for use in Chatham DockyardChatham DockyardChatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
, and was brought to Hollycombe for restoration in 1985, several years after withdrawal from the docks. Currently out of use pending heavy overhaul and expensive boiler work. - Yvonne, a VBT (Vertical BoilerVertical boilerA vertical boiler is a type of fire-tube or water-tube boiler where the boiler barrel is oriented vertically instead of the more common horizontal orientation...
Tank) locomotive, built in Belgium in 1920 that worked in Brussels Gas Works as a shunter until 1967, returning to the UK in 1987 for extensive overhaul. Yvonne has been seen on various railways in the Midlands and now resides at Hollycombe.
Steam engines
The collection has over 30 different steam engines of various types. Some of the engines are not on display as engines which in some cases are 100 years old require regular maintenance work to keep them in service.Traction engines
Hollycombe has a large collection of traction engineTraction engine
A traction engine is a self-propelled steam engine used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin tractus, meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any traction engine is to draw a load behind it...
s and some are used on open days either to plough a field, work a threshing machine, give rides or work a fairground ride.
Showman's engines
The showman's engines are used to power the fairground rides.- BurrellCharles Burrell & SonsCharles Burrell & Sons were builders of steam traction engines, agricultural machinery, steam trucks and steam tram engines. The company were based in Thetford, Norfolk and operated from the St Nicholas works on Minstergate and St Nicholas Street some of which survives today.At their height they...
No. 1876 "Emperor" built in 1895. The oldest showman's engine in the world, operational and powers the lights in the fairground. Sometimes runs round site. - GarrettRichard Garrett & SonsRichard Garrett & Sons was a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, steam engines and trolleybuses. Their factory was Leiston Works, in Leiston, Suffolk, United Kingdom.The company was active under its original ownership between 1778 and 1932....
No. 33348 "Leiston Town" built in 1918. Operational and used to power the juvenile rides.
Steam tractors
The light steam tractors (a small design of traction engine) are used for giving rides.- BurrellCharles Burrell & SonsCharles Burrell & Sons were builders of steam traction engines, agricultural machinery, steam trucks and steam tram engines. The company were based in Thetford, Norfolk and operated from the St Nicholas works on Minstergate and St Nicholas Street some of which survives today.At their height they...
gold medal tractor No. 2 "Sunset" built in 1951. Operational, a regular on the woodland ride. - Mann Steam Tractor No. 1260 built in 1917. Out of traffic awaiting a major overhaul.
- Burrell gold medal tractor No. 3545 "Topper". Operational.
- Aveling and PorterAveling and PorterAveling 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.-The...
traction engine "Jasper". Undergoing major overhaul
Agricultural engines
These engines are used for ploughing or driving a threshing machineThreshing machine
The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine , was a machine first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was invented for the separation of grain from stalks and husks. For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails,...
.
- Aveling and PorterAveling and PorterAveling 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.-The...
agricultural engine No. 8653 "Jo-Ann" built in 1912. Operational and used for the woodland ride and threshing machine operating. - John Fowler & Co.John Fowler & Co.thumb|right|John Fowler & Co. [[steam roller]] of 1923John Fowler & Co Engineers of Leathley Road, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England produced traction engines and ploughing implements and equipment, as well as railway equipment. Fowler also produced the Track Marshall tractor which was a...
ploughing engine No. 67 built in 1913. Currently Out of service for painting. . - John Fowler & Co.John Fowler & Co.thumb|right|John Fowler & Co. [[steam roller]] of 1923John Fowler & Co Engineers of Leathley Road, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England produced traction engines and ploughing implements and equipment, as well as railway equipment. Fowler also produced the Track Marshall tractor which was a...
ploughing engine No. 14383 "Prince" of 1917. Operational and used for ploughing.
Portable engines
This type of engine was used for driving agricultural machinery.- Brown & May – engine no. 6691 (Drives shaft on the steam swings)
- Clayton & ShuttleworthClayton & ShuttleworthClayton & Shuttleworth was an engineering company located at Stamp End Works, Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The company was established in 1842 when Nathaniel Clayton formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Joseph Shuttleworth .-History:...
– engines no. 44140 of 1911 (drives big wheel) and no. 50010 of 1926 "Eileen" - Marshall,Sons & Co. – engine no. 49893 of 1907
- Robey & Co. – engine no. 33810 of 1915. Awaiting major overhaul
Road rollers
- Wallis & SteevensWallis & SteevensWallis & Steevens of Basingstoke, Hampshire, England produced agricultural equipment, traction engines and steam and diesel road rollers.-History:...
Simplicity roller No.8023 "Christopher" built in 1932. Operational. - Aveling and PorterAveling and PorterAveling 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.-The...
No. 10050 "David" built in 1961. Operational.
Centre and organ engines
- The museum has a number of these rare compact portable engines that powered fairground rides and organs.
- M. Savage & Co – 6 examples
- Tidman – 4 examples
- Walkers – one example