Bowman M140

Steve_S · Bowman M140

A couple of months ago I saw, on eBay, an item described as a box of Meccano bits and pieces including some steam engine parts. There were two pictures:

In the first one a Bowman boiler, firebox and baseplate were pretty clear. In the second there were some glimpses of other bits, which could well be Bowman, and in particular something that looked very much like the twin cylinder engine frame of an M140. Luckily the magic word BOWMAN didn't appear anywhere in the description, so I put in a bid and won it for £12. It would have been worth that just for the boiler and Meccano but I hoped that, if I was lucky, there might be 3/4 of an M140 in that box. I went to collect it from the seller, partly to save postage, but mostly because I couldn't wait to see what I'd got, and it was only about 30 miles away. The seller told me that this box of bits had been in his family for many decades, and that it had never really been disturbed because when he was young he didn't want to mix this tatty stuff with his new Meccano. When I got it home and sorted it all out I found that just about all of the M140 parts were there! The only bits missing were the burner, the water level plug, a small cog which fits onto the crankshaft, and the flat port face from one of the cylinders that had been unsoldered for some reason and lost. The boiler had some bad dents and big solder splashes, and the remains of the pipework were completely mangled.

Now another bit of luck. I obtained a replacement for the missing cog from our friend Odilon (Mooseman)... boat builder and moderator extra-ordinaire... who happened to have a spare one which he very kindly sent to me. Thanks again Odilon! I made, by using a mixture of sawing, filing, drilling and swearing, a new cylinder port face that I'm pretty pleased with. I've also made a water level plug which will do for now. I took the ends off the boiler to straighten out the dents, and replaced the pipes. I've added two short curved exhaust pipes similar to the ones that Bowman fitted to their bigger twin engine, the M122. The opening in the firebox where the burner slides in should have a kind of flap that sticks outwards from the top edge of the opening. The flap is slightly springy and the idea is that it should press down onto the burner and hold it in place while the engine is running. On this firebox the flap has broken off so I need to either re-attach it somehow (the broken off piece was in the box), or make a new one. At the moment I think it would be best to make a new one that I could rivet onto the firebox so that the repair wouldn't really show once it’s painted.

I've steamed it using a Mamod vaporising burner and it goes really well... very smooth, and the twin cylinders and geared down layshaft make it very powerful for its size. I intend to run it as it is for a couple of weeks to make sure everything is OK (and 'cos its fun!), and then strip it down for painting and polishing. Also I'll make a Bowman style burner for it.

MooseMan

Steve,

You're welcome mate....moosecog, I like that!

Wonderful job you've done!

Mamodman123

wow just goes to show that one mans junk is another mans treasure!

Super job Steve cna't believe almost all the bits were there

Wallace

Excellent stuff Steve. Nice Job

Manxman

Steve, looks like you've had a lot of fun. Great job so far and look forward to the finished pics.

tmuir

Nice to see another engine returned from the graveyard.
Good job.
Just wish I could get a 'find' like that.

Griffin

Nice one, you have done a good job of rebuilding the Bowman.

Steve_S

Thanks for the positive comments guys! I'll post some more pics when I've done some more to it.

Mamodman123

Steve_S

OK, I've repaired the broken flap by making a new one and riveting it on. The rivets were two ordinary steel nails that I sawed off about 5mm below the nail head. I drilled appropriately sized holes in the new flap and the firebox, inserted the rivets from the inside of the firebox. then hammered the protruding rivets flat on the outside. I don't think it'll show much once its painted.

I've also made a Bowman style burner which works really well.

I intend to do the necessary painting of the engine next week... I'll post some pics when its done.

SPOKESMAN

Brilliant - literally!

MooseMan

Steve, superb job - that burner's a work of art! What did you use for the body?

Wallace

Great stuff Steve. Well done

Mamodman123

Jesus! that is amazingly good!

That burner is a stroke of genius!

Sandman

Don't want to appear mercenary, but you could make a bob or two if you made some of these burners for sale. I for one would bite you're hand off.

MooseMan

Steve_S

Wow, thanks for these comments guys... I must admit the burner did turn out well and I'm pretty proud of it. The body or tank of the burner was in the box of bits that came with the M140 parts. It was part of a very dangerous looking home made burner that I never dared light. I unsoldered it completely and the only bit I re-used was the tank. It had a large hole in the side to accomodate a massive piece of copper pipe which I discarded. That large hole is the reason for the curved brass plate between the new piece of brass tubing and the tank... it covers the hole! I cut the slot in the brass tubing with a Dremel. The thread for the filler plug to screw into was made by filing the hexagonal flats from a large brass nut, then soldering it over a suitably sized hole drilled into the top of the tank. Actually there was a hole there already but it wasn't big enough. The plug itself I found in one of my tins of bits and pieces. (I never throw anything away!) All I had to do was drill a small air hole in the middle of it. I guess the hardest part in making a burner like this is obtaining a suitable tank, and I was lucky in that respect! I need to make another one for my E135, so I'm looking out for something suitable... any ideas? Odilon has suggested typewriter ribbon tins, which sound like they might be perfect.

Here's a pic of the burner lit... it a bit hard to see the flame!

Sandman

You've every reason to be proud.

Also gives us an object lesson.

Never ever throw anything away.

sparky

esactly

Steve_S

I've now finished painting the engine, and I've applied an excellent Bowman decal, kindly supplied by Mooseman. (Odilon has certainly perfected the art, and if you want to know how... all is revealed on the Mooseman website.) The paints I used were Plasti-kote gloss super Lawn Green, Plasti-kote fast dry enamel Insignia Red, and Wilko BBQ for the firebox. After I had glued on the decal, I sprayed the base with Plasti-kote clear fast dry enamel. I've had to go for the "brand new" look as there really wasn't any original paintwork worth preserving, and I think that if you're going to paint then you might as well go for the full effect!

Mamodman123

Extremly impressive Steve

That is a wonderful machine, the decal looks top draw!

Steely

Excellent restoration.

MooseMan

Wow Steve....I love it!

Have you had it running yet?

Steve_S

MooseMan

Mamodman123

Steve_S

I haven't got a proper video camera, but I can take a fairly low resolution one with my still camera. I'll have a go anyway!
(The engine is on the mantlepiece right now but I've been informed that it can't stay there!

)

Mamodman123

Steve_S

[quote="Mamodman123"]

Mamodman123

[quote="Steve_S"]

SPOKESMAN

Mamodman123

No no no????????????

SPOKESMAN

Mamodman123

SPOKESMAN

Mamodman123

SPOKESMAN

Mamodman123

It will do a job... well it works anyway

You can see it's not an original one

SPOKESMAN

Sorry MM any Bowman stuff seems to be acceptable. Lets keep it real. Im gonna be flamed for this . . . . REAL BOWMANS PLEAZZZZZZZE

Mamodman123

SPOKESMAN

Mamodman123

If you can't get the part, you can't get the part... you should know that more than anyone!

SPOKESMAN

Mamodman123

SPOKESMAN

I am not gonna argue with that one MM. There's more than one approach to the problem though . . .

Mamodman123

SPOKESMAN

Mamodman123

SPOKESMAN

Mamodman123

Finding the right Bowman/Burner is also the hard part......

I vote for the Okey Cokey option myself!

SPOKESMAN

Mamodman123

Wallace

Steve, that is a great resto. Well done. Looks like new, but not overdone.

Congrats to you.

Nice burner too. I didn't take on the job of making a MM1 wick burner, thought it'd be too tricky, but that one came up real nice.

Again mate, congratulations, and a job well done

Steve_S

Thanks Wallace!

Steve_S

The preserve/restore debate will run and run... its been well addressed on the forum before, and no doubt will be again. In this case, in my opinion, I took the best course. This engine came back from the brink so to speak, and needed new pipework and port face just to make it run. Is that justified? It hadn't got a burner and in the unlikely event of my being able to get a real Bowman burner then I'll use it, but in the meantime I made one. Is that justified? The paint on the engine frame and most of the firebox was gone and they had to be painted to prevent rust. Was that justified? The base paintwork was 50% gone and there was no sign of the original decal. Not to paint it when the engine frame and firebox had been painted would have looked awful. Was that justified? I'm sure that different people will answer those questions differently... and thats fair enough, its personal choice. So, OK, its mostly Bowman but not entirely. It is what it is. I would contend that its in a far better state than it was when I got it, and it now has every chance of surviving another 75 years!

Mamodman123

yosa

Spot on job. Big lesson for us all there, I just enter "steam engine" when I go on ebay. I'll start looking at meccano and general junk.

Brilliant work, well done.

sparky

same here really anything steam

MooseMan

Steve, as long as YOU like it, who gives a rats about what's justified and what's not anyway? Bowman or not, it's a great engine. To me, well, it walks like a Bowman, talks like a Bowman, might therefore just be a Bowman. Don't know what my opinion counts for of course, but there are a number of people out there (including members of the Bowman-Jenkins family) who think I know what I'm talking about.

Steve_S

Thanks Odilon... I've always suspected that you might know what you're talking about!

John Chapman

Steve, In my humble opinion you have made a super job of that Bowman M140. Congratulations on bringing it back from the brink. As you say the preservation/restoration debate will run and run but my opinion for, what it's worth, is that you have done a great job and your efforts were fully justified.

Steve_S

Thanks John! I think it turned out well, and it runs very soothly. I've just aquired a Burnac Vulcan on ebay which needs a bit of work, and I've been looking at the picture of yours on your website. I hope mine will look half as good as that!

Steve_S

As requested.... dodgy videos:

http://s69.photobucket.com/albums...ion=view&current=PHTO0017.flv

http://s69.photobucket.com/albums...ion=view&current=PHTO0009.flv

http://s69.photobucket.com/albums...ion=view&current=PHTO0003.flv

Mamodman123

An excellent runner Steve

just like my one cylinder Bowman.

A credit to your hard work

Steve_S

Thanks MM. It really is very similar to your M158... mostly the same parts I think. It ran for just under half an hour, but I hadn't filled the burner or boiler as much as I could, and I expect I could get 35 or maybe even 40 minutes if I did.

Mamodman123

Steve_S

Yes, I'm pretty sure that the chimney was optional. But I've never seen any pictures of an M140 where the exhaust steam was actually fed to the chimney, as it was on the M158. On the M140 there were no pipes from the exhaust ports of the engine, so the chimney would have been just for show. On mine I've added short curved exhaust pipes because it makes it less messy when it runs! The bigger Bowman twin M122 had them, and I dont know why they didn't fit them to the M140... cost I suppose.

John Chapman

sparky

yes same here