Today's photo is a reworking of The Philadelphia at the Crown, Aldbourne, a version of which I previously posted in August, 2011.
This traction engine was requisitioned during WWII for agricultural work before being laid up in 1948 after 36 years of work. Sometime after 1999 it was acquired and restored.
The Showman's road locomotive was designed to provide transport and power for a traveling fair or circus. The showman usually had a full length canopy, a dynamo on the front to provide electricity and a chimney extension tube which both improved the draft for the fire and reduced the amount of soot falling on the fair-goers.
In this shot, the dynamo is under the red tarp in front of the chimney but you can see a belt wheel that was used to power it. The electricity would then be used to light the fair at night.
After WWII there were lots of surplus army trucks on the market and showman's engines fell out of use. Many were sold for scrap. In the late 1950's an engine like this could be had for £40. In 2003, engine #3865 was sold for £320,000. A pound in 1958 would be worth about £30 today so that's about a 26,000% return, allowing for inflation.
Scroll below the color image for a black and white version.
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