BURREL RESTORATION AT BOSTON MUSEUM

‘Gladstone.’ Gladstone passed to another owner in 1918 and
another in 1950. In the late 1950s, Mr. Geoffrey Roberts of
Osterville, Massachusetts spotted Gladstone chugging down a street
in England. Conversing with the driver, Roberts mentioned how
he’d love to take the machine home to the United States. The
driver returned with a ‘Why not?’

Gladstone spent the next 14 years puffing around Robert’s
house on Cape Cod pulling out stumps and scaring the daylights out
of innocent motorists as he blasted the whistle and popped out from
behind a row of trees and steamed across the street.

In 1974, Gladstone was donated to the Museum and has been on
static display since. By 1977, Richard Friedman, museum mechanic
and vehicle restoration specialist, and I decided it was high time
Gladstone was put back in service as a living exhibit. The first
step was to do some historical research. Gladstone was build to
conform to England’s Heavy Motor Car Act of 1903 which
permitted traction engines of five tons unladen weight to be
operated at no more than five miles per hour by one man.
Previously, at least two men were required, by law, to run the
machines. We found that Gladstone had spent most of its life as a
threshing engine, hauling the thresher from farm to farm and
operating the machinery on site. As a road engine, Gladstone boasts
several distinctive features. In addition to the normal rear water
tank, holding 70 gallons, there is also a belly tank of 60 gallon
capacity greatly increasing distance between water stops. A
¹/₈‘ plate is fitted under the engine to
protect the firebox when fording streams. All valve gear is
provided with covers to disguise the moving parts from easily
frightened horses. This is also the rational for the solid flywheel
as animals could not be disturbed by spinning spokes. There is no
provision for a water pump and the engine is simply fitted with an
injector on each side. Lubrication is provided by both a feed into
live steam and a mechanical lubricator working off the valve
motion. A great deal of this historical and technical information
was provided by the Road Locomotive Society in England who sent us
copies of the complete original specs for engine 3540 including
everything from parts listings to paint scheme.

While we were waiting for the information from England, Freedman
carefully lubed and freed all working parts. We turned her over
briefly on compressed air. As the engine reciprocated, we found, to
our delight, that we could operate her on less and less air
pressure.

It was decided it would be easier to work on Gladstone in our
warehouse and out of its exhibit environment so, with the aid of a
large tractor-trailer unit, she was taken out of our building in
Brookline, Massachusetts and moved some five miles to our storage
space. Here, a group of volunteers removed the steering chain drum,
chains, belly tank, and stripped the lagging from the boiler. Larry
Vaughn, president of the Klendall Boiler and Tank Company in
Cambridge was approached to retube the boiler. While the original
tubes were still serviceable, it was decided to make the boiler as
new as possible. Vaughn was aware of the limited amount of funds
available for the restoration process and he generously agreed to
retube Gladstone at no cost. Vaughn’s men removed the old tubes
and replaced them with 1′ ones. As the original tubes were
1′, it was necessary to shim the replacements at the tube
sheets. Eventually, the crown and tube sheets may need to be
replaced but, for the time being, experts feel we are completely
safe to run Gladstone at the 100 lbs. pressure we plan to.
Originally, she ran on 200 lbs. but Roberts tells us there’s
more than enough power at half that. Boiler inspectors,
particularly in Massachusetts, are not known to be an extremely
flexible lot and, as Gladstone’s double-lap seam British boiler
does not carry an ASME stamp, we’re doing all we can to
convince our inspector that no safety precaution is being
neglected. After all, the Boothbay Railway in Maine had to redo the
boilers on their German-built locomotives because, as the boilers
were completely serviceable, a Maine law dating from WW I forbids
the use of German boilers in that state!

Richard Friedman, Museum mechanic and restoration expert, checks
the movement of Gladstone’s reversing lever. Notice the 3-speed
gear setup. The number ‘3’s on the canopy brace and the
side of the tractor is to aid with canopy replacement once removed.
(W. Litant photo)

Richard Friedman checks tightness of high-pressure side of
Gladstone’s engine. The canopy has since been removed and a new
one is being built.

The next step was to deal with Gladstone’s canopy. I brought
in Jed and Andy Dixon of the Albany Street Woodshop in Boston. The
Dixons crawled all over the machine measuring here and scratching
off paint there. They determined the top was constructed with oak
sides and ribs with yellow pine boards for the roof. Currently, the
top is covered with shingles but should be canvas and white lead.
Jed and Andy felt the canopy was too far deteriorated to save so
they agreed to donate the construction of an exact duplicate.
Richard removed the canopy and he and I delivered it to Albany
Street. The new top is promised this spring.

There is still much that needs to be done. We have little idea
regarding the condition of various bearings. The three-speed
transmission needs inspection and possible work. We are sure there
will be numerous details we haven’t even thought of that will
turn up during the restoration process. Eventually, we hope to have
her steaming through the streets of Boston pulling floats in
parades and partaking in the Museum’s Annual Antique Machinery
Meets. It’s a long and involved process, but as many of you
well know, the knowledge that we are turning a cold, rusting, and
fading piece of transportation history into the living, steaming,
and whistling example of motive power she was built to be 65 years
ago, makes it all worth it.

You’ll hear from me again as work progresses!

MORE ON THE MECHANIC AND AUTHOR

Richard Friedman, mechanic and restoration specialist whose work
is described in this article, works a total of seven days a week.
He spends four days in Connecticut as a machinist at a vintage
sports car restoration shop, Thursday nights he drives five hours
to the boat he lives on in Boston Harbor, and then works Friday,
Saturday and Sunday at the Museum where he is in charge of repair
and restoration of Museum vehicles. In his free time, he works on
his 1949 HRD-Vincent motorcycle.

Bill Litant, the writer is employed full-time at the Museum as
public relations/special projects coordinator. He got bitten by the
steam bug when he read ‘Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel’
as a little boy. He is a railroad and street-railway buff and
writer. He helped bring a 1906 steam-roller to the Museum-next on
the restoration list. Involved with antique British motorcycles
also, he heads the BSA Owner’s Club of New England.