Pickfords Trailer

There is a new thread on traction talk which discusses the build of a 3" Pickfords trailer similar to the one used at Dorset every year.

This would be a great accessory to any of your range and i'm sure would attract more interest/custom as no one else has done it yet commercially although i'm sure it won't be long.




Not only would it provide the perfect base to sit on behind the engine but you can also build a bench seat onto it so others can come along for a ride when your not attempting to pull the heaviest object you can lay your hands on.

what a head turner.

Nick

Hi Nick

Wondered how long before a thread started on the trailer. Does look very good but would need to be in 4" otherwise would not give the road locos anything to do at events except sit and perk

Good...Would be nice to have a good trailer to tow around......Let hope and see would also double up as a rideing truck.

Guys n gals

I also saw this and replied to it. I had discussed this idea with Steve on the Sunday at the open weekend and he seemed interested if we gave him some help with researching it. I was pondering the best way to go about getting drawings/dimensions etc. when the Traction Talk post appeared.

I am going to write to Martin Oliver to see if he has any information about it as GSDF own it, maybe arrange to take some photos and measurements at Dorset the day before opening.

Brian

Brian

If you manage to get access and need a hand to hold the tape give me a shout and I'll pop over.

Regards

Rob

Just go in the GDSF playpen after hours and measure away.

Those going to dorset, don't forget your long tape measures.

sonick45 wrote:Those going to dorset, don't forget your long tape measures.

Guess what?? Forgot my tape measure

I did spend some time around it on Monday afternoon taking photos and using one of my caravan ramps plus my car as dimensional references for general sizes. Also, there was a company name and phone number on the side for the company that restored it - Richard Vincent Engineering. I gave them a call but they had no drawings. Richard did take my number in case he found some photos taken of it in pieces.

I also photographed the makers plate with the trailer number, it was made by Cranes of Dereham, Norfolk. I did some research yesterday and found that they were taken over by Freuhauf many years ago. Crane Freuhauf went into liquidation in 2005. There is a Feuhauf in Grantham so I gave them a call yesterday and spoke to a very helpful gentleman who was one of the employees who lost his job in the 2005 liquidation. He told me that the administartors cleared all the company records and documents and skipped them including some extremely old ink drawings on linen He has givien me the phone number of an ex employee from Dereham who worked there from school to see if he is aware of any drawings that might have been saved before the liquidation. I called him this evening and he certainly has the knowledge, he was the designer at cranes for many years. I am about to send him an e-mail with thre trailer details. He also told me that 20 or 30 years ago a collection of photographs and some drawings were given to the Beaulieu Motor Museum so more possibilites there.

I seperately made a call to the local Museum at Dereham and asked if any drawings or otherwise have found there way to the museum. I gave them the trailer number and my contact details.

Looks like some time will be needed around the trailer itself. It is stored in Dorset and Richard Vincent did mention the name of the person whose land it is on, I may have to call him back to confirm it and get contact details.

Anyone interested in developing this further for Steve to look at making it? Here are some pictures for inspiration.

The picture at the beginning of this thread shows a heavy haulage trailer that would be good if scaled up to 4". The one at Dorset looks unnecessarily complicated (& therefore expensive) when all we want to do is a bit of miniature heavy haulage. I would guess that most of the trailers built were 'one offs' for individual customers so a certain lattitude in design would not be amiss. If it was a couple of inches narrower than the Road Loco and was able to carry a single crank 4" burrell I would say that was about the right size. Everthing else could be in proportion, also if it had the ability to break down into two peices for storage in or on a trailer so much the better. After all it all has to be carried to a rally somehow and although miniature heavy haulage is fun we don't want to get into the full size stuff with all the gear we carry around! I would go for one of these instead of another wooden traction wagon anyway:lol:

Your right, the one I looked at is more complicated on the bogies but could be simplified. No need to do the cable system for turning the bogies or the raising/lowering mechanisms. Braking could be simplified too. Mind you if Steve wanted things simple he would never have built the chain tractor

The one at the top of the thread is OK to sit on while driving for a 3" engine but you will need to be up close and personall to the tender to reach the controls on the 4" road loco. I drove Clive Hearsey's engine at the Cheshire Rally in June and it has a shorter tender plus even shorter canopy and that was just about OK.

I think that owing to the box section construction of the bed on either trailer design they could be made to split in half using two short square tube sections to locate inside the two halves and use locking pins or bolts to hold it together.

The bigger trailer does not allow you to drive a miniature engine on the back but does allow an engine to go at the back and push the load along too. I was not necessarily thinking of this trailer as one for sale in kit form ulimately but one that STW could bring out for customer gatherings and to take to shows when they have the stand there - I guess the limit then is transport capacity though.

hi all

if any of you guys want a hand measuring the trailor up at dorset just give me a shout as im up there all week and have access to the playpen as my dad owns his majesty boadicea and the great north which can be seen at dorset every year i am also not sure if you guys were aware but we roaded the whole load down to dorset from horsham

hope this helps

Hi all. I would love to order a Pickfords trailer. How can we get the great people at steam traction world to put it into production. I am sure once it is on offer they will have a hard time keeping up with orders.

All the best
Mark

Hi all,

Just wondering how a great idea like this was allowed to slip through. It would be a great asset at any rally, I'm sure even non stw engine owners would buy one to tow behind their engines

Great idea but it would all come down to price and Steve B's design time, if it could be done for say £2,999 I reckon it would sell pretty well but would STW make enough to cover the design time, machining & materials etc?

Now where's that pipe bender?!?!

True Steve Trail but they've done it with the engines which would've been much more costly to invest in research and development. Surely with all of the engines out there they'd profit well put of it ?

Plus I could see a certain crane engine looking well hauling it

If a trailer could be designed & fabricated for a cost of £3000 ish...I'd definitely sign up for one!
Regards,
Tony

I thought about laminating one up out of plywood for my SWB, it would be strong enough and much lighter than steel. Only problem is you are going to need a low-loader to carry it to rallies.

Mike

I'm no Steve Baldock but I do use Cad design software and I've started designing one of these in CAD to workable drawings.

No promises (many other things of more importance) but having started this thread I am keen to realise the idea of having a Pickfords trailer 1/3 scale.

Once completed I will be looking for fabrication to make it.

It would have to be big enough to carry a 4" agricultural Burrell.

It wont be small. i'm planning on using 3" foden rear wheel castings for the bogies so will have somewhere in the region of a 5-6ft bed.

The design will allow it to be broken down into sections but it will still be heavy as ****

Would it be like the trailer in Dorset or the 3" one at the start of the thread Sonick45?

I intend it to look like the blue Pickfords heavy haulage trailer used at Dorset.

The design will be simplified so the bogies will not be steerable at the rear and the breaking system will be like a hand brake used only to stop it rolling when stationary. The main structure will break down into 4 sections to be a bit easier to transport but its going to b heavy so i'm going to be relying on piggybacking it to rallies on other low loaders. The front bogie will have a long reach Y arm to connect onto the back of the seating arrangement on the back of the engine however depending on how heavy it turns out this might be modified.

A friend of mine is building a model of one of the Dorset trailers in 4" to go with his Foster's. He's made his own wheel pattern and had the castings done, and just had the tyres done at £60 each, and there's 8 wheels!

In the March issue of OG on page 16, there is a photo of a 6" trailer in the Gordon Brooke collection up for auction.

Barry