"A great day to meet friends and the slightly eccentric." The Machinery Preservation Society of WA put on a display at their Midland Workseffort hop on Sunday 27 August which bought the trainspotters out in force. Of course I popped along to join them.
The 'Steaming Day' was advertised widely amongst vintage car and motorcycle clubs. The Austin Motor Vehicle Club of WA put on a good display outside the workshop. http://carclubs.shannons.com.au/austinmotorclubwa/
It was a beautiful day so I opted to ride the Ariel. I've recently replaced the old temporary mirrors I had mounted when I first licensed the bike. The Leader originally came with two rectangular mirrors that were mounted at the top edge of the leg shield. These have now become virtually unobtainable so I fitted some clip-ons. They did the job - just - but were extremely touchy, requiring constant adjustment and sometimes falling off as I rode. I've bought several replacements over the years but none ever seemed to fit right. Last weekend, after several hours of fiddling, I finally manage to get one of the sets to fit. Although they don't look remotely correct, they work really well, which is after all more important.
I slipped the Leader into the Austin display. Well, it is English.
Morris Cowley
Austin 7 Baby
1935 Wolsely Fourteen
Inside the Workshop
1904 Clayton and Shuttleworth steam traction engine. This magnificent machine is owned and restored by the Machinery Preservation Society.
This is the reason I came. For decades this machine sat on the road verge outside the Veteran Car Club, slowly rusting away. I've always had a fascination for steam traction engines and I used to daydream about restoring it one day. I can remember writing a school assignment about it when I was thirteen. God, I was a nerd! The Preservation Society eventually bought the engine and spent ten years restoring it.
A steam roller
An unrestored steam traction engine
They had this miniature traction engine running.
Blowing steam
There were a wide variety of pumping engines and other machinery. I admire those people who take the time and effort to preserve old machinery like this. Industrial machinery isn't sexy or stylish or exciting, nor are they useful like cars or bikes. Often they take up space - lots of space. If it weren't for dedicated people like the society, most of this stuff would be scrapped; lost forever. It's admirable. And eccentric.
A Wankel rotary marine engine
The stream launch Thunder Child
1956 Velocette LE "noddy bike"
A display by the Historical Cycle Club of Western Australia. https://historicalcycleclub.com.au
I found out that push-bikes used to be licensed in Western Australia.
1908 Imperial Rover
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