She hopes to secure an apprenticeship and continue her studies while gaining experience in the industry. Warrington tells PE about her hobby maintaining a 108-year-old traction engine.
How did you get into this hobby?
I first got into the hobby nearly 10 years ago when I was 17 years old. I knew that my next-door neighbour had owned two traction engines for some time, but had no idea what they were or how they worked. One day my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to pop in to see what these ‘traction engine things’ were.
I was hooked after one visit and began to spend as much time as I could learning about the engines and how to look after them. As the years went on, I met my partner through the hobby, and became interested in the engineering side of it.
When I tell people that my hobby involves looking after and driving a 108-year-old, 10-tonne traction engine, I get so many different responses. I get so many questions, but lots of people are intrigued as to how a 5ft 3in girl became involved with these huge machines.
What does it involve?
During the summer months, we take the engine to various shows and steam rallies all over the country. If it’s local, we drive the engine on the road. But at a top speed of 5mph you’re not getting there in a hurry.
For a lot of traction engine owners, winter tends to be the time for any maintenance work. In our case it has been the time to completely strip down the engine to fit a new boiler and carry out a mechanical overhaul. Thankfully my partner and I enjoy doing the mechanical parts and we have some good friends who are skilled in boiler work.
How regularly do you do it?
At the moment we’re completely overhauling our own Burrell traction engine. So pretty much every day there is something going on in our small workshop at home. My partner is doing most of the mechanical overhaul, but I love to go into the workshop and do machining and fitting jobs with him.
Why do you enjoy it?
There are so many aspects of the hobby which I enjoy. I absolutely love the engineering part. It is great to make new component parts that you can no longer buy off the shelf and bring something back to life that would otherwise be consigned to the scrapyard. It gives me a great sense of pride. Also, how often in everyday life do you get to drive a machine which is more than 100 years old?
The social side of the hobby is also great. You get to meet a variety of people from all walks of life, and everyone has skills which they pass on to each other. It’s a real community and you can tell that each and every one of them has an absolute passion for their hobby. I also love that our four-year-old daughter can get involved.
Has your hobby helped your career?
Looking after the traction engine has definitely helped me in my studies. I feel that having the opportunity to be involved with this has given me the skills to be able to solve problems in a practical manner. I also think that it has taught me to persevere with something when it doesn’t go quite to plan.
Do you have an interesting hobby? Email liz.wells@caspianmedia.com