My Books
My three books: they follow and document my building of 3” and 6” scale model traction engines.
A Dream Comes True, part 1
A Dream Comes True part 1 was my first ever book, part one of a two-part series following the building of a 3 inch scale ‘Little Samson’ steam tractor.
The engine itself started out as a set of raw castings, the metal stock that was needed had to be sourced and purchased separately as is common practice with large-scale model building. The full set of plans and castings are available from Little Samson Models.
I had very little equipment when I started the project and very little ‘real’ engineering experience having been an RC modeller, but I had always wanted a live steam traction engine and this seemed like a good place to start, the real-deal being way beyond budget!
A Dream Comes True, part 2
Part 2 follows the build of the 3 inch scale Little Samson steam tractor through to completion including the initial boiler test and first firing/testing.
Reading of both books is easy-going, there are no dimensions or plans, just descriptions of how I tackled each part, where I got it wrong and how I fixed it!
The books are A5 (210mm x 148mm) and have around 80 pages loaded with pictures.
Little Samson 2
Little Samson 2 dialogues building the ‘Big daddy’ of model engine building – a half size engine.
Following on from the great success I had with the publishing of my two-part series ‘A Dream Comes True‘. I have now built another engine and along with it goes another book, this time following the building of a large-scale version of the ‘Little Samson’ steam tractor.
I chose to build the same engine again because I liked the first one so much but wanted something a bit bigger, this engine is half the size of the original engine!
Little Samson 2 is being presented as a loose-leaf publication in a smart ring-binder. The book consists of over 200 pages in 17 chapters covering the project build. There is also a technical section, some information on the original engine, firing, driving, aftercare and the first boiler test etc.
The book is printed on quality paper and is crammed with pictures and information. It was featured in the June 2010 issue of ‘Old Glory’ steam magazine.
It is a professionally produced publication that originally went on sale in 2009 as a part-works – customers purchased the chapters as they were produced thus following the build very closely with me. The reviews I have received from these advance purchasers and indeed every buyer to date have been most excellent.
As of 06/12/2021, all books are still available, for prices and ordering please contact me or visit my eBay pages.
