Charawacky

Clips - Ryans Daughter I have found the engine top castings are porous due to corrosion so have cast new items as shown. I still have to machine them and fit to the two engine blocks. They have been cast directly from the originals which are also shown in the images below.

I read the same bus featured in the spaghetti western 'A Fistful of Dynamite' The current owner is the chap who advised me he had run the bus with a twin on the front, probably after the photo was taken on the crossley web site!

History Laid to Rest As Dublin Welcomes Old Enemy It was a huge moment, steeped in symbolism and history, but the reception to God Save The Queen as England took the field at Croke Park yesterday sent out a clear signal - let's move on. A day Ireland buried its past. Just after 9.30 yesterday morning a soft smirr of rain was falling in north Dublin: Ireland's usual February morning rain, from an otherwise bright blue sky. It slid gently off the wheelie-bins in the front yards of Clonliffe Road, landing on the resigned scowls of the garden gnomes: it irritated the gardai getting into early place all around Croke Park, and collars were shrugged high against the long day ahead. It actually helped Vincent O'Sullivan, scrubbing the side of his house with a hefty wire brush. 'No Crossley Tenders Beyond This Point.' The graffiti had appeared an hour or so before, carefully stencilled, in blue paint, and Vincent had the police at the front door to tell him about it. 'They caught the boy pretty much in the act, got the photos and all. He smiled, a big open smile. 'Ach, well. I should get it off soon enough, not that bothered. The wall's coming off easier than the paint. Crossley Tenders? Some kind of old British army thing?' For those who choose to remember, yes: very much a British army thing. An armoured car, developed in France early during World War I to carry a Lewis gun and 10 armed men. They were used, on Sunday 21 November, 1920, to carry Empire soldiers, native English and the despised 'Black and Tans', into Croke Park where they opened fire on the crowd at a Gaelic football game between Dublin and Tipperary. Fourteen innocents died, including a boy and the Tipperary captain; it became known as Bloody Sunday. The first Bloody Sunday; this being Ireland, it wouldn't be the last. Croker - proud home to the most popular amateur sport in the world, Gaelic football - and, until two years ago, about as likely to open its 100 turnstiles to the 'foreign' sports of rugby and football as the Vatican would coat itself orange. But, in 2005, The Gaelic Athletics Association decided, momentously and controversially, to join the rest of the new, modern Ireland: to decide that there was more to the land today than Michael Collins and Patrick Pearse. To let rugby be played there, for the first time, while Lansdowne Road is being refurbished. To let the English sing, for the first time, God Save the Queen But, Dublin confusion aside, a great many enough seemed to be willing this city, to move on. To move on at 5.30 pm And, later, as they walked past that house in their thousands, after Ireland's triumphthe walls of Vincent's house were clean. The graffiti, the emotion, had gone. And more than a little history. Ireland 43-13 England Feb 2007 All the tenders are gone but not quite forgotten.

Hi Tim, After studying your restoration blog I feel I am getting off very easily, just wear and tear, only a few things to make. I have attached images of the Rotax Catalogue showing the meters. The cat is very interesting as I can identify all the components except the cut out and switch bank. The dynamo still has its original warranty seals! Although the pulley had been replaced, fortunately the original pulley has now turned up and just needs a new boss machining to refit. I have learn one of the original floor boards which had been noted as missing in the 1970,s restoration has been located by a previous owner who recovered the vehicle from India in the early 1960's, it is currently in the US so it may be some time before it is reunited with the car. Tom Cover.pdf Rotax Switch Box.pdf

Having taken the Crossley engine out and dismantled it, I have sent parts to various companies for re-bore, white metaling, crank grinding, fitting of Cummins valves which are a perfect fit and arranged manufacture of new pistons (have a look at the image of the original welded up 1913 pistons!) plus new connecting rods. I now have time to look at other parts which need work whilst waiting for these parts to be returned for reassembly. Turning my attention to the electrical system, the dash amps and volt gauge were stripped and found to have defunct 1960,s gauges glued to the original butchered Rotax facia (see image), so I took the old facia to my local obsolete parts stockist 3 miles up the road and asked if he had a suitable working gauges I could fit behind the facia in the same way. He disappeared for a good 10 minutes and returned with a complete identical 1912 pattern Rotax facia with gauges which I have now fitted and wired, and they work! He only had the one, I could not believe my luck! These correct Rotax instuments are made of wood with wire wound round, very crude, but effective, automotive electrics were still in their infancy and were experimental just 3 years earlier.

The Dennis Half Shafts are interesting in that the spline cutter has been withdrawn to give a taper rather than a stress point. Interestingly a 3 litre Bentley (standard 80hp) half shaft has a 90 deg stress raiser where an end mill cutter has been lifted vertically and an 8 litre (standard 220hp) has an identical half shaft but the mill cutter has been with drawn to create the same taper as the Dennis half shaft. Just goes to show how engineers sometimes learn the same thing over again.

I seem to remember a Milnes-Daimler bus chassis found under a bungalow many years ago and there were two claims on it, one from a private individual and one from the science museum, I think it ended up going to the states? This is a recollection from my youth so may be incorrect?

The 1907 Milnes-Diamler Doppeldeckerbus is incredible.

On futher examination there appears to be a second Tender in the funeral photograph? I have found some more info on dual front wheels used by C Flight of No.14 Squadron 1917 in Hejaz by the Red Sea. "The desert reconnaissances proved invaluable as we were able to ascertain whether the wells were dried up or not and also enabled us to find suitable forward landing grounds. The reconnaissance was usually done by one Crossley tender and sometimes accompanied by a Ford car. The Rolls Royce car of the Armoured Car Section proved too heavy but eventually did good work when the armouring was removed and the cars lightened generally. But they could not compete with the Crossley which when fitted with double wheels on all four would go anywhere."

After reading up I can say Crossleys were chain driven from 1904 and introduced shaft drive in the 40hp model of 1906. By the time the 20/25 (RFC) came out in 1912 shaft drive would have been used on all models. The RFC engine was a high quality unit with aluminium crankcase, 5 main bearings and pressure oil feed. Good breathing meant the engine gave nearly as much power as the 40hp Rolls Royce, no wonder the Royal Flying Corps went from 25 in service at the outbreak of war to 6000 by 1917. Below is a picture which shows just how much part of the Flying Corps the RFC had become: France April 1918. The remains of the late Baron Von Richthofen being carried to a Crossley tender by six pilots of no 3 squadron, Australia Flying Corps. Most evidence points to the Baron being shot down by Australian guns on the ground and no3 squadron salved and buried his body a couple of days later.

At the Pageant of Power in Cheshire I bumped into a chap today who has a converted RFC tender. He has in the past had to replace a flat single on the front axle with dual and drove about 4 miles to get home. He commented the steering was a little difficult on corners, but it did get him home! Here is a another view with details of the Crossley with plane in tow Ottoman Empire: Gaza Area, Weli Sheikh Nuran 8 October 1917 A German Air Force DIII Albatros Scout aircraft, D636/17, flown by Oberleutnant Gustav Adolf Dittmar of Fliegerabteilung 300 squadron. The aircraft had been shot down, practically intact, into AIF Light Horse lines near Bersheeba by a Bristol fighter aircraft flown by Lieutenant R Steele, a Canadian pilot with No 3 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. No 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps members recovered the machine and moved it to their airfield where repairs, including a bullet holed radiator, were carried out returning it to flying condition. This photograph shows the aircraft attached to a Crossley tender with wings removed being towed from the landing site to the No 1 Squadron airfield. This must have been quite an event at the time.

Desgsy Nice to know we British got there first, unless some has earlier evidence? Athough no doubt with such a good idea history will be rewritten. By the way, did the RR Armoured cars just carry a rear dual tyre? Tom

Tim, Are they carrying 2 wheels or a rear twin? The front & rear hubs are the same only the rears has two rims built into the wheels. The Staff Car I have has a twin spare and always has according to those who have known the car since it returned from India in May 68 - before restoration. Tom

After the acquisition of a RFC Crossley Staff car I have started to ponder the practicalities of the machine, especially as I have experienced one front wheel collapse, one front tyre deflation (cut by the rim) and one front wheel puncture. All occurred on one 40 mile trip. The problems with the wheels have been overcome by wheel rebuilds, however, the rear wheels are twins spoked onto a single hub and the fronts are singles. I am assuming this necessitates the carrying of two types of spare wheel, but I have failed to find a photograph where the two types of wheel are shown to be carried on a staff car or tender! I have yet to try a single with a twin together on the front axle and am unlikely to do so this summer as I am rebuilding the engine. Does anyone have any info, experience or even advice on this potentially dangerous experiment?

Hi Tim, The light green RFC is currently still for sale, the one I have is a darker green, you can see in it my album. The Staff Car was shipped to India in 1913 arriving in 1914 for the RFC and remained there until the late 1960s when it returned to the UK in completely original condition. The car was restored and used as the template for the body on the light green car you refer to. Incredibly the self contained carbide removable spot lamp has remained on the running boards throughout its life. I currently have the engine out for rebuild -will put up photos http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tomfryars/Crossley?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXc18Tnr8vT6wE#5353830292710779778

Hi Ben, Great find, great project, I guess this model competed with the Leyland X type. I believe an X type exists in Carter Paterson livery and has been preserved for some 75 or more years! I wish you good luck with this substantial challange. Tom