windrush:
gingerfold:
Remember it was the Gardner 4L2 marine engine that was fitted into a Lancia bus by Trevor Barton, so the demand was starting to appear for compression ignition engines in buses and lorries. In response Gardner designed the lighter LW engine range which was also higher revving (not a characteristic usually associated with Gardner) than an L2. Several L2 engines of 4, 5, and 6 cylinders were fitted into buses and lorries as well as LWs in the early 1930s. It’s an interesting thought about who else might have attempted to enter the road going vehicle engine market if Gardner hadn’t done so. The likely candidates would have been Ruston, who did actually make some lorry engines, Paxman, Crossley, Napier…it could be a lengthy list.Yes I have seen the bus powered by a Ruston aircooled diesel but I’m guessing that it wasn’t a success?
We had Crossley busses in Reading, but not many although one is still around in low loader form transporting a traction engine to rallies! Fowler also made some lorries with their own engines but again they were apparently very heavy and slow revving machines. Being a collector/exhibitor (though not this year!!
) of stationary engines I have some Ruston’s and also encounter many Fowlers, but it would seem that only Gardner in the UK were really successfull in making engines for both static and automotive use? Foden two strokes were fitted to some static applications though, I believe the one at the Anson Museum in the youtube link I posted was one such engine, as were Rootes TS3’s of course but they were marketed and rebadged as Listers.
Pete.
Morning Pete
The “big two” of UK engine making, Leyland and AEC, had variants of all their automotive engines for marine, rail, and stationary applications, AEC probably selling more engines in these sectors than Leyland. There were 4 cylinder versions of their engine ranges until the mid-1960s, then de-rated six cylinder engines were used instead of a four cylinder.