Armstrong Whitworth 10 Ton Steam Roller 1925
Badger a 1925 Armstrong Whitworth 10 Ton, 5nhp Compound Piston Valve Steam Roller. Serial No. 10R35. The approximate cost of this model when now without canopy or optional sprayer etc. was £830. The Steam Roller section of the Armstrong Whitworth empire was perhaps one of it's least successful enterprises. Sir W. G. Armstrong-Whitworth & Co. Ltd. were one of the most successful and respected names in British Engineering at the beginning of the 20th century. The organisation were leaders in armaments, ship building, steelworks, locomotives and many other high quality engineered products. In the early 1920's the company took the decision to enter the steam roller production business at their Openshaw Manchester Factory. The lack of road maintenance during the Great War and traffic growth tended to indicate that there would be a road construction boom resulting in a huge demand for road building equipment. Not only did the expected growth fail to materialise, competition from long established firms such as Aveling & Porter, Fowler, Marshalls, etc. together with a glut of inexpensive Government war surplus machines made the market for new rollers evaporate to a fraction of the anticipated demand. The company only produced rollers for a period of two to three years. It is believed that a total of only 120 of all types of Armstrong Whitworth Steam Rollers were built. 30 eight ton; 60 ten ton; 20 twelve ton and 10 tandem type. With only approximately twenty rollers of all types sold to contractors, local authorities etc. a large number of rollers remained unsold. In order to employ the unsold surplus Armstrong-Whitworth set up it's own hiring company. In 1929 John Allen & Sons Ltd. (Oxford Steam Plough Co.) of Oxford purchased 34 rollers including 'Badger' the roller above from the hire fleet. A further batch of rollers from the fleet were sold to the Lancashire Road Rolling Co. Ltd. for use in the 1931 road rolling season. Both hire companies bought spares and patterns, it is entirely conceivable that either could have built one or two complete rollers from the spares. |