Vlog 338: Tixall the Boxes

In this video, I visit a rather splendid steam-powered narrowboat called “Tixall” which has just been bought after sitting largely unused in a marina for three years. It’s new owner, Matthew Jodrell, is a qualified steam engineer and enthusiast – he volunteers on another steam boat and owns a steam roller – who snapped up Tixall both to live aboard and take around the country to show at events and exhibitions.

The engine is a rare Antony Bever “leak compound”, one of only two on narrowboats. It uses the steam twice, once through a high-pressure cylinder and then again in a low-pressure cylinder. The steam is then cooled slightly using canal water such that it condenses back into liquid form and is fed back into the cylinder to be reheated and sent around the engine once more. Thus the engine rarely needs topping up with fresh water as it’s used in a closed loop. One shovel of coal will keep the fire suitably hot for about 15-20 minutes, according to Matthew, although it takes one or two hours to get the system up to temperature from cold in the mornings.

See the prior video with narrowboat “Emily Anne”, which has the other Bever engine, by clicking here.