Re: Lister Engines and Others

By Staff
Published on February 1, 1996
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Lister light set, serial number 86945, 1 KW 50 volt, radiator cooled, built 10 December 1928.
Lister light set, serial number 86945, 1 KW 50 volt, radiator cooled, built 10 December 1928.
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The Lister lineup at my garage in England. Note one Bamford in the photo, second from the right.
The Lister lineup at my garage in England. Note one Bamford in the photo, second from the right.
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Lister B 5 HP hopper cooled.
Lister B 5 HP hopper cooled.
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My son Nelson with his Lister D 1.5 HP hopper cooled. Everyone in England starts with a Lister as their first engine.
My son Nelson with his Lister D 1.5 HP hopper cooled. Everyone in England starts with a Lister as their first engine.
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Lister A 3 HP hopper cooled.
Lister A 3 HP hopper cooled.
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Rare Crossley H 1.25 HP LPG (town gas) engine, tank cooled, built 1913. (We have the factory dispatch sheet from Crossley.)
Rare Crossley H 1.25 HP LPG (town gas) engine, tank cooled, built 1913. (We have the factory dispatch sheet from Crossley.)

28 Sarfan Drive Hampton, Virginia 23664

I have noticed, in the help section of this magazine
(Reflections), questions arising concerning Lister engines, where
are they built, are they still in business, how do you date them,
and so forth.

They are built in Dursley, England, still in business, and the
records are intact for dating to the day of manufacture.

I may be making ‘a rod for my own back,’ but my son and
I have copies of most of the Lister’s factory parts manuals,
thanks to Mr. David Harris, a retired Lister employee of 45 years.
This information was picked up during our living in England for 15
years, where we started collecting engines. Further, we also have a
dating system which will give the year. If anyone would like to
contact us by mail (S.A.S.E. requested), we would be glad to help.
We would request photos so that we can start a register of Listers
in North America.

If anyone would want the actual build date and first dispatch,
they would need to subscribe to the Stationary Engine Magazine
which is advertised in the back of this magazine. Their Help-Line
gives access to all types of information on European, English and
American engines, a good database. We do have some copies of
earlier issues.

These photos are of some of the engines my son and I have
collected from England that might be of interest to you.

Our Lister light set, serial number 86945, is 2 HP at 1000 RPM,
1 KW 50 Volt DC. It was built 10 December 1928. Set weight is
approximately 850 pounds dry. Built by R. A. Lister Ltd. of
Dursley, England, supplied by J. Brown of Kirk-By-Moorside,
Yorkshire, England. We purchased it from Mr. Leo Pratt of
Yorkshire, England, in non-running condition in April of 1994. The
engine has been completely overhauled, and the generator field
coils rewound. This engine is another case of missing data plates
which caused undue problems dating, and in the end the date was
only established by part numbers, and flywheel numbers which were
in poor shape and could be read five or more different ways. It was
only through the efforts of David Harris and David Edgington that
we were able to correctly date the engine through old factory
records. Both of the above named are members of the Stationary
Engine Help Line List in the Stationary Engine Magazine.

Not shown are some of our other engines such as Gardner,
Blackstone, Powell, Ruston, Bamford, Stuart, Domestic, Jack of all
Trades, Eclipse Myrick (we need information on this engine, color
dating and did they make a hot tube engine?), Quincy, Illinois,
model, New Holland, Olds, and others. But they are another
story.

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