Cyldon

Cyldon was the brand name used by Sydney S Bird & Sons for a range of model stationary steam engines manufactured in Enfield, Middlesex, England, between 1947 and 1951. The name was formed by combining the names of two of Sydney Bird’s sons, Cyril and Donald. Cyldon is chiefly remembered by collectors of vintage model engineering equipment and toy steam engines, although the business also produced other small consumer and hobby-related items, including toys, reels for magnetic tape and cine film, and variable capacitors. The principal Cyldon range consisted of five stationary steam-engine models numbered 13/1 through 13/5. These were methylated-spirit-fired engines using wick burners and were designed as compact working models rather than as industrial machinery. Their construction is particularly distinctive for the extensive use of non-ferrous materials. Brass, copper, aluminium alloys and mazak were used for many major components, while steel was generally limited to crankshafts, rods, fasteners, springs and other small parts. This material choice gives the engines a recognizable appearance and reflects the practical manufacturing style of post-war British model engineering. The five models were not simply cosmetic variations. They represented several different mechanical layouts and levels of complexity. The 13/1 was an early and somewhat atypical design with a wooden base, a steel firebox and a simple single-acting oscillating cylinder. The 13/2 used a long, narrow in-line arrangement and incorporated an unusual semi-rotative valve mechanism. The 13/3 was broadly similar to the 13/1 but used a metal base and omitted the whistle fitted to most other models. The 13/4 combined an in-line layout with geared output, while the 13/5 was the most substantial and mechanically conventional model, using a double-acting cylinder, slide valve, geared reduction and a separate pulley shaft. All five engines used methylated spirit as fuel, though burner designs differed. Most models used three-wick cylindrical burners; the 13/5 used a less usual four-wick arrangement. Several engines routed steam through or near the burner flame to provide a small degree of superheating. Whistles were fitted to the 13/1, 13/2, 13/4 and 13/5, but not the 13/3. Safety valves, filler arrangements and dummy chimneys were common visual and functional features. Cyldon production appears to have been brief, ending after approximately four years. No current Cyldon operating business or official brand website is identified in the supplied reference material. Today, the name primarily survives through surviving engines, collector interest and documentation of British model steam-engine manufacture. The brand’s historical importance lies less in scale or commercial reach than in the characteristic engineering choices of its products, especially their economical use of aluminium alloys and other non-ferrous metals across a complete family of working models.

Cyldon originated as a product brand of Sydney S Bird & Sons, a British manufacturer operating in Enfield, Middlesex. Production of Cyldon-branded model stationary steam engines began in 1947, during the post-war period when British manufacturers continued to serve the educational, hobby and toy-engineering markets with compact working models. The brand name combined the first names of two of Sydney Bird’s sons, Cyril and Donald, creating a distinct identity for the engine range. The main Cyldon series comprised five models, numbered 13/1 to 13/5. Although the models shared a family resemblance, they used different mechanical arrangements and were not merely successive cosmetic revisions. The 13/1 appears to have been the earliest design. It used a wooden base, a steel firebox and a brass boiler heated by a three-wick methylated-spirit burner. Its single-acting oscillating cylinder drove a crankshaft fitted with a flywheel and pulley. A later version revised the firebox and burner, with some of those changes carried into subsequent models. The 13/2 adopted a long, slim, longitudinal layout in which the boiler, burner, cylinder and crankshaft were arranged along the base. Its most notable feature was a semi-rotative valve mechanism. A cross-drilled brass valve rod rocked through approximately 90 degrees and alternately connected the steam and exhaust passages. The model used a fixed single-acting cylinder with a long piston and a built-up crank arrangement. The 13/3 retained much of the general character of the 13/1 but used a metal base and included other detail changes. Its principal components were largely made from brass, aluminium, copper and mazak, with limited steel content. It was unusual within the range because it lacked a whistle, whereas whistles were fitted to the other principal models. The engine used a simple single-acting oscillating cylinder and a three-wick burner. The 13/4 combined features seen elsewhere in the range. It had an in-line layout like the 13/2 and used gearing to provide a reduced-speed output through a secondary shaft and pulley. Its single-acting oscillating cylinder, boiler, burner and firebox followed the general Cyldon pattern. The model’s gearing gave an approximately three-to-one speed reduction. The 13/5 was the most developed design in the group. It used a larger boiler, a four-wick burner, a double-acting cylinder and slide-valve distribution. Its engine frame and several other major parts were made from mazak or aluminium alloy, while brass remained important for the boiler and other components. A geared secondary shaft provided a little more than two-to-one speed reduction, and exhaust was directed through a chimney mounted on the base. Cyldon’s engine production ended around 1951, after approximately four years. The same brand was also associated with other products, including toys, reels for magnetic tape and cine film, and variable capacitors. The supplied reference material does not document the company’s later corporate history, distribution arrangements or the exact reason for discontinuation. As a result, Cyldon is best understood as a historical product brand rather than a continuing operating company. Its surviving engines are now primarily of interest to collectors and historians of British model engineering, particularly because of their unusual and consistent reliance on non-ferrous materials.

• 1951

  Cyldon engine production ends

  [1]Cyldonen.wikipedia.org

  Manufacture of the Cyldon model stationary steam-engine range concludes after an approximately four-year production period.

• 1947

  Cyldon model-engine production begins

  [1]Cyldonen.wikipedia.org

  Sydney S Bird & Sons begins manufacturing Cyldon-branded model stationary steam engines in Enfield, Middlesex, England.

• 1947

  Five-model engine range established

  [1]Cyldonen.wikipedia.org

  The principal range develops into five models numbered 13/1 through 13/5, covering several layouts and valve arrangements.

A short-lived British maker of working model steam engines, distinguished by compact designs and extensive use of brass, aluminium alloys, copper and mazak.

• Model stationary steam engine · 1947

  Cyldon 13/1

  The 13/1 was presumably the first Cyldon model and differs from later examples in several construction details. It used a wooden base, a steel firebox and a brass boiler heated by a cylindrical three-wick methylated-spirit burner. The engine had a single-acting oscillating brass cylinder, a steel crankshaft, a mazak flywheel and a pulley. It included a safety valve, filler and overflow arrangements, a dummy chimney and a whistle. Later examples received revised firebox and burner details.

• Model stationary steam engine · 1947

  Cyldon 13/2

  The 13/2 used a long, narrow wooden base with its main components arranged longitudinally. Its distinctive feature was a semi-rotative valve operated by a rocking, cross-drilled brass rod linked to the crankshaft. The engine used a single-acting fixed brass cylinder and a three-wick methylated-spirit burner. A flywheel and crank arrangement completed the compact working engine. The design is notable for its unusual valve gear among small model steam engines.

• Model stationary steam engine · 1947

  Cyldon 13/3

  The 13/3 was broadly related to the 13/1 but used a metal base and other revised details. Its brass boiler was heated by a three-wick methylated-spirit burner, and steam drove a single-acting oscillating brass cylinder. Major components were predominantly made from brass, aluminium, copper and mazak, with relatively little steel. Unlike the other principal Cyldon models, the 13/3 did not have a whistle.

• Model stationary steam engine · 1947

  Cyldon 13/4

  The 13/4 combined an in-line arrangement with a geared output system. It used a brass boiler, a three-wick methylated-spirit burner and a single-acting oscillating cylinder. A pinion on the crankshaft drove a larger gear and a secondary pulley shaft, producing approximately three-to-one speed reduction. The engine followed Cyldon’s characteristic material pattern, using aluminium alloy, brass and mazak for most major components and limiting steel mainly to the crankshaft and small parts.

• Model stationary steam engine · 1947

  Cyldon 13/5

  The 13/5 was the largest and most mechanically developed model in the documented range. It used a somewhat larger boiler, an unusual four-wick methylated-spirit burner, a double-acting cylinder and slide-valve control. Its frame, flywheel, firebox and chimney used mazak or aluminium alloy, while the boiler and other components were largely brass. Gearing produced slightly more than two-to-one speed reduction to a secondary pulley shaft. The engine was not reversible.

1. 1Cyldonen.wikipedia.org