AS a kid growing up in Coleraine, Warwick Brown always took considerable interest in the local Holden dealer’s collection of old engines that would be rolled out for the Christmas street parade.

“I got indoctrinated pretty early, really,” he said, laughing.

“I would’ve been, as a kid, five, six, seven, eight (years old).

“Then I was lucky enough to meet and marry a girl from England - all these engines were made in England.

“(I was) over there on a couple of holidays and then thought it’d be a good hobby to get into. So that’s how it started.”

Now living in Brit Brit, Warwick said he bought his first portable steam engine in 2004 around the time his oldest daughter was born and it went from there.

“Then (we) bought another two portable engines,” he said.

“Then things got a bit serious when we started looking at bigger engines – they’re worth a fair bit of money these days.

“A lot of them get exported back to England, so it’s put the value on the ones left here, up.”

They’re definitely not just for show either - Mr Brown was keen to keep them in good working order and enthusiastically pointed to several different machines in his yard that were fully functional.

He was also happy to share about their history and how he ended up with them.

“The McLaren (traction engine) there - it was bought new in 1913 to Walgett City Council up in New South Wales,” Warwick said.

“It pulled a lot of wagons (for) road building. But then it was commandeered in 19 - I think - late teens (1915-1920) … by the Commonwealth Works Committee and worked around Canberra for 12 or 15 years building the city of Canberra.

“The bloke who owned it previous to me tried to export it to England, but the heritage people … knocked it on the head because they reckon(ed) it was a culturally significant engine to Australia because it helped build the national capital.

“That’s how I ended up with it – he wanted to sell it, he couldn’t export it, we bought it.”

Warwick said he’s had to learn a lot about restoration and keeping them running, with a large heritage community being a great resource: “most people are willing to help you out”.

Asked by The Spectator how much he considers the collection will grow, Warwick recognised his own constraints.

“It’s starting to get a bit limited by, not lack of funds, but by how expensive stuff is,” he said.
“If I sold any one of these three big engines you’d buy a house in Hamilton with each one.

“What they’re worth in dollars here, they’re worth in pounds in England.

“Even those two portable engines - since I’ve bought them they’ve quadrupled in price.

“I bought them for $6000 and $8000 respectively. You wouldn’t buy either of them for under $25,000.”

So, was the interest an investment or just a passion?

“It’s a passion, but an investment also,” Warwick said.

“I’ll never sell it – I’ll be dead and gone and they’ll still be here. But the kids can use them as collateral for something else. It’s an asset.”

Warwick said he’d love to get one of the engines he originally saw in Coleraine all those years ago, but it was unlikely.

“The ultimate dream would be to buy one of these engines back, but a lot of them are in England now,” he said.