improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on wikipedia . see wikipedia s guide to writing better articles for suggestions . july 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message mamod malins engineers type private industry toys founded 1937 founder geoffrey malins headquarters smethwick warley since 1992 uk area served worldwide products toy steam engines website mamod.co.uk mamod is a british toy manufacturer specialising in manufacturing live steam models . the company was founded in 1937 in birmingham in the uk by geoffrey malins . the name is a portmanteau of ma lins mod els . malins started off making steam engines which were sold under the hobbies brand name but he soon started selling them under the mamod brand name . the first models produced were of stationary steam engines . much later the company also began creating models of road rollers traction engines steam wagons and other steam road vehicles . these models were aimed at the toy market so were simple to operate and ran at low boiler pressures for safety but were not accurate scale models . most mamod models use simple but effective oscillating cylinders usually single acting . some of these engines have regulators either in the steam feed or exhaust but many others run unregulated in the simpler models or have a simple reversing mechanism to alter the cutoff thus controlling the power speed and direction of the engine . early models had single or multi wick lamps or vapourising spirit burners but in the mid 1970s the company changed to hexamine solid fuel which came in tablet form and provided low heat in a relatively safe form . contents 1 sc se and minor series stationary engines 1937 79 2 meccano engine 3 the sp range 1979 to date 3.1 sp1 3.2 sp2 and sp2d 3.3 sp3 3.4 sp4 and sp4d 3.5 sp5 mk1 and mk2 3.6 sp6 3.7 sp7 3.8 sp8 4 mamod miniature tools and line shaft details 4.1 the mamod lineshaft history 5 mobile engine range 1961 to date 5.1 steamroller sr1 and sr1a 5.2 traction engine te1 and te1a 5.3 steam wagon sw1 5.4 showman s engine 5.5 centurion te1ac 5.6 challenger sr1ac 5.7 showman s special 5.8 roadster sa1 5.9 silver limousine sa1l 5.10 fire engine fe1 5.11 delivery van dv1 and dv2 5.12 post office van po1 5.13 le mans racer lm1 5.14 london bus lb1 5.15 mamod meteor and conqueror boats 5.16 me1 me2 and me3 marine steam engines 5 6 mamod steam railway 7 malins engineers in receivership 8 related companies 9 running and lubrication requirements 10 see also 11 notes 12 references 13 external links sc se and minor series stationary engines 1937 79 edit a mamod se4 flatbed twin from c1937 shown in the hobbies colours of darker green and red . a mamod se2 engine from c1958 showing transitional form new 1958 wide firebox complete with 3 wick burner . two mamod se3 twin cylinder steam engines from 1969 . the engine on the left is the griffin & george version the version on the right displays push button whistle and screw on crank webs . a 1949 mamod se2 engine showing new pressed steel engine frame and superheated boiler . mamod minor engines from 1949 and 1954 . the red disc crank version is the earlier engine whilst the 54 version clearly shows the red unclipped mazak flywheel . the range has its origins in 1936 when geoffrey malins started to make engines for hobbies of dereham . his engines were loosely based on the bowman engines that geoffrey bowman jenkins had made for hobbies until 1935 . the main difference between the bowman and the malins was that the latter were smaller only came on metal bases 1 and all except the se1 had the chimney attached to the top of the boiler known as a locomotive style chimney . from 1937 malins decided to make his own range of engines as well as those he was producing for hobbies . with the exception of a few small detail changes such as lighter shade of paints and a mamod badge they were almost identical to the hobbies range . the difference between mamod and hobbies became somewhat blurred ; a mamod badged se4 could be found in the hobbies colours . this was the very beginnings of a philosophy which meant that the engines had to be sold and out the door . unsold engines meant lost profit and nothing was wasted . any differences between the two ranges had all but disappeared by 1940 . with the onset the second world war malins association with hobbies firm in dereham came to an end and the sc series of engines were the last steam toys to be sold under the hobbies mark . malins had also realised he could make much more money by concentrating on his own engines too . with hostilities increasing the st mary row factory was put into mothballs and war interests took over . after the war the business was revived and by 1946 a limited range of steam toys was being made the se1 se2 minor 1 and tools . the pre war se3 and se4 were dropped along with the short lived twin cylinder minor 2 . apart from the minor 1 now usually called mm1 the engines made in immediate post war period had base mounted chimneys . the boiler mounted chimney soon returned though during 1946 . in all other respects the engines were the same as before the war . the se1 and se2 were only produced in this form for a few months ; post war rationing meant that it was harder to replace materials used in production and so the se1 and se2 changed back to the locomotive style chimney . apart from colour changes the mm1 continued almost unchanged . until 1948 the tools still used flat bases and cast iron bodies . by 1948 the se range had received its first real update . mamod branded brass engine frames and hot stamped brass flywheels were introduced and the se1 and se2 received a regulator as well . also introduced was the new minor 2 mm2 . this had a single cylinder engine unit and was a larger version of the mm1 . all engines continued to use wick burners with either 1 2 or 3 wick tubes . by 1949 with the move to camden street the firm had acquired a pressing facility and the expensive brass engine frames were replaced with pressed steel ones . the design was similar to those found on some marklin engines . the boilers on the se1 and se2 now had a little superheating . the se2 retained its regulator but the se1 lost its . the mm1 engine became the first engine in the range to have a raised pressed base . the range remained in this form until 1953 when with the introduction of cheaper mazak as a material the brass flywheels were gradually replaced . this is typical of the malins engineers approach in ensuring that the models were always updated and changed to keep the price point as competitive as possible . in that immediate post war period there were many other manufacturers making steam toys such as plane products cyldon sel luton bowman and burnac . at the start of 1954 the se range all received raised bases as well as cosmetic updates and changes . by 1958 all but the mm1 had received the new vaporising spirit burners which had first appeared in 1957 with the introduction of the all new twin cylinder se3 . again there was another round of cosmetic changes with updated boiler bands and fireboxes . combinations of these old and new parts can be found in the transitional engines of the late 1950s period e.g. the se1 2 and mm2 . by the mid 1960s the engines were using pop rivets for the engine frame securing method along with the entire mamod range as well more cosmetic changes . in 1967 the se range received its next major update with the introduction of the se1a and se2a replacing the se1 and 2 . the superheating was gone and the simplified pipe work was all new . the se2a also got a reversing lever like the mec1 meccano engine of 1965 . other details such as paint colour boiler end cap and whistle design as well as decal layout were gradually changed . one point worth mentioning was the fact that from 1967 until about 1972 the se1 2 and 3 could be found with a different green paint on their engine frames . this paint was similar to a hammered effect type finish and was probably purchased as a job lot by the managing director at the time eric malins . steve malins has confirmed that this was the case and his father would try anything new or changes which made production cheaper . the minor range never received this paint finish . the se3 was unchanged bar the introduction of the griffin and george educational suppliers version in 1969 . this engine was the only real variation to mamod s biggest post war stationary engine . it featured the very first silver soldered boiler at the insistence of g & g and also had a steam pipe union nut at the boiler instead of the usual stop cock . it carried an extra foil g & g lozenge logo by the engine too . about 2 000 were made until about mid 1970s . it was only sold to schools and came complete with a comprehensive manual for using the engine in lab experiments . later examples of this engine were standard se3s but carrying a revised g & g logo of a different design . this griffin badge could sometimes be found placed alongside the warning labels applied to all stationary engines in 1976 explaining the use of inappropriate fuel containers and refuelling techniques . the 1970s were the heyday of malins engineers . the mm1 received a vaporising burner in 1970 both minors got overflow plugs in 1975 the engines were converted to solid fuel in 1977 for the domestic market it had happened earlier for export and in 1978 the entire range except for the mm1 received sight glasses on the boiler instead of the overflow plug . by the late 1970s the range was looking tired and so with considerable investment from the malins family in 1979 the se range was superseded by the sp range . in general the sp models are modernised versions of the earlier se models the changes being for safety as well as cosmetic reasons . there is no strict correspondence between models in the se and sp ranges . a rough comparison between the ranges can be seen in the following table pre war post war current comment minor 1 1939 40 minor 1 1946 79 sp1 1979 85 minor 2 1939 40 2 cyl minor 2 1948 79 sp2 1979 to date 1 cyl se1 1936 37 se1 1946 67 se1a 1967 79 meccano 1965 76 sp3 1979 85 se2 1936 37 sc2 1939 40 se2 1946 67 se2a 1967 79 sp4 1979 to date inc sp4d se3 1936 37 sc3 1939 40 1 cyl se4 1936 37 sc4 1939 40 se3 1957 79 inc g & g version sp5 mk1 79 to 85 mk2 2001 date 2 cyl sp6