Dear Jason and Jo.
I'll do a two in one !!
Yes there were two Allman engines, the first was known as the " A&T " short for Allman and Thompson and the IF Allman followed on later. Neither were popular, the A&T being so big that until the influx of cheap Chinese tooling very few could machine it !! The Retlas was a prime example, I sold more of them at the close of business than at the start.
Jo. I had very good relations with the two Foundries I used, after all 25 years is a long time, they would do me a one off if asked !! Near the end of trading my father in law and I used to go into the foundry on a Saturday morning and mould what was needed ourselves, such was the trust that had developed.
As to the patterns, yes, all primary wooden, double shrinkage masters are in my possession. We made Aluminium masters from these for longevity. Unfortunately 5 plates were stolen from the foundry just before it closed and I was unable to get any monetary compensation. The Gardner kit is now available from the Anson Engine museum, this was a little gift from me to the curator Geoff Challinor to help raise funds for it's upkeep. It was Geoff's engine that I scaled way back in 1990 and yes, I was the patternmaker too !!
Cheers Graham.
