'King of the roads' is to be restored to its former glory

An 86-year-old that surfaced many of the roads around County Galway while working for the Council is being brought out of retirement.

The 1924 Aveling Porter steam roller was put on display at the County Buildings after 30 years of service but has been sitting outside a storage facility at Sandy Road since 1998.

The former King of the Roads is now set to be restored to its past glory however, as a local vintage club has leased the steam roller from the Council with a view to undertaking the painstaking task of refurbishing it.

The old machinery was obtained by Galway County Council in the 1930s and steam-rolled many of the roads around the city and county while it remained in service until 1954.

The Aveling Porter was the most popular roller of the day but this particular model, with a sliding valve rather than a push valve, is somewhat rare. It is described as being in very poor condition, and the restoration will take between five and 10 years to complete.“It has been stored outdoors so it’s in extremely poor condition,” explained Tom Heavey of Mountbellew Vintage Club. “We have had a specialist to take a look at it though, and it can be restored. It is entirely complete – everything is there – and that’s a very important factor.”

The vintage club has taken a 10 year lease on the steam roller after negotiating a nominal fee with the Council.

“We’ve saved it from the scrap heap really,” said Mr Heavey. “The Council wasn’t in a position to sell it or restore it, so it has been supportive of the project. It has invited us to apply to heritage grants to cover some of the cost of restoring it.”

The restoration is likely to cost more than €50,000 and Mountbellew Vintage Club will be looking at various ways to raise the necessary funds to pay for it. It is also appealing to people who may have photographs of the steam roller in action or may have seen it in use to contact it through its website www.mvc.ie.

“Part of restoring the machine is trying to build a complete history of it,” said Mr Heavey.

The vintage club will take the first steps towards refurbishing the engine by procuring a suitable new boiler and rebuilding the firebox, which is likely to take two years.

It is not yet decided where the steam roller will be displayed once the restoration is complete but Mr Heavey is determined that its days exposed to the elements are numbered.

“There’s a long road ahead before it’s fully restored but when everything is finished it would be great to have some sort of launch, and it would be nice to think that the steam roller would feature in the St Patrick’s Day parade at some stage,” Mr Heavey said.