I’m inclined to think the flywheel should be on the near side as sticking that far out from the bearings to clear the other gears would not have been good practice, Drive to a pump more likely on the offside.

Could be a bit of a freelance as the flywheel does not look like a traction engine one, strakes to few and too wide. Front wheels look too small and too narrow a track width.

First thing to do would be to strip it down so the boiler can be inspected and tested.

As it is a 4 shaft layout unlikely to be based on a Burrell as they tended to be 3 shaft engines.

Strakes are the wrong way but that could just be someone putting the bits together to sell the engine.

A road loco would not really have strakes and they are seldom fitted to model road locos. Foont wheels look even smaller if it is meant to be a road loco and not enough spokes in either pair of wheels

The crank is the right way round. From the near side bearing there should be a cluster of two gears, then the two eccentrics then the crank. Depending on what is is based on then there would also be a third eccentric to drive a feed pump maybe insid ethe hornplates or outside.

Hopefully there are some thickening plates inside the boailer barrel for the cylinder to fit to as well as the missing weight shaft bracket to support the valve gear.

I asked google to list all 4 shaft traction engines. Its AI section declined the challenge but produced these (among other) comments.”
Fowler: Some general purpose and road locomotive models, including an early four-wheel drive version.
Burrell: Known to have models in a 4-shaft configuration.
Foster: Specific 4-inch scale models (replicas of full-size engines) are described as having 4-shaft transmission.
Aveling & Porter, Allchin, McLaren, Ruston, Proctor and Company, and Wallis & Steevens all manufactured various types of traction engines and likely produced models using this common design. ”

So you could try an proper AI bot and refine the questioning as you get answers.

I think I would be tempted to get hold of a set of Minnie drawings and double up the sises. That will give you the mechanics of a basic 4 shaft engine that can be adapted to suit which parts of what you have you want to keep. This should give you an idea of how the crankshaft should sit, just needs to move a little towards the near side. Pump would beed to go elsewhere.

VERY few Burrells had the flywheel on the right and not many were four shaft ! I have a 1.5″ scale Bassett Lowke 6Hp Burrell, one thing that looks all wrong is the flywheel. The cast wheels, did someone make the patterns and get them cast – or cast them their selves ? An interesting model. Noel.

There are so few catings used I doubt very much it was a “set” for one particular engine.

Wheels , never seen a model where cast wheels like that were available

Smokebox Door, as said looks like Tetford town but wrong size and hinging

Flywheel, Not right for any traction engine and should be a disc type if a road loco. Probably meant for a stationary engine

Shaft Bearings hard to tell from photos if cast, cut from solid or repurposed from something else

Cylinder, not sure if that is a casting or cut from solid. I suspect from solid by the lack of bolt holes and no flange front and back so probably hard to seal to the boiler.

So to me three mismatched random castings does not indicate it was a set even if purchased over time.

As for Minnie, I only mentioned it as a source for 4-shaft mechanicals should you want to attempt to complete the engine otherwise there is nothing that screams Minnie to me. I started my minnie in the late 80s so know my way around it and what else was about at the time.

is the model worth carrying on with

You say the boiler was recently tested. What sort of test was done and to what pressure? Being an unknown design it would be hard to say what the intended working pressure should be. You don’t even know the exact boiler diameter so hard to even check what would be safe if the wall thickness were also known. Also it does not look to me that things like the remains of the water gauge, clacks etc have been touched for some time so how was the boiler plugged & sealed for testing? Any inspector is also likely to want to have a good look at the stays and generally have a good look over the boiler, hard to see how this could have been done with it all assembled.

A photo of the tube layout inside the smokebox would be useful, may not help identify anything but can be an indication of the construction.

So if you want to carry on with it that would be the first thing to check properly as the boiler is the backbone of a traction engine. If the boiler is sound then I’ll list what else may cause problems if you decide to take it further.

The nicest part of the engine is the draw bar and the way the draw strap ends are held in with wedges.

Setting aside the wheels and smokebox door as possible red herrings.

Does the cylinder sit on the boiler properly and is the flange thickness uniform?

If so we can reasonably assume they were meant to match and so identifying the cylinder may be the key to the mystery. How about an Alchin boiler and cylinder? Reeves 2000 has some dimensioned drawings on the web site.

As to the number of previous owners. The tender looks very old, the drawstraps should come off the axle bearings. The drawbar is both very ornate, but then fixed with wedges, which in the real world could rattle loose towing the water cart.

The guy who built the cylinder had the drawings, the next/previous owner found/had a tender that fitted and possibly some random wheels not quite big enough to look right painted by a school boy.

My opinion is 3 owners, the last family having no idea there was a previous life or two before them.