The paper deals with estimation of thermal ratchetting strain in cylinders subjected to short axial travelling of temperature distribution. The estimation is made by considering partly pressurized cylinders as a model. It is assumed that the pressurized region, which is taken to occupy the temperature travel region, is ruled by the deformation theory with a constant secant modulus so as to estimate the thermal ratchetting strain conservatively. This assumption enables us to utilize a linear elastic solution for thin-walled cylinders. The secant modulus is specified using the analytical solution derived in the long travel case by assuming Masing's rule and no cyclic hardening. It is shown that the model gives good estimates to finite element analysis of the thermal ratchetting strain as well as to experiments on 316FR steel cylinders done by Kitade et al. An extension of the model, in which plastic yielding outside the travel region is taken into account, is also discussed.