STEAM ENGINES AND WATERWHEELS

[Bodger]

Shutting down what Bodge.

Subject Steam engines & water wheels
Working, in modern situations electric trace heating, thermal controlled heating systems can be used to prevent freeze ups, but in the past ?

[Stanley]

I never had any problems with frost, apart from having to fire for heating! Remember that the Lancashire boilers were in steam all the time and even at winter shut-down you had hot brick settings, boiler and 7,000 gallons of hot water, all of which never really cooled down. When we eventually closed the mill Newton and I made sure there was anti freeze in the air pump and coffin bottom and drained all the other systems down. Even in derelict mills that had been closed down for many years, it took a very hard frost to penetrate the structure. Probably because they were so heavily built of brick and stone, different than modern portal frame and cladding structures. Only trace element heating I ever saw in a mill was on a black oil burner installation at Stainland. Problem there was that when the 'experts' went in to re-commision the boiler they assumed it was still on heavy oil when actually it was on 28 second oil. Result was a massive flue explosion when they pressed the red button after leaving the heaters on all night. Very embarrassing and quite a shock for them!



Hard frost at Bancroft in 1977.

[Stanley]

Stanley Fisher on left and Harry Brown on right (Thornton Harry) in Henry Brown and Sons' foundry at Havre Park in 1923 with a new shaft for Spring Mill engine made by Burnley Ironworks. The old Ford truck can be seen behind the shaft. You can tell Harry is management, he has shiny shoes!

[Stanley]

Newton Pickles on the shafting lathe at Wellhouse shop in 1951 making a new second motion shaft for Albion Shed at Earby. Notice how the top slide is set over slightly. Apart from making sure this means it clears the tailstock when at the end of the cut it will be set at 5.75 degrees as this gives a tenth of a thou depth of cut if the topslide is advanced one thou. A useful turner's trick for very fine cuts.

[Stanley]

Main pinion wheel and first section of lineshaft for Sough Bridge Mill in the thoroughfare at Wellhouse Mill ready for transport to Sough.

[Bodger]

Is the drive trasmitted via the 4 wedge keys ? also what was the small dia spindle at the shaft end used for ?

[Stanley]

Yup. Always called stakes when used opposing like this so the wheel could be trued on the shaft, same principle used for flywheels if they weren't plug fit. I can't say definitely what the spigot is for but suspect it was where a small rope pulley was mounted to drive a lubricator pump for the bearing. Not for the gear, that would simply have heavy grease, at Bancroft I used to use wire rope lubricant on the gears. Had to be warmed for application and was very sticky. Lasted a long time and quietened the gear. Some of the old engineers used gas tar and oil for the same reason.



Flywheel boss & crankshaft after having the keys fitted.This picture is taken at Burnley iron works and is for an engine that was being exported to Cawnpore India.I have another Burnley ironworks picture taken of some of the workers on pancake day 1920.And a few more pictures at Sunderlands. Geoff Peel.

[Stanley]

Albion Shed fly shaft and crank in the shop at Wellhouse ready for delivery. The date on the back of the picture is 1963 but as near as I can make out the repair was done in approximately 1956.

[Stanley]

Not strictly steam engines but another interesting shaft. This is part of the Bancroft scrap after demolition at Ouzledale Foundry. The split shaft laid on top is out of a copper immersion roller on the tape sizing machines. The split in the shaft was to allow for differential expansion between the outer copper skin of the roller and the wrought iron shaft. Clever stuff!

[Stanley]

Nothing easy about moving large engines. The Jubilee engine bed being moved into Masson engine house. Despite its massive construction this is a very fragile casting and the greatest care had to be taken when moving it.

[Stanley]

A big bed needs a big foundation. Terry Gissing with the steelwork at Masson put in to carry the bed of the Jubilee engine.

[Stanley]

1989. Gas engine beds in the cellar of the old Co-op Central building in Albert Road. The engine ran a large generator to produce electricity in the days before mains power.

[Stanley]

Engine houses are like icebergs, more underneath than you think. The massive engine beds and pipework at Ellenroad.

[Stanley]

Queen Street engine in 1987. The red stain around the stakes shows they are bleeding, a sure sign that they are loose.

[Stanley]

Copy of an insurance picture of a chimney collapse. I seem to remember the chimney was being straightened at the time.

[Stanley]

Copy of an insurance picture of a spinning mill engine at Oldham after a serious smash caused by over-speeding. The flywheel has exploded leaving only the boss.

[Stanley]

Newton Pickles boring a piston valve on a loco at Haverthwaite in the 1970s.

[Stanley]

Boring out an air pump pror to fitting a liner at H Brown and Sons, Wellhouse works. Pre 1929.

[Stanley]

Steam Joe and his collection of old traction engines in Minnesota. about 1998 when I found him.

[Stanley]

A small part (!) of Steam Joe's collection of traction engines.

[Stanley]

At Steam Joe's. The engine on the left is peculiar, the firebox is at the front and this is because it was a long firebox built to accept long logs which were stacked at each end of the enormous fields they were working. No fuel carried on the engine, you stopped at each headland and filled the firebox from the stack. All these engines worked by direct haulage, not winch and wire.

[Stanley]

Traction engine 'Falcon' hauling for Wheal Jane mine in Cornwall. Note the early registration..... That could date the picture.

[Stanley]

John Ingoe's Annie on the way to Holland in 1992. The roundabout on the front of the trailer belonged to a man who blagged a ride with us. When we got to Holland we found that the loading gauge on the motorways was too low for it to pass and it had to be towed by Land Rover the Utrecht. Not a happy experience for them, it wandered about when under way but not our problem. Annie's safety valve cleared the bridges by about a foot! Caused us some concern at first.

[Stanley]

Heavy repair on the backhead of a traction engine at Rochdale Electric Welding in 1992. The boiler had been condemned as unrepairable but we found a way to do it which involved cutting the horn plates away to get access to the crack on the backhead. The man who bought this engine got it cheap because of the fault and the repair was very economical.

[Stanley]

I had a lot of dismantling to do to allow my mates, the welders, access to the backhead. We re-tubed it at the same time.