Blimey... what a piece of engineering.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmws5Oa0Jxo
Those round tooth gears in the early part of the vid wouldn't take any prisoners
This one's pretty good too Reversible engine for a rolling mill
Sorry....I saw steam engines and thought I'd add...
My wife on my mine....
My wife on my dads...
She's my kinda woman!! 
Let's just say my spanner set goes waaaaayyyy past 19mm!
And one other thing...rebel (first photo) was 100years old last July! I bet she's still going long after I've gone! That proper engineering
for ya!
[Edited on 5/4/13 by richardm6994]
Is that Dorset steam fair ?
Love it there......when its dry!!
The Kempton pump house is only a couple of miles up the road from me, it is impressive sadly only steams up a few times a year for the public.
At the end of the film the guy on the right was my sons headmaster at his junior school,nice bloke.
[Edited on 5/4/13 by bob]
No...it's hollowell nr Northampton.
quote:
Originally posted by Litemoth
Blimey... what a piece of engineering.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmws5Oa0Jxo
We can still do it!
We went to Papplewick on a steam day to look at the beam engine running and pumping. It was a really good day and the engine is a sight to behold, almost silent in operation.
Isn't that a Pinto?
We can just about still make things but notice the care taken to make the Victorian machinery last and whilst not fancy, is a thing of pride and a
thing of beauty...It has really nice castings and curves (steady!) It's had a working life and it's still going well and housed in a
fantastic 'civic' building (not built and costed down to a price).
We're still going through Victorian tunnels and across their bridges, on their roads and railways...it's amazing.
quote:
Originally posted by A1
We can still do it!
Guffaw ...there are a few wonkas wandering about there...
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
And all that just to make an everlasting gobstopper...
quote:
Originally posted by SteveWalker
This one's pretty good too Reversible engine for a rolling mill
quote:
Originally posted by A1
We can still do it!
The fact is, we're poor at engineering nowadays. Government doesn't support manufacturing and engineering and parents don't want their
kids to be engineers. We can innovate but can't make.
We patch up St Pancras station and say what a great job the Brits make of things but we nearly knocked down and put up something horrible and cheap in
concrete to replace it and couldn't build a modern 'equivalent' without employing a foreign firm to build it for us.
rant over..
Interesting article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/08/
james-dyson-engineering-britain-railways
Interesting article and James Dyson is certainly an inventor of some note but I cant help thinking that he has long ago gone over to the dark side.
I'm afraid I cant take someone who gets plastic vacuum cleaners made in China and just packed in Britain entirely seriously. Not exactly a man
with steam and iron in his soul.
quote:
Originally posted by A1
We can still do it!
well, that ones been running for almost 30 years, so give it time... The problem will come when legislation stops these from running or poor
maintenance, not necessarily bad design.
Im not dissing the steam engines, I think theyre great. theyre simple and work well and yes they were produced to a very high standard, but as with
everything, as soon as accountants get involved quality is instantly secondary to cost. As is making things look nice. Im the first person to voice
disappointment in the slapdash way we build houses,bridges etc nowadays and much prefer the old versions.
However, over 74000hp is bloody good engineering, to as high a standard as the steam engine. Just cause its built with computers and with more modern
materials and techniques doesnt make it any less impressive. Just like the jet engine.
Plus, the manufacturers of that particular engine do operate in GB, along with germany and one or two other countries.
So I reiterate: We can still do it!
I will post up the next Kempton Museum steam up, might get a meet there
quote:
Originally posted by Not Anumber
Interesting article and James Dyson is certainly an inventor of some note but I cant help thinking that he has long ago gone over to the dark side.
He did invent the ball barrow 40 or so years ago.
For those who havent seen this it is very much like a wheelbarrow but with a ball in place of the front wheel to make it easier to push round corners
without fear of overbalancing - not a barrow for the tackle of the exceptionally well endowed as some may have thought. 
Dyson 'invented' the ball barrow to use up the shed load of the balls left over from his boat design that flopped.
The cyclone dust extractor has been used in saw mills and timber yards since I was a sprog a looong time ago.
The only clever thing he did was to patent the application for use in a mobile (already used in static central vac systems) domestic vacuum
cleaner.
The next clever thing he did, was to sack all the (200?) employees in the UK and move production to malaysia.
How much money does one man need?
Back to the Victorian engineers . . . . pure magic.
Don't think the expression "over engineered" existed in Victorian times. 
There's plenty of nonsense bandied about here. We are not useless at engineering these days, we are still bloody good and world leading in many
areas, they just tend to be areas not "accessible" to public view. And plenty of foreign companies exist within the UK because they bought
out our companies purely because they are so good.
And the nostalgic view of old engines is nice but they were nothing in comparison with modern engines and engineering. Engineering has progressed to
the point where things might be less pretty (eye of the beholder I guess) but it is orders of magnitude more efficient, lighter, cheaper and more
reliable. And it is nonsense to suggest we couldn't make something that lasts 100 years, of course we could, and make it pretty too, but it would
be pointless because just like these engines they would be outdated, inefficient and quite frankly crap at the job they were intended to do when
compared to a modern alternative.
If you want something that lasts forever and looks lovely, employ a sculptor. If you want something progressive and efficient that puts function
before form you might want to pick one of the UKs thousands of highly skilled, world leading engineers.
Might sound like a bit of a rant but I'm a bit sick and tired of hearing nostalgic nonsense used to put our industry down.
thank you! my point exactly!
We can still do many things well. Many of the worlds bridges, like the Mileau Viaduct, were designed by British. In the world of race car engineering
the British are at the forefront. But what has changed is that everything now is designed and must be cost effective. The Victorians had a pride in
the job and also there was civic pride so that instead of just a plain cast beam they had bits cast in for now other reason but asthetics. They put
beam engines in halls that would make museums look plain. It was the way of things then, now we do every thing on the cheap with no long term vision
for the future.
But we are still capable of great things however engineering is still seen as something to do if you are not good enough to play football or sing or
get your tits out. We celebrate the wrong things.
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
There's plenty of nonsense bandied about here. We are not useless at engineering these days, we are still bloody good and world leading in many areas, they just tend to be areas not "accessible" to public view. And plenty of foreign companies exist within the UK because they bought out our companies purely because they are so good.
And the nostalgic view of old engines is nice but they were nothing in comparison with modern engines and engineering. Engineering has progressed to the point where things might be less pretty (eye of the beholder I guess) but it is orders of magnitude more efficient, lighter, cheaper and more reliable. And it is nonsense to suggest we couldn't make something that lasts 100 years, of course we could, and make it pretty too, but it would be pointless because just like these engines they would be outdated, inefficient and quite frankly crap at the job they were intended to do when compared to a modern alternative.
If you want something that lasts forever and looks lovely, employ a sculptor. If you want something progressive and efficient that puts function before form you might want to pick one of the UKs thousands of highly skilled, world leading engineers.
Might sound like a bit of a rant but I'm a bit sick and tired of hearing nostalgic nonsense used to put our industry down.
Richard. I value your opinion and am sure there are many others on here who do also. I agree some days it can seem a bit of chequebook fuelled BEC fest but people's innovation and problem solving skills are always in evidence: The hands on engineering spirit of Colin Chapmam, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Fred Dibnah is still alive and well.