ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Saturday 12 October 2013

TEES COTTAGE. PT.1. (12/10/13)

A dull damp day accompanied the wonders at Tees Cottage today. You’ll be pleased to know that I have eighty five usable images. I also have some video but my internet is so slow I can’t watch any movies so I’m not even going to try and upload one.  I’ll serialise this visit over the coming week as there is far too much for one post. For many of you there is probably far too much.

_V0G7828 Tees Cottage, this is the beam engine pumping house. The red cylinders are accumulators and even out the pressure surges from the pump, without them the shock and surge would soon destroy the mains water pipes.

_MG_1858 Built in 1903 it finally finished supplying Darlington with water in 1986 and is the last remaining pumping station with a beam engine, a gas engine and electric pumps, all of which still work.

The images are still lacking expertise. I was hoping to use at least two strobes but there just wasn’t room to operate them so I managed with a 50mm lens and a 24mm. The flash was on a bracket and fired through a small soft box. All metering was ETTL. Space is very limited in the engine house so an overall view of this wonderful giant is impossible.

_V0G7825  Steam is generated in one of two Lancashire Boilers this is boiler Number One and is not in commission.

_V0G7769  This is boiler Number Two and is the one in use. Lancashire Boilers can in an emergency raise steam in about six hours from cold but to be kind and considerate these are heated gradually over five or six days. These boilers are 28’ long and 7’6” in diameter and supply wet steam at 100psi. Water capacity is 5,500 gallons and they burn 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 tons of coal a day. Either boiler is capable of running the beam engine on it’s own.

_V0G7843  I like a good fire and this is an excellent blaze.

_V0G7839   This is the engine valve chest. the steam from the boiler passes through here on it’s way to the engine cylinders. The levers are for controlling matters. What exactly I’m afraid I don’t know. I’m sorry about the view but it is the only one available to mere mortals.

_V0G7797  There is this aspect but it really doesn’t do it justice.

_V0G7789  This is the mezzanine floor that provides access to the tops of the engine cylinders.

_V0G7780

_V0G7779 The cylinders, the further is the high pressure cylinder and the one in the foreground is the low pressure one, steam passes from the high directly to the larger low. the shiny rod next to the pillar is the connecting rod to the condenser pump. This unit is about as sophisticated as beam engines got. She develops 140 IHP at 16 rpm.

_V0G7781  The flywheel is 21’ in diameter and weighs 14 1/2 tons. The contraption next to the chief engineer is the governor. It shuts of the steam automatically if the engine speed increases beyond 16rpm.

_V0G7837

_V0G7790

_V0G7793 This is the beam it is 33’ long and weighs 25 tons. It is a wonderful experience to wander round this engine. There is next to no noise and no vibration at all. Stunning it is.

That is all for today I hope it wasn’t too much.

30 comments:

  1. A grand tour Adrian. Wonder how many engineering projects built in 2013 will still be in working order over 100 yrs from now.

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    1. Very few John. I suspect it won't bother us though.

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  2. Wonderful Adrian... it's great to see it still in working order.

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    1. Andrew, it is a good day out. Everything is accessible but bits are fenced off.

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  3. Wat is dit geweldig mooi en wat is die groot.

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  4. Enjoyed the photos, even if the thechnical details go over my head. I particularly like the one with the fire! :)

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    1. Monica, I should have explained it better. Nothing like a good fire to warm the body and soul.

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  5. What an amazing bit of engineering, I'm looking forward to seeing more.

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    1. Douglas, glad you enjoyed the somewhat disjointed look round. There is plenty more.

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  6. wow ...
    what the large boilers...interesting...

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    1. Michelle, they are kept in beautiful condition.

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  7. This is interesting and good looking. Nice buildings with detail and details on equipment are long gone here. Now, I'll go ahead and show my ignorance even at the risk of appearing stupid. What is the steam used for?

    I saw nothing wrong with the pictures. They all looked good to me.

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    1. David, the steam shoves one end of a beam up and down the other end has a crank and flywheel. Attached to the beam are connecting rods working water pumps.
      It is difficult to see from my pictures as I can't fit the whole machine in.
      Have a look HERE

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    2. PS. It is a struggle taking pictures in low light with strong light sources like windows and sodium lamps scattered about. I ended up with the flsh zoomed in to 14mm to get rid of as much flare as possible. Ho Hum.

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    3. Thanks for link. There's a lot of information and pictures there. Your pictures are just as good, some I think are better except theirs do show more of the equipment.

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  8. Fascinating Adrian. Thank you for sharing them.

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    1. Carol, I have at least three more posts. Get your work boots and boiler suit on.

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  9. What a giant piece of equipment! I've watched some of the huge electric motors that run water pumps here. The beam is a real cadillac,

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    1. Red, it is a great bit of machinery but better built than any Cadillac.

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  10. Those old boilers are real things of beauty. It obvious you enjoyed it all but its all lost on me.

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    1. Pauline, I would have thought the boilers the least interesting but looking at the comments I should have given them more attention. These Lancashire boilers are twice as interesting as the Cornish Boiler. The former have two fires and fire tubes.

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  11. The great of Great Britain. Fantastic engineering.

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    1. Keith, it is impressive. I don't kow what went wrong but I suspect two world wars didn't help.

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  12. Wow fantastic. All that metal work is superb, well done Adrian.

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    1. Thanks Bob, it is great to see decorative iron work incorporated into something as mundane as a water pump.

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  13. They are truly magnificent beasts. I think that the last really large one I saw was the Trencherfield Mill Steam Engine at Wigan Pier. That was a long time ago.

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    1. Graham, I really ought to make a list of the remaining ones and try and get round to seeing them. They have a calming influence on me similar to Heavy Horses.

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  14. I love this industrial showcase; the lighting is excellent!

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    1. Maria, the lighting could be improved further with more strobes and soft boxes. I'll have to see if I can book a couple of sessions when there are no people about. I'll have to take one person to add scale.

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