Real Engineering !
Discussion
So this afternoon is one of the times my 4 year old son and I can spend some bloke time together. Today's destination was Kelham Island Industrial Museum in Sheffield. I love this place - so much history in one place. There's even some stuff from the foundry where I used to work up to a few yeara ago, I always thought it was like working in a museum.
Here's my favourite museum piece in the world EVER. The River Don rolling mill engine: the biggest steam engine in Britain if not Europe. 12,000 IHP - and it still runs most days! The ground shakes when this thing's going, and it reverses incredibly quickly. Produced armour plate for ships, tanks etc in both world wars, and was still working in 1978. Awesome:
Next up - Grand Slam bomb: 10 tonnes, cast just downthe road. There's a video of a bombing run on a bridge, direct hit, nothing left of the bridge at all. Again, awesome:
Couple of nautical items especially for Shar2: Ship's bell from HMS Sheffield - aboard during the sinking of the "Bismark". HMS Sheffield was known as the "Shiny Sheff" becasue its fittings were stainless steel rather than brass. Beautiful:
And some armour plate form HMS Warrior - the first iron clad battleship according to the info:
Then a few Stuart Turner models - one day I will build one (have to save some pennies though):
And finally the huge Bessemer coverter that stands outside. Always looks quite sinister to me:
Of course there's loads more, but we only had an hour or so.
Here's my favourite museum piece in the world EVER. The River Don rolling mill engine: the biggest steam engine in Britain if not Europe. 12,000 IHP - and it still runs most days! The ground shakes when this thing's going, and it reverses incredibly quickly. Produced armour plate for ships, tanks etc in both world wars, and was still working in 1978. Awesome:
Next up - Grand Slam bomb: 10 tonnes, cast just downthe road. There's a video of a bombing run on a bridge, direct hit, nothing left of the bridge at all. Again, awesome:
Couple of nautical items especially for Shar2: Ship's bell from HMS Sheffield - aboard during the sinking of the "Bismark". HMS Sheffield was known as the "Shiny Sheff" becasue its fittings were stainless steel rather than brass. Beautiful:
And some armour plate form HMS Warrior - the first iron clad battleship according to the info:
Then a few Stuart Turner models - one day I will build one (have to save some pennies though):
And finally the huge Bessemer coverter that stands outside. Always looks quite sinister to me:
Of course there's loads more, but we only had an hour or so.
tank slapper said:
That River Don engine is cool. I need to make a trip to see it some day. It isn't the biggest steam engine, but it is the most powerful. The ones at Kempton Park are significantly bigger, but are of a different type and were set up for efficiency rather than raw power.
My mistake. According to Wikipedia:"It is claimed to be one of the most powerful steam engines ever built, and the most powerful remaining in Europe."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Don_Engine
Still "chuffing" big though, and a little bit scary to stand next to it when it's running.
dr_gn said:
Yeah I saw those - where are they taken? I know that most of these places look the same, but I could swear that some are taken in what's now the South Machine Shop at Forgemasters?
i wouldn't bet my life on it, but i don't think so. columns are wrong and the machine shop has very slightly arched tops on the windows. i shall get my [brown store]coat
shirt said:
dr_gn said:
Yeah I saw those - where are they taken? I know that most of these places look the same, but I could swear that some are taken in what's now the South Machine Shop at Forgemasters?
i wouldn't bet my life on it, but i don't think so. columns are wrong and the machine shop has very slightly arched tops on the windows. i shall get my [brown store]coat
Did/do you work at Forgemasters?
shirt said:
no, but i used to go there quite often when i worked for corus. i did interview there early last year for an r&d job but they turned me down, which is just as well as it is actually quite a dull place.
True, I got out of there after 10 years hard labour. Learned a hell of a lot about stress analysis and design though - enough to get me my current job which is completely fantastic. Which was nice.
trashbat said:
Threads like this make me miss the North. The Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester has a good selection of this stuff, though your photos are at least equally impressive.
That's another great place. Kelham Island is small in comparison (at least from memory), but it's all local stuff in there, and that means a lot to me.Wikipedia says the bell from HMS Sheffield is in Sheffildl Cathedral: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sheffield_%28C24%...
Wanna correct it?
Wanna correct it?
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