Bolton Steam Museum.

[optima21]

I had a trip over to see them today and had a very enjoyable day watching steam engines running. I dont know if anyone else finds the sight and sound of them to be very theraputic and relaxing to observe, with favourite of mine being Corliss Valve gear.

with someone for scale

and of course what some of you guys will be interested in would be their workshop.

with a couple of lathes

a bridgeport milling machine and some sort of rotary drilling/milling machine

with a shaper just below the propane cylinder

speaking to one of the volunteers, they said the dont show it being used on open days, think its always good to watch people at work with things like this and you would get a good view looking down on them

It was nice to see how clean and light the museum was, and Im guessing that may not have been the case of the machines working lives, and the walkway running the length of the museum was good as you could look down on some of the smaller engines and watch the cranks etc at eye level on the larger ones.

suppose I'd better post some photos of one or two of the engines, and they have a nice variety, which is always good as I find watching the movement of the mechanisms to be "poetry in motion".

and standing next to the beams to watch them

the same engine from floor level

 

[Water skier 16]

Lovely pictures, shame it is such a long way from me. I also thinks they are therapeutic, on a side note I took my 2 week old daughter to a steam rally and she fell asleep next to a running portable steam engine!

 

[Welderpaul]

Nice that they are preserved and safe. Must visit sometime..probably on my own!

 

[pedrobedro]

I love beam engines, the silent power of them. We went to Papplewick pumping station on a steam day and thoroughly enthralled by it.

 

[doubleboost]

I need to visit with my camera

 

[Seadog]

I went to Crossness a couple of years ago. Amazing feats of engineering.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

its only up the road from me and ive yet to get there

 

[optima21]

and some more

and for the Fred Dibnah fans out there, there is Caroline, the engine that was used to power his workshop, it is on loan from his sons and there is another engine in the museum that he donated.

and this power control board may be suitable for some of us with electric welders...... old school open knife switches and can handle 1000 amps....I wonder if this was previously seen in films to wake up Frankenstein.

got to say how enjoyable it was talking to some of the volunteers and they really do make you feel welcome. I do feel sorry for the ladies who were supplying the drinks as it was unbearably hot, and at these prices they're being given away.....went to the national railway museum yesterday as it was something like £3 for a hot drink drink (please dont quote me on that though) and £1.50 for a bottle of water. so even if you take kids with you, its not going to break the bank.

It sounds like the Northern Mill Engine Society started because an 18 year old man bought an old steam engine from a disused mill and didnt have any way to move it of store it, so got a couple of friends to help him and it has grown from strength to strength to what it is today (thats how I read it, the documented history may be slighty different).

now Im after wanting to make a model steam engine, and they had a fine selection running on compressed air, with a couple of my favourites being these

and all this has been achieved, by the generosity of the volunteers and donations, and without any grants, which these days is amazing (although if you look at other museums its suprising how much has been given as grants to them from the national lottery. I find that its amazing that the museum doesnt have an entry fee, although I did give a donation (with gift aid).....

the museum is open most Wednesday and Sundays, but the engines are only in steam over the August bank holiday weekend and the last weekend in October and December.

but all the details are on their website.

https://www.nmes.org/

and Im guessing that some of you guys (and ladies) may enjoy a visit here, and what an amazing job done buy the volunteers of the Bolton Steam Museum (Northern Mill Engine Society).

 

[Barking Mat]

Nice to see people with the time and the the funding restoring this stuff.

 

[hunter27]

My 30 year old son is a member there, it sounds like they are a friendly bunch and the older engineers are happy to help and show their skills to the younger lads.

 

[zzr1200]

I went to Crossness a couple of years ago. Amazing feats of engineering.

The Crossness beam engines.

Definitely worth a visit, if your in the area.

http://www.crossness.org.uk/index.html

 

[Seadog]

 

[Farside]

They're fantastic places.
I went along to the Kew Steam Museum yonks ago, and was utterly absorbed by the sights, sounds and smells. There was a kind of overlap of mechanical generations for me, as a lad I recall a couple of engineering shops that still had (non-working) steam plant in place, and drive shafts still installed. I suppose it might have been used if the power had gone off, but as far as I know that never came about. I have a vague recollection of one of those steam engines working, but I suspect it was only to make sure it still worked.
Of course, one or two of the Clyde trip boats were still steamies, and it was an obligation to see the engines.

 

[Dieselman 63]

Nice that they are preserved and safe. Must visit sometime..probably on my own!

I see you have the same problem as I do... following the twenty minute brisk walk around I’m supposed to be ready to leave these places I could easily spend half a day!

 

[Parm]

The Crossness beam engines.

Definitely worth a visit, if your in the area.

http://www.crossness.org.uk/index.html

I’ve been there, did lots of work for Thames Water STW a while back. Fabulous place

 

[ronan]

I have been in a lot of waste water plants over the years, all over the UK and Ireland, as i served my apprenticeship in a company that made machinery and equipment for that trade. I can assure you no waste water pumping stations are built even remotely like that now

 

[graffian]

its only up the road from me and ive yet to get there

I bought a bike from someone who lives in Plodders Lane[you couldn't make it up], the owner worked in the steam museum I got an invitation for a tour of the place.

 

[Robotstar5]

Kempton Steam Museum is a good place to visit, they have a pair of thousand ton triple expansion engines, look at the guys in white boiler suits for scale!

 

[Seadog]

The tallest working triple expansion engine in the world.

 

[ronan]

I thought the engine on kelham island in sheffield was the biggest ?