first off this wasnt an explore as such as it was an open evning although an open evning with a differance as its very rare to be allowed down below the flywheel all be it on a guided ghost tour, appologies for some of the shots as it wasnt allways practical to whip the tri-pod out and start shining the torch around, havent seen the engine running since i was about 5 absolutly terrified me back then things allways seem so much bigger when your young
met up with Mattdonut and we bumped into waynesbitz1 who volonteers here also by chance met agk good to meet you :thumb
going from the near freezing to a hot humid steamy room.....imminant lens fogging
down to about the level of the river bed (appologies for blurryness)
was very atmosphericall.....dark with the odd lantern
the 21ton flywheel spinning away nicely above our heads as some guy tells us about how he had to clean the valves with his bare hands....rembering this was a sewage pumping station
old skool signage
next we move to the top floor.....where it is bloody warm .....big connecting rod thingy
only the one engine running this evning
roof steelwork is quite something
the axel, mattdonut at the end taking a shot of the beam
light switches, apparently people walking past me were giving me very funny looks at the ammount of pictures i was taking of these with the tri-pod pressed against the wall
could feel the heat radiating off it, i know back in the day it would of been a horrible smelly job not for the faint hearted but at least you would be warm in winter
2 of the engines from above
more steam
back on the first floor
me and the mistical hole of steam
inside the hole of steam...
met up with Mattdonut and we bumped into waynesbitz1 who volonteers here also by chance met agk good to meet you :thumb
The four steam engines were built in Leicester by Gimson and Company and today are rare examples of Woolf compound rotative beam engines. At the time these engines were built they were considered an old-fashioned but very well-practiced design, as many engine designers had turned their attention to horizontal and early vertical designs instead.
These engines are rated at 200 hp, at 12–19 rpm, of which they pumped 208,000 imperial gallons of sewage an hour (263 L/s).
Three of the four engines have been restored back to working condition, by a dedicated team of volunteers: the Leicester Museums Technology Association. It is the only engine house in the world where you can see four working examples of the same beam engine in one building.
Current projects in the engine house are the on-going maintenance of the latest restored engine, No.4 (restored over a period of some 10 years by the volunteers), and the total restoration of the only non-working engine (No.1), of which the sewage pump is currently seized due to old age!
going from the near freezing to a hot humid steamy room.....imminant lens fogging
down to about the level of the river bed (appologies for blurryness)
was very atmosphericall.....dark with the odd lantern
the 21ton flywheel spinning away nicely above our heads as some guy tells us about how he had to clean the valves with his bare hands....rembering this was a sewage pumping station
old skool signage
next we move to the top floor.....where it is bloody warm .....big connecting rod thingy
only the one engine running this evning
roof steelwork is quite something
the axel, mattdonut at the end taking a shot of the beam
light switches, apparently people walking past me were giving me very funny looks at the ammount of pictures i was taking of these with the tri-pod pressed against the wall
could feel the heat radiating off it, i know back in the day it would of been a horrible smelly job not for the faint hearted but at least you would be warm in winter
2 of the engines from above
more steam
back on the first floor
me and the mistical hole of steam
inside the hole of steam...