Washpit Mill - steam engine
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Washpit Mill - steam engine by Chris Allen as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Washpit Mill - steam engine
Image: © Chris Allen Taken: 31 Mar 1989
Agnes is one of my favourite engines but is no longer at this location, indeed the engine house's site has been cleared. Agnes is a horizontal tandem compound condensing mill engine built in 1909 by Pollit & Wigzell of Sowerby Bridge. The Corliss valve cylinders are 18" & 36" bores by 4' stroke. Operating speed was 80 rpm on steam at 160 psi and it developed 600 indicated horsepower. The 16' flywheel drove via ropes to a large alternator next door and to some limited machinery in part of the mill. The engine was in regular use until early 1980 and was then run just for show, usually on Friday afternoons. This shows the lower part of the Lumb governor with the modified Wilby regulator that adjusted the cut-off as the load varied to keep the engine's speed as close to its design speed as possible. Behind is the crosshead with the three piston rods that are the feature of Pollit & Wigzell's patented three rod design.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
53.556644
Longitude
-1.786666