Ryhope Pumping Station - the packing platform
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Ryhope Pumping Station - the packing platform 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
Ryhope Pumping Station - the packing platform
Image: © Chris Allen Taken: 28 May 1989
This preserved waterworks has a pair of Woolf compound beam pumping engines built by R & W Hawthorn in 1868 and running until 1967. This shows the packing platform with the cylinder heads and parallel motion of one engine. Also seen is the upper valve chest with its Cornish drop valves. The cylinders are - high pressure 27.5" x 5' 4" and low pressure 45" x 8'. The engines used steam at 35 psi at the stop valve. The rod on the right disappearing through a hole in the platform drives a pump in the staple well with a 10' 8" stroke. The engines lifted in two stages with the pump at the crank end of the beam lifting water to a level 130' below the engine house and the staple well pump then completing the lift to the ground level reservoir. This maintained balance around the beam's centre.
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Image Location
Latitude
54.865297
Longitude
-1.3724