THE MAIN BOILER
The boiler used to steam the plant is a vertical multitubular boiler number 28598 and was made in 1954 by Controlled Flame Boilers. It was originally gas fired but has now been converted for solid fuel. Found by Chris Evans and Paul Akrigg of Pickering, who restored and maintain 'Sara' the Cardwell mill engine at Providence Mills in Dewsbury. They had added a Marshall Vertical MP Class engine to their collection which came with the boiler which, as they use the main mill boiler plant for steam, was surplus to their requirements.
A trip North to Yorkshire with trailer ensued and the fairly derelict looking boiler was removed from a site in Denby Dale and transported back home, where it lurked in the yard for quite some time.
An initial boiler inspection was very encouraging, shell and endplate thickness being good, tubes appearing OK but wasted at the top end, the only concern was the corrosion of the sighthole doors. Much rust and scale was removed and the wasted parts welded. The stop valve, safety valve and feed water clack valve / injector appeared in good order.
Missing fittings were acquired from various places, thanks are due to Tony Atthill for the Budenburg Pressure Gauge which has now been restored to full function, Roy Francis for two additional Penberthy type injectors and David King for the water gauge glass fittings.
Following a period suffering from a trapped nerve, the project made little progress, however, after five years inactivity, work on the boiler resumed in 1995. The first problem was to move it single handedly from the workshop where it stood gathering dust, down into the engine room, this was done slowly, carefully and involved no heavy lifting !
Next came a decision on the means of firing the boiler, as built, it sat on a huge gas ring, about which, despite extensive enquiries, no information could be found. I had never summoned up the courage to connect this up to a gas supply and throw in a match and so took the easy way out, discard it and build a new dry firebox for solid fuel !
A six foot by two foot sheet of 6mm steel plate was rolled into a tube and the seam welded. Firehole and ashpan door holes were plasma cut into the tube. The original gas burner mounting was cut in half and forms top and bottom of the firebox. The firebox was lined with second-hand electric muffle furnace refractory bricks, these were cut to 'dovetail' together around the inside of the tube by use of an abrasive disk on a circular saw. Firebars were a problem, it was not at all certain that the design would work, so angle iron was used to form a grate which if successful could be cast in iron later. A firehole door was rolled and fitted up with hinge and latch.
Eventually all was assembled and the boiler was lifted and lowered onto the base many times to finally fit together and install furnace lagging to prevent loss of flame.
The plumbers nightmare of steam, water, drain and exhaust pipes were fitted up, (at the last count there were over forty valves in the system) and the boiler eventually filled with water, none leaked out so the boiler test pump was applied, 150psi revealed absolutely no trouble so once the flue for the chimney had been received and the roof perforated, a chip basket converted to act as spark arrestor was fitted and the fire lit, steam was gently raised and various fittings pulled up when warm, feed pump and injector were proven and the engines run.
The boiler inspector was called in and the boiler passed both hydraulic and steam tests with no problems, insurance was arranged and 'official' steaming could finally commence at up to 100 psi.