'Spruce' the Hopwas Beam Engine
'Spruce' is one of two 50HP 'housebuilt' single cylinder, condensing, rotative water pumping beam engines and was donated to Forncett Museum by the South Staffordshire Water Company - the other - 'Woody' went to Leicester - where these engines were built by Gimson and Co. in 1879 - and is now steaming at the Snibston Discovery Park. They were named after local dignitaries in the fashion of the time.
Both engines have cylinders 26" diameter by 60 inch stroke with Meyer expansion slide valves. The pumps located 260 feet down the well were driven by 18" square pitch pine rods, joined to two yokes off the crank end of the beam which pass round the crankshaft in two loops, each engine was capable of moving half a million gallons of water a day. Running typically on 40 psig steam pressure at 20 RPM the engines do not have governors
The piston rod is guided by James Watts parallel motion, the components of which on this engine are a superb example of the smiths, turners and brass founders arts, it is entirely held together with tapered cotter pins. The cast iron beam is made in two halves. The 14 foot diameter flywheel is cast in four quarters, joined at the rim by keys and tapered cotters and at the crankshaft boss by two steel rings shrunk on while hot.
Both engines were originally located in a brick built pumping station at Hopwas near Tamworth in Staffordshire, unused since 1962, their preservation off site had several false starts - including one so close that the Forncett Landrover was already loaded with all the engineering tackle and even the crate of baked beans for sustenance!
However a team of six, four from Forncett and two from Leicester finally arrived on site in 1987 to remove the engines, this was accomplished in two weeks (our summer holiday) and the main work of the engine arrived on two low loaders the day after the great storm, this made their delivery and unloading a very 'interesting' exercise.
Unfortunately either AGFA or the Post Office lost my first roll of film of the removal - something that I had not experienced before or since - hence no original pictures od Spruce's extraction here !
(left) shows Woody's half of the main cast iron entablature beam - which was built into the wall of the house on either side and took a lot of excavation - the angled cut was made using a very large petrol driven angle grinder. (right) half of Woody's flywheel and (below) this being craned off the temporary unloading dock.
(left) Woody's cylinder being lifted by the ancient hand cranked and very shaky overhead crane. (centre) transfering the lift to the mobile crane outside - neither driver nor gantry crane operator could see or communicate with each other - which proved intersting at times ! (right) getting ready to remove Spruce's crankshaft - note the lower half of the flywheel and one of the pump rod yokes threaded over the crank - Rubiks cube had nothing on the metal puzzle of getting these engines out ! Also bear in mind that all this lot was perched over a deep well.
(above) a dirty great hole in the ground, various bits of deeply embeded and cut off cast iron girders and a lot of disturbed dust was all we left behind - outside (below) two beam engine kits await transport to their new homes - we little guessed that that in about six hours the great storm would strike !
The parts had been in store for some years before re building commenced, the first photo shows the state of play in the morning with two quarters of the 14 foot diameter flywheel in place among the main bearers and bearings, the rest of the kit is in the background. The crankshaft is about the be slung and lifted into position..
And here we are before the light failed later in the afternoon. If you look closely you can see the 45 degree cut made through the main cast iron entablature beam which, fixed into the engine house wall at either end was originally shared by the two engines, cutting this was one of several 'interesting' operations performed when the engines were removed. The many tons of cast and wrought iron comprising both engines and the structural cast iron beams supporting them and two levels of flooring were lifted and moved out of the engine house using the original hand cranked overhead travelling crane. I can testify to the 'solid' nature of the installation as for the most part I was doing the winding, high in the roof on a shaking antique crane, feeling extremely vulnerable when the heaviest components were lifted .
Good Burton Ales no doubt powered their installation it was certainly a key component of their removal !
Structural steelwork now replaces the support originally given by the brickwork and ashlar stone of the original engine house and a new building has been erected over the engine which can now be viewed from several levels and angles, here it is seen from the teashop gallery, an ideal place to rest awhile and ponder on the magnificent work of those great Victorian engineers who built their machines to last forever.
This is the engine as viewed from ground level, a substantial hole had to be excavated to house the jet condenser, lower part of the flywheel and pump rods. The two vertical pillars with wheel valves at the top control steam admission (throttle) and injection water for the condenser. The wheel at the top of the valvechest is the adjustment for the Meyer expansion valve.
Not many people are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to both dismantle and rebuild a beam engine of this calibre.