A Mill Engine Called "Peace" (Image Heavy)

[John 2]

Our local municipal Authority has made the short sighted decision that it can no longer support a number of living heritage museums. Some of these celebrate the locality's history associated with the cotton industry. "Living" in the sense that they take the form of working mills that keep the craft alive. Short sighted because once they are gone, unlike other services that might be trimmed in the short term, the mills will never be revived - probably sold for conversion into apartments or commercial spaces. Consequently, I have been trying to visit and photograph some of the activities that are still being carried out.

"Peace" is a tandem compound steam engine built in 1894 to power one of these mills. It still runs today, producing 500hp with nothing more than a whisper. I suppose the images that follow are a sort of visual essay on this machine.

Fuji XT plus Fuji 18-55mm/14mm and a Samyang 8mm Fish Eye lens.

1.


2.


3.
Made at a time when design could afford to be more than just utilitarian.


4.
The old compared with the new.


5.
Some of you may be familiar with this but it fascinated me. This is how the main crank bearing is lubricated. The sump on the rail drip feeds the circular tank which because it is on the centre line of the flywheel shaft, spins but does not move laterally. The pipe from the tank to the crank bearing however, rotates. It is consequently subject to centrifugal force as is the oil inside the pipe which as a result is forced into the bearing. No pump needed, just a simple and elegant solution to a lube problem.


6.


7.
Had to try and find something a bit "arty".


8.


9.
The primary cylinder, the steam from which is used a second time to drive the oppositely opposed (lower pressure) secondary cylinder on the reverse stroke. (hence "tandem compound" engine).


10.
The Secondary cylinder.


11.
The boiler House. The Gentleman (volunteer) was kind enough to open the firebox for me and remain in the shot. I hope by now he is the proud owner of a copy of this image that I've sent to him. (two merged images. One exposed for the firebox and the second for the remainder of the room.)


My one regret was that I didn't have a wide enough lens to capture the two cylinders and their relationship to each other in one shot. I may go back properly equipped.

[Manfred M]

Great shots John! A great photo essay with a sad ending...

I had the opportunity to do something similar back in January during the open house at a local steam museum. Unfortunately, the lighting and the setting was not nearly as nice as what you had here.

It's unfortunate that we are losing so much of our history to progress. The old woolen mill building in a nearby town to where I live has been converted to a very nice looking set of condos. There is a small museum in the neighbourhood too. It is someplace I need to visit while I still can. Funding for these community museums tends to be too political and their situation is often precarious.

[Shadowman]

Nice captures.

[Dave Humphries]

Brilliant series John,

I'd say more but it's past my bedtime, perhaps I'll return tomorrow to enjoy them again.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Having worked for part of my life as a machinist, I have great admiration for the style of some of these old machines, knowing that the machines used to create them weren't as refined as what is available today.
Thank you for sharing these with us. I have a feeling that you're right, once they are gone they won't be revived again. So sad that they can't find a way to preserve the heritage for the coming generations.
How will they know where they're going if they can't see where they've come from?

[NorthernFocus]

Excellent set of images, John. Really nicely done. I love old machinery. It's really interesting to see how ingenious the mechanical controls were on them. Over the course of my career I converted a lot of machinery to modern digital controls. The old stuff worked great but typically had to be lovingly maintained and tended by someone 24/7. Digital processors don't take smoke breaks, don't complain, never get bored, and have unblinking eyes....

[dje]

Another "thumbs up"from me John. Great photography of a very interesting location. It's such a shame that something like this would close.

Dave

[IzzieK]

I share the same sentiments as others here has already commented on. Your shots were all taken in good light. It is good that you are able to shoot these images while the site is still open even just for posterity.

[Sergio M.]

A fascinating series with a great set of photos.

#7 is really cool.

Sergio

[Ndukes]

Great series John. Have you considered getting a petition going to try and halt the 'progress'. Check out www.thepetitionsite.com. I for one would certainly support the quest.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi again John,

I have reviewed and enjoyed these a few more times today.

You know I love 'em, but thought you might appreciate my thoughts on them 'by the numbers';

Where I am critical, these are all very minor points and observations.

#1 - Personally I'm not a fan of the white vignette here, there isn't really a need for it even.

#2 - Good overall scene, complete with humans for scale and motion too.

#3 and #4 - these things obviously took your fancy Are they another type of lubricator?

#5 - definitely needed to contrast with #6 & #7 which show how the crank lubricator works.

#6 and #7 - photos of the seemingly impossible Yes, I like these devices too. I think you chose the shutter speed well.

#8 - I wish it were taken slightly 'straighter on' so I could deduce what the right hand gauge is measuring

#9 - while in general, the colours are very lifelike - says he who has not been there - two things attract my attention; the red steam pipe looks a little 'off colour', perhaps that channel was blown in capture? Also, the whiter area on walls above the tile edge puzzles me, not sure if it was really cleaner there, or if I'm seeing an artefact of tone mapping?

#10 - That's some heavy duty engineering there.

#11 - Nicely shot and processed.

Across the series, what strikes me most is the accurate colours of the steels, brass and copper, etc., good exposure, plus the informative viewpoints.

Well done, Dave

[joebranko]

Great shots John of these machines which have been beautifully, even lovingly, maintained.

[NorthernFocus]

...Check out www.thepetitionsite.com...

That's an interesting website. Someone finally figured out a way to exploit the human propensity to get emotionally involved in things about which they know nothing and have no vested interest. It's brilliant. They should make a mint when Google buys them out.

[John 2]

Thanks all for a great set of comments. I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed over what will be lost if they close. I particularly liked Alan's final thought.

Manfred, grab your camera and go. It's an opportunity for an afternoon that is doubly interesting (photography and boy's toys).

Neville, there are already a number of sites devoted to either petitions or giving the e-m ail address of various council leaders. I subscribed to this one. However, I have reservations about how effective petitions are when politics are involved. I tend to subscribe to the Keynesian view (John Maynard Keynes) that "a politician is someone who has their ear so close to the ground that they cannot hear what an upright man is saying".
Dan/Neville, one slight word of warning. If you subscribe to one of these sites, be prepared to receive requests for your support for every other on going petition - no matter how whacky.

Dan the effect of automation was brought home to me as a young buyer faced with the task of purchasing one of the first Texas Instruments T45 robots for a carbon fibre tape layer we were building. TI explained that you could have a whole room full of them working unattended for much of the time. When I commented naively, that it would be a weird sight, the sales team's response was "no", Because I wouldn't see it. They didn't need light and would be working in the dark and oh by the way they didn't need heat either. A slight exaggeration for effect but when you see todays production lines particularly in the automotive industry, not far off the mark.

Dave, the light wasn't that brilliant. The work area was fairly dim but the white walls and the Windows in particular needed taming. I wouldn't claim that all the colours and hues are accurate except in the paint and metal work (not sure about the red pipes). I was more concerned to show the engine for what it is.

[Dave Humphries]

Dave, the light wasn't that brilliant. The work area was fairly dim but the white walls and the Windows in particular needed taming. I wouldn't claim that all the colours and hues are accurate except in the paint and metal work (not sure about the red pipes). I was more concerned to show the engine for what it is.

... and you succeeded very well.

[John 2]

Thanks Dave.

[TonyW]

I enjoy looking at old machinery like this and understand the difficulty of photographing such things in bad light and with limited space. These are very well done. The engines seem to have been well preserved too. Too often I see old metal things like these covered in layers of paint which obscure the real form.

[Dave Humphries]

One other thing I wanted to compliment you on John - was your technique with the UWA in the boiler room shot - at least I assume it was the UWA, if not the fish-eye, looking at the distortions, although the EXIF shows "50mm" for some reason.

[John 2]

Thanks Tony. Thanks Dave.

Tony, one of the great sadness's is that although he Local Authority funds the building and its upkeep, the Mill engine is looked after purely by the unselfish efforts of a few dedicated volunteers. They will lose something that they have cared about, preserved and maintained over the years.

Dave , it is an 8mm fish eye but when I don't want to use the fish eye distortion per se, I have a plug-in marketed by a company called Image Trends (inexpensive) , that allows you to control the amount of distortion. I'm beginning to understand how that can be used as a UWA lens in a situation like the Boiler Room. It wouldn't do for photographing the engine though, where you would not expect any of the working parts to be "bent".

[Wavelength]

Very nice set of images