What does this steam engine drive ?

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This place I found interesting so came away with some photos. London and famous?
Truth is I wanted to see if I could still remember how to post a photo on here. Chris.

Tower Bridge!!!!!!!!!

Well done John,
Mr Chumley Warner Will contact you shortly with your prize.

Lister John wrote:Tower Bridge!!!!!!!!!

acutuly it dosnt!

it pumps water into accumilators/resivours and it is waights inside these that presureise the water that powers tower bridge. all the engine did was to pump the water into the acumilators after each shutting of the bridge, its the water pressure created by the weight that dose all the work

how ever first prize for spotting where it is.

its sister engine is now in fawnsett steam musuem in norfolk

jamespeterbrett wrote:

Lister John wrote:Tower Bridge!!!!!!!!!

acutuly it dosnt!

it pumps water into accumilators/resivours and it is waights inside these that presureise the water that powers tower bridge. all the engine did was to pump the water into the acumilators after each shutting of the bridge, its the water pressure created by the weight that dose all the work

how ever first prize for spotting where it is.

its sister engine is now in fawnsett steam musuem in norfolk

absolutely spot on!!

the Tower Bridge system was effectively a forrunner of the Hyrdaulic system, and the ABS brake system on a car!

it was originally envisaged that the bridge would indeed use a mechanical system to lift the spans, however, when it was calculated, the system would have required a huge steam engine much bigger than could be accomodated in the structure. so an alternative had to be found.

the result was the accumulator, the steam engine would exist only as a pump, to fill these huge tanks which would provide a mass to effectively see-saw the bridge, providing a rapid method of raising the bridge, a simple method and brilliantly engineered, as it allows a 'Little' engine to provide a much bigger punch! all down to simple physics.


Potential Energy = Mass (the water) x Gravity (9.81) x height (the height the waters been lifted)


the bigger this number is, the more power the accumulator has, however, this system also has another determinate, time. becuase the pump was relatively small, the time taken to fill the accumular would be longer than that of a much larger engine, but keeps the costs low. the upshot would be that if the bridge needed to be raised and lowered continuously, the engine would not be able to fill the accumulator fast enough, but for the rate that the bridge was used, the pump proved more than sufficient.

cracking piece of kit

Paul