Prestongrange Beam Engine
Cast-iron beam
| Date | 4 April 2012 | ||
| Location | Morrison’s Haven, Prestonpans, East Lothian | NT 37108 73647; 55.95170°N, 3.00871°W | |
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The Prestongrange Coal and Iron Company installed this second-hand beam engine, which had previously served in four different mines in Cornwall, in 1874 to drain the coal mine at Prestongrange. The front wall of the Pumping House was built 7 ft thick in order to support the main pivot bearing of the huge cast-iron beam. The pump rod alone weighs over 100 tons. The beam engine continued in operation until 1954, when it was superseded by electric pumps. It is Scotland’s only beam engine remaining at its site of operation. Prestongrange, located between the towns of Musselburgh and Prestonpans in East Lothian, is now an open-air industrial museum and is a site of great historical importance. Records of extraction of coal there date back to 1194. There was a glassworks there in the 17th century and a pottery in the 18th. Prestongrange Colliery was established in 1820 and was in operation until 1962. The site was also home to a large brickworks which closed in 1975. Prestongrange (prestongrange.org); Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum (Wikipedia)
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The red-painted bracing bars were a later addition to stop the beam from bending under the stress of operation
The beam and top of the pumping rod from outside the engine house (photo taken in December 2011)
Top of the cylinder and inlet and outlet pipes
Top of the cylinder with piston rod at centre
Ornamental embellishments on the valve levers
Prestongrange Beam Engine
Piston rod
Prestongrange Beam Engine
Prestongrange Beam Engine
Prestongrange Beam Engine
Inlet and outlet pipes
Fascinating shots, Graham. Photo 6 is a favourite, but I like the first photo best. The light showing the uneven nature of the massive beam casting is very satisfactory, as is the colour and shape of the railings against the green of the wall round the window.
Iain Robinson
April 17, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Thanks Iain. It was a privilege to be up close and to be able to appreciate the sheer size of the engine. Must have been marvellous to see one of these things in operation.
Graham Stephen
April 19, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Love it, beam engines are monumentally big and clumsy pieces of Victorian engineering, and pretty effective for this kind of purpose. You only have to looks at how many survived well into the 20th century as witness to that.
andy
April 17, 2012 at 7:43 pm
Yes, those must have been hungry monsters, but with this one operating at a colliery at least keeping the boilers fed with coal wouldn’t have been an issue.
Graham Stephen
April 19, 2012 at 9:35 pm
I just love the extra embellishments which seem so right and yet so incongruous on such a no-nonsense monster of an engine. Thank you for giving us this detailed look.
weisserwatercolours
April 17, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Thanks Lance. I also find the heavy engineering + ornamental flourishes to be rather fascinating.
Graham Stephen
April 19, 2012 at 9:37 pm
Great use of black & white and of color. That red is amazing.
lynnwiles
April 24, 2012 at 11:51 pm