The Royal Geelong Show- Vintage Machinery Shed
by John
A few pictures of the Vintage Machinery Shed, at The Royal Geelong Show. Don’t get me going about the “Royal”. It is a ridiculous anachronism. But since our head of state is still a Brit (the much admired Queen Elizabeth 2), I suppose we are stuck with the “Royal”. The engines photographed below are just the ones in the immediate vicinity of the models cage. I will add some more in a later post.
The boiler used to power the steam engines. wood fired, running at about 35 psi.
The triple expansion marine engine. It powered a tug boat originally. It is steam powered, but only the high and intermediate pressure cylinders are currently powered. The condenser is not fitted to the engine because of the large volume of water it consumes, so the low pressure cylinder is not powered. The rotation of the engine is slightly irregular because only 2 of the cylinders are powered, but it is still a mightily impressive sight. When the engineers learned that I am making a triple expansion model engine, they generously spent considerable time and patience explaining the various components and mechanisms, and involved me with the start up process. That process is quite complicated, because the engine cannot rotate until the 3 cylinders are heated, and introducing steam heats only the first (high pressure) cylinder. Separate steam lines heat the other 2 cylinders, and they are closed just before rotation commences.
The crankshaft, con rods, eccentrics
The low pressure cylinder Stephenson’s link
The main steam valve (right), the Stephenson’s link reversing valve (left front), and the intermediate cylinder start up supply line lever.
another shot of the valve eccentrics
This Wedlake and Dendy oscillating single cylinder, double acting steam engine with very nice architectural details dates from 1862. It is probably the oldest working engine at the show. The governor is not original.
This Wedlake and Dendy single cylinder horizontal is dated 1865. Despite its age, it runs beautifully.
johnsmachines 
Hi John,
It is past 22:30 HST and I’m very tired but I must tell you how much I enjoy your blogs. I’ve been fascinated by steam engines since my parents gave me a Fleischmann steam engine for Christmas when I was 7 y.o. in 1959. I still have it, as well as the machine shop that I got the next year that hooked up to it.
My father was British, an RAF officer in WWII, and a television pioneer. I’m firstborn American. I’ve lived most of my life between NYC and Boston, with the most recent third of my life in Hawaii.
We have a triple expansion engine here in Hawaii that hasn’t run in a long time, but it is a beauty. I’m an exhibit designer and a glass artist. I recently made a bid on designing and producing exhibits for the Board of Water Supply here in Hawaii. I did a lot of research on triple expansion engines and ran across you. Though I didn’t get the job, it doesn’t diminish the renewed enthusiasm that I have for steam.
More later if you are interested. Time to sleep.
Aloha,
Richard Duggan
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Hello Richard, and thank you very much for the feedback. A pity that you don’t live closer. Your skills would be very handy here. Do you have a blog site? I would like to see some photos of the triple, and of your work. John.
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