AUSTRALASTAN HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, I5, I997
BeamPumping Engines in Victoria
PETER MILNER
This is the second in a nuo-part study on mining heritage inVictoria. Here a case study is presentedin which one class of mining machinery, beam pumping engines, is analysed utilising the database described in the first article. The number and distribution of beam pumping engines during the nineteenth century is discussed,the locations ofsurviving plant surveyed,and the heritage signfficance ofthat plant considered.
The beam pumping engine with its large vertical cylinder, largest,the 80 inch by 120inch-engine erected at Chinamans massiverocking beam and well-oiledand polishedvalve gear Flat in 1873,and they spanalmost the entire first period of was for the nineteenth century what a piece of high activemining operations in Victoria,from I 859to I 905.+What technologSsuch as a very fast train, a supersonicairliner, or a is particularlynoticeable is thatconfirmed beam engine usage large power station would be in this century. Such engines appearsto be confinedto a relativelysmall number of centres: were a later developmentof the atmosphericpumping engines Ballarat (including Sebastopoland Buninyong)(17), Beny of Newcomen,Smeaton and Watt. In all theseearly engines the and Timor deep leads (8), Castlemaine-FryersCreek (5), power motive was providedby the pressureof the air actingon Ballarat region (4), Daylesford (including Hepbum and the exposedsurface of a piston which movedin a long vertical Yandoit)(3), andMaldon (1). cylinder.This arrangementwas especiallyconfigured to suit In addition,there were sevenother installations which. bv the availablereciprocating pump technology.As the powerof virtue of the size of engineused, were possiblyalso beam these engines increasedin proportion to the square of the engines.Before 1880in Victoria,it was quite rare to havean cylinderdiameter, and as steam pressures were limited both by engine with a cylinder diametergreater than 25 inches.It JamesWatt and by prevailing boiler technologyto be rarely seemslikely, therefore,that the 30 inch by 60 inch engine much abovethat of the atmosphere(for example,no more than erectedin June 1860 at Maldon was a beam engine.If the 5 pounds per squareinch by 1775), they were built in ever referenceto a 26 inch by 50 inch enginein April 1862for the increasing sizes to perform very heavy pumping work. samecompany is not the sameengine then this wasalso likely Cylinders72 inchesin diameterwere not unusualby the latter to be a beamengine, as it hada verticalcylinder. One or other half of the eighteenthcentury, as 80, 90 and even 100 inch of these engines was acquired from the Great Eastem cylinderengines were in thenineteenth century. With thelapse Companyat Ballarat,an areawhere a numberof beam of the Wan patentsin 1800,and underTrevithick's influence, engines were subsequentlyinstalled. Both the Cumberland,Durham steam pressuresof up to 50 pounds per square inch were andCornish, and the DomaMungi engineswere large for their substitutedfor air pressure,but to achieveadequate economy time andso may alsohave been beam engines. Finally, there is of operationthese engines were worked expansively with early a referenceto the Lady Barkly Company having curoff, so that the meaneffective cylinder pressureremained obtained a Sebastopoldrainage engine. As Sebastopolwas low andcylinder diameters correspondingly large. an areawhere beam engineswere in use, it is possiblethat this was a If Connellcould discoversome 50 beamengines in South referenceto a beamengine which was sold and removedto Australia,how many suchengines might therJhave beenin Castlemainewhere such engines were also in use. Victoria?t The answer could be either more or less: more Even without any of these possibleinstallations, becausemining in Victoriawas much more extensivethan in it is alreadyevident that the numberof beamengines SouthAustralia during the nineteenthcentury; less because in Victoria was at leastcomparable with that for South Victorian mining, which was the major user of steampower Australia.It is questionable,though, whetherthis accurately throughoutmost of the nineteenthcentury, developed after that estimatesthe actual number once in use. In the Ballarat of SouthAustralia, and at a time when the beamengine was Times for 5 May 1857, R. Towns and Company(1857-1873), being supersededby other forms of steamengine. McCarthy Melbourne machinery agents and importers, were and Davis are of the latter view, identifying no more than advertising beam enginesfor salein cylindersizes tenbeam engines in usein Victoria.2They argued that this was up to 30 inchesin diameter, and obviously thought that the Ballarat becausethe majority of Victorian mines used a simpler and mines would be a suitable market. Severalyears later, in the Ballarat less expensiveabove-ground installation, consisting of a Star for 28 July 1860, Alexander MacFarlane horizontal rotative steamengine driving a crank arm through and Company (1857-1909),Melboume machineryagents reductiongears, with a largebalance bob set in a pit besidethe and importers, were advertisingboth horizontal shaft collar. In this paper the contrary proposition is argued, and beamengines for sale, rangingfrom 4 to 60 horsepower,as well andthe data bases described elsewhere in this volumeare used as 30 inch pumping enginesmanufactured by Harvey both to raise the standardof debateabout this issue, and to and Company,of Hayle, Cornwall.The Harvey discussthe cultural significance of extantbeam engine sites. engineswere almost certainly beam engines,based on cylindersize. Although there is no evidence THE NUMBER OF BEAM ENGINBS from the survivingbusiness records of Harveyand Company INVICTORIA thatany of their largerengines were specifically imported into Victoria,at leastone Harvey beam engine was installedby the An examinationof the reports of the mining surveyorsand Great North West Companyat Ballarat in 1866.sIt is also mining registrarsfor the Departmentof Mines in Victoria for possiblethat one or otherof the 80 inch enginesinstalled by the periodfrom May 1859to December1889, taken rogether the Winter's Freeholdand Great North West companies,in with a numberof additionaldepartmental reports and selected 1868 and 1870 respectively,was a Harvey engine, as the newspaperand joumal articlesmakes it possibleto constructa Harveyrecords show that an 80 inch enginewas exportedto list of some 38 beam engine installations.3These are Australiain 1868.0 The 80 inchby 120inch engine exported to summarised in Table 1. They range in size from a Australiain 1872may very well havebeen the engine installed 6 horsepowerone at SpecimenHill in 1859 to Australia's at the Duke and Timor mine at Chinaman'sFlat a year later.T 4 Table1. Beamengine installations in Victoria Date Installation location:size, type, (function)[remains] {notes} Confirmed mine installations (38) 07.1859 Brownand Harper,Gordon: 18 horsepowerex Glasgow,rotative/pedestal (crushing) 05.1859 UnionMining Association/Eaglehawk Association/Eaglehawk Union Company, EaglehawkReef, Maldon: 16 inch by 48 inch,35 horsepower,?rotative (pumping and crushing) 06.1859 Gibbs,Pringle and Company,Specimen Hill, Fryers Creek: six horsepower,rotative (crushing) 1 1.1859 Princeof WalesGold MiningCompany, Cobblers Lead, No.4Division, Ballarat, 10 inch by 24 inch,?rotative (winding) ?1860 DonnybrookCompany, No.3 Division,Ballarat, 25 horsepower{previously with the hinamans Princeol WalesGold MiningCompany) period of ?1860 EldoradoCompany, Specimen Hill, Fryers Creek: 65 horsepowervertical (pumping) .r5.'rWhat ffragmentof rubblemasonry beam wall] lne usage 04.1861 BandoJ Hope Company, No.1 shaft, Golden Point Lead, No. 1 Division,Ballarat: 30 inch i centres: by 108inch, 70 horsepower(pumping) -r. Beny 03.1862 Old SpecimenHill Gully Quartz Mining Association, Specimen Gully, Barker's Creek, reek (5), Castlemaine:22 inchby 42inch,40horsepower (pumping and crushing) :um and 05.1862 Nelsonand WellingtonGold MiningCompany, Frenchman's Lead, Sebastopol, Ballarat: rotative(winding) rhich, by 05.1862 CriterionCompany, Hoggett's Ree{, Yandort: {previously with the DonnybrookCompany} l:o beam 07.1862 PerseveranceCompany/New Perseverance Quartz Mining Company, White HorseReef, ) have an No.5Division, Ballarat: Phoenix Foundry 18.5 inch by 35 inch(crushing) nches. It 09.1862 BallaratMill Gold Mining Company, Mill Lead, Wendouree Swamp, No.1 Division, (winding,pumping puddling) h engine Ballarat:14 inchby 30 inchrotative and le. If the 08.1863 SpecimenHill Quartz Mining Company, Specimen Hill, Hepburn:14.5 inch by 30 inch (pumpingand crushing) with the CriterionCompany} rl for the {previously i:o likely 03.1864 GreatNorth West Company,No.1 Division, Ballarat: 32 inch by 48 inch, 100 horsepower (pumping) l or other Eastern 08.1865 HavelockQuartz Mining Company, Daylesford: 12 horsepower(crushing) r engines 08.1865 LeighConsols Gold Mining Company: 14 inchby 30 inchrotative (winding) Durham 12.1865 StanleyGold Mining Company, Pitfield Plains, No.4 Division, Ballarat: 30 inchby --. : tbr their inch,70 horsepower(pumping) lshaft site and mullock] .. thereis 05.1866 AmeliaReef Quartz Mining Company/New Amelia Reef Company, Blue Mountain North: :tained a 12 inchby..- inch(crushing) :a where 05.1866 GreatNorth West Company, No.1 Division, Ballarat: Harvey 40 inchby 108inch (pumping) .i was a noved to 09.1866 UnitedExtended Band of HopeCompany/United Hand-in-Hand and Bandof Hope Company,Golden PoinVlnkermann Lead, No.1 Division, Ballarat: 50 inchby --. inch, 90 horsepower(pumping) 'ns. it is 12.1866 UnitedExtended Band of HopeCompany/United Hand-in-Hand and Bandof Hope Victoria Company,No.4 shaft, Golden PoinVlnkermann Lead, No.1 Division, Ballarat: 50 inch .lia. It is by '.. inch,90 horsepower(pumping) {previously with GreatNorth West Company} lates the 12.1868 Winter'sFreehold Gold MiningCompany, Winter's Paddocks, Sebastopol, Central: r5May 80 inchby ... inch(pumping) :lboume 03.1869 Dukeof Cornwall/AustralianUnited Gold MiningCompany, Cattle's Reel, FryersCreek: :g beam 25 inchby 108 inch,70 horsepower,rotative (pumping and crushing)[coursed rubble liameter, masonryengine house and brickand masonrychimney] .:ld be a 02.1870 GreatNorth West Company,No.1 Division, Ballarat: 80 inch by '.' inch Bull (pumping) Srar for 12.1870 Anglo-AustralianCompany/English-Australian Gold MiningCompany, Heron's Reef, iompany FryersCreek: 70 horsepowerrotative (pumping, winding and crushing)[coursed rubble :lponers, masonry{oundations, boiler setting, wheel pit and bob pitl tor sale, 09.1873 Dukeand Timbr Company/Grand Duke Company, Timor Lead, Chinaman's Flat, inch 120 inch (pumping) granite rumplng Maryborough:80 by fmassivecoursed blockbeam wall andengine loundationl i Hayle, 09.1873 DurhamCompany/City ol BallaratCompany, Swamp/Suburban Lead, No.1 Division, ii beam .'. Ballarat:40inch by inch(pumping) {rebuilt as 54 inchcylinder engine} :r idence 03.1881 NewHolland Gold Mining Company/Melbourne and AvocaCompany/Golden Stream . ompany t-. Company,Avoca: 50 inch by inch (pumping){previously with the UnitedExtended ned into Bandol HopeCompany ?) :d by the 09.1884 Beny No.1Company, Smeaton, Creswick: Union Foundry 70 inchby 108inch : is also (pumping){first large local engine} fred brickengine house essentially intact up to beam .rlled by levell inies, in 03.1885 MountRowan Company, Central:12 inch by..- inchrotative (puddling) . as the 06.1885 HepburnEstate Leasehold Company, Smeaton, Creswick: Union Foundry 70 inch by rcrted to 108inch (pumping) [red brick beam wall] rorted to 12.1887 Chalk'sNo.1 Company, Carisbrook, Maryborough: B0 inch by --. inch (pumping) rnstalled {formerlywith the Winter'sFreehold Gold MiningCompany} fred brick beam wall] .rr later.T
TI ^l Table1. continued Date Installation location:size, type, (function)[remains] {notes} Conlirmed mine installations (38) 03.1888 DukeNo.1 Company, Timor Lead, Chinaman's Flat, Maryborough: (pumping) {engine housemasonry numbered, suggesting relocation from anothersite) [bluestoneblock beam walll 06.1893 EgertonCompany Limited, Egerton:54 inch by -". inch (pumping) 1895 Band of Hopeand AlbionConsols, No.9 shalt, Golden Point Lead, No.1 division, Ballarat:60inch by "' inch (pumping)[beam wall fragmentin polychromebricks] M.1896 Starof the EastCompany, No.2 shaft, Sebastopol, Central: Phoenix Foundry 75 inchby 120 inch270 horsepower(pumping) 12.1896 ChalkNo.3 Consolidated Gold MiningCompany, No.2 shaft, Carisbrook, Maryborough: 75 inchby 120 inch [severallarge red brickfragments, brick-lined bob pit, latticebob beamJ 1905 LoddonValley Goldfields Company, Moolort, Maldon:70 inchby 108inch 270 horsepower(pumping) formerly with Berry 1 or HepburnEstate Company) [concretebeam wall] Other contirmed installations (5) 06.1854 Grays flourmill, Corio:20 horsepowerBroomhill lron Works 1862 Anderson'sflour mill,Smeaton:60 horsepower 02.1870 Hayes'sflour mill, Ballarat: 65 horsepowerformerly the EldoradoCompany, Specimen Hiil) 1873 BallaratWoollen Mills, Ballarat: ... inchby 30 inch vertical 1883 Laird,Ballarat: 10 inchby -.. inch Possible maneinstallations (4 06.1857 GreatEastern, Ballarat 12.1858 Cumberland,Durham and Cornish,Ballarat:Tennant 70 horsepowerrotative 11.1859 Beehive,Maldon: 30 inch by 60 inch60 horsepower ?1859 Wilding,Specimen Hill, Fryers Creek:5 horsepowervertical 04.1862 Beehive,Maldon:26 inch by 50 inch50 horsepowervertical 03.1864 Lady Barkly,Castlemaine: {Sebastopol drainage engine} 03.1869 DomaMungi, Chiltern: 90 horsepower Other possible installations (2) pre-1864 MelbourneGas, Melbourne:32inch by 48 inch{later Great NorthWest Company, Ballarat) pre.1865 The Argus,Melbourne: 14 inchby 30 inch{later LeighConsols, Buninyong}
Finally, R. S. Gibbs had specifically advertised Comish installed.lOIf, as seemsreasonable, very few engineswere engines for sale in the Ballarat Star for scrappedduring this periodll thenthis would haverepresented 5 November 1860.All this suggestsa greaterimportation of the total number of enginesboth made in and imported into beam engines into Victoria, especially in the smaller sizes, Victoriafor miningpurposes up to thattime.l2 Up to theend of than the evidenceprovided by the Mines Departmentreports 1870,when reportsof mining machinerywere mostfrequent, would indicate. referencesto I 319 steamengines have been found, exclusive When local engineeringmanufacturers became established of those which are clearly identified as beam engines.l3 Allowing for a certain amount of unavoidableduplication in they too either offered to makebeam engines or to act as local the entries, due chiefly to the reporting of the same engine agentsfor importedengines. Thus in theBallarar Star for 1860 firstly by horsepowerand then by cylinder size and to the RichardCarter and Company'sPhoenix Foundry (1 855-1906) developmentof a second-handmarket for machinery,it would advertisedboth beamand horizontalsteam engines for salein appearthat most of the steamengines in use in the periodhave sizes from 10 to 76 horsepower,although the only beam beenaccounted for. Of that total only 155,or I 1.75per cent, engineknown to havebeen made by the companyat this time are specificallyidentified as horizontalengines. la For the same was a small one for the New PerseveranceCompany, in 1862.4 period only 24 beam engines have been identified. This Furthermore,in theBallarat for I Star OctoberI 861, Hunt and suggeststhat horizontalengines outnumbered beam engines (1856-1 Opie's Victoria Foundry 869) offered to make steam by about six to one. If that proportion were maintained enginesfrom l0 to 100 horsepower,both beam or horizontal, amongstthe very much largernumber of unspecifiedengines high pressureor condensing. then thereought to havebeen 182 beamengines installed on All this further suggeststhat there were many more beam Victorianmines up to theend of I 870.ts engines available for use and almost certainly installed on Victorian mines than is suggestedby the entries in Table l.s DISTRIBUTION Unfortunately, contemporary accounts rarely provide It is questionablewhether there could ever have beenquite as sufficientinformation about the machineryinstalled to makeit many beam enginesin Victoria as this simple calculation possible to determinejust how widely beam engines were would suggest,because it assumesa uniformityof distribution used.This lack of information might be interpretedin either throughout the state which is at variance with the available way: that such engineswere so commonplaceas to need no evidenceof where beam engines were installed.This is mention,or that were, indeed, rare. special they extremely primarily for two reasons.Firstly, the effective operation of An upper limit on the number of beam enginesused in such enginesdepended upon maintainingan exhaustpressure Victorian mining can be estimatedin this fashion.By 1870,or below that of the atmosphere by means of a separate about 15 yearsafter steamengines were first introducedonto condenser.Such apparatuscould soon become fouled and the Victorian goldfields, there were about 1 100 engines require regular maintenanceif the boiler feedwater and/or 42 ,-oolingwater were of an indifferentquality. As the result surviving fragment of at least 17 beam enginesand their --ondensingengines were only everused by the moreheavily houseswhich were once installedin and aroundBallarat. It --rpitalisedcompaniesr6 and did not gain anythinglike wide standson whatappears to be vacantland adjoininga laneway :--ceptancein Victorianmining until theend of the nineteenth at therear of somehouses in Leith Street,Ballarat. :3ntury.l7Secondly, because of their higherinitial cost beam ::igines came to be prefened for heavy duty applications INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT ^ heretheir superioroperating efficiencies over all othertypes AND SUITABILITY ,: prime mover were consideredto be important,and this '::ded to restricttheir use to deepalluvial mines after 1863.18 Howevermany beam engines there were once in Victoria,what now remainshas been regarded, both by McCarthyand Davis E\TANT SITES and also by Davey as yet further evidenceof the use of obsoletetechnology by overlyconservative mining companies .::. little now remainsof the early beamengine installations and a major causeof their failureto succeed.l9Each of these - \.ictoriamines, chiefly becausemany of the earlyengines, claims needs to be consideredin some detail if a fair - : -: to 1864,were small ones which may very well havebeen assessmentof the significanceof the sitesis to be achieved. - - .ruse, pedestal or entablatureengines. These engines could At thebeginning of thenineteenth century the beam engine . :.rsily be removedwithout leavingany tracewhatsoever. was almostthe only form of steampower technologyavailable -::3 arejust 12 siteswhere extant remains can be examined. for mining and manufacture.Further developmentof this form . rrf,m enginehas survived, but thereis a brokenand twisted of enginein thefirst half of thatcentury, with theuse of higher - - -: pumpbob beamat the Chalk'sNo. 3 site,No. 2 shaft. --: pressure steam, the introduction of the Comish cycle, --idestextant remains occur at theEldorado site, Specimen developmentsin valve gear,careful attentionto details,and - Chewton,where there is a fragment of the rubble eventuallycompounding, made it, by 1838, when the first - ---:rJ wall of the enginehouse, traces of the shaftcollar Comishbeam pumping engine was introduced into theLondon ,- - :rout 40 metreseast north east,the entranceto the main ' waterworks, several times more economical than any Watt - - .- e bestpreserved engine house, constructed generally in engine and at least twenty times as efficient as the first -- - : : masonrywith brick details,is that at the Australian .:: Newcomenengines. - Gold Mining Company'sDuke of Comwall mine, ;- --'i',r\\n.The engine here operated pumps in Duke'sshaft, Beam engines continued to be used throughout the . ' -' : I metresaway, by meansof flat rods,as well asa stamp nineteenthcentury but from 1850onwards many of theirduties -. ' - -. L'nfortunately,the groundin thevicinity of theengine weretaken over by thehorizontal steam engine so that,despite ' - .: r.1sbeen so disturbedthat it is not yet possibleto see somesingularly spectacular installations in the latter half of - - .i and whereall the machinerywas arranged.A much the nineteenthcentury, they becameincreasing confined to - -. '::Jilr interpretedsite is providedby therubble masonry heavypumping duties.2O A horizontalengine was used for the , - -:r. rnSof theengine house at theAnglo-Australian mine, first time by JohnFitch (1743-1798)to drivea 12-oaredskiff -:- Gull1.Fryerstown, a shortdistance away to the north. on the DelawareRiver in 1787.In 1801,William Symington - . -.i the generalarrangement drawing for this site has fitted a 22 inch by 48 inch horizontal engine in the paddle - -. . . :d. sothat it is possibleto identifyexactly where the steamer Charlotte Dundas. Three years later Richard '- -: .i:s located,where the batteryand chimney were, in Trevithick built an 0-4-0 gearedlocomotive with a single horizontal8.25 inch by 54 inch cylinder for the Penydaren :3S Were ^tri rhestructure was modified by thelater installation of - tramway.The first stationary ::esented ..'-:.'; and,as the shaftopening and bob pit arenearby, applicationof the horizontal - enginewas by Oliver Evanswho :1.d into - :rnrpineand winding gear were driven. erecteda 20 inch by 60 inch pumpingengine at Fairmount,Philadelphia, in 1817.By 1825 ie end of ' :. ::r theseearly sitesrotative (or whim) engineswere horizontalengines were :r:quent, -: hst suchengines installed in Victoria.All other introducedinto Londonfactories by Taylorand :rclusive *- .:: rre for non-rotativebeam engines used exclusively Martineau.These engines were graduallyadopted - - moreuniversally in the smallersizes and for lighterduties, so :!ine5.I 3 : - : :.s.The mostintact of theseis at theBerry No. 1 site, that by 1873, :.ltion in - .ihere most of the enginehouse still standsat the despitecompounding, whim enginesused in manufacturingwere obsolete. From this point : engine " :,-.3shaft. At all the other sitesnothing more than onwards,except I to the :: the beam wall survive. Probably the most in Comwall,beam engines were used exclusively for pumping purposes. lt rvould - :-: . : -rithese belonged to theDuke and Timor Company. .od have "'- -::- .rall is 5 feet9 inchesthick and 32 feet5 inches The supremacy of the beam pumping engine was :Er cent, - .-: :trii of the arch to the baseof the beam gudgeon eventuallychallenged in threeareas by four differentforms of lre same -- -. The uall is made from dressedgranite blocks, steam engine: for low-pressure and high-discharge :d. This - - a teet by 3 feet square,and the brick supporting applicationsby the high speedsteam engine direct-coupled to snglnes -.-.: =et 6 inchesthick. centrifugal pumps; for high-pressureand low-discharge .intained -" pumpingapplications by the horizontaldirect-acting engine; : l -t*eengine house was oneof only threeposf 1870 ingines and for moderate-pressureand moderate-discharge -- :-. r.3houses not built whollyof brick.The othertwo ::lled on applicationseither . -: - r.-: Duke No. I and LoddonGoldfields sites. At the by the horizontal engine coupled to ' -i::3 sitesthe beam wall was madeof numbered reciprocatingpumps by a crankshaftor by the compoundand ' triple -: -: :..\ks. suggestingthat this engine house had been expansionmarine engine in both the horizontaland ' :-:.-:- ::re afterhaving been removed from someother inverted-verticalforms. qulle as :" . . : . . Ballarat.At thesecond site, the last beam engine ' Centrifugal Pumps for Low-Pressure : ulation - -. . ln the Victoriangoldfields, the beamwall was High-Discharge Applications :rrbution - -,: - ,.:irete. It is possiblethat the other three walls of - !: ailable -- i.irr enginehouses were madeof brick,but these Althoughthe idea of a centrifugalpump in which water was "i : '.:' This is - :::to\ed for otherpurposes. flung from the casingrather than pushed from a cylinderwas 'rlion of :. ;-, -.1 the x,holly brick enginehouses have not first consideredby le Dumour in 1732 it was not until the tressure : - :r :.. $ell. Thatat Chalk No. 3, No. 2 shaftappears to LondonExhibition of 1851that J. G. Appoldexhibited such a \-parate : -,::- : 3p311.whilst that at the Bandof Hopeand pumpwith a practicalefficiency.2l Chiefly as the result of tests - ' --.rn .,:d and - -..:.. nrine.\o. 9 shaft,has been demolished until undertakenat ChathamDockyard in 1866 this pump was : and,/or - . : :-\rlionof thebeam wall remains.This is thelast found to be unsuitablefor lifting waterany distance,and one 43 developedby JohnGwynne came to be preferred.2zFrom 1869 requiredthe pumpingengine to be locatedunderground, most onwards steamengine driven centrifugal pumps began to be probablywithout a condenser,and for the steamto be supplied usedin low-pressureapplications: for land drainage,irrigation to it down the shaft from a surfaceboiler with an attendant and dockyards,and also for marine condensercooling water increasein condensationand a considerabledrop in operating pumpswhere their compactness was also a decidedadvantage. efficiency. Such considerations,however, did not trouble By 1880pump efficiencies were approaching 60 per cent,and British collierieswho had unsaleableslack coal to bum and by using them with the higher speedmarine engines then in from before1870 several British companiesbegan supplying usewater could be deliveredat up to 30 feetat thisefhciency. them with thesehorizontal direcfacting pumping engines.33 This began to make them directly competitive with beam Suchconsiderations did, however,affect Comish mine owners, pumpingengines for certainapplications, so rhat when the and this is one of the reasonswhy they persistedwith beam 1849 beam pumping engine,van Lijnden, which had been pumping engines long after others had abandonedthem draining the Haarlemermeerat Leeghwater,Holland, was altogether. replacedin 1895,it was with two compoundengines each direct-coupledto a centrifugalpump.23 The transformationfor Pumping Engines for Medium-Pressure low-pressureapplications was completedby 1904 when the and Medium-Discharge Applications EastLondon water works, one of theleading water companies in Londonand until 1889an exclusiveuser of beampumping The disadvantagefor horizontaldirect-acting pumping engines engines, constructedthe Angel Road station with three of undergroundinstallation could be avoidedif the engine inverted-verticalcompound engines each direcrcoupledto wereerected on the surfaceand connected to the conventional centrifugalpumps.24 Cornish pit work by flat rods, angle cranks and tee bobs. Whilst suchengines were constrained in sizeboth in diameter Horizontal Direct-Acting Pumps for and strokeby considerationsof excessivewear, their capacity High-Pressure Low-Discharge Applications was limited. The pump stroke could be increasedby the introductionof reductiongearing, so that for a givencylinder In 1845Henry R. Worthingtonestablished workshop a in New sizeand pumping rate the engineoperated faster and therefore York to make non-rotativedirect-acting pumping engines in supplied more power. But all the reports in the British whichthe valve gear which controlledthe motionof thepiston technicalliterature, for the periodbetween 1870 and 1887,are in the steamcylinder was actuated by the motionof the piston for enginescapable of developingconsiderably less than one itself.25Although these first engines were small, non- hundredhorsepower, during a period when beam pumping condensingand did not usethe expansiveproperties of steam, enginesdeveloped well in excessof thatfigure. Indeed, beam and were thereforenot particularlyefficient, they were cheap enginestotally dominatedlarge power installationsuntil at to makeand by the 1870sthey were used in theirthousands for leastI 876,when that position was challenged firstly by several suchhigh pressurelow dischargeapplications as boiler feed horizontalcompound pumping engines and then by inverted- pumpsand fire engines.Had theseengines remained so, they verticalpumping engines, based on marineengine practice. In would have presentedno challengeat all, but Worthington 1876 Hathom, Davis, Campbell and Davey of Leeds had went on to developa twin cylinderor duplexpumping engine erecteda 34 inch by 64 inch by 90 inch horizontaltandem- which providedan almostcontinuous flow of fluid, could be compound non-rotativepumping engine34 worked expansively,and in which the valve gear for one at East Hetton colliery, Durham.35During trials cylinderwas activatedby the movementof the pistonin the this engine indicated 254 horsepowerand retumeda other. He built thesein larger sizes,and installedthem in duty of 100.8millions.l0 This madeit comparablewith pumping American waterworks.The first notableinstallation was at thebest beam enginesat the time.Nevertheless, Newark26in 1870 where, for the first time, a horizontal it was not the horizontalstationary engine pumpingengine developed more than 100water horsepower.2T but the inverted-verticaltriple-expansion marine engine which Both the introduction of hydraulic machinery28and the finally madethe beam pumpingengine totally obsolete.3TIn discoveryof oil in Americaand also in Russia,in the 1880s, 1889T. Richardsonand Sons,Hartlepool, built anderected an also stimulatedthe developmentof this type of pumping 18 inch by 30.5 inch by 5l inch by 36 inch 160 indicated engineand in 1885Worthington erected four of what were horsepowerinverted-vertical triple-expansion pumping engine thenthe largestdirect-acting pumping engines for transporting at WalthamAbbey pumpingstation for theEast London Water oil from the Philadelphiafield to New York.2eBy 1886 Works Company.s811l;t was the first such engine in the Worthingtonpumps were in use in more than 40 per cent of London water works.39During trials the engine retumed a Americanwaterworks, and this was probablyinstrumental in specific steamconsumption of 13.53 poundsper indicated persuadingJames Simpson and Company,Pimlico, who had horsepowerhour and demonstratedthat the inverted-vertical erectedtheir first Woolf compound beam enginesin the engine,based on marineengine practice, was comparablefor London waterworks in 1866, to begin manufacturing economywith any othertype yet built.+oAlthough a few beam Worthingtonpumping engines in Britain underlicence.30 The pumping engineswere built for water works after this the 330 horsepowerWorthington pumping engine which they inverted-verticaltriple-expansion pumping engine soon installedin 1888at Hamptonfor the West MiddlesexWater becamedominant. Works Company,when independentlytested by ProfessorW. Beam enginesprovided the most efficient form of large C. Unwin, demonstratednot only that such pumpscould be pumping engine for much of the nineteenthcentury. That built in sizesto equalthose of beampumping engines, but also positionbegan to be challengedfrom 1870onwards, firstly by thatthey could be just asfuel efficient.3I horizontaldirect-acting pumping engines which could either That British waterworksdid not suddenlyconvert to this be installedunderground or closeto a sourceof water,then by new form of pumping engine as many of their American centrifugal pumps for low-pressure high-discharge counterparts had done, and even persisted with the applicationsand finally and directly by the inverted-vertical constructionof morebeam pumping engines was because,as triple-expansionpumping engine.4r Only in Comwall did they distinct from most Americanand someEuropean waterworks, continueto be used well into the twentiethcentury, in part manyBritish companies derived their supplies from wells.32In becausecoal for fuel remaineda costlyimported commodity.+z thehorizontal direct-acting pumping engine the steam cylinder Although few examplesnow survive,these engines remain, has to be at the samelevel as the water cylinder,and this must along with the railway locomotiveand the trans-Atlantic be within 30 feetof thewater if thepump is not to suckair. As steamer,one of the major achievementsin mechanical most wells were over a hundredfeet deep this would have engineeringin thenineteenth century. M .rd. most THE LOCAL EXPERIENCE Worthington inverted-verticaltriple-expansion direct-acting supplied pumping enginesbuilt and erectedby Thompsonsbetween tttendant - .:.ustraliaengineers and engineeringmanufacturers did nol 1893 and 1897 at Spotswood for the Melboume and rperating :.:shly follow any particular traditional engineering Metropolitan Board of Works locally confirmed, such direct- : rrouble :-:::i.-es. Comish or otherwise.They rather demonstrated acting engineswere unable to perform as economicallyas -).d-rable responsivenessto, and understanding rurn and of, the othertypes of largepumping engine then available.5e rpplying .-:r.i3S in steamtechnology occurring in all othercountries. --: . As in Britain, beamengines were usedfor all the heavy :r!ine5.33 rbandonedthe use of whim enginesby 1870 at thelatest, pumping applicationsuntil the introduction : O\r'nefs, -,-_-gh suchengines continued to be built in Comwalluntil of horizontal compoundand triple expansion pumping th beam enginesafter 1888.00 -::rrifugal In 1889 Lonie, Dingle and Company, Ballarat, had 3d them pumps were introduced to the Ballarat compoundeda horizontalsimple pumping engine for theBerry . towardsthe end of 1865.By March 1866 the -':.Js ConsolsExtended Company at Smeaton.6lThis was the first :::> Mining Company,Gum TreeFlat, Ballarat, -- Quartz compound pumping engine built in Mctoria. In l89Z ' - - two small Gwynnecentrifugal tailings pumps ':.rlled Thompsonsat Castlemainebuilt a 16 inch by 28 inch by rr-:'r.l ar 640 revolutionsper minuteand belt drivenby a 48 inch 280 horsepowerhorizontal cross-compound pumping '-- .:.Eine.+3Whilst this enabled them to clearsome 400 to : anqines ' enginefor ChalkNo. 3 ConsolidatedGold Mining Company,62 * -: p€r week they reportedthat suchpumps were little : engine and in 1894 the Phoenix Foundry, Ballarat, built a -:- .::t.nt over ordinary plunger pumps for power .inrional 270 horsepowerhorizontal cross-compound pumping engine Severalother companieson Ballarat and :e bobs. -^::ron.{ for the North PrenticeCompany, Rutherglen.63 Such engines --:' '.:.t:rnto usecentrifugal pumps+s and local engineering lrameter werenow comparablein powerand probably as economical as - "-: - i beganto makethem,a6 but therewere no bigger -r3rS the smallerbeam pumping engines then in use.6aThree more --apacity - r> until 1889when largescale hydraulic br the sluicing beam pumping engineswere built in 1895-1896,but these ., ihat year the GillespieGold Mining Companyat linder werethe last.In 1895an I 1.5inch by 18 inchby 30 inchby --r - Flat. Yackandandah,constructed lerefore - -" a suction cutter 60 inch 350 horsepowerhorizontal triple-expansion geared , .r \e* Zealanddesign which madeuse of a twin British --: pumping engine was designedby GeorgeRichards for the - - , - : . .l inchengine and a 60 inchcentrifugal pump !!7. are of Duke United Gold Mining Company at Timor.65This was -" - -::.Jn.-' Othercompanies followed+8 and Thompsons -llan one followedin 1896by an 11.5inch by 16 inch by 30 inch by " :--.i:ni. which was oneof thecentres for sluicingin :umping - 60 inch 370 horsepowerhorizontal tandem-twin triple- ,:ran makingpumps for sluicingplant. Between 'J. beam expansiongeared pumping engine designed by JamesGibson ' - ,. --e they made242 pumpsnot only for Victorian until at - -- for the SpringHill and CentralLeads Company, Smeaton,66 - -: :-: :.>o for minesin the otherAustralian states and . several andin 1897by a 13.5inch by 20 inch by 30 inchby 60 inch - - : themto New Zealand,the FederatedMalay :1\erted- - ':"rning 4O0horsepower horizontal geared triple-expansion pumping - : : -:.-..{irica, and evenComwall.50 The one and only ..-trce.In engine for the Southem and Prentice United Company, .- -: - -: .:rrallationwas by the Duke and Main Leads :ds had Rutherglen.6TAll theseengines were built by the phoenix ' - ::nr. Timor,which installed two l8 inchplunger :andem- Foundry,Ballarat, and in the Duke and SpringHill enginesat . - : -.-- , _rtt(-)0 horsepower electrically-driven centrifugal Hetton -: least, variable expansiongear had been fitted to ensure rdicated economical operation in sizes which were now quite - --- :-:rps werenot built for themines, however, but ,.'5 This comparablewith thoseof thelargest beam pumping engines in - --' :. rurposes.The first of thesewere at Mildurain .s at the use, and from this point onwardssuch horizontalpumping . . - l-r:ir installationis particularlyimportant as the . rnglne enginesbecame dominant. r : -::. rn of the marine inverted-vertical triple- : * hich .l;.-^r1., +^ f,^-. ::;re directly coupled^^"^l^, to a^ centrifugal ^^-+-:4,-^l pump. -,,-- They Simplicity :te.-r7In -:-i. - risp€ctively,the frfth, sixth and seventhland- :.-ted an - . :-:\:itnsron pumplng enginesto be built and McCarthyand Davis argued that horizontal engines were more -:,licated as two .. . .un ived (onein almostworking order) they are frequentlyused for pumpingbecause they were simplerand r cngine : r:::r enginesof theirclass in theworld. cheaper.6aWhat constitutedsimplicity was undefined,but if n Water the major sub-assemblies -.- ::poned useof a direct-actingpumping engine of beam, whim and horizontal in the pumpingengine installations are compared, : l.;nes QuartzMining Company,in 1862.They then it is evident rrned a that beampumping installations - ::nkey engineto supplyfeedwater to a boiler.5z had no more than two-thirds :dicated the numberof major sub-assemblies : -.:r for similarpurposes were soon reported as in that horizontalengines -,,irtical had and, on this judged :.:rrJ (1865),Inglewood (1865), Ballarat (1866) accountalone, may be the simpler :ible for arrangement.69Between the whim '* - ..6\). but no suchengines in largersizes were and horizontalpumping beam engineinstallation there - : .-'r,sha 16 inchby 32 inchby 48 inchhorizonral are fewer differences:the beamand :hrs the parallelmotion in theformer and a gearpair in - : _ ::_:-rcringpumping engine was designedby thelatter. These : SOOn differenceswere probablynot essential, -- >: :: rnd madeby Mort's Dock and Engineering and whar seemsto havebrought the horizontal engine into favour - :-- for the Sydney water works;53Roberts at wasthe relative ri large easeby whichthis class of enginecould be installedwithout . - -: j r3!un makingrelatively large direct-acting air -'. That theneed for an expensiveengine - r': .. -. :. li86:s+and AustralOtis had securedthe house;in particulara massive masonrywall :itly by u -- --' r :i3ni\ b) 188855andin1892hadmadea9inch by which to supportthe beam,if that is what : either - i :-^L L- 1a: thesewhim engineswould haverequired. - - - :.. l. rnchby 15inch triple-expansion direct-acting ien by .- +L.-i- l^^:^- r-r: : ,' r -- :-i.:.i-.-- of^t rheir own^,,,- design,capable ^^-^Ll^ of ^r delivering- r-harge Adaptability * ,, .'- .:.. per da1 to 4-50feet (59.2 water horsepower), .i irtical - -: :':::.i:) Creek pumping station : of the Broken Hill In deeplead mining, where beam pumping engines dominated, i,l therr ..,srent.56 - :' - - - ,. The chief reasonfor this is that for pumpingduties rarely remained constant. They varied with the rn part - '-: . :er-inrh century mining companiesin Victoria depthof sinking,the positionof the shaftin the strata,the time ,rJlty.42 -\t - -: .' for fuel.57and in the vicinity of the major of year,and the extentof drainagefrom adjoiningworkings.T0 :emain, -: -' .: :...,rrrt and Bendigo this was in short supply by The applicationof the cataractgovemor to the beamengine \tlantic '-.: :-:l ettlciencl was of considerableimportance madeit possiblefor a moreor lesslengthy dwell periodto hanical be - ': - --tr:.:: enr largemine.-5S As the Belmont engine insertedbetween each working -: 'ri stroke so that the pumping ' -::: r:t\rrirred. and as the four 300 horseoower ratescould be varied continuously and easilv between zero and 45 some maximum level, usually between12 and 15 strokesper Carisbrook,came to considera new pumpingengine for their minute.TlIn a horizontalpumping engine in which the motion No. 2 shaft,they gaveserious consideration to one proposalfor of the pistonrod was transferredto the pump rod by a crank no a horizontaltriple-expansion pumping engine and to another such dwell period was possible.These engines had to operate for a beam engine, and despite already having a horizontal continuously,utilising a flywheel to maintain motion through compoundpumping engine installed at the No. I shaft,which the dead centres at the end of each stroke, and to prevent might have made them predisposedto enginesof this type, stalling.Variations in engine speed,and hencepumping rate, they chosethe beamengine. To blamethe failure of mining could only be achievedwithin a narrow rangeby alterationsin companiesupon their choiceof pumpingengine ignores the the govemorsettings, and generallyat the expenseof throttling fact that they were mining in a notoriouslywet part of the lead the steam supply, as few of these early horizontal engines system and it was only to be expectedthat operationsthere appearto havebeen fitted with any form of variableexpansion weregoing to be expensive.As therecords of thosecompanies valve gear. To obtain a wider variation in pumping rates which workedon the Berry leadsnorth of Creswickshow, very involved either an alterationin the crank position, so altering few of thosewho installedhorizontal pumping engines fared the pump stroke,or, less frequently,an alterationin the gear any betterthan the two which installedbeam engines.T6 ratio. In neitherof thesecases could thesechanges be made,if allowed by the pumps and gearing employed, whilst the Innovation installationwas operational.The beamengine installation was Finally,it hasbeen suggested that the horizontalsteam engine always easier to control wheneverthe pumping duty varied and the associatedpumping gear considerably. was a Victorian invention. This maybe morethan just wishfulthinking, although some of Cost the elementsin this arrangementhad clearly beenused before. Flat rods,for instance,were used to connectthe pump rods to a The costsassociated with any installationconsisted of a fixed whim engineat theWherry mine, Penzance, Cornwall, at some cost associatedwith the manufacture,transport and erectionof time before 1790.The remainderof the apparatus:a simple the engine on site; a cost for fuel which varied more or less horizontal steam engine, a gear pair, and interconnecting proportionatelywith the water horsepower;and a cost for cranksand rods, was illustratedin a cataloguefrom William's generalmaintenance and repair.Although thereare somedata PerranFoundry, circa 1875.77The accompanyingdescription availableabout the overall cost of mininginstallations, it is not indicatedthat such installationswere sent abroad for the easy to identify the costs associatedwith particular piecesof operation of small mines. It might therefore appear that machinery,except in selectedinstances. Such data as do exist Victorian miners, many of them Comishmen,were simply suggest,however, that the installationcosts per horsepowerfor following acceptedCornish mining practice. Nevertheless beam engines were substantiallylower than for horizontal there are referencesto horizontal gearedpumping enginesin enginesuntil at least 1880,despite the fact that the engine useat Clunesas early as 1859,Bendigo in 1860and Ballarat housesthemselves represented a substantialcapital outlay.72 from I 862 onwards.T8As referencesoverseas to geared Even though a beam engine might cost more initially, the pumpingengines do not appearuntil 1870,this may well be a subsequentworking of such engineswas generally far more caseof local innovation,although the availableevidence is by economicalthan for horizontalengines at leastuntil 1890.2r no meansconclusive. Horizontal engines on Mctoria mines were often high The general impression is that the engineers and pressure/non-condensingengines so that the specific fuel engineeringmanufacturers in Victoria in the latter half of the consumptionwas always higher than for beam enginesin nineteenthcentury were no fools. Although the first stageof which the steamwas exhausted to a condenser.Although it is mine mechanisationhad, perforce, to be with readilyavailable true that companiesoften had considerablediffrculties in the imported machinery,they soonbegan to adaptthis to their own operationof their beamengines: broken gudgeon pins, cracked needs,encouraged in this firstly by the newly formedScience beams, and fractured castings; there is some evidence to Boardand thenby the Departmentof Mines.By 1859,more suggestthat the gear specificallyassociated with horizontal than a decadebefore they were reportedin Europe,they were pumping engines was not particularly reliable either. Of installinghorizontal geared pumping engines;by 1862,and 292 breakagesto mining machinerywhich were reportedin apparentlybefore their introductioninto Britain, they were the literaturebetween 1859 and 1918 almost 4O per cent using smallhorizontal direct-acting pumping engines; and by relatedto pumps;and of thesepump failures 10 per cent were 1865,a year beforethe Chathamtrials, they were also using failures in the gear pairs which connectedthe enginesto the centrifugalpumps. By 1870horizontal engines had displaced pump rods.74What all this cost in lost productionis unknown, whim enginesfor generalduties, as was then happeningin but it appearsto have been a fault which persistedfor some Britain and Europe, and for moderate pumping duties time, at leastfrom 1863to 1869,when suchaccidents were horizontal engineswere consideredto be preferableto beam regularlyreported. engines.They werecheaper to install,even if moreexpensive to operate,and they were, as the recordsshow, the choice of Mine Failures companieswanting to minimisetheir initial expenditure.For heavy pumpingduties however, where the enginewas to be The suggestion by Daveythat the high costof beampumping usedsolely for this purpose,beam engines remained the first engine installationswas partly responsiblefor the failure of choice.Although they might cost more to install,they were someof the deeplead mining companiesignores that fact that generallycheaper to operateand far easierto control. This no cheaper machinery of comparablepower was available advantagewas not seriouslychallenged until the introduction at the time these companieswere in operation.T5The Berry of horizontaltriple-expansion pumping engines, the first of No. I and Hepbum Estate beam engineseach developed which was installed in 1895. Until this time horizontal 270 horsepowerwhen installed in 1884and 1885respectively. pumping enginescomplemented rather than competedwith The largesthorizontal steam engine installedin Victoria up to beam pumpingengines. What eventuallybrought about the that time only developed100 horsepower.Horizontal engines demiseof the beamengine was the greatincrease in pumping more powerful than the largest beam engineswere not built powerbrought about by compounding.This firsr occurredin before1895, when the Phoenix Foundry at Ballaratsupplied a Victoria in 1889,at the sametime as the first marinetriple- 350horsepower horizontal triple-expansion pumping engine to expansionengine was installed in theLondon water works, but the Duke United mine, north of Maryborough.But evena year whereasin Britainit wasthe inverted-verticalform which was later, in 1896, when the Chalk's No.3 Company,at successful,in Victoria it was the horizontalone which was 6 : -.r their :dopted because this left the shaft opening relatively the Berry No. I Companyat Smeaton,but only afterentering .-r:al for .lnclutteredfor otheressential machinery. into a bond for f1 000, or aboutone third of the cost of the lnother Beam pumping enginesin Victoria were thereforenot engine,because critics thought the foundry was unable to :izontal :rtiquated machinery tolerated in some technologically make it. The 25 ton beam was cast in two main sections, :. s hich ::ckward comer of the world. but were. for their time. a 32 feet long by 6 feet 3 inchesdeep.8o The cylinderweighed :s type, ,.refully consideredand wholly appropriateengineering l0 tons, the bottom casting5 tons, and the cylinder cover nining ':iponse to the problems confronted by local mining 4 tons.As it happened,the enginewas readywell beforethe rras the - rmpanies.Such sites as now remain thereforeneed to be companybottomed their shaft,and when it was finally put to ::e lead .::rsideredfairly on their meritsunhindered by unwarranted work, in September1885, it went awaywithout a hitch.It had ri there : ::.-onceptions. an all-up weight of about 120 tons and developed270 :rpanles horsepower. . *. very :IGNIFICANCE The Berry No. I enginewas the largestbeam engine made :. fared in Victoria up to that time. Whatever the design lacked in .. :.:oughonly twelvebeam engine sites now survivethey are originality, it neverthelessmarked a high point in the -:.:nheless representativeof the rangeof sitesonce active, developmentof mechanicalengineering manufacture in this - .: almost the first to the last, and from relativelysmall country; signifying that in little more than forty yearsafter the - r installationsto the largestpumping ones; and they are first foundry had been startedin Melbournewith the simplest -..S,..' - : Io documentthe gradualsophistication of engineering .3ntion. - of equipment,some engineeringestablishments had gained -::-tacture in Victoria in the latter half of the nineteenth rlme of sufficientexperience and skills to manufactureeconomically :---n.j9 All the very earliestengines appear to havebeen : tefore. what,at thattime, were examples of high technology.Over the - :, red. as might be expected.The only beamengine known -rds to a next thirty years that newly-won confidencewas expressed -..: beenmade locally, prior to 1884,was by thePhoenix rl SOme with a certain exuberancein a seriesof pumping engine ' at Ballaratfor the New PerseveranceCompany in simple --lr\ installationswhich were neither simple copies of imported ' '- .{ll traceof this sitehas long sincedisappeared. ::sCtrng - machinery,nor merely the work of one highly specialised ' rlliam's . :: first of the largerengines, with a 40 inch cylinderand foundry. Thesedevelopments made it possiblefor Victoria to inptlon :J by the Great North West Company at Ballarat in be a netexporter of machinerythroughout the period following -: :or the .\is ?n imported Harvey engine. Local engineering thefinancial crisis of 1892-1 893 and this undoubtedlyassisted .rr that .-: .hments at that time almost certainly lacked the somelocal establishments to recoverwhen there was a gradual :imply :E-::r.e. the pattems and the productive capacity needed to decline in the local demandfor mining machinery,and a r:iheless -,: i:riS and the larger engines which were installed on reductionin theavailability of investmentcapital. in :--:i up to 1870. In the next decade, however, they made ;ines Althoughthe earlyengine houses which surviveappear to Ballarat . l thesedeficiencies. be copiedfrom Comishexamples,8l the absence of local stone seared . . \70 the Union Foundry at Ballarat had installed a on Ballaratand the centralleads, as the traditionalbuilding ":ll be a - -rola capable of melting 20 tons of iron in three hours, material, led to the application of other materials so that .--'is by : :> t$'o overhead cranes traversing the entire length of severalof the laterVictorian enginehouses were constructed in --.in and together capable of lifting 60 tons. It had also ways which were not to be found in Cornwall.For example, -:j :i-i and lnd speciallymade, at a cost of f800, a largeengine thereare no enginehouses in Comwallbuilt wholly of brick,8z : of the -,:-:ble of machining objectsup to 11 feet in diameter there are none built in concrete, and none compares for .tage Of -: :r J0 feet long. Shortly before this, on 26 September monumentalitywith themassive granite beam wall at theDuke ,. rilable -: of the side plates of the cast iron beam broke on the andTimor mine site.83 -.31rown . - :rsine belonging to the Great North West Company at Science - -.-.: The beam was 32 feet long, 5 feet 6 inches deep at the CONCLUSIONS ,. more " r: :iJ 1.5 inches thick. The Union Foundry delivered a i\ were , --'-r3ani. requiring 12 tons of molten metal, within 12 Mctoria hadalmost as many confirmed beam engines installed -- 51. and : \\as the largest casting then poured in the colony. as in SouthAustralia, and althoughno engineshave survived, :i Wefg .. - .ir-l the same foundry supplied a replacement 54 the sitesof twelveengine houses have. These span the period rnd by ' .j:r for the City of Ballarat Company when the flow from 1859to 1905,and complement those still extantin South ..r rrqin o .:- ].came too greatfor its imported40 inch engine. Australia. ..placed - October 1879,the foundry suppliedtwo sets of Throughoutmost of the nineteenthcentury non-rotative :n rng in " , - :-:rping gearfor theDuke and Timor 80 inchengine. beamengines were a simple,effective and cost efficient way to : duties ^r: :rr heaviest lot of pumps and gear then made and pump largevolumes of water.This positionwas not seriously * :-r beam , : :: rnAustralia. By I 880,therefore, the Union Foundry challengedfor moderatepressures and moderatedischarges ,.:ensive * - - :r: :nd installedall the maincomponents needed in a until the introductionof the triple-expansionsteam pumping :cice of -"- : - -- rrfteengine. All it wantedwas the opportunity to put engine,based on marineengine practice, after 1889. :re. For : :r:in.e togetherin a singleinstallation. Quite apart from their own intrinsic significanceas rs to be -l :te first the Dukeand Timor Companyhad invitedtenders examplesof the local use of what was then regardedas .. r.rundriesfor a72 inchengine. They had hoped to advancedtechnology, it is possibleto readthe Victoriansites 'rl. This : :-: 000.but the only tenderreceived, probably from in termsof the graduallyincreasing level of local engineering '.iuction - Foundry,was for f5 000. LanglandsFoundry, sophisticationin the latterhalf of the nineteenthcentury. At a llrst of .rldest engineeringestablishment, had been time when the engineeringestablishments involved in these .:izontal :: tlrsl.but eventually decided that they would have developmentshave disappeared altogether, and the places they ':J with .:-rn too much costly and specialmachinery. The once occupiedhave often changedbeyond all recognition, -.:in\ :out the eventuallyimported an 80 inch by 120inch what remainsof the siteswhere the enginesthey made and :..lmping , -r Ensland at the somewhatdepressed price of maintainedonce operatedare a significantpart of Victoria's :rred in :.:,lins transport).This was the last of the larse engineeringheritage, and a timely reminderof localenterprise. .:.:. to be impofted. Half a world away the surviving Victorian and South :':ks.but . ::rr availableopportunity, in 1884,the Union Australianbeam engine sites complement and extend the range -.:.'hwas .-:.-:eded against intemationalcompetition in of those sites still to be found in Comwall. Indeed they -.'h was r'itractto supply a 70 inch by 108 inch enginefor representthe most significantcollection of engine houses 47 outsideBritain, providingstriking evidence of the continuity 9 Advertisementsfor beam engines persist over several of Comish mining technologyand mining practice,as well as years,at leastfrom 1857until 1862. local variationson thosetraditions. In view of renewedinterest in the preservationof the survivingengine houses in Cornwall, 10 Victoria,Department of Mines, QuarterlyReports of the it would appearappropriate if greaterefforts were made to do Mining Registrars. something similar here, beginning by nominating the more 11 This also assumesthat the data are reliable.Whilst the significantof thesesites for the Registerof the National Estate accuracy of the numbers recorded for any particular and then for the World Heritage Register.For Victoria this divisiondepended crucially upon the energy,initiative and should include theseten sites:Eldorado Company, Specimen perseveranceof the individual mining registrar, the Hill, FryersCreek (1860), oldest extant site in Victoria;Duke accuracyof the aggregatewould be less seriouslyaffected of ComwalVAustralian United Gold Mining Company, by suchindividual differences. Cattle'sReef, Fryers Creek (1869), most intact engine house; Anglo-Australian Company/English-AustralianGold Mining 12 Steam engines were used elsewhere,notably in flour Company,Heron's Reef, Fryers Creek (1870), most intact milling and in manufacture,but at leastfor the periodto whim engine site; Duke and Timor Company/GrandDuke 1880the consumption of powerin Victorianquartz mining Company, Timor Lead, Chinaman's Flat, Maryborough was at least twice that for manufacturingand agriculture (1873), largestbeam engine site in Australia;Berry No. I combined;without taking accountof the power initially Company,Smeaton, Creswick (1884), site of first locallymade expended in alluvial mining. Power consumption in beam engine;Hepburn Estate Leasehold Company, Smeaton, Victorianmanufacturing did not achieveparity with that in quartzmining 1884. Creswick(1885), site of secondlocally madebeam engine; until Chalk's No. I Company,Carisbrook, Maryborough (1887), 13 742 by horsepowerand 57 7 by cylinderdiameter. relocatedsite of largestbeam engine on Ballarat; Duke No. I Company,Timor Lead,Chinamans Flat, Maryborough(1888), 14 41 by horsepowerand 114 by cylinder diameter.There site of relocatedBallarat beam engine;Band of Hope and were also 36 portableengines (26 by horsepowerand ten Albion Consols,No. 9 shaft, Golden Point Lead, No. 1 by cylindersize), 16 verticalengines (1 1 by horsepower division,Ballarat (1895), only extantsite on Ballarat;Loddon and five by cylindersize) and sevenother types of engine ValleyGoldfields Company, Moolort, Maldon (1905),site of (oscillating,donkey and locomotive). lastbeam engine used in Victoria.8a 15 That ts,24 + (446+ 659)17:182 (Milner 1988:7,and NOTES TablesI and2). 16 The data need to be treatedwith a certain I Connell1987. amount of cautionas none of the companieswhich had largebeam 2 McCarthyand Davis 1986;These were: Band of Hope, engineswere recorded as havinginstalled condensers; the BallaraqGreat North WestCompany, Ballarat; Band and Beny No. 1 Company,for example.But the sectional Albion No. 9, Sebastopol;Star of the East No. 2, elevationof this engine, which was published in the Sebastopol;Duke of Comwall,Fryerstown; Grand Duke, Annual Report of the Departmentof Mines for 1884, Timor; Duke Extension,Timor; Moolort Gold Estates, clearly shows both the condenserand the air pump Moolorq Berry No. 1, Allendale; and Hepbum No. 1, mountedbetween the beamwall and the shaft. Allendale.All these enginesare included in Thble l, 17 There are 7l referencesspecifically to condensersfor althoughthe names of thecompanies with which theywere steamengines in the Departmentof Mines and associated associateddiffer in someinstances. reports. The first of these was one installed at the Port 3 Baragwanath1903, 1923; Gregory 1906; Hunter 1903, Phillip Gold Mining Company,Clunes, in 1859,but the (47) 1909. majority of the references are to installations after 1899, and there are only I 1 referencesto installationsprior 4 Imperial units are used throughout as almost all the to 1880. This would suggesteither that the use of a machinerydescribed here was made in those units. In condenserwas not worth reportingor that most engines specifying a beam engine, none of which were usedon Victorianmines were non-condensing.The latter compounded,the first dimension is the diameter of the explanationis morelikely as thereare regular reports (34) cylinder and the second is the maximum length of the for the period from 1863 to 1868 about companies workingstroke. This alsoapplies to othersimple engines. cleaningboilers, and occasionalreference in the same For compound and triple expansion engines the first periodto the conosivityof the minewater which seemsto dimensionsare the diametersof the cylinders (from high havebeen in regularuse. pressureto low pressure)and the last dimensionis the l8 In theconventional Comish engine arrangement, where the stroke. Where dimensions are unknown these are **x. beamload was supportedby a massivemasonry wall, this designatedby was chiefly associatedwith the building of a substantial 5 Barton1969:219-281. enginehouse. For the 80 inch engineobtained by the Duke andTimor Company for f3 000and installed at Chinaman's 6 Barton 1969:281. Flat, the beamwall was constructedfrom dressedgranite blocks generally 3 feet squareand 6 feet long and the 7 Barton 1969:281.The companyhad called tendersfor the enginehouse had cost f2 000. local manufactureof a 72 inch engineat a cost of f3 000, but had been disappointedthat no one was preparedto 19 This view hasbeen chiefly promotedby Blainey's(1963) supplysuch an engineat this figure.The 1872engine is readingofThureau (1811), Rickard (1890), and 'Victorian listed in Barton (1969:281) with a price of f2350 goldfields.Sandhurst', Engineering,49, 3 January1890, deliveredin London which is comparablewith the price set 15-18;49, 17January 1890,53-56; 49,312 January 1890, by the companyfor local manufactureif transportcosts for 105-1 08; 49, 14 February1 890, 160-162,supplement; 49, theimported engine are also included. 21 February188-192; 49,7 March 289-292; and more recentlysupported by McCarthyand Davis (i986), and by 8 5 Septemberand I November1860, for example. Davey(1985). 48 :r several l0 For example,the three84 inch by 144 inch by 132 inch 26 'The Worthingtonpumping engine', Engineering, 1O,23 annularcompound beam pumping engines,Leeghwater, September1870, p. 224. T\is pumpingengine delivered Cruquis and van Lijnden designedby Arthur Dean and over 4 million gallonsof water per day to 175 feet and ns of the JosephGibbs for the drainageof the Haarlemermeer, developed123.5 water horsepower. Holland,and built between1845 and 1849by Harveyand 27 Trials of a 29 inch by 50.25inch by 50 inch Worthington rlilst the Company, Hayle, and by Williams' Perran Foundry, twin (duplex) particular Perranarworthal.The eleven63 inch by 120 inch pumps horizontaltandem-compound non-rotative pumping engine installed at Belmont, Philadelphia,in .:rtiveand were arrangedaround the circular engine house and 1873, demonstratedthat further developmentsin the itrar, the connectedto the enginewith lattice work beamscast in direction of operatingefficiency were still necessary.The '. affected Holland.Two otherengines (the Cruquis and, van Lijnden), engineretumed a duty of only 49.68 millions when each with eight 84 inch by 132 inch pumps were the contracthad beenfor 67.969millions ('Reportsupon the built shortly afterwards.The 110 inch by 120 inch testsof the Worthingtonpumping enginesat Belmont', in flour . 600 horsepowerrotative beam pumping engine, The Engineering,15, 6 June1873, p. 411; 16,4 July 1873, periodto President,with lattice-workbeam and 75 ton flywheel -z pp. l7-18). mining :rade by Meyrick and Sons,Philadelphia, and erectedin 3riculture . t68 at the Friedenvillezinc mine. Bethlehem.Four sets 28 As at the West Docks, Hull, in 1882 (780 poundsper : rnitially :f 30 inch by 120 inch plungerpumps and four setsof squareinch); the Windsor Slipway, Cardiff, in 1885(l 000 :ptron in -:..5 inch by 120inch bucketpumps, boilers and fittings poundsper squareinch); BuenosAyres docks in 1885; :rhthat in .i ere made by I. P. Monis and Company,Philadelphia. Pimie colliery,Fifeshire, in 1886(1 000 poundsper square .re 130inch by 156 inch Bull pumpingengine erected inch):and the Eiffel Towerin 1889. .: SanitaBarbe mine, Charleroi,Belgium, in 1873. -.is operated24 inch pumps at I 900 feet. It was the 29 These were horizontal tandem-compoundpumping ::r. There .:gest suchengine ever built, with probablythe deepest engineswith 41 inch and82 inch cylindersfor theNational Transit Company.They were :r and ten -:nish pitwork.Finally, the twin 40 inch by 120 inch the largest direct-acting pumping .rsepower :.)0 horsepowerrotative beam engine with cast iron enginesin theworld at the time andwere capable of delivering25 per rf engine -t:ns 27 feet long and 9 feet deep,a 30 foot flywheel 000 banelsof oil day at a pressureof I 500 pounds per squareinch ('The .:.;hrng 56 tons mountedbetween the beams,built by transportationof petroleum',Engineering, pp. :.::se Corlissfor theCentennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 31 July 1885, 108-109, :l:7, and supplement;'Pumps for mineral oil', The Engineer, " -::e it operatedall the machinerythrough line shafting. 68, . 30August1889, p. 178).S. Owens and Company, London, "':rehed700 tonsand stood 40 feetabove the exhibition had also supplied Blake pattem duplex direcr-acting rount of pumpingengines for the oil fields in the Caucususin 1882 re beam , .:::ifugal ('Pumpingpetroleum', Engineering, 33, 27 January1 882, lSers;the pumps'. Engineering,1, 27 April 1866, - pp.86, 88). sectional - :-l-6t BarrI 902:335. J in the - - .\as based on a designpatented and used by Andrews 30 'The Worthingtonpumping engine', The Engineer, 61, 'or 1884, '.:.i \brk in 1846.John Gwynne purchased this patent, l9 March1886, pp.232-233. :tr pUmp - . :.:d a British patent for elementsof this design 3l'The Worthington high duty pumping engine', ".1=-:iner1,for pumping,forcing and exhaustingsteam, Engineering,46, 7 December1888, pp. 565-567. :l>ers for - : _eases;adoption of the same for producing ' "nd ..sociated :. and to the saturation, separation and 32 For example,in 1876Farcot et sesFils, St. Ouen,erected a the Port :. -,rositionof substances.'BritishPatent no. 13 577, 14.17inch by 39.37inch by 70.87inch horizontalcross- .. but the '.1.:.-h185 l) and beganmaking centrifugal pumps in compound rotative direct-actingengine in a pumping rns after - -,: .{dditionalBritish patents were granted to James stationat St. Maur which returneda very commendable .,rnsprior - -: -: .\nderson Gwynne ('Machinery for lifting, specificcoal consumptionof 1.54 poundsper indicated :se of a -. -: ind exhausting.'no.2043,22 September1854, horsepowerhour. Direcracting engines were subsequently : en-eines - .:-.provementsin the constructionof centrifugal installedat Potsdam(1878), Flensburg(1881), South lhe latter - : ' ::d:d in the applicationappli thereof, parts of which Africa (1882),Remscheid (1883) and Yokohama (1886). :orts (34) : - r:ints are also aoolicablepplicable to other pumps.' oumns.' Surprisingly, however, McNaughted compound beam rnrpanies -:i. 29 April 1862).The secondof thesepatenrs pumpingengines were designed by Ouo Mueller andbuilt :ili same ', ':l rhedesign of a centrifugalpump runnercapable and erected in 1882 by the Prager Maschinenbau