2014
NS8713 : Wanlockhead Beam Engine
taken 10 years ago, near to Wanlockhead, Dumfries And Galloway, Scotland
Wanlockhead Beam Engine
This unusual machine was used to pump water from the lower levels of a small lead mine up a shaft to a side tunnel leading to a stream. Water to power the engine was collected in a tank on the hillside and piped to the right-hand side of the engine. There it ran into a wooden bucket attached to the beam by an iron rod. The weight of the full bucket pulled the pump rod up the shaft. At the bottom of its pit a valve opened to allow the water in the bucket to run out. The pump rods then pulled the beam down, lifting the bucket up to be filled again, and operating the pump at the bottom of the shaft.
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