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I'm no mechanical/ engineering enthusiast but I know the following to be true:- 1. A 12hp Blackstone oil engine was installed in 1904. 2. A 40BHp Hornsby Stockport Gas Suction Engine was installed in February 1909. 3. The old oil engine was sold for £50 in November 1909 as it was no longer used. 4. Penarth did not have a compressor.
posted by Richard Williams on 20/06/2007
it seems i made a mistake there wasnt a blackstone engine "In 1904, a sawing shed opened at the eastern end of the site with a 12 h.p. Blackburne engine. Possibly later than this, a Hornsby 40 h.p. gas engine was installed" my estimate of size would be 10-12" Diameter but the length is unknownim fairly sure it wouldnt have belonged to a 40 hp as the engines work under such low pessure that a silencer simply isnt needed, that leaves the !2 hp as the most likely candidate incidentaly if anyone knows of any information sources for the history of penarth please contact me with them if possible
posted by Jim on 15/04/2007
Jim, that is most likely however its difficult judging the size of the silencer without seeing it! A similar one is seen here http:/ / www.stationaryengine.org/ Rallies%202005/ Barleylands/ crossley2 barleylands 2005.jpg however I'm unsure if it's original to the Crossley.
posted by Chris Perkins on 15/04/2007
it seems a 40 hp blackstone engine was used at penarth to power the force pump there. If it is correct that this is the silencer for that engine i would hazzard a guess that the compressed air tank was in fact used to start the engine rather than the engine being used to drive a compresser
posted by Jim on 15/04/2007
im quite the vintage stationary engine buff on the quiet and im surprised i didnt think of this possibility myself, however there doesnt appear to be any baffles in it and to me it looked more like a gland than a pipe fitting on the top, im not saying your wrong im just playing devils advocate
posted by Jim on 15/04/2007
Jim, I think the object part-buried near the compressed air reciever tank is the exhaust pot from an internal combustion engine. Early oil engines had seperate silencers/ exhaust pots which were mounted somewhere convinient, with a tall pipe fitting in a hole at the top. This one is probably off a 'Crossley' or 'Blackstone' engine which would have once powered the compressor.
posted by Chris Perkins on 13/04/2007
