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Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Photo-a-Day Archive
Photo-a-Day Archive

Photo-a-Day  (Thursday, 18th April, 2013)

Big wheel


Big wheel
Trencherfield Mill Steam Engine Flywheel.

A 26-foot flywheel with 54 ropes that runs at at 68 rpm.

Photo: Dave (Oy)  (Nikon D700 with Nikon 16-35mm F/4 AF-S VR)
Views: 3,839

Comment by: Lizzie down under on 18th April 2013 at 01:13

Wow.....big wheel indeed.....wonderful.....cheers!!!

Comment by: aitch on 18th April 2013 at 09:49

During my time working at a demolition firm in the 60s, I, with others, cut a few of those wheels up as well as the rope races and line shafting,and machinery which were part and parcel of the system, these were also a small part of the overall destruction of a large part of our heritage, I also cut quite a few steam locos up.

Comment by: Nev on 18th April 2013 at 10:06

Do I detect a little HDR?

Comment by: Janice on 18th April 2013 at 10:15

Love this shot Dave. Cracking image shows every detail.

Comment by: Dave (Oy) on 18th April 2013 at 17:16

Nev: No HDR - just a few tweaks in Adobe Lightroom to give it a bit of impact :)

Comment by: Ernest Pyke on 18th April 2013 at 21:44

For definition of a flywheel see;-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel
Why is this called a flywheel on this engine when it isn`t. It is a drum and is no different from a colliery winding engine where the rope lifts the cage and is called a winding drum.

Comment by: sanibel fred on 19th April 2013 at 15:53

ernest, it may be a drum ,but it is also a flywheel since it stores energy

Comment by: Neil Rigby on 19th April 2013 at 19:39

sanibel fred, you cannot use that argument. All rotating drums/objects "store energy" (although I don't like the term) but not all drums are, or can considered to be, flywheels.
The best that can be conjectured in this case, is that the inherent inertial properties of the drum design (i.e. its mass moment of inertia) together with the operating speed of the drum have a sufficient "flywheel effect" that a separate flywheel is not required. A flywheel (or flywheel effect) may or may not be required in this case and much would depend on the the complete power train and the loads and services imposed on the system as whole.

Comment by: Art on 20th April 2013 at 01:26

A pit winding drum collects & let out the rope, whichever way the cage is going.
A Flywheel, as in this instance, drives a set of endless ropes connecting to the mill driveshafts, which in turn drive the machinery all over the mill

Comment by: John Forshaw on 20th April 2013 at 10:29

Too much false colour. Spoils it for me.

Comment by: Gary on 21st April 2013 at 11:39

I agree with you, John. The false colour makes it appear childish. Hardly 'professional' photography.

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