This month I’m introducing you to one of our stationary steam engines.
The Davey Paxman
This machine, built in Colchester, England in 1896 by the Davey, Paxman and Co. Engineers, is numbered 9089. It is described as a 25 NHP Class C horizontal engine with a 16½” (42 cm) bore and a 32” (81 cm) stroke, developing 180 bhp [break horsepower] at 100 rpm [revolutions per minute]. The machine drives a 12-foot (3.7m) fly wheel from which a belt system drove everything in the mill that needed power.
It was built for the London & Western Australian Exploration Co. As the name suggests, it was destined for the WA Goldfields where it operated from 1897. From 1940 to 1969 it powered Lyall’s Mill out of Collie. The machine was added to the collection housed in the old Running Shed before, we believe, 2008. It was one of the best preserved 19th Century engines of its type and it operated until the Fire.[1]
Like all of this collection, it had to survive the Fire but it is steel that was meant to withstand heat and the fire merely caused the building it was in to burn down over it. A conservationist expert and scientist informed us that the fire at this location was relatively cool. The roofing iron, though curled, was still like new.
When we were given access to the site we discovered that the machine, like most of the collection, still turned over. We have tried to preserve it and hope that one day it be fully restored and will operate again.[2]
The Davey Paxman before and after the Fire
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[1] This information was partly adapted from an article in the Engineers Australia magazine, EHA [Engineering Heritage Australia] Vol. 2 No.1 January 2016.
[2] From ‘The Phoenix Rises Very Slowly’ Part 7, by Allan Ward.