The engine room of Tower Bridge in London: For those who don't know, Tower Bridge in London is a masterpiece of Victorian architectiure and engineering. The centre section of the...

GARGLEBLASTER Loc: Spain

For those who don't know, Tower Bridge in London is a masterpiece of Victorian architectiure and engineering. The centre section of the bridge is in two halves and elevates to allow ships to pass.

The power oin those days was supplied by steam power and these are some rather disappointing photos of one of the the furnaces and part of the engine room. The engine has been beautifully restored and wpould be still capable of working but today the mechanism is powerd by electricity.

The furnace that heated the water

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The engines

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The pistons

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GARGLEBLASTER Loc: Spain

And just in case you don't know the bridge at all, here's some examples of the decorative cast iron work.

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indycaver Loc: Indianapolis

GARGLEBLASTER wrote:

And just in case you don't know the bridge at all, here's some examples of the decorative cast iron work.

Very cool! Thanks! :thumbup: :thumbup:

CResQ Loc: Cobble Hill, BC

Thanks for sharing this. I come from London and have never seen the old steam engine

Sirius_one Loc: S.F. Bay Area

Beautiful restorations, Very nice set.

GARGLEBLASTER Loc: Spain

CResQ wrote:

Thanks for sharing this. I come from London and have never seen the old steam engine

I was born and bred in London and this is the first time that I have seen the engine room!

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

I never realized. Very impressive. Love the shot of the piston.

Michael66 Loc: Queens, New York

GARGLEBLASTER wrote:

For those who don't know, Tower Bridge in London is a masterpiece of Victorian architectiure and engineering. The centre section of the bridge is in two halves and elevates to allow ships to pass.

The power oin those days was supplied by steam power and these are some rather disappointing photos of one of the the furnaces and part of the engine room. The engine has been beautifully restored and wpould be still capable of working but today the mechanism is powerd by electricity.

"disappointing"?

Nah, sometimes a photograph does it job educating or bringing us images of things that are difficult to get to. These have character and aren't like so many of those soulless 'postcard' shots. Many thanks for sharing.

GARGLEBLASTER Loc: Spain

Michael66 wrote:

"disappointing"?

Nah, sometimes a photograph does it job educating or bringing us images of things that are difficult to get to. These have character and aren't like so many of those soulless 'postcard' shots. Many thanks for sharing.

Thank you for that. I only thougth that they were a bit disappointing because to me they didn't look like what I actually saw. Anyway, I'm glad you liked them. Maybe I'll try again someday.

Kingmapix Loc: Mesa, Arizona

Your photos of the engine room are simply fantastic!
Very well done. Getting down to the engine room is really getting into the life blood of these mechanisms.

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

GARGLEBLASTER wrote:

For those who don't know, Tower Bridge in London is a masterpiece of Victorian architectiure and engineering. The centre section of the bridge is in two halves and elevates to allow ships to pass.

The power oin those days was supplied by steam power and these are some rather disappointing photos of one of the the furnaces and part of the engine room. The engine has been beautifully restored and wpould be still capable of working but today the mechanism is powerd by electricity.

Talk about eye candy!!! Wow!
Is this engine, still in original place of operation?
More images?
Thanks,
Pat

GARGLEBLASTER Loc: Spain

Jay Pat wrote:

Talk about eye candy!!! Wow!
Is this engine, still in original place of operation?
More images?
Thanks,
Pat

Wow, I really didn't expect this reaction. Hope I'm not duplicating but here are some more.

Yes, as far as I'm aware, the engine is still in its original location.

(Download)

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

GARGLEBLASTER wrote:

Wow, I really didn't expect this reaction. Hope I'm not duplicating but here are some more.

Yes, as far as I'm aware, the engine is still in its original location.

Do you know how the bridge is raised?
Cable?
Water pressure?
I find this stuff interesting!
Thanks!
Pat

GARGLEBLASTER Loc: Spain

Pat: The bridge was originally raised by hydraulics. You'll find much more extensive information about it on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge#Hydraulic_system

This gives a detailed explanation about the modern mechanism for raising the bascules. There was quite an interesting film in the museum that showed how the mechnaism originally worked. Each bascule is counterweighted.

Many more and better photographs than mine you can see here:

https://es.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A9mSs2TPxWZT9GsAtvWT.Qt.;_ylu=X3oDMTBsYWhiN2NvBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2lyMgR2dGlkAw--?_adv_prop=image&fr=fp-yff27&va=how+is+tower+bridge+raised%3F

Sorry, you'll have to cut and past that last URL in to your search engine.

Michael66 Loc: Queens, New York

GARGLEBLASTER wrote:

Wow, I really didn't expect this reaction. Hope I'm not duplicating but here are some more.

Yes, as far as I'm aware, the engine is still in its original location.

Ha! More goodness! :) Suggestion. Don't be afraid to get close-ups of the workings like springs and valves. Not a critique, just that I'm a machination junkie! :) And I got my fix today.