Building a Cornish Pumping Engine

Entry posted by 0820PerranporthPaddington October 22, 2017

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I first made the Pumping Engine in 1980, just to see if I could! It is made of clay and represented a typical ruined Engine House. Over the years, I thought about 'kitting it out' with a fully working example, but never getting past that stage until this year, when I obtained a synchronous motor, geared down to 5rpm, which when fitted with a crank, gave the correct speed for the beam to move up and down, nearly all engines of this type worked at five strokes per minute.

First to go in were the main beams that support the Beam, which in turn are supported by the cross beams and the Bob wall.

I then made up the front hoarding, which enclosed the top floor against the weather in a real engine.

Next, starting to make up the bob platforms, prior to fitting the drive (a 220v synchronous motor, rotating at 5rpm).

I then made the beam, or 'bob' in Cornish terms, which I found easiest to make by gluing six pieces of card for each side and gluing together, lining out and painting, drilling the holes for the various rods, then fitting to the main beams (I used cable clips, which give some tension to the movement),

This shows the arrangement of the beam between the supports. It had to be accutaretly fitted to avoid any fouling from either end of the beam. The bob platt fences have been fitted, making sure of clearance.

Finally, I made up the fences to the platforms and added the pump rod, the vacuum pump behind it and the mud pump behind that. The roof was built up of lines of printed slates on paper and fixed by pva glue. All of the pump rods work at five strokes a minute, a fairly normal speed of these engines. Although it is a large model (about 14" tall), it will sit quite comfortably on an 00 gauge layout. the large Taylor's engine at East Pool, in Cornwall is well over 60 feet high!