RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted August 12, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 12, 2013 Slightly off topic, but I might as well take advantage of the knowledge base, one thing that has nagged at me for years. How do they seal the joint between the lifting sections? It has to be a sliding seal but I can't see how it was arranged. peterL I may well have got this wrong but we once had a very interesting talk at our Model railway Club about Gas works. IIRC the multi section ones were all set in a well of water which provided the bottom seal. The top section had a trough around it's base that was in the water and was filled with water. As it lifted the trough engagaged with the Top of the next section which was bent over so that it fitted into the trough and thus a water seal was created. The pressure was very low. Each section then effectively sealed the next as it lifted. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 That sounds right Jamie, the type with an internal piston were usually referred to as waterless gas holders. I don't know how they sealed the piston on them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted August 12, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 12, 2013 That sounds right Jamie, the type with an internal piston were usually referred to as waterless gas holders. I don't know how they sealed the piston on them. From memory the water got fairly nasty and took a bit of disposing of in more environmentally aware times. I saw some demolished in the early 70's near Leeds and the smell alone was rather strong. I dread to think what was in the actual water with all the various nasties that coal gas contained. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted August 12, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 12, 2013 That sounds right Jamie, the type with an internal piston were usually referred to as waterless gas holders. I don't know how they sealed the piston on them. Climb in the access hole in the top, down ladder with a big brush and bucket of tallow, voila, seal lubricated. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSTFAN13 Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Glad the heading was 'gas holders' and not 'gas-o-meters' although someone stooped to the incorrect term. Their main function was to store (hold) gas whereas meters are those things you have in your house. I had over 30 years in the gas industry and they were never referred to as 'gas-o-meters' - always 'gas holders' and located at gas holder stations. I remember once being able to borrow the keys to the station behind the Oval to park the car when attending a big match at the Oval. There was also a rough paint scheme to their colour - black or grey in towns, green in the country and blue by the sea, although it wasn't rigidly adhered to. The big one in the Old Kent Road (no 11 if I remember correctly) was quite a size and could hold 12 million cubic feet of gas. G. My dad went up the top of the oval gas holders (many)years ago when there was a match on and watched the match from the top HSTFAN13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Climb in the access hole in the top, down ladder with a big brush and bucket of tallow, voila, seal lubricated. Mike. Thanks Mike. What was the seal?, was there some kind of gasket, rubber or something, between the 'piston' and the gas holder? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted August 12, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 12, 2013 Thanks Mike. What was the seal?, was there some kind of gasket, rubber or something, between the 'piston' and the gas holder? Originally leather, don't know if technology caught up with them in later days and they became synthetic, although I doubt it. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire lad Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Hi there Just found this topic,when doing a search for Clitheroe Gasworks.It's nice to hear from someone who used to live near me. I lived next door to the actual Gasworks on Kirkmoor rd,many happy memories,especially walking to School at a very tender age through the gasworks itself. For interest, there is a clip on you tube on the gasworks made from old film. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil gollin Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 . When the famous Triple gasholders were decommissioned at St Pancras they had to hire specialist divers to go into the bottom pond and help clear it of the rubbish that had accumulated.. The Water was vile and the gung in the bottom very toxic. They even found a motorbike in the bottom of one ( ? how ??? ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Dread Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 A little known fact about gasometers was they were a part of a 20/30's Sat-Nav scheme. Have a look at "Britainfromabove" Image number EPW042073 You can clearly see that one gasometer has painted on the top "HULL" with an arrow pointing towards the "airport". A visual aid for the early flyers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted January 29, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 29, 2015 . When the famous Triple gasholders were decommissioned at St Pancras they had to hire specialist divers to go into the bottom pond and help clear it of the rubbish that had accumulated.. The Water was vile and the gung in the bottom very toxic. They even found a motorbike in the bottom of one ( ? how ??? ) At least that's not as bad as one they demolished at Beckton. They found an unexploded bomb in the water atthe bottom and a patch on the top where the bomb had gone through. Apparently they found the bomb hole after a German WW2 raid and just patched it up. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Yes, I saw a TV documentary about the bomb disposal squad who had the task of removing the bomb before the gas holder could be demolished. It involved rowing out and diving into the noxious 'lake' within the gas holder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 A little known fact about gasometers was they were a part of a 20/30's Sat-Nav scheme. Have a look at "Britainfromabove" Image number EPW042073 You can clearly see that one gasometer has painted on the top "HULL" with an arrow pointing towards the "airport". A visual aid for the early flyers. A little known fact about gasometers was they were a part of a 20/30's Sat-Nav scheme. Have a look at "Britainfromabove" Image number EPW042073 You can clearly see that one gasometer has painted on the top "HULL" with an arrow pointing towards the "airport". A visual aid for the early flyers. Similar lettering was applied to the roofs of some station buildings in the South-East, I believe. I can imagine a few people were sent up with rollers and gallons of paint to obliterate the lettering in 1939/9; you wouldn't want to make it too easy for the Luftwaffe.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Interesting article today, explaining the seals in a typical "water sealed" gas holder. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30405066 Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted January 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 29, 2015 A little known fact about gasometers was they were a part of a 20/30's Sat-Nav scheme. Have a look at "Britainfromabove" Image number EPW042073 You can clearly see that one gasometer has painted on the top "HULL" with an arrow pointing towards the "airport". A visual aid for the early flyers. similarly the one at southall has LH on the side pointing towards london heathrow one of my pics from this week looking towards washwood heath https://flic.kr/p/q2572Y Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
highpeak Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I imagine those signs pointing the way to airports might be useful to general aviation. A guy who lives near an airport in the US painted "Welcome to Cleveland" in big letters on his roof. He lives in Milwaukee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 similarly the one at southall has LH on the side pointing towards london heathrow one of my pics from this week looking towards washwood heath https://flic.kr/p/q2572Y There used to be a near-identical one elsewhere in West London with NO written on it - because airline pilots kept mistaking it for the Southall one and landing at Northolt! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajaxjones Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Newspaper article today in the metro , copy of http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30405066explaining they want to dismantle them to sell the land now, plus concise graphics showing how the seals work. William Murdoch the inventor of gas lighting termed the phrase gasometer apparently, to the consternation of tothers, but I guess if he invented the lights, he had some consideration to call them what he liked Had a hand in steam engines too, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Murdoch Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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