The Engineering in Britain has been quite advanced and there were lots of advancement. Particularly during early days when Steam engines were developed. Essentially they use Rankine cycle, where water is heated into steam in a boiler until it reaches a high pressure. When expanded through pistons or turbines, mechanical work is done. The reduced-pressure steam is then condensed and pumped back into the boiler.

Steam engines said to have been the moving force behind the Industrial Revolution and saw widespread commercial use driving machinery in factories, mills and mines; powering pumping stations; and propelling transport appliances such as railway locomotives, ships and road vehicles. Their use in agriculture led to an increase in the land available for cultivation.

These early advancement in the steam engine technology were used to applied to make use in locomotives and road use. Way back in 1784, William Murdoch, a Scottish inventor built a prototype road locomotive.

The steam engines came a long way since and for us studying these things was part of science subject. When I was called  by my colleague Sripadha to visit Steam and Vintage Rally held in West park Wolverhampton, I was not too sure what it will be. After struggling for almost 15 min to get a parking space, it was not a waste of time. When I heard it was a Vintage rally, my idea was there will be some old cars kept for exhibition and we could see them moving around. For my surprise, there was a huge gathering of people in the park and kind of noisy festival kind of atmosphere.

There were these steam engines kept for exhibition and they were all well maintained and in working condition.

Courtesy  – The Black country live steamers

This is a society dedicated to model miniature and full size road vehicles and Stationary Steam Plants. The society formed in 1993 has 50 full time members (enthusiasts) with interest in building and operating of miniature steam road vehicles and stationary steam plants. The society situated in a part of West Midland, known as Black country, the name derived from the effects of the heavy industry which concentrated in the area from the time of industrial revolution, majority of which has now disappeared.

Amazingly the way these engines are maintained was worth appreciating and they still look new as if they are in service. It took almost 3 hours to finish the entire exhibition, that included old vintage cars and bikes along with some really cool boat models operated remotely in the lake.

There was a demo by Fire service on handling of accidents and emergency situation. It truly demonstrated how much these firemen value the life. The fire department has also kept the vehicles for exhibition mainly to have a view inside the vehicle. It was unfortunate that some of the belongings were taken by some mischievous people  from the vehicles and were not returned. It should also be onted that, the fire department is a voluntary organization and they were conducting the demo without charging any money. Hope they got the stuff they had lost… 

I am not sure when we will start to preserve so many marvels India has with same passion and enthusiasm.

More Info :

http://www.wolvescivic.co.uk

email : [email protected]

Call – 01902 552099

Reference : en.wikipedia.org