Nordern

A Nineteenth Century Mill Engine to 1:12 Scale


 In the 22 March 2013 issue of Model Engineer, Neil Wyatt introduced a series describing the construction of 'Norden', an unusual vertical steam engine based on a small sketch in an old issue of ME. The series ran from issue 4452 until issue 4472 in alternate (even numbered) issues. All the articles are available in the online archive.



 One of the attractions of model engineering is the opportunity to makes a model of something that no-one has tackled before. Some old engravings have almost every detail in them, but it is possible to make a feasible reconstruction of a model from even the most basic of information. There is no magic formula required, just model engineer’s ingenuity and perhaps an ability to ‘think in scale’. Norden was an excercise in recreating a ‘lost’ steam engine. When reading some yellowing post-war issues of Model Engineer, the builder came across the following letter from 1947 [i] :  """An Old Steam Engine"      DEAR SIR,—   In the ruins of an old mill at Norden, near Rochdale, there is an old steam engine which has been left rotting away with five others, and a Lancashire Boiler.

      The bed of this engine was like a table, cast with the top and legs in one piece and bolted down to a cast iron bedplate, which in turn is bolted to a slab of concrete. The height of the table is 4 ft. 6 in., and the top of the table measures 2 ft. 4 1/2 in. by 1 ft. 5 1/2 in.

      The flywheel is 4 ft. 3 in. diameter by 5 in. face. There are six curved spokes of + section.

      The cylinder is bolted direct to the bedplate by its bottom flange. The bore is approximately 9 in. and the stroke is 13 in.

      The crosshead is of the alligator-type and runs between locomotive-type slide bars, which are 2 ft. 3 1/2 in. long by 2 1/4 in. wide.

The connecting rod is bellied and has strap and cotter big- and little-ends. The centres of the connecting rod are 2 ft. 1 in.

      The crankshaft is 2 1/2 in. diameter and rests in two bearings, one at each end of the table ; the single crank web is balanced.

      The governor has two 5 in. diameter balls and was driven direct off the crankshaft by bevel gears to the tops of the governor spindle. I have no idea of the age, origin, speed or working pressure of this engine, but probably some reader could throw some light on the matter.

                  Yours faithfully,

                       Shaw, Lancs. S. Lees.<p class="MsoTitle" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:2.15pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:left" align="left"> <p class="MsoTitle" style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:2.15pt; margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:left" align="left"> A tiny sketch, reproduced here larger than original size accompanied the letter. Despite its apparent simplicity, the sketched engine was characterful and immediately appealing – it is clear why it attracted Mr Lees notice. The ‘bed like a table’, distinctive flywheel and the arrangement of cylinder and slide bars all looked like presenting worthwhile challenges. None of these challenges was too difficult to overcome, and the end result was an unusual and rewarding model.

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A book describing the build Norden: Building a Victorian Steam Engine is available on Amazon.

Drawing Errors
A few minor errors were noted when the series was published. These were corrected when the book was published.