Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Belliss and Morcom steam engine (twin cylinder,high speed,vertical,enclosed type), made in Birmingham, direct coupled to a Mather and Platt Ltd. dynamo. Colour - Green. Paint finish not original. Serial number '4641'. 2 cylinders : 14½" x 10" and 21" x 10" with side valves, and worked at 100 psi. output : 120 kW. (equivalent to 160hp) at a speed of 428 rpm. efficiency : 15%.

Engine first used at Grange Colliery, Staffordshire. Moved to John Bland's timberyard in 1928, where the dynamo provided electricity for saws, other woodworking machines, and lighting until 1967.

The engine was built in 1920 for Grange Colliery, Staffordshire, by Belliss and Morcom of Birmingham and was coupled to a dynamo to provide electricity. The engine was later moved to John Bland’s Timber Yard in Cardiff to provide electricity for saws, woodworking machinery and lighting until 1967. Being situated in a timber yard the boiler, which produced steam for the engine, could be run economically not only on coal but also on sawdust, broken timber and off-cuts.

Until about 1890 few steam engines ran at more than 120 rpm because of the problems of vibration and inadequate lubrication. In 1892 Belliss and Morcom produced one of the first commercially successful high-speed engines.

The key to its success lay partly in accurate machining and assembly of the engine, and partly in the use of a mechanical lubricator. This pumped oil under pressure to each individual bearing on the engine and allowed it to run at a speed of some 600 rpm – an enormous technological advance. High-speed engines could now be coupled directly to electrical generators without the use of gearing or cumbersome pulleys and belts

Source: Welsh Industrial & Maritime Museum Guidebook, 1984