Tuesday, June 09, 2015

 

Long Weekend - Historic Waterworks

Last weekend was a three-day one. The Monday was a public holiday to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Actually the Queen's real birthday is on a totally different day; sometimes I don't understand the way people do things. Anyhow, Sunday was a great day for a drive, so Dad and I surprised Mum by taking her to somewhere she had never been. At Goulburn there is a historic waterworks that has survived intact since 1885. Not just the buildings. There are two working steam engines there, one that pumped water for the city for 32 years. Goulburn was one of the first inland towns to supply piped drinking-quality water to residents. The top photos show the building and the weir that water was pumped from. The bottom photos are of parts of the huge Appleby Beam Engine that drove the pump. It was built in 1883 and was used until 1918 when electric pumps took over. Fortunately, the engine was preserved and we were lucky to see it steamed-up and operating during our visit. It is so big that you can't get all of it into a single photo, so the left one is the piston housing. The pistons move one end of the huge overhead beam (in the centre photo) which rocks and drives the cranks that operate the pump and the flywheel (right). This is the only Appleby Beam Engine left in the world. Actually, the Historic Waterworks is the only complete, operational steam-powered waterworks, still in its original location, in the southern hemisphere.

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