Archive for the 'Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Engines' Category

First Powered Flight in Australia- Episode 1

Published by Ian Debenham 0 Comments Tags: , , .

George Augustine Taylor in flight

George and Florence Taylor, the first untethered heavier-than-air flights

On December 5, 1909 George Augustine Taylor became the first man in Australia to fly an untethered heavier-than-air craft. On this day he made several flights on Narrabeen beach, north of Sydney, with the longest glide reported as 110 yards (100.6 metres). George’s wife, Florence, also had a fly in the Voisin-inspired biplane glider with its Hargrave box-kite tail, although the stout gentlemen attending the glider held on to the tethers attached to the wing tips lest she fell into the ocean. Even with this attachment, her flight was recorded as 90 yards (82.3 metres) in length and she could rightly claim to be the first woman to pilot a heavier-than-air craft in Australia.

About a hundred people came to watch the aerial antics of the small group of people, friends and associates of George and Florence Taylor, as they took their turn to fly along the beach.

GTaylorPortraitImage courtesy of ADB Online

George was born in August, 1872 at his parent’s home and fruit shop in King Street, Sydney. He was the second of nine children born to George and Annie Maria Taylor. George Augustine’s younger brother, Vincent Patrick, achieved international fame as “Captain Penfold“, a balloonist. George achieved local fame in the building trade and edited a magazine called “Building”, the journal of the Master Builders Association. Taylor was also an artist, writer, publisher and inventor.

At an early age, he developed an interest in aeronautics; flying kites in the domain and eagerly following the work of Lawrence Hargrave, the pioneer of aeronautics in Australia. At the age of 10, he wrote an essay at school titled “The future of the flying machine in Australia’s history”. Later, George progressed to flying model aeroplanes powered by rubber bands. From experiments with these models he learned the basics of aeronautics.

Voisin1Model of Voisin type glider flown at Narrabeen by George Augustine Taylor, December 5, 1909, Photography © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

In April 1909, George formed The Aerial League of Australia and later that year opened the first aeroplane factory in Australia at Surry Hills in Sydney. As well as construction of Hargrave box-kites, Cody war kites and the Voisin-type glider that was used for the first untethered flights, Taylor was also having his powered aeroplane constructed there.

Stay tuned for the next episode on Colin Defries and the first powered flight in Australia!

First Powered Flight in Australia- Intro

Published by Ian Debenham 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

defries1Colin Defries with his Wright Model A ‘The Stella’ at Victoria Park Racecourse, Image courtesy of John Scott

On December 9th this year the Museum will celebrate the centenary of the first powered flight in Australia through a joint meeting with the Royal Aeronautical Society and Aviation Historical Society of NSW and a small foyer showcase display. I understand that, in Victoria, plans are already underway to celebrate the same centenary on March 18th next year. Maybe the South Australians have plans for a similar celebration, the day before, on March 17th? But how can three States claim a national first? It’s a long story but nevertheless an interesting one which includes, of all people, the renowned escapologist and showman, Harry Houdini. If I’ve whetted your interest then this story of claim and counter claim will be unravelled for you over the next few weeks. I did mention that it is a long story!

Early solar car

Published by Margaret Simpson 0 Comments Tags: , , .

solarcar0Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved.

Solar car racing is not new. The Powerhouse Museum has one of the cars that competed in the world’s first transcontinental solar car race, then called the Pentax World Solar Challenge, in 1987. Ours, dubbed Solar Resource, was designed and built by a small team of Sydney engineers headed by Ian Landon Smith in the garage of a North Shore home. Imagine what the locals thought when they took it out for a test drive back in the 80s!

The car managed to average 25.64 km/hr over the 3,000 km race from Darwin to Adelaide. The entrants in the current race are cruising at something like 90 km/hr and can go up to 140 km/hr. Although state-of-the-art at the time, Solar Resource has electro-mechanical control and is really pretty primitive by today’s standards. Solar Resource came first in the private entry class and 7th overall out of a field of 24 starters – but only 11 finished the race.

You don’t have to travel to Adelaide to see a solar car. Ours is on display in the Museum’s Transport exhibition, so come in and check out the 760 solar cells on the fibreglass and Kevlar body and contemplate how far we’ve come in 22 years.

solarcar1Powerhouse Museum © all rights reserved.

Engines- restoration or conservation?

Published by Rudder Debbie 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

95_241_1-1 001 Photography © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

Collecting and tinkering with engines is still a popular hobby today. Although fewer young people are getting involved than in the past, some are discovering the fascination of these objects and the skills to be developed by working with them. A large element of this hobby’s attractiveness is the challenge of getting engines running, and, for many collectors, restoring engines to their original appearance.

The debate between restoration and conservation is important in this collecting area. As you can see from the photo of this Australian-made Comet engine, museums tend to argue strongly in favour of conservation. In the past, museums favoured restoration, and they still do in the case of engines found in extremely poor condition. It is the engines discovered with mostly original parts and with some of their original surface intact that are in contention; where a keen restorer will see a little paint amidst the rust, a museum conservator will see precious evidence of the original paintwork marred by a little rust, which can be treated so it does not consume more of the surface. In the case of rare engines like this one, it is hard to argue against the conservation stance.

Debbie Rudder

Is that my old G-O-G-G-O?

Published by Margaret Simpson 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo N¼: 00x07392Photography by Sotha Bourn © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

Having our collection available to search on line, featured in TV shows like ‘The Collectors’, and in the media, has seen many people contacting us with information about our objects. Sometimes they are researching their family history or the object was previously owned by them or their ancestors.

I got a call from a very excited couple in Queensland who caught a fleeting glimpse on TV of our Goggomobil Dart when it was featured in the Museum’s Modernism exhibition. We have little history about the use of this gorgeous little Australian-made sports car and I jumped at the opportunity of showing them the car to see if we had found its early owner from the 1960s. They flew down especially to visit our Powerhouse Discovery Centre where the Goggomobil is now in storage. I asked if the husband could put pen to paper to make some notes about driving the car and he was delighted to oblige. Unfortunately, the Goggo wasn’t his, but the following recollections will bring it back for all those who were teenagers in the 1960s fanging out to the beach with the wind in their hair in an MG, Triumph, Morgan, Austin Healey, Lotus or even a Nota Fang. He recalls:

It was 1965, or thereabout, that I first saw my bright red sports mini “E-type Jag”, as I called it. I was 18 at the time and it was the last of many cars I had in my short driving life, before I got married, and a necessity if I was to keep going out with my then girlfriend!

You see, I was a bit of a Fonzie from “Happy Days” except with red hair, more like Ritchie. I rode a very noisy 250CC Honda Scrambler bike around town, dressed in flying boots; a real pair of Levi 401s bought from the only shop that imported them from America; a Bond’s see-through T-shirt and a black flying jacket. This did not impress the future father-in-law, who made me push my bike around the corner and well away from his place, before I was allowed to start it up! So hence, the need for some wheels!

Photo Nº: 00x07388Photography by Sotha Bourn © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

The Goggo was my first car with seatbelts and it was even fitted with double roll bars, one behind the seat and one on the bonnet in front of the windscreen. This meant I could race my friends, who drove Morris Minors and Austin A40s, and thrash them from the lights when we drag raced down Church Street, Parramatta on Friday nights. Being a western suburbs boy from Parramatta, I thought the Goggo looked like a hot racer! A real perk for me was that my father used to be the groundsman on Parramatta football oval and we lived in the small house on the gate. This meant after dark, I had access to the roads when the park was closed, so I used to race around Parramatta Park at night with the roof down!

It is hard to believe, but I would often fit my girlfriend’s sister and one of my mates in the back seat for the run up to K14 lookout for a bit of a smooch and a milkshake at the local hangout. I can’t remember the name of it now, but the lady who owned the shop always stuck up for us when the police came in looking for the kids who had just sped past them up the hill! People would go into hysterics when we pulled back the roof and out squeezed four people!

Goggo3Photography by Andrew Frolows © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

A surfie mate of mine from work gave me an old long board with a broken nose, so one day we brought it down with us to Wollongong for a surf. While we thought we looked really cool, the surfie chicks were not impressed. We were the Parramatta boys surfing in our jeans, or should I say, trying to surf in our jeans!

The Goggomobil had some bad points. Firstly, no fuel gauge (although a great excuse if you got the girlfriend home late!); it oiled up the spark plugs if you thrashed it too hard and you would have to get out and change them yourself and the gear lever worked sideways. You were also below the sight of truck mirrors and I remember one day driving through Parramatta when a large semi-trailer decided to change lanes when I was alongside him. I frantically tooted my little horn as I passed between the front and back wheels of the truck – luckily he heard me, but we almost became a red pizza! But, on the good side – the seat backs lifted off and you could turn it into a double bed. This was great at the drive-in and once the roof was locked on, no one could get out! The Goggo is also really light and one day while driving down Lane Cove Road, we lost a wheel! Three of us just picked the car up and carried it to the side of the road while we located our wheel and some of the bolts.

Goggo4Photography by Andrew Frolows © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved.

It’s great to reminisce, but I honestly wonder how I survived those days and I must have been the worry of my mother’s life! The Goggo was one car that survived me and I cannot remember for the life of me what became of it. I was excited to see the car the Museum has and for a moment thought it might have been my old car, but it does not seem to have the roll bars. I often see the insurance ads on TV about the Goggo and have a bit of a chuckle to myself. I would love to get my hands on another one, but the problem is I would probably not fit behind the wheel and have a lot of difficulty getting out again! Old age can be sad!

- An old Goggo owner

We’d love to hear from you! Do you have any stories you’d like to share about your experiences with a Goggomobil? Perhaps you think the Goggomobil in our collection used to be your own?!

…And you thought moving house was hard!

Published by Melanie Pitkin 1 Comment Tags: , .

The Powerhouse Museum’s NSWGR steam crane locomotive 1082 was recently moved to a new home at the Museum’s Powerhouse Discovery Centre: Collection Stores at Castle Hill from its long-term storage location within the Large Erecting Shop at Eveleigh (Redfern). The locomotive was constructed by Robert Stephenson-Hawthorne in 1950 in Leeds in England and entered service in Australia on 10 February 1950. It was used for handling scrap metal and engine components, either by chains or the use of an electro-magnet, which was powered by a generator set (missing from 1082) on the left-hand side of the locomotive beside the crane mount. With a lifting capacity of 7 tonnes, the locomotive itself weighs 35 tonnes so, as you can probably imagine, moving it was no easy feat!

Staff from the Museum’s Registration and Conservation Departments worked alongside the mobile crane, transportation and railway contractors in the transfer. Because the overhead cranes in the Large Erecting Shop had been decommissioned by the railways some years before, the locomotive had to be moved outside and a mobile crane hired in for the lift. Because of tight clearances and a lack of space at the back of the shed, there was only room for a single crane and the low-loader. In order to give the low-loader enough room to reverse beneath the slung load, the mobile crane had to be positioned a fair distance away which, in turn, meant that its lifting capacity had to be increased to compensate. In the end, a 160-tonne mobile crane was organised to lift a mere 35 tonnes!

The need to shunt the locomotive into place (which means moving it along the track using another locomotive for power) meant that a fair amount of preparatory work was needed to ensure it moved smoothly without damage to bearings, valves, cylinders or wheels, even over such a relatively short distance. The connecting rods were removed, the bearings and axle boxes were freed up and the lubrication system to the bearings was checked to ensure good oil flow. A week prior to the transfer, 1082 was shunted from its long-held position behind a number of other vehicles at the end of 1 Road (track) in the Large Erecting Shop and placed at the front of the shed for ease of access.

On the morning of the movement, a diesel locomotive was used to shunt it from its temporary placement on 1 Road and all the way up to the other end of 2 Road, where it was pushed out through the back doors and positioned beneath the mobile crane, which was set up in the narrow driveway that runs along the rear of the workshop.

The mobile crane lifted the loco onto a low-loader, which proceeded off-site, en route to Castle Hill. It was originally anticipated that the load would be too high to transport during the day and that the truck would have to wait until 2am before it could begin the journey out of Sydney, but, once loaded, we discovered it could actually be transported there and then! A hydraulic control line problem with the low-loader, however, saw the movement delayed anyway and the loco didn’t arrive at Castle Hill until 3am!

Despite the wet weather, as you will see in the pictures, the loco was successfully unloaded at Castle Hill by two cranes, and moved into its new home by 7am. 1082 is now more accessible to the public and can be viewed on special open days at the Powerhouse Discovery Centre site.

Jennifer Edmonds, Heavy Engineering Conservator

We’ve got a Bleriot too!

Published by Margaret Simpson 0 Comments Tags: , .

The Powerhouse Museum’s Bleriot XI made in Paris, 1914 featured in the Transport Exhibition’s Sound and Light show (L611). Photography by Jean-Francois Lanzarone © Powerhouse Museum, all rights reserved

In view of the media interest in the re-enactment of the first flight across the English Channel in a Bleriot XI monoplane last week, I thought our blog readers would like to know that the Powerhouse has one too. It made a great pioneering flight here and has a really interesting story.

Ours was shipped to Sydney in 1914, packed in a crate in the hold of the Orontes. It was brought here by a French stunt pilot, Maurice Guillaux, who wowed 60,000 spectators at Victoria Park Raceway. It’s amazing how this flimsy little plane actually managed to fly, let alone do “loop the loops” as well. The Guillaux travelling show took the Bleriot apart again to go by train to Melbourne for more stunt displays, at one stage landing in the grounds of Government House. The plane carried the first unofficial airmail letter from the Mayor of Melbourne to the Mayor of Geelong. Above Geelong racecourse Guillaux gave demonstrations of “upside down flying” and banking, took up six joy riders, one of them a woman, who presumably either sat on his lap or sat behind the pilot’s seat on the fuselage in Guillaux’s safety harness.

BleriotMooreParkPhotograph in the Powerhouse Museum’s collection of Guillaux flying the Bleriot over Victoria Racecourse, Sydney, 1914. No known copyright restrictions

But the really big claim to fame for Guillaux was when he was asked to fly the first official airmail from Melbourne to Sydney. The scheduled plane had crashed, something of an occupational hazard at the time, so Guillaux was asked to step in. He carried 88kg of mail for the GPO, 1785 souvenir postcards, official letters and the first air cargo, bizarrely – Lipton’s tea and OT brand chilli cordial and lemon squash. Now that would make a great trivia question! Even in those days there was sponsorship and emblazoned on the underside of Bleriot’s wings were “ADD a little O.T.”!

Bleriotpostcard2Souvenir postcard in the Powerhouse Museum’s collection. This was carried on the Bleriot flight and shows a photographic reproduction of Guillaux. No known copyright restrictions

BleriotpostcardSouvenir postcard in the Powerhouse Museum’s collection. This was carried on the Bleriot flight and shows an illustration of the Bleriot. No known copyright restrictions

The 930km flight needed 7 fuel stops at Seymour, Wangaratta, Albury and then Wagga where Guillaux landed at the wrong racecourse causing a sensation touching down near the judge’s box just as a race ended! On to Harden, the plane was buffeted by strong winds and driving rain. Its flimsy fabric wings stretched to breaking point and the exposed and hardworking Gnome engine coughing and spluttering. Guillaux was forced back to Harden, violently airsick, wet and cold, his face swollen from the scouring rain in the open cockpit. Goulburn was finally reached in bad weather and Guillaux followed the smoke from steam locos on the main line towards Sydney.

BleriottolandPhotograph in the Powerhouse Museum’s collection of Guillaux flying over Victoria Racecourse, 1914. No known copyright restrictions

Ahead of schedule, he landed near a small town in the bush southwest of Sydney. A local resident told Guillaux it was Liverpool and invited him to stay for lunch. A strong tail wind brought him in to the landing spot at Moore Park in Sydney, still ahead of schedule. Too early for the official reception with the Governor-General, Guillaux filled in time flying between Parramatta and Manly before descending in a blinding storm at Moore Park. He was carried shoulder high amid cheering crowds. The postal authorities weren’t too impressed with the flight as it had taken longer than the normal train journey. The flying time was only just over 9 hours 35 minutes. Still, it was the longest airmail flight in the world at that time (18 July 1914). Incidentally, a regular airmail service between Sydney and Melbourne wasn’t established until 1925.

When the First World War broke out in September 1914, Guillaux returned to France and was killed. His plane was left in Australia and sold, used to teach flying and give aerial demonstrations in Victoria. It also carried the first South Australian airmail in 1917.

GuillauxPhotograph in the Powerhouse Museum’s collection of Guillaux at the controls of the Bleriot, 1914. No known copyright restrictions

The Bleriot has been in the Museum’s collection since 1941 and if you want to see it, it’s currently on display suspended in the Transport exhibition at the Museum.

Watch a Bleriot flight in action:

Full steam ahead – the 3265

Published by Erika Dicker 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

3265 running at Eveleigh 25 June 09 012 - low res Photography by Andrew Grant © Powerhouse Museum all rights reserved

Under the supervision of the Museum’s Engineering conservator, Ross Goodman, and a dedicated group of volunteers, Steam Locomotive 3265 has been extensively rebuilt and once again will be fully operational and carrying passengers.

Work commenced on the project in 1998 in the Large Erecting Shop at Eveleigh. Since then 3265 has undergone a very detailed and painstaking overhaul.

00z18430Photography by Marinco Kojdanovski © Powerhouse Museum all rights reserved

The task of rebuilding has been immense as almost every wearing surface was worn down to well beyond tolerance. Specialised skills, material and machinery were required in order to restore the locomotive to its now current operating state. Over this next month 3265 will undertake a series of steaming trials, followed by new paintwork, plus monogram all in the distinctive ‘maroon and cream’ colour of this particular 32 class engine.

Once painting is complete the Museum plans to have a special event to launch 3265 back on the rails. This will then be followed by the relocation of the locomotive to a new facility at Thirlmere, where along with Steam Locomotive 3830, it will be available to hire to accredited Heritage Railway Operators.

Designed by William Thow, Locomotive Superintendent of NSW Railways, in consultation with the builder, Beyer, Peacock & Company of Manchester, England, the 32 class was one of the most successful and long running steam locomotives in Australia. Having 3265 operational will raise awareness of the significance of steam locomotion in New South Wales and will bring much enjoyment to passengers eager to experience steam travel.

Much thanks goes to Ross Goodman, for overseeing the project, conservation staff, Jennifer Edmonds and Rob Smithers, and to the Museum’s volunteers for their expertise, enthusiasm and dedication in rebuilding 3265.

Contributed by Andrew Grant and Susan McMunn

Hot off the press

Published by Rudder Debbie 5 Comments Tags: , , , , .

50quid_1413190cPhoto courtesy of The Bank of England

Three early Boulton and Watt rotative steam engines still exist, and all are held by museums: Boulton’s own Lap engine in the London Science Museum, the Barclay Perkins engine in the National Museum of Scotland, and our very own Whitbread engine.

Which one has the Bank of England selected to depict on its next 50 pound banknote?

The winner is the Powerhouse Museum!

On 29 May, the Governor of the Bank of England announced that an image of the Whitbread engine will feature on the banknote, along with portraits of Matthew Boulton and James Watt and an image of Boulton’s Soho (Birmingham) Manufactory. Planned for release in 2010, the banknote recognises the importance of these men in the industrial revolution.

Although Mervyn King did not emulate Juan Antonio Samaranch and announce ‘the winner is – Sydney’, the feeling at the Powerhouse is a bit like the buzz when Sydney won the right to host the 2000 Olympics.

The decision was perhaps prompted by the existence of a nicely detailed drawing of our engine, a drawing suitable for reproduction on a modern security-conscious banknote. But we like to think it recognises the pleasing aesthetics of our engine and its significance in both engineering and economic history. The oldest existing rotative engine, it was erected in 1785 at Whitbread’s London brewery and worked there for 102 years before being donated to this museum. Maintained in steaming order and run occasionally, it brings visitors in contact with the amazing men who created it and with a very important era in history.

Debbie Rudder

Matthew Boulton and the Imperial Bank Mint in St Petersburg

Published by Rudder Debbie 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

hidef No known copyright restrictions

At first glance, this drawing shows an old building holding a steam engine and other machinery. Then the eye focuses on the figures, men in formal eighteenth century Russian dress;
russian
perhaps they are there to provide scale, or to suggest that this is an important building holding important machinery. The drawing is one proposal for the St Petersburg Mint. When a steam-powered mint was eventually built in that city, the engine and coining machinery were supplied by Matthew Boulton, an extraordinary entrepreneur who lived from 1728 to 1809.

The drawing shows a cross-section, but it is a lively illustration rather than a cold technical drawing. Look at the boiler to the left:
boiler
shaped like a haystack, it has red hot coals below, red flames licking up its sides, and water bubbling away inside to produce steam for the engine.

The engine looks like our Boulton and Watt as it was in the 1790s when the drawing was executed. The overhead beam that transfers motion from the piston (shown inside the vertical cylinder on the left) and eventually to the drive wheel (the toothed wheel at centre right) is timber; our engine’s original timber beam was later replaced by one made of cast iron.
closeup
The condenser and air pump (which together evacuate the cylinder on each stroke, so that fresh steam can enter and move the piston) are shown in the square cooling tank; this arrangement was Watt’s most significant invention.

In front of the engine, and driven by it, are a mill for rolling metal (on the left) and another machine with crank and flywheel. We see glimpses of other machines behind the engine.

Boulton designed and made coining machines. He supplied skilled workers to erect the machinery, get it running, design coins and medals, engrave the dies, and train local workers. It was while addressing a problem on the St Petersburg project that he became the first person to write down the principles of the production line, over a century before Ransom Olds and Henry Ford applied these ideas to car manufacture. He is certainly a person worth commemorating this year, the 200th anniversary of his death, and to contemplate how much, and how little, has changed over those two centuries.