Ellenroad Steam Museum, Rochdale, October 2023

A short visit to the lovely Ellenroad Steam Museum, with compound mill engines 'Victoria' and 'Alexandra' in steam and with lots of things going on including a blacksmith at work.

[@philpots48]

Love to see the giants working. The UK, where the steam age began.

[@Oliver66FarmBoy]

Victorian era steam was art with horsepower.

[@XlebSAS]

Oh hey, looks like it's the engines from the "Steamboy" anime!

[@johncamp7679]

What does the small thing that spins around on top of a lot of steam engines do? It looks like a wind meter. Not sure how to describe it.

[@timmiller9666]

It’s called a flyball govern aka a centrifugal throttle.

[@sculpturebyjoelrwashing628]

@@timmiller9666 If I'm not mistaken, the governor is where the term "balls out" originates. If the balls are extended all the way out it is going as fast as it can.

[@984francis]

@@sculpturebyjoelrwashing628 And 'balls to the wall" must mean they've flown right orf.

[@GoingtoHecq]

​@@984francisballs to the wall may refer to a similar governor being used as an emergency brake in early elevators. The balls would go to the wall to lock the elevator in the shaft or something?

[@jcalpha2717]

@@sculpturebyjoelrwashing628
The engine is going as fast as the governor *allows* it to run. It can be set to run at any speed the operator desires.(within reason).

[@superadio1]

Are there any looms left?

[@jp4712]

Sadly, no - the entire mill has been demolished except for the steam engine house.

[@andyyoung4030]

Ellenroad didn't have looms, it was a Spinning Mill.

[@louisadams4540]

*PromoSM*