Discover how the Victorians harnessed steam to power their engines and other machines on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th August, when Blists Hill Victorian Town, near Ironbridge will be ‘in steam’.
The weekend will provide a rare chance to get up close and personal with an eclectic collection of Victorian steam powered machines, all of which will be in their full working splendour.
The steam weekend is being held as part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
The town’s replica of Trevithick’s 1802 Coalbrookdale locomotive will be running; the original is believed to be the world’s first steam locomotive. Other Museum engines in steam will include ‘Billy’, a fantastic 1903 Wallis & Steevens road roller, the Merry Weather fire pump and the Fielding oil engine as well as portable and ploughing engines. The impressive Blists Hill Ironworks steam hammer will also be in operation as well as the two ironworks engines; sometimes known as ‘The Woods Engine’ the large forge mill engine features a 27 tonne fly wheel.
In addition, there will be a variety of special guest engines, both large and small, around the Town throughout the weekend. This includes narrow gauge steam locomotive, Number 85, owned by the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway.
The locomotive was one of a fleet of thirty-two 2-6-2 tank engines made for export to the Sierra Leone Railway by the Hunslett Engine Company of Leeds. Although it was built in 1954, the design dates to 1898 and so is in keeping with the late Victorian setting of Blists Hill. No 85 narrowly escaped scrapping in 1975 when the railway closed but was repatriated from West Africa by the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway where it entered traffic in 1978. It is currently touring the country as a static exhibit before returning to the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway for major repairs.
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