What's this from? (Bourdon Tube Gauge)

[JonL]

My parents today gave me something I thought had been lost years ago. In the eighties this was hanging in their hall but got taken down as it fell out of favour. Today they offhanded gave it to me. My question is, what's it from? The scaling looks too high to be a locomotive surely, especially with no upper limit marking? The date stamp says 1925. It's quite large in diameter, certainly 6 to 8 inches. The tube is still fitted but the mechanism has been removed years previously. I think they bought it at a Railwayana Jumble.






Any assistance gratefully received!

[baldric]

I would say it is a GWR locomotive, the red-line is painted on for use with the locomotive it is on, in this case it was probably removed. The fact that the gauge goes so high is not really an issue, it could have been on a 225psi locomotive quite easily, this would include many of the tender engines.

Baldric.

[miketaylor]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but why does it appear to have hour, minute and second hands??

Someone never finished turning it into a clock??

Mike

[92220]

I Googled GWR Pressure Gauge and found pictures of gauges graduated to 280psi and one gauge graduated to 320 psi, so it appears that it's not that unusual. The 8" diameter would seem unusual for a loco gauge though. Most were 6" or smaller.   (edit)  Forgot to include, the 320psi gauge had a red line at 200psi.

Bob.

[JonL]

Dec 29, 2018 17:53:07 GMT miketaylor said:

Maybe I'm missing something here, but why does it appear to have hour, minute and second hands??

Someone never finished turning it into a clock??

Mike

They did make it into a clock, I just haven't showed the movement.

Thanks all, I'll research further. I've measured the diameter properly now, I'd badly misjudged it! It's six inches across the glass.

[delaplume]

Hello everyone,

I agree with Mike---- it's a presure gauge that's part-way to becoming a clock ( That's the Bourdon Tube still attached inside )....

Here's the Wiki on it}---------- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_measurement


here's the full workings}----------



Here's the footplate of a 38xx 2-8-0 showing the various different gauges you can find}-----

[JonL]

It has a clock movement in it already, a small german made quartz unit as you would find in any kitchen clock. I suspect looking at the movement the modification was carried out in the early 80s. Chopping the bourdon tube out wouldn't have served much purpose as it clears the small modern movement easily which I guess is why it was left intact. Exactly why the threads on the input are so nadgered I don't know.

A majority of the pressure gauges I have seen for GWR use are quadrant type, this is more of a 270 degree scale, much broader. It's an interesting and pleasing little mystery.

[mbrown]

I have certainly never seen a GWR boiler pressure gauge of this size or style. By the 1920s (probably earlier) the GWR had standardised a fairly large diameter gauge (c.8") with the scale set out as a quadrant, not around the periphery of the face as in your example. See the one top left in the footplate photo above. I don't actually know of any GWR gauge that had the scale around the periphery in this style - even the smaller steam heat gauge was marked out differently. Also, although it is not quite clear from your photo, all GWR gauges that I am aware of had a flange for screwing to a wooden backplate - it doesn't look as if your does, although that may be the perspective in the shot.

Nevertheless, the date stamp with day-month-year, was GWR practice. One of the gauges in use on TR locos is stamped in a very similar style and dates from 1928, even though the face has been replaced by one lettered BR(STD) (The BR standards used an exact copy of the GWR gauge so the insides were interchangeable for any give pressure range). That one is stamped on the flange, not on the back.

So my hunch is that it may well be a genuine GWR gauge - but not made for a locomotive. No idea what else it might have been for, but Swindon made kit for every conceivable application around the railway system.

Not conclusive - but hope this helps.

Malcolm

[JonL]

Malcolm, I had similar thoughts. Thanks for your input.

[Rex Hanman]

The R in G. W. R. is not in line with the G. W. I too googled G W R pressure gauges. The form of the G doesn't look quite right to me, though they do seem to vary somewhat. In the google images I couldn't see a GWR gauge with the words "British Make" on them.

I suspect it may be a genuine GWR case with a replacement dial that someone has added the G. W. R. to.

Just my gut feelng, I don't claim to be an authority on GWR gauges!

[delaplume]

Here's the Main Pressure gauge and Steam-heat pressure gauge in better detail-------> ----->



and here's that Duplex gauge}-------------> ------------>











Note that all 3 are flanged as mentioned by Malcolm

[delaplume]

Other applications of a steam pressure gauge on the GWR ( and others, no doubt) might be}----- Sea-going Ferries, Cranes, Road tractors...Workshops, Sand drying boilers,