Monsieur Estrade Lives In My Walls

Monsieur Estrade lives in my walls

Who's Estrade? I'm glad you asked! He was an engineer in the late 19th century who came up with and successfully built a concept for an 0-6-0 with 8 foot high driving wheels. At the time it was built, it was very brave and controversial, but it had several advantages. For one thing, all of its weight was on the driving wheels, and this would have allowed it to pull heavier trains at the same pace as Cramptons and other singles which were popular in those days. Unfortunately, the boiler was, according to one report, too small to keep up with demand, a consequence of the boiler being sandwiched between the driving wheels.

Anyway, besides drawing existing locomotives and engines, I like to make speculative ones of my own. Keep in mind, everything I do is based on existing practice.

So, what have I drawn here? Well, it is, for all intent's and purposes, a copy of Mr. Estrade's high speed locomotive, but with a twist. This machine runs on 7 foot gauge track, which allows the boiler to be larger, thus fixing any steaming troubles the real engine had.

I have made a TON of 7 foot gauge locomotives over the past year, and I've been slowly building a universe for them to live in. It's a huge passion project of mine, so I'm excited to start sharing it with the public.

Further Adventures at Bluebell

The front half of the shed at Sheffield park was cleared out and turned into a bar for this event, so I didn’t get to see quite all of the engines. However, there were still a few in the back half, the main, sort of, museum bit of the shed.

Obviously Stepney and Captain Baxter were in there, as were the Wainwright C Class, the standard 4 75027, and a cute little LMS 0-6-0 that I didn’t photograph.

It would be remiss of me, with all the talk of "Woburn" this, and "Waterworks" that, to not post the link to this wonderful documentary! It was made by two urban explorers who go by The Proper People. They've seen a good many abandoned and rusted out hulks, but never a running engine like this!

They do a far better job of presenting the beauty of this engine than I can!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Chestnut Hill Waterworks, Boston

Besides working on big engines on occasion (well, once) I also draw them.

Those who are unfamiliar with waterworks steam engines may watch the videos and look at the photographs I've posted of the Woburn engine and say, "That's a big engine!" And you're right, she is a big engine, in comparison to us people! Really, she is only about four stories high from the bottom of the pumps to the steam cylinders

Four stories? That's, quite literally, as high as a building! That's not small at all! Well, when you take a look at other engines in big waterworks in big cities, she is VERY small! The engines in Buffalo, New York, if memory serves, are about eight stories, and the engines in Cincinnati are eleven stories, or 104 feet in height! Those, the Cincinnati engines, are the largest in the world, and their building is now a museum, as well as a functioning waterworks.

THIS engine, which I have drawn, is housed at the former Chestnut Hill Waterworks, now the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, in Boston, a short distance from Woburn.

Now, you may recall, if you have been here before, that I said Woburn is entirely unique, and here I am now, listing off museums where you can go and see other big waterworks engines. Well, the thing about these museums is that the engines are cold and unmoving. They are in good condition, though, and could very easily run again, given just a few months of work (that is not at all an exaggeration, by the way, Woburn was returned to steam, from derelict condition, in about... half a year if memory serves). Ah well, it's one of those things. At least they're still here!

Wanna know the best thing about Woburn? The engine is ALIVE! It can run! She is 100% unique in the United States. There is no other place in this country where you can go and see a running stationary steam engine in its original building, doing what it would have done a hundred years ago, more or less. Once abandoned, she has been made new again. And these folks need help!

If you live in the area, and even if you don't, write to the mayor! Urge him to keep the engine alive. It is crucial that we keep these things running so that people can come in and learn about them. You just don't get the same feeling when they're cold and stationary. When a steam engine is hot and running, it can speak for itself, and it's a lot easier to show people outside of our little group why we love them so much. It hasn't run since last year, and by golly it needs some exercise!

Follow the link below to their Facebook page.

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Woburn Municipal Waterworks Museum | Woburn MA

Woburn Municipal Waterworks Museum, Woburn, Massachusetts. 1,809 likes · 5 talking about this · 24 were here. To preserve and operate the 19

The Railway with a Heart of Gold