There was a certain beauty belonging to machines of the past. This photo comes from Miranui Flax mill in New Zealand. (see http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/en/site/topics/2475-miranui-the-story-of-new-zealands-largest-flax-mill) and drove seven stripping machines.
#oldmachinery
http://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/image_files/0000/0009/5407/A_worker_with_the_%E2%80%9CTangye%E2%80%9D_suction_gas_engines_at_Miranui.jpg
This is actually really interesting. It may look like a steam engine but, if the caption is to be believed, it is actually an internal combustion engine running on producer gas. They used these a lot up at Kalgoorlie for the mines there. Mallee trees would be harvester over hundreds of acres and railed into the mines to be turned into producer gas to power the engines and drive generators. This had replaced steam engines because of the arid conditions. The downdraft gas producers were deceptively simple pieces of gear that actually had quite sophisticated features.
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