Volume Six - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Select Aspects - Mechanical appliances used in the shipping of coal at Penarth Docks - 1906 . . .

Operating valves of the same design are used on the tips erected by Messrs. Tannett, Walker and Co., and give entire satisfaction. The great feature of these valves is their ease of operating ; and therefore, particularly when used as stop-valves, the rapidity of closing or opening with a lever little more in length than the diameter of the valve is highly advantageous.

Pumping Plant - The plant consists of four pairs of compound surface-condensing engines built by Messrs. Tannett, Walker and Co., Fig. 15 (left). These engines are capable of delivering 1,950 gallons of water per minute at a pressure of 750 lbs. per square inch. Steam at 130 lbs. pressure is provided by six Lancashire boilers.

Pressure Mains - Figs. 16 and 17 (above) show the Taff Vale Railway standard 8-inch pressure and 12-inch return-water pipes. Two 8-inch mains supply pressure to the four tips on the basin and No's. 19 and 20 tips on the dock, and one 12-inch return-water main delivers the return water to the tank in the engine-house.

All the four basin tips built by Messrs. Fielding and Platt, Plates 48 to 51, (previously shown) are arranged to work the cradles at 180 feet per minute, and have the same arrangement as No's. 19 and 20 for automatically stopping the cradle at any required height and also for indicating the position to the topman.