Marian Street's Paxman Steam Engine (Mount Isa, North West Queensland)

Steam engines were used to drive corn-mills, centrifugal pumps, stone crushers, dynamos, chaff-cutters, hay-balers, threshing machines, and saw benches. Portable steam engines were typically towed using horses or in the latter part of the steam engines era, motive power including self-propulsion or towing by tractors, trucks etc were used.

Many Davey Paxman steam portables were exported to Australia in large numbers. The businesses of the Intercolonial Boring Company (IBC) and John Blyth/Moffat-Virtue Limited provided a steady stream of customers. IBC operated a large number of water drilling rigs all over Queensland and Northern Territory as well as a considerable merchant business in hardware and machinery. Every bore that IBC sunk needed pumping plant which in turn required an engine to power it. Many of these bores are still in use albeit with more modern prime movers. Moffat-Virtue Limited, which had branches in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Toowoomba, were major suppliers of overhead shaft gear, especially for woolsheds, and customers needed engines to drive such gear.

Many old steam portables have survived in Australia's hot dry climate. They have suffered far less rusting and corrosion than machinery exposed to the British climate.

The relatively good condition of some surviving Australian portables appears to attract the interest of dealers looking to profit from prices available in overseas markets. This is a sensitive issue to preservationists in Australia who naturally wish to see historic machinery retained in their own country. Portable steam engines are protected under the Removable Cultural Heritage Act 1986.

The Paxman portable steam engine positioned on the Marian Street island in Mount Isa, northwest Queensland, is a prominent feature when driving into town from the east. Although there are some features of a classic Paxman engine missing, it has been nicely painted and appears to be in good order.

Source: Boulia Shire Council & Richard Carr's Paxman History Pages (www.paxmanhistory.org.uk/portsaus.htm)

Taken on: January 1, 2023

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Sets appears in: • North West Queensland (Kalkadoon/Mitakoodi Country)

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Camera: Nikon D5600, f/8.0, 0.8 sec, 17mm (=25mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D5600
Lens:	TAMRON 17-35mm F/2.8-4 Di OSD A037N
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.8
Focal Length:	17mm (35mm equivalent: 25mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.0.1 (Windows)
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