The most powerful steam engine in Europe
The River Don Engine, 12,000 hp. It's in Sheffield.
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Varmint, Tue 6 Jan 2026, 20:50,
Reply)
That's on my list of places to visit
Just wondered what the torque would be - assuming the video is its working speed, at max. power the output shaft would be transmitting about 2 million ft-lb of torque, or 2.8 million Nm.
That feels like an implausibly high number - feel free to check!
I assumed an output shaft speed of 30 rpm.
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tarka_dall Like normal dall, only a bit more spicy, Wed 7 Jan 2026, 6:51,
Reply)
Did you pick up from the video
that they only run it at 100 psi, but it was designed to run at 160? Huge torque indeed.
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Varmint, Wed 7 Jan 2026, 7:24,
Reply)
Max speed was 70rpm.
So yes about a million foot-pounds.
It can also reverse direction in a matter of seconds.
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jonbob loves you, Wed 7 Jan 2026, 20:58,
Reply)
My dad was a overhead crane driver at River Don Works. I remember going to meet him and getting taken inside when I was about 8 or 9 and being terrified.
It was around that time we moved to a house in Woodhouse that had a view of Orgreave. It was amazing watching the chimneys flare up every few hours.
(, Wed 7 Jan 2026, 14:22, Reply)