Mystery Photo

Maybe the hydraulic system has gone wrong, sprung a leak whatever, and this is a backup system. Each bridge then needs to be operated directly by poking that shaft down and engaging a gear.

Ken

This photo was in our local paper yesterday, they are asking if any reader knows what the machine is doing. The unit is powered by a radiator cooled Lister G1 and the operator has his left hand on the clutch lever.

I can only assume that his right hand is on the forward/reverse lever.

A Cast Iron cover appears to have been lifted to gain access to ?????

I would guess the photo was taken in the late 1940's/ early 1950's. The car registration is GAT49 which puts it about 1943/4.

An interesting photo, but has anybody any idea what it is doing?

Andy M

So that's where DynoRod got the idea from :)

Yep, he's cleaning a drain. The covers off, the bar's in the hole & I reckon there's a monster bog brush on the end of the bar - but what about round corners ...........

Regards,

kim Siddorn,

The manhole is not big enough for a man, and the speed of the thing would be a little bit slow for cleaning the hole. Surely they would use a pull-through brush for that?

It looks more like a cable is being pulled through an underground pipe or something like that, but I don't quite see the method being used, unless there is a drum on the end of that shaft.

The other possibility is that the device is actually a hole borer and the hole is being deepened/widened?

Peter

-- Peter & Rita Forbes Email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Web:

Andy, A fascinating picture, the car is a Citroen traction avant I think, and the unit looks like a boring rig, I would suggest that it is a posed image, and the rig would usually be used for creating such holes as the one that has had its cover removed! The date is about right as the car has a blackout shield on the offside headlamp. Regards Dan

Check your specs, the car's an Austin, quite a big one as well, may be a Sixteen ?. Agree with the rest though.

Martin

"Kenneth John Russell" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@newspe.com...

Not so, the street isn't London but Hull, East Yorks. Up until after the war the bridges across the River Hull were powered by hydraulics (water power) from a central power house on the banks of the river. This building is still there but boarded up and for as long as I can remember unused. The photo was taken within 100 ft of one of the bridges, my thoughs were leaning towards opening/closeing a valve.

Unfortunatley the area the phot was taken in was conmpletely redeveloped about 15 years ago and the old swing bridge was dismantled and replaced with two modern replacements.

Looking closely at the newsprint photo I would agree thet the car is an Austin.

Regards

Andy M

I don't think it's boring a hole (staged or otherwise) because there doesn't appear to be any feed mechanism for the drill bit, nor does there seem to be enough weight on the back end of the relatively puny trailer.

It would appear to be driving or turning something. I like the bridge operating idea. It could be a backup for driving a hydraulic pump perhaps?

Mark

On 29 Oct 2006 03:23:59 -0800, "Dan Howden" finished tucking into their plate of fish, chips and mushy peas. Wiping their mouths, they swiggged the last of their cup of tea, paid the bill and wrote::

Nah - no chevrons on the radiator and it's far too square - a Traction's much more curvaceous!

Brian L Dominic

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Newsgroup readers should note that the reply-to address is NOT read: To email me, please send to brian(dot)dominic(at)tiscali(dot)co(dot)uk

The local paper has been advised that the machine in the photo is similar to one used by a gravel company about 20 miles away. It was used to obtain test samples of the ground up to 5 feet of depth. The team operating it then recorded what was found and areas for sand and gravel excavation were plotted for future digging.

What it was actually doing in the photo still remains a mystery.

Regards

Andy M