stationary engine driver???

[gazza]

What is a stationary engine driver? Sounds illogical to me.Surely a driver would be needed for something that moved??

[lindagene]

 
When I asked this of somebody they told me that if you worked down a mine the lift that took you up and down, and things like that, was operated by an engine,  and the man who operated the engine was called a 'stationary engine driver'    guess it makes sense, you wouldn't want it to go away if you were stuck down there I guess

Lindy

[RJ_Paton]

Even on farms the original engines that were used to drive some of the machinery were so massive that they weren't mobile.

Basically these were generators which provided the power via belts pulleys etc for other smaller machines.

[Little Nell]

Quite right, Lindy.  My great grandfather was always recorded as engine driver at the water works - but I suspect that the engine he "drove" did not move along any rails. (I think he was too fond of the bottle to be in charge of an engine that actually went anywhere with passengers on board )  I think that today we might call such people "machine operators" (if we have any left  of course!)

Nell

[gazza]

  thanks for the enlightenment all!

[olias]

hi
my great grandfather is listed as a engine driver after being a ag lab.
When steam engines where first introduced on farms they could be tractors or ploughing machines. Two engines, one on either side of a field, would have a chain between them that pulled a plough. It was pulled across a field and then tuned round, the engines moved forward and pulled back the other way.
As the previous correspondant said, as a power source they could be adapted to almost anything

[booger]

Steam engines also drove threshing machines. What a cool job!

[suey]

My Great Grandpa was an Engine Driver for a Threashing Machine - and hubby has a Great Uncle who was an  Engine Driver in a Hospital !  We can only guess that he looked after the boilers or something similar.

[goggy]

Well!Gobsmacked is exactly how I feel.Never thought the job I spent a large part of my life at would be asked about on this site.Does that mean Im part of History already???
                               Cheers,Goggy.