Bradford Industrial
Museum
Ground floor Galleries
First floor Galleries
Outdoors
The Machinery Room
The machinery room is split into 2 sections. On the right hand side is the steam powered machinery and on the left had side is the line shafting equipment.
Engineering Workshop - Line Shafting
In the simplest definition, a line shaft is the rotating shaft part of a system of mechanical couplings between the power source in a factory and the machines that do work. These rotating shafts transmit mechanical energy throughout the factory, and were usually interconnected to each other and to machines using various systems of pulleys, gears, and other mechanical methods.
A line shaft would be installed in the fitting, machining and pattern making department of engineering workshops. A series of leather belts and pulleys would be fitted along walls and ceilings then powered by a steam engine or water wheel.
The Power of Steam
The high dependence on water power meant that, while the mills further downstream had a greater volume of water when it arrived, it sometimes didn’t arrive till lunchtime. Mills higher upstream had access to the water earlier in the day; but there was less of it
;Steam meant that factories could be built anywhere, not just along fast-flowing rivers.