River Don Engine

At its operating steam pressure of 160psi, it developed 12,000 horsepower (8.9 MW), and was able to reverse from full speed in 2 seconds.

The rapid reverse was an essential feature of an engine used for rolling, as delays would result in cooling of the workpiece.

This engine was one of four built to the same design, one going overseas to the Japanese Government, one to John Brown's Atlas plant, one to William Beardmore of Glasgow and one which stayed in Sheffild at Cammell's mill.

[1] The engine was last used for commercial work in the 1970s, to roll out reactor shield plates for nuclear power plants.

It had to be taken out of service following the floods of July 2007, which extensively damaged the museum and parts of the engine, but was restored to working order in 2008.