Source

Worthington-Simpson Ltd., Newark, England.

Instructions for the Installation, Operation and Maintenance of types GS(A), GS(B), LS(B) and LS(C) Steam Horizontal Duplex Piston Pumps-May 1962 Edition.

Description

There are two principle versions, type GS (General Service) and type LS (Light Service). The type GS specifications are shown below.

GS (A)			GS (B)
Size SteamxPumpxStroke	Gallons / hour (water)	Piston Speed ft per minute	Size SteamxPumpxStroke	Gallons / hour (water)	Piston Speed ft per minute
3"x1½"x3"	270	37	4½"x2¾"x4"	1260	47
3"x2"x3"	510	37	5¼"x3½"x5"	2340	53
3½"x2¼"x4"	840	47	6"x4"x6"	3420	60
-	-	-	7½"x5"x6"	3420	60
-	-	-	7½"x5¼"x10"	2700	74
-	-	-	9"x5¼"x10"	2700	74
-	-	-	10"x6"x10"	2700	74
-	-	-	10"x7"x10"	2700	74

The type LS specifications are shown below.

LS (B)			LS (C)
Size SteamxPumpxStroke	Gallons / hour (water)	Piston Speed ft per minute	Size SteamxPumpxStroke	Gallons / hour (water)	Piston Speed ft per minute
4½"x3¾"x4"	2400	47	7½"x7"x10"	13680	74
5¼"x4¾"x5"	4440	54	9"x7"x10"	13680	74
6"x5¾"x6"	7380	61	7½"x8½"x10"	20400	74
7½"x6"x10"	9900	74	9"x8½"x10"	20400	74
9"x6"x10"	9900	74	-	-	-

Construction

The steam end cylinders, cradle and chest are cast iron with slide valves. The pistons are cast iron with iron rings. The piston rod stuffing boxes and glands for type GS(A) are gunmetal with bronze glands, whilst types GS(B), LS(B) and LS(C) are cast iron with bronze glands below 6" stroke. The valve rod glands are bronze, whilst the valve gear levers are forged steel carried on cast iron cross stands. The drain cocks are bronze with drip feed oil lubricator on the steam chest.

The liquid end cylinders for types GS(A), GS(B) and LS(B) are cast iron, integral with the steam cylinder for the 3" stroke and separate for all other sizes. The cylinder liners and pistons are bronze. The piston rod stuffing boxes are gunmetal with bronze glands below 6" stroke for types GS(A) and cast iron, bronze bushed for types GS(B), LS(B) and LS(C). The piston rods are bronze with bronze disc valves, seats, guards and springs. The air cocks are bronze.

Collection

There are now six Worthington Simpson Duplex steam pumps remaining in the collection.

Duplex horizontal 3x1½x3, No.WS 5019498, 1946, Ex-Durley Light Railway
Duplex horizontal 3x1½x3, No.WS 5019504, 1946
Duplex horizontal 3x2x3, No.5065207, 1950
Duplex horizontal 3x1½x3, No.5281027, 1964
Duplex horizontal 3x2x3, No.D18K, 1974, St. Anthonys Tar Plant
Duplex horizontal 3½x2¼x4, No.D308B, 1970, Ex-Mid-Hants Rly

#Duplex horizontal 3x2x3, No.5087642, 1951, Nursery, Hockley, Essex
#Duplex horizontal 4½x2¾x4, No.37315, 1930, West Ham Power Station
#Duplex horizontal 4½x3¾x4, No.5027836, 1950, Greenwich Gas Works
#Duplex horizontal 5¼x3½x5, No.5205964, 1952, Shellhaven Refinery
# These four duplex pumps since relocated to Internalfire Museum, West Wales

$Duplex horizontal 6x4x6, No.D107H, 1973, St. Anthonys Tar Plant - Sold
$ This pump has since been sold to a third party

Duplex horizontal 3x1½x3, No.WS 5019498, 1946, Ex-Durley Narrow Gauge Light Railway, Hampshire.

Size: 3" steam cylinders, 1½" pumping cylinders with 3" stroke
Type: General Service A

This pump was acquired on Saturday, 6th October 2012 at the Durley Narrow Gauge Light Railway Auction where all the assets were being sold following the death of the former owner Barry Curl.

The previous history of this particular pump is not known, but from its serial number it is estimated to have been manufactured in the mid 1940's.

This pump is the smallest in the range. It has the standard one piece casting incorporating all cylinders supported upon a central cast foot. The central fulcrum casting however, has an integral bracket for a mechanical lubricator. It was built for water duties as it is fitted with bronze rods, screw glands, valves and seats.

Following full restoration it was first tested on air on 22nd December 2012 and ran well considering it has been out of use for years.

Its first public display, running on air, was at the 1st January 2013 rally at Twyford Waterworks.

Duplex horizontal 3x1½x3, No.WS 5019504, 1946

Size: 3" steam cylinders, 1½" pumping cylinders with 3" stroke
Type: General Service A

This pump was acquired on Tuesday, 30th November 2021 from the son of a collector where all his father's surplus assets were being sold following his father's death.

The previous history of this particular pump is not known, but from its serial number it is estimated to have been manufactured in the mid 1940's; its serial number being only 6 more than the above pump!

This pump is the smallest in the range. It has the standard one piece casting incorporating all cylinders supported upon a central cast foot. The central fulcrum casting however, does not have an integral bracket for a mechanical lubricator. It was built for water duties as it is fitted with bronze rods, screw glands, valves and seats.

January 2022; the pump has been completely stripped, scraped clean, degreased and painted. No problems found although the steam cylinder flange supporting the end cover has two broken corners where the studs were. These have been replaced with two long bolts secured through the other steam cylinder end flange. The pump has now been completed and tested on compressed air where it was found to run well and smoothly first time, (24th Feb 2022), considering this pump has been out of service for years!

Duplex horizontal 3x2x3, No.5065207, 1950

Size: 3" steam cylinders, 2" pumping cylinders with 3" stroke
Type: General Service A

This pump was acquired in November 2021 along with two other Worthington Simpson Duplex pumps from the same person as itemised above. They had been stored outside in an open roofed barn, out of use for years and were seized solid.

The pump has the standard one piece casting and was build for water duties as it is fitted with bronze rods and screw glands.

Restoration has now been completed and like the previous pump ran well and smoothly first time, (30th Mar 2022), on compressed air. It has 2" diameter pumping cylinders compared to the previous pump with 1.5" diameter cylinders, otherwise it is identical. It also had very similar suction & delivery pipework, so one must assume that these two pumps can from the same site.

Duplex horizontal 3x1½x3, No. 5073573, 1950

Size: 3" steam cylinders, 1½" pumping cylinders with 3" stroke
Type: General Service A This pump has now been scrapped.

This pump had been donated to Internal Fire Museum and then taken off site for possible restoration to working order, (Sep 2022), however, it appeared to be in a very poor condition and upon examination this is confirmed with both steam and liquid cylinders badly damaged from frost, even after earlier attempted repairs by welding/brazing. Both end covers were damaged beyond repair along with the liquid end valve plate - split in to two pieces! The latter along with the main casting declared beyond repair and has been written off as scrap. All separate components were then removed as potential spares.

# Duplex horizontal 3x2x3, No.5087642, 1951, Hockley, Essex

Size: 3" steam cylinders, 2" pumping cylinders with 3" stroke
Type: General Service A

This pump was acquired in October 2007 and believed to have been used at a Nursery and Mushroom farm in Hockley, Essex. It has been out of use for years and was seized solid.

The pump has the standard one piece casting unlike the other 3x2x3 pump in the collection. It was build for water duties as it is fitted with bronze rods and screw glands. It has been fully stripped, restored and run on air in July 2008 trouble free. This pump has now been transferred to the Internal Fire Museum in W Wales to be used to transfer condensate from the sump in the steam hall. (Oct 2022), and replaces pump No.5073573 originally proposed for this duty.

Duplex horizontal 3x1½x3, No.5281027, 1964

Size: 3" steam cylinders, 1½" pumping cylinders with 3" stroke
Type: General Service A

This was the third pump acquired on Tuesday, 30th November 2021.

The previous history of this particular pump is not known, but from its serial number it is estimated to have been manufactured in the mid 1960's. It appeared to be in a better condition externally compared to the other two duplex pumps acquired at the same time. Orange paint work was still visible, probaly applied some time after purchase.

This pump is the smallest in the range. It has the standard one piece casting incorporating all cylinders supported upon a central cast foot. The central fulcrum casting however, does not have an integral bracket for a mechanical lubricator. It was built for water duties as it is fitted with bronze rods, screw glands, valves and seats.

Initial stripping was much easier than the other two pumps acquired at the same time, and as the pipework at the liquid end was quite different too, one must assume that this pump came from a different site compared to the other two pumps. Nevertheless, although all the covers, valve rods etc parted easily it was immediately obvious that this pump had not been "shut down" properly, with both cylinder ends left partially full of water. No frost damage, but severe corrosion resulting in a totally seized system with heavy pitting.

Following the scrapping of the above duplex pump, No. 5073573, the recovered spares has enabled one to revisit this pump with a view to full restoration/rebuilding. (Oct 2022) To remove the pistons, each rod was cut into three pieces and using a threaded bar, nuts and thrust washers, each piston wes pressed out enabling the bores to be scraped clean. The steam ports of the main casting have been milled flat, removing all rust, scale and pitting, the slide valves similarly treated along with the machining of two new stainless steel piston rods; this work having been carried out by Lamb Engineering of Salisbury. All the components throughly cleaned, primed and painted followd by re-assembly. Technically this is a re-build rather then a restoration as stainless has been used to make new rods with metric threads to secure each piston block to the rod ends, also the new valve rods have been made with brass rod. In January 2023 the pump was tested on air and immediately worked well, first time without any further adjustment.

Duplex horizontal 3x2x3, No.D18K, 1974, St. Anthonys Tar Plant

Size: 3" steam cylinders, 2" pumping cylinders with 3" stroke
Type: General Service A

Purchased new by Thomas Ness as part of the refurbishment of their Wilton Tar Distillation Unit, this pump was supplied with stainless steel rods and valves, cast iron screw glands and an integral mechanical lubricator bracket. It was one of two crude benzole reflux pumps.

St Anthony's tar plant closed in 1978, ending tar distillation on that site since 1919. During the next few years all pumps and specialist equipment were dismantled and transferred to Caerphilly Tar Plant, a sister works in South Wales, for storage.

This pump was acquired from Caerphilly in 1986, it has been stripped, cleaned, painted and reassembled. It is complete and in working order for running on compressed air. This pump is fitted with a lubricator bracket as an integral part of the valve gear fulcrum casting, however, unusually for this size of pump the main casting is in two pieces; the pumping cylinders being a separate casting.

Duplex horizontal 3½x2¼x4, No.D308B, 1970, Ex-Mid Hants Railway

Size: 3½" steam cylinders, 2¼" pumping cylinders with 4" stroke
Type: General Service A

This pump was acquired in February 2013 from Colin Chambers, former MD, Mid Hants Rly. It has been out of use for many years, seized solid and had suffered impact damage to the LHS piston rod, although it was virtually complete. The pump has bronze rods and screw glands; designed for pumping water. There are 3 sizes of pump in the General Service A specification and this pump is the largest of the 3. It has a separate liquid cylinder casting and originally had a central support foot that is now missing.

The pump has been stripped, cleaned, primed and re-painted. The cast iron cross stand supporting the valve gear levers was found to be seized solid, but eventually the levers were dismantled and freed after much work. Initially an attempt was made to straighten the LHS bronze piston rod by heating in situ but the result was not good enough and a new rod will be needed if the pump is required to run in the future. At present (2013) it has been re-assembled as a non-operational pump; it is however, complete.

In late 2014 it was decided to restore the pump to working order so the damaged LHS piston rod was removed and a detailed drawing made for a replacement rod. A new brass rod has subsequently been purchased and machined to match the original. It was noted that as the length of the steam and water piston blocks were different, so each tapered section had to be individually machined to allow for the different taper angle. The pump has been re-assembled and on 15th July 2015 tested on compressed air. The pump ran well first time, although the valve shafts and linkages were showing signs of wear; all glands have been repacked and subsequent testing on air produced a smooth and balanced running pump.

#Duplex horizontal 4½x2¾x4, No.37315, 1930, West Ham Power Station

Size: 4½" steam cylinders, 2¾" pumping cylinders with 4" stroke
Type: General Service B

This pump predates the Worthington-Simpson alliance at Newark and is plated Worthington Pumping Engine Company London, manufactured in New York USA.

Originally acquired by the North Woolwich Railway museum from West Ham Power Station, when the station closed in the 1960s. Obtained from the museum as surplus to requirements in November 2002.

In August 2017 this pump was partially dismantled, degreased, cleaned, painted, repacked and reassembled. The pump has not been test run yet, but there is no known reason why it should not run. It has since been relocated to Internalfire Museum in West Wales.

#Duplex horizontal 4½x3¾x4, No.5027836, 1950, Greenwich Gas Works

Size: 4½" steam cylinders, 3¾" pumping cylinders with 4" stroke
Type: Light Service B

This pump was purchased by the South Eastern Gas Board for the Metropolitan Gas Works, East Greenwich as part of their new Wilton Tar Distillation Unit for their No. 12 Plant. This pump was supplied with a mechanical lubricator and bracket and was one of two crude tar transfer pumps.

East Greenwich gas works and tar plant closed in the early 1970's and the equipment offered for sale prior to site demolition. Many pumps and specialist equipment were purchased, dismantled and transferred to Caerphilly Tar Plant in South Wales for storage/spares. The cleared site is now the home of the Greenwich O2 Arena.

This pump was never installed and was acquired from Caerphilly in 1989, transferred to Wiltshire and placed in storage. In September 2017 restoration commenced and each component was degreased, cleaned, painted and the whole reassembled as shown. Unfortunately during its life at Greenwich following closure and before transfer to Caerphilly the liquid cylinders suffered frost damage and are cracked preventing future use as a service pump, nevertheless, the steam cylinders are in good condition and it would make a good demonstration steam duplex pump. This pump has since been transferred to Internalfire Museum in West Wales.

#Duplex horizontal 5¼x3½x5, No.5205964, 1952, Shellhaven Refinery

Size: 5¼" steam cylinders, 3½" pumping cylinders with 5" stroke
Type: General Service B

This pump originated from the Shellhaven Oil Refinery on the Thames Estuary in Essex and was purchased by a former employee following partial closure of the works. The pump was subsequently acquired in 2002 and has been tranferred to Internal Fire Museum West Wales, stored awaiting restoration.

$Duplex horizontal 6x4x6, No.D107H, 1973, St. Anthonys Tar Plant - Sold no longer part of the collection.

Size: 6" steam cylinders, 4" pumping cylinders with 6" stroke
Type: General Service B (Heavy Duty HD)

This pump was purchased new by Thomas Ness as part of the refurbishment of their Wilton Tar Distillation Unit at St Anthony's Tar Plant, Walker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1973. This pump was supplied with a mechanical lubricator and was one of two crude tar transfer pumps.

The pump was used infrequently for unloading creosote oil and blending bitumen products.

Unfortunately prior to it being acquired from Caerphilly in 1992, it has suffered some frost damage to the pumping end. This pump has since been sold and is no longer in the collection.