30 n MOTORS May 2026 www.drivesncontrols.com Modern drive breathes new life into historic Sheffield steam engine The Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, part of Sheffield Museums, is part of a former steel-working site on the River Sheaf, with a history going back to at least the 13th century. The Hamlet is now a carefully restored 18th-century industrial community, offering visitors a window into Sheffield’s rich industrial past. The site has original waterwheels, machinery and workshops, showcasing how Sheffield developed into one of the world’s leading centres for steel production. One of the site’s most important exhibits is a Davy Brothers steam engine, dating back to 1855, that originally powered grinding machinery at times when water levels were too low to run a waterwheel, thus ensuring uninterrupted production. After more than 150 years of service, it was decided that continuing to operate the engine on steam was no longer feasible. Safety concerns, environmental regulations and the operational challenges of maintaining a live steam demonstration meant that the Hamlet could no longer showcase the engine in motion operating under steam power. However, the museum was determined to provide visitors with a moving demonstration, preserving the educational and cultural value of the site. What was needed was a way to replicate the engine’s original motion without steam, coal or emissions, and without any permanent alterations to the historic machinery. The gearbox specialist Sheffield Transmission joined forced with the motormaker WEG to devise an electrically powered way of driving the ancient machine. Sheffield Transmission, founded in 1983, claims to be Europe’s largest stockist of industrial gearboxes and spares. With a tentonne capacity workshop and a large inventory of locally sourced, high-quality components, it supplies drive systems and gearboxes to customers in the UK and around the world. Sheffield Transmission and WEG came up with a way of allowing the engine to continue to move safely and sustainably, while preserving it for future generations. The project required a delicate balance between modern engineering and heritage preservation. The idea was for visitors to witness the engine in motion, experiencing the power and rhythm of a 19th-century steam engine. At the same time, the museum wanted a technology that was safe, low-maintenance and reversible. Standard restoration methods, such as recreating a live steam system, were not viable. Instead, the design team turned to an electric drive technology to replicate the engine’s original motion. They designed a bespoke retrofit drive system tailored to the steam engine’s unique mechanical and heritage requirements. At the heart of the retrofit was a WEG W21 IE3-efficiency motor, rated at 2.2kW, chosen for its smooth torque delivery, robustness and flexibility of installation. The aluminium-framed motor’s removable feet and interchangeable mounting arrangement allowed it to be installed without any machining, drilling or permanent modification to the historic structure. The motor’s rotatable terminal box, adjustable in 90-degree increments, simplified installation in the confined space, while its IP55 TEFC (totally enclosed fan cooled) design ensured reliable, lowmaintenance operation for daily demonstrations. To replicate the characteristic motion of steam power, precise speed and torque control was essential. This was achieved using a compact WEG CFW300 VSD, which provided accurate control of acceleration, deceleration and running speed, allowing the engineers to faithfully reproduce the rhythmic cycle of the original steam engine. Sheffield’s last remaining moving steam engine has been given a new lease of life, using modern drive engineering to preserve and animate the 171-year-old machine. It has been fitted with a 2.2kW motor and drive, allowing visitors to see it moving as it would have done more than a century and half ago. Heritage in motion: Sheffield’s historic steam engine is now moving realistically under the power of an electric motor and variable-speed drive
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