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Bert Brown (c. 1920-2012) - Mining Engineer, Hebburn No. 2 Colliery. Part 1/1. Recorded 20 March 1982

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SummaryBert Brown was an engineer at Hebburn No. 2 Colliery where the power that supplied Weston township and the Hebburn Collieries was manufactured. He talks to Jack about the technical aspects of his job and the equipment he used, including generators and boilers.

0:45
He started work in December 1946 (Jack refers to the speaker as George)
He was electrical engineer as at Hebburn No 1. He was at Burwood before that.

1:12
There was a DC power station - 360 HP motors feeding half the township of Weston and the surface of Hebburn No. 1.
Before the power came to Hebburn No. 2 there was steam generating power at Hebburn No.1.
The boilers were used for the main and tail haulage and the endless rope haulage. This continued till the pit finished.
The AC power was brought in from Hebburn No. 2 and they put a bore hole down half way between Hebburn 1 and 2 to feed underground workings.

5:08
The washing plant was built about 1956/7 - the coal markets were falling.
He shifted to Hebburn No. 2 in 1958 till it closed.

6:14
There were 4 generating units: a 500 KW Brown Boveri - another set was 1,000KW - another was 1,500 KW and then a 2,500KW GC.
Colliery closed at Hebburn 2 on 30th June 1972
All steam driven generators.

7:57
4 Babcock boilers and one ICI polarised fuel boiler. These boilers kept the power station going and two steam winders. Staff was about 5.
The polarised boiler burning a lot of coal from Stockrington. Burning 30 - 40 tons of coal a day which was water cooled by spraying.

10:57
Dave Clark - maintenance officer for Elcon. Jack Richards - last engineer until they closed down the mine.
Abermain and Kurri were not supplied. DC was supplied until 1951 - AC replaced this. Meter reader was Herb Hughes. Two teams were meter readers - Colliery team Alf Butler. Town readers Ken Gill, Jimmy Donald, and Albert Durie who went over to Hunter Valley County Council.

16:23
Street lighting was switched off if the moon was full. If it was cloudy the lights were on.
When there was a flood someone would ask for the lights to be left on. The attendants would manually do this at the power station. In 1957 it was automated.

17:46
Houses had to be able to be updated to AC power otherwise power was not connected. 110v DC is supposed to be a safe voltage.
DC was the first voltage - with AC you can transform it up or down which made quite a difference when you had a distance to cover.

19:00
Conflict for 20 years with Kearsley Council - the changeover brought on a boom in prices in electrical appliances. Retailers made a lot of money.

22:33
They both comment on the political situation (Neville Wran, Premier NSW - the age of power stations - Union intervention) Bert suggested that the state might change to gas.

28:23
Home generators (like the Honda) can't run a stove. For refrigeration, lighting and general power, a generator would work but you need a more powerful source for a stove. Opposition to coal gas for power.
Karl Reinhardt - turbine engineer.
Pulling up railway tracks. Short sighted polices.

32:36
1946 there were 21 collieries working and now we're down to three, two very soon.
A series of faults at Hebburn 2 - a step fault. "You can't expect conventional mining units to produce coal at the same economy as continuous mining".

38:45
The Holmesville seam outcropped round about the railway, then swung around Greta Main Colliery, wheeling the coal by horse and skip right up to the railway and tipped it out there. That persisted right across through Abermain underground.
The Greta seam at Abermain 1 peters out somewhere near Neath.

42:05 End (Tape 32/Side A) Part 1 of 1 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

SubjectCoal-fired power plants -- New South Wales -- Kurri KurriMining engineersHebburn No. 2 Colliery (N.S.W.) Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Brown, Albert, c. 1920-2012 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

PersonJack Delaney Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

CreatorBrown, Albert, c. 1920-2012 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Delaney, Jack, 1919-2010 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

CollectionVoices of the HunterDate Created20th March 1982Location^[1]Hebburn No. 1 Colliery, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

^[2]Hebburn No. 2 Colliery, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Identifier032A Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

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