On September 28, it was that time again: the Friends of the Großauheim Steam Museum Association and the city museum opened their doors and invited visitors to a family day. As usual, Hans Werner Dörich, the driving force behind the association, spared no effort in putting together an attractive program. Our street steam group was also represented by Gerhard, Stefan, Jürgen, and myself. This allowed us to contribute a few beautiful models.

The exhibition organized by the association is very diverse, and almost all of the exhibits are labeled “on loan from Hans Werner Dörich.” Even as a young man, he realized that he had to take care of saving old machines. So he collected everything he could get his hands on and restored it. After several moves, he was able to find a home for his collection at the Museum of the City of Hanau, which was created from a former power station. The museum houses several large steam engines, which also found a new home there. Unfortunately, the original power generation machine has been lost. The very quiet power generation of the large valve steam engine is absolutely fascinating. The land around the old cemetery was gradually acquired from abandoned allotment plots. With a lot of dedication and the help of the founders of the support association, the site was then landscaped. Efforts were made to preserve the old charm despite the new buildings.
It is a remarkable exhibition of the collection. Efforts are always made not only to preserve the old technology, but also to demonstrate it in operation. As the operator of my steam fire engine, I had to assist with an extensive firefighting operation. The Merryweather Fire King was under steam for five hours and gave extensive firefighting demonstrations. A total of three fillings from the zinc tub were sprayed out, which corresponds to approximately 150 liters. The two firefighters had never sprayed so much through the fire hose before. There was so much pressure on the jet pipe that they had to hold it between them. In the end, it became somewhat difficult to maintain the fire in the boiler, as it was not possible to clean the grate properly due to the many explanations given to the spectators and the operation of the stand. From time to time, I was totally stressed out because I was also busy filming on the grounds. The machine then had to work with the steam feed pump alone because I had no replacement. That’s the problem with events like this: you can only get so many people together to operate the machines. But see for yourself!

https://youtu.be/Ct1nkm0ysKQ

I hope you can enjoy the video

Werner