Talk:Portable engine/Archive 1

This archive was created 'early' in order to remove the 'DYK' discussions from the talk page. These were felt to be 'unhelpful' once the article DYK nomination had been selected DYK.

Please feel free to store further sections on this page, after the initial content.EdJogg (talk) 10:25, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

DYK?
Any ideas for a suitable 'Did You Know' entry from this article? It should meet all the relevant criteria now, but what should be displayed on the front page? We've got a little more than two days max!

So far, the best I have come up with is: (Did You Know...)...that the steam-powered portable engine was the first mobile power source available to farmers?

Now this is rather weak, and it could be argued that animals constitute power sources too, so it might be necessary to insert the word 'mechanical', but this makes it very wordy.

Alternatively, if we have a ref for the 1960's-built engines, we can say something like:...that the steam-powered portable engine, first developed in 1839, was still being built to the same basic design more than 120 years later?

which is a bit better. We need something that would 'catch the imagination' of the average reader, and the first one doesn't really do that. Also, they do prefer the DYK facts to be properly referenced, although this is not critical.

EdJogg (talk) 11:05, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I think the 1960s reference is a bit doubtful. They may have been still in Robey's catalogue in the 1960s but I've no evidence that any were actually built in that decade.  What date is the youngest preserved one? Biscuittin (talk) 13:33, 3 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Maybe you can tighten the reference to these engines then? I have no idea what the youngest one is, as I'm not aware of a definitive list anywhere.
 * The floodlit football might be a better bet -- after all, it is a bit out-of-the-ordinary! EdJogg (talk) 14:27, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Football reference (Did You Know...)...that a steam-powered portable engine drove the dynamo for the first floodlit football matches in 1878?

'First invented' reference:
 * ...that the portable engine, invented in 1839, was the first truly mobile steam engine?
 * ...that the steam-powered portable engine, invented in 1839 by William Tuxford of Boston, Lincolnshire, set the pattern for almost all engines that followed it?

EdJogg (talk) 15:58, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I'd go for the football reference because it's likely to have the widest appeal. I've added some more text. Biscuittin (talk) 21:31, 3 January 2008 (UTC)


 * OK, I'm trying this. There's an awful big backlog at present, so the 'bar' may be raised higher to compensate.
 * ...that a steam-powered portable engine drove the dynamo for the first floodlit football match in the UK in 1878? [[Image:Steam lokomobile 2 (aka).jpg|right|100x100px|A typical portable engine]]
 * -- ''NB: picture is of a portable engine, not the engine mentioned
 * -- new article by User:Biscuittin; additional editing and Nom by EdJogg (talk) 02:31, 4 January 2008 (UTC)