In this blog we have shown some interesting videos of the products from L. Gardner & Son which made reliable and high torque and economical marine diesel engines in Manchester until the mid 1990’s.

It is reported that a 2-tonne Bentley car could manage 30 miles per gallon with a Gardner diesel fitted and this was in the 1930’s!

Watching these videos gives an idea of Manchester area heritage in manufacture of outstandingly rugged, simple, and fuel economical marine diesel engines.

With the remarkable straight eight prime mover shown there is no cylinder head gasket and a maximum revolutions of 1850 – very different to modern high stress turbocharged engines from Volvo Penta, MTU, CAT, M.A.N or Pielstick brands.

If you want to see more on these diesel engines there are a range on show at the Anson Engine Museum. In the 1900s, there were over 20 stationary diesel engine makers within 20 miles of this museum!

In this case study video from generator supplier Shenton Group you can watch the process of removing 4 old Blackstone gensets that went to the Anson Museum – they were replaced with 3 new MTU 4000 series generators.

The faithful Blackstone generator set which was installed at Cardiff pumping station in the 1970’s is seen here on a lo-loader going to it’s final location.