Sunset by the steam museum in Medemblik

Steamengine Museum is unique on the European continent. It is established in a water pumping station wich is built on the dike between the polder and the former sea. This polder is named “De Vier Noorder Koggen”, and that is also the name of the water pumping station.

Long ago the soil of this polder consisted of peat moor but because of the draining, the moor disappeared. So presently the ground of the polder is 3.5 meters below sealevel. That is why natural draining was not possible anymore. To prevent the polder from flooding, wind-watermills had to be put to work to keep our feet dry.

At the end of the nineteenth century it appeared that at many occasions the wind was too weak to move the sails of the 24 mills. That is why the steam pumping work was opened in 1869. In 1897 the installation was improved by installing four centrifugal pumps. In 1907 the pumping work was extended with a new boilerhouse and a giant pump, which more than doubled the capacity. By then the last of the 24 mills became redundent.

The pumping station operated until 1975 and after that the pumping was taken over by a new station not far from our place. But we still can pump at special steaming days, moving 450,000 liters of water a minute! The extensive collection of Kees Jongert was the beginning for the foundation of the museum. In 1985 it became a reality.

Today the pumping station accomodates steamengines from the industry and shipping. Our senior engine is built in 1851 in Delfshaven near Rotterdam and started its life in an oilmill.

Our museum is exclusive in the fact that we are fully “under steam” for more than three months a year and that we have a big collection of different engines of German, British and Dutch make. And for the enthousiasts: we have compound-, triple compound and uniflow engines. But also pumps, an electrical power generation demonstration, steamengines for small business and much more…

Most of the steamengines still work on steam so we can provide a live demonstration. On steamless days we can work some interesting engines on compressed air. In our steamlab kids can feel the tension of being a machinist and heater at the same time!

Outside on the premises we now and then present demonstrations with the window type saw mill, driven by a Wolf semi-fixed steamengine. Logs are delivered by the “Boele”, a steam hoisting crane. We also demonstrate the steamroller and at the end of the premises a dredger named “Vooruit” is moored. Inside you can see how the men aboard worked and lived. The steam driven buckets on a chain are still working and give an impression of the dredging work wich was, and still is, vital to keep the ditches and canals navigable.
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