Ever wonder what some of the first engines looked like? No, BEFORE the flat head Ford, or even Henry's model T. Part of what started it all...here's an industrial engine from around the turn of the century that surely played into the development of automotive applications. Single cylinder, bore size is 21" (almost 2 feet) 150HP at 200 rpm (NOT 2,000...yes, 200 rpm) Top of the flywheels are almost 9 feet off the ground. What you see are the throws of the exposed crank shaft while the engine runs at 200 rpm. If you look to the left, through the spinning spokes you can see a guy sitting about 6 feet away from the engine...that will give you a feel for the size of this thing. Courtesy of Coolspring Power Museum, Coolspring, PA. If it's too off topic, delete it, but the sight was awesome... Chris
I'd like to see a video of that thing running! Not as old as your example, but the Willys Knight sleeve valve motor was a pretty impressive engineering feat!
At that RPM, it wont grenade. Its been around for well over a hundred years now and it looks to be doing just fine.
And not even a hint of any kind of safety guard around moving parts to be found, that engine would grind you up and spit you out without even loosing one RPM.
It's NOT a steam engine...it can be run on propane, producer gas, or gasoline. It's not a hit/miss, either. It was used to power a mill, so they needed steady power, not the on/off of a hit/miss. That engine weighs over 10 tons. If any part of you got caught up in it, it would be like a food processor, except you couldn't turn it off. In those days, it was pretty much understood that you were responsible for your own ass around these things, and if you did something stupid, you would pay the price. There were almost no safety guards/shields etc around this engine. EVERYTHING is exposed...crank, gears, valves, cam, etc. Pretty cool to see them run... Chris
There is a similar looking steam engine in a museum in England that was built in the 1820s and was used continuously for more than 100 years. It was taken out of commission and put in the museum some time in the fifties. The first "gas" engines were patterned after the stationary steam engines of the time and were made to run on coal gas. In those days every city had a gas works and coal gas piped to every house.
I want to see the machine that turned both flywheels! HUGE lathe or some type of super sized router type setup. Bob
Barsteel, I hope you know about the show in Kent, Ct. every fall, old cars are welcome to be on display. They have a few large engines in the engine house that run during the meet. Bob http://www.ctamachinery.com/
one of my favorite shows, all the equipment is moving and working, tractors and vehicles moving, good swop meet.
probably an oil field engine , they burned the well head gas , and powered all the pumps in the field ,
Out of interest, this link is to a steam powered winding engine that is still in existence close to where I live. 3,300 hp, 35" primary cylinders and 60" secondarys. Read the spec. I have seen it and it is huge! http://www.pittdixon.go-plus.net/astley-green-colliery/astley2.htm
This is getting off topic in a good way! Lake of Lucerne as the biggest fleet of steam powered boats in existence. They are on average 100 years old and have been in service more or less continually. The are typically powered by 2 or 3 cylinder engines making 600-1100hp at 50 rpm! The connecting rods are probably 30ft long. They are meticulously maintained and the engines are exposed in the middle of the boats where passengers can watch from several levels. One of my favorite memories going on a lake cruise with my grandpa! http://www.dampfschiff.ch/dynamic/bildgalerie.asp?seiid=61&bkid=6&viewid=3&modid=Galerie
And just think that motor was built with a pencil, paper, and a slide rule, no auto-cad for them. That is what true American engineering at its best! Billy
One of the fun parts of going to the Central Washington State fair every fall is watching the old hit and miss flywheel engines run in the display that the club that has them puts on. Each one has a story and one of my favorites
here's a site that has engnes that'd blow your mind.. not cause they are huge..but because they are so fucking odd. http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/POWER/unusualICeng/unusualICeng.htm
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