Monday, March 31, 2008

The New England Wireless and Steam Museum is a great place to visit for full immersion in steam technology. And perhaps steam may take a new role in meeting our energy needs. The images above are of the Corliss Steam engine that ran 13 acres of machinery through more than a mile of shafts at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. Those interested in Sloyd will remember that the 1876 Exposition was the time of the introduction of Swedish Sloyd and the Russian System to American educators, leading to the industrial arts movement in American schools. On the illustrations above:
This is the largest engine that the Corliss Steam Engine Company built. The engine had a 44 inch bore, 10 foot stroke, was more than 45 feet tall, had a fifty-six ton, thirty foot diameter, twenty-four inch face flywheel, and produced 1,400 Horse Power at 36 RPM.

After 6 months of service at the Centennial the engine was shipped back to the Corliss Factory in Providence. Seven years later the engine was sold to the George Pullman company in Chicago and ran their factory until 1910.

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