These monster engines are a true testament of engineering prow-less. Amazes me . The sizes of castings and labor that had to go into this assembly. Work of mechanical art in motion.

Beautiful!! I love everything about steam. Thank God this engine still exists in it's original state and hasn't been disposed of, like so many municipalities have done around the country.

350133.3ft lbs of torque or 474717.01303NM nearly 500,000 NM. Those eccentrics are beautiful.

Wow, that's one hell of an engine, its more like a living breathing thing, simply beautiful, and a testament to all those who designed, manufactured, and built it

They did exactly that most of the time, roll the engine off TDC then apply steam. When that didn’t work then they would roll with steam applied and cut the rope. The starting procedure always included using the 60 psi head pressure from the reservoir as back pressure on the pump plunger to assist rolling. The inlet pressure from the river was unloaded through a series of drains (fast acting gate valves) above and below the inlet check valve assembly to empty all three pump chambers.

The precisely choreographed timing on these huge machines seems derived from that of giant clock mechanisms. Steam engines marry the watchmaker's craft with the laws of thermodynamics. Imagine the joy of being the first to build one!

Excellent. I went to England to see the Crossness Pumping Engines, now I have to come and see these!

What stands out is the extraordinary cleanliness in an environment that can sling some goop!

A beautiful example of reciprocating steam engineering.

Best explanation of a Corliss valve i've heard,

The Manhattan engines were the largest steam engine built, triple expansion , Corliss valves. they were used to power the subway system in New York . They were designed on the trip from NY to Milwaukee by train. Edwin Reynolds was the engineer and designed them and work started as soon as he got back to Milwaukee. They were built at the west allis works of the Allis Chalmers mfg co. They produced 10000hp at nominal speed. Allis Chalmers was the largest manufacturer of steam engines in the world!

Good question. I will see one of the engineers this Thursday that was with the engines at that time, and I will see what he remembers about that. Lee

Thanks for the tip

Very nice exhibit. I have been to Colonel Ward Station in Buffalo, and the site of the Holly works in Lockport NY and the Snow-Holly Works in Buffalo (Worthington at the time), These are wonderful machines, but I don't think I would have wanted to on the pour floor when they were being manufactured. much nicer to watch from here.

Super engine!

SO complex. It is amazing what you had to do to get working power bck in the day.

Good Question. That is one of the big mysteries with this engine that baffles us. Most everyone used a barring or jacking or kicking engine to roll a big engine. Even when the engines weren’t quarter locked it was a fairy-complicated procedure to start. The 60 psi of head pressure had to be removed along with a long list of valves that required opening or closing. You can read the actual starting/stopping procedure on the web site. Use the (River Station RS) menu button.

Magnificent!

Good question. Condenser pressure is momentarily about -13.8 p.s.i g. and with the introduction of steam from the LP cylinder into the condenser, that causes the pressure in the second receiver to approach the condenser pressure, but it can never achieve that pressure because of the expanded steam from the IP cylinder. The resultant second receiver pressure is a summary of the pressure from the IP cylinder and condenser pressure, which is about -2 p.s.i g. Hope this helps….

I would love to have seen them when I lived not far from there.

I was absolutely astounded by the sounds of the engines running at full speed. Were these sounds recorded from the actual engines as they were running, and is it possible to find say a CD of these engine sounds?

I believe the largest engines are either in the USS Texas or Japanese battleship Mikasa at 15000hp triple expansion.

Was für eine Maschine! Gigantisch! Ich habe eine Frage: Warum hat auch diese Maschine Excenter und eine Kulissensteuerung? Ich dachte immer, das das zum Umsteuern der Maschine ist. Aber das macht ja eigentlich bei einer Pumpenmaschine in einem Wasserwerk keinen Sinn. Kann mir mal jemand auf die Sprünge helfen? Bin ich zu blöd oder was?

When the engine was quarter locked, why wasn't the crane used to turn the flywheel out of that position (then apply steam) versus having steam already applied and necessitating two men to cut the ropes quickly?

Yes, as I mentioned on the website, they are not the most powerful, just the largest. We also used Holly’s like the Buffalo engines, four at 1,200 hp and three at 1,100 hp down at main station. I believe New York had triples generating electricity that were around 8,000 hp and I recall the Titanic triples were around 30,000 hp. The steel industry used triples for blowing engines and they were high horsepower but I don't recall the number.

Good question. That might be true, not sure? We have searched and searched for an accurate definition. Clearly these are not the most powerful. The good folks from the Kempton Steam Museum have visited the station and commented that they agreed with the conclusion that these are the largest triples. They, of course, have the largest operating triple and an awesome museum. Thanks for asking.

Actually, they can never run on steam again but might be able to run on air pressure. We have discussed this possibility but it is a long way in the future, if it ever happens. Running with an electric motor is a more realistic possibility, but even that has not yet been determined to be possible.

Forgive me if Im wrong but I thought steam engine size was rated by cylinder size? Kempton has larger cylinders is all...

Cool engine how can negative 2psi be used in the 3rd expansion? I would have thought that was the condenser pressure.

why couldnt the engine have a small steam engine coupled to the fly wheel to rotate the crankshaft into starting position, rather than use a crane which can be hazardous?

Just few comments on your video monologue. I lived in Kentucky in the 2000's and organized a tour of the plant for the Cincinnati Cinder Sniffers and the local Mechanical Engineers group. We had in attendance as guides two elderly engineers from the water works, one of which had been part of management. It was explained to me that the normal way of turning the engines for maintenance was to manually manipulate the water valves on the pump. Reverse water pressure from the reservoir could be used to rotate the engine. I was told that some engineers manipulated the steam poppet valves with wrenches, but that this was frowned upon. The management engineer only offered one example of the crane being used to rotate the engines, and it was a big failure. The engine started rotating all the way around, and nearly took the crane with it as the rope wound around the flywheel on the continued rotation. The crane was not an accepted way of turning the engine. The wood teeth on the bevel gears are not for easy replacement. They are for protection in the event the valve gear jams. They are intended to shear and prevent the engine from torqueing the valve gear and damaging the valves. Otherwise, the gears would just be steel. There are vacuum breakers on the exhaust line to the engine. These have a story, as they are not original to the engine. Once the engine was stopped for maintenance, and an engineer climbed into the engine. Vacuum from the exhaust line started to rotate the engine, and the engineer was crushed and killed in the engine. The vacuum breakers were added to prevent this.

Tours for these engines are not regular... you have to get up a group and reserve in advance. I'd sure like to get onto one of the tours! Maybe there's a list I could get on?

that's impressive, -13.8. Given atmospheric pressure, you sure coudln't go much farther!

I forgot to ask you when I was there today, I saw the printing of the boiler that was once there and I was wondering if the steam was superheated?

Are the pumps still hooked to the engines, and are the pumps still able to pump water? Because if they are, and the engine was restored, and new boiler brought in, there would be no reason to have to run them in an unloaded condition. However I do see the difficulties of trying to get volunteers in a secured location.

I always thought the great engines of Kempton were the largest.

Short answer is time and money. They are in a secure and active pumping station so availability to volunteers is quite limited. The boilers are gone but air pressure might be an option. Investigation reveals a considerable amount of work is required to again roll one of these engines. Taking advice from John S. Porter paper on “Preservation by Operation” we are most reluctant to run an engine in an unloaded condition by volunteers. John was a Trustee for the Kew Bridge Steam Museum in London.

if you want more views consider adding, "corliss engine" and "centenial engine" to your tags

Um, while they may be the largest stationary engines, the engines on SS Jeremia O'Brien and SS John Brown are both larger by HP (2500 SHP).

I think your video camera was older than the engine. 😢

Why can't they ever be run on steam again exactly?

Great video, but unfortunately with terrible video and sound quality

1000 hp is very little power for such a big engine, the old steam locomotives produced about 4000 hp and they have a very small bore.

Ohhhhh I'm gonna poo you now! Pants are not real anymore and now I have ALL of it! The! water! Mineemineemoe. The water is mineyohhhh. You steam stop now. Canradulashuns from Niger.

Sorry, interesting but the audio is so bad this is unreachable.

pointless. If it can't be ran on steam, then just don't bother. What would be better in that case is to break out a thermal lance and grinders and make a nice cut-away display.

Steam iz fake.