Steam Engines

These are some pictures taken in August at the 1999 Antique Tractor and
Steam Engine show in Lynden, Washington. For those of us that like steam
power and old engines, this place is like a candy store to a kid ... so many
engines, so little time (and film).

This is a 500 hp Corliss type steam engine. It ran with 120 psig steam pressure at 78 RPM. The 16' diameter/33 inch wide flywheel weighed 20,000 pounds. The cylinder was 22 inches in diameter. The steps in the picture take people up to the cylinder of the engine while the boiler in the left side of the picture was providing steam for the engine (it was only running at about 30 RPM when we were there).

This was an excellent example of some of the craftsmanship that was evident at the show. The engine information is unknown to me, but the work was excellent down to the smallest detail.
	An example of some of the various engines that were on display. At any given time, about half of the engines shown here were running ... they would shut some down and start others.
Another engine that was running. Most of these engines ran better than todays cars AND they sounded better too !! Most of them were running off of propane.
	Left and Below, was a running example of an I.H.C. Horizontal, manufactured by International Harvester Co., Chicago, U.S.A. Patents Pending (I wonder if they are still pending today ??). It was rated 6 horsepower at 325 RPM according to the name plate on the engine.

The Steam powered sawmill:

This was the steam powered sawmill that was set up. It consisted of the saw assembly pictured here driven by a twin cylinder Corliss type engine for the saw and another engine on the donkey assembly to handle the logs.
	Left: The kids pictured next to the saw to give some feeling of the size. It was interesting to watch the "flex" or standing wave that formed in the saw when it first started cutting !

The Threshing demonstration:

This was a threshing operation that was set up. The thresher shown in the picture was driven from a tractor by the long flat belt running out of the lower right corner of the picture.
	The kids inspecting the grain as it comes out of the thresher ... the only thing better than this was playing in the straw pile behind the discharge chute !