An Oscillating Single Cylinder Steam Engine

This engine at Crofton Pumping Station was made by Hornes of Dartford in Kent in about 1890. It was used to drive an exhaust pump at a gas works and has an 8 inch (200 mm) bore cylinder and a stroke of 18 inches (450 mm). In its original installation it developed about 10 hp (7.7 kW) at 120 rpm, but the actual power output is probably a bit lower, due to the low steam pressure for the beam engines. The use of an oscillating cylinder engine avoided the need for a knuckle joint and cross head in the connecting rod and thus permitted the overall height of the engine to be reduced. Oscillating cylinder engines were often used in the early days to power steamships and the SS Great Britain, now at rest in Bristol, was thus powered. Paddle steamers with oscillating two cylinder engines usually had the cylinders below the crankshaft, resulting in a low center of gravity and the optimal position for the paddlewheels, fixed on the crankshaft. What I liked at this engine, was the sophisticated valve gear, where the motion of the eccentric is transmitted to the oscillating steam chest in front of the cylinder, by the help of an elegantly moving three-bar-linkage. The model was built with a Märklin metal set. About steam days at Crofton please look at www.croftonbeamengines.org



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