Corliss mill engine

Corliss steam engine powering the sawmill at Field Day of the Past, Rockville, Virginia. 2006
The video only shows the action of the Corliss valve, but if you look and listen closely you can see the governor doing it's job when the saw puts on a heavy load.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• corliss
• steam
• engine
• sawmill

[todengine]

Our Tod Engine ran for 65 years driving a rolling mill, all of it at the rated speed of 75 rpm. Actually running at low speed is more abusive if the speed is low enough where the crankshaft journals don't get up on a wedge of oil.

I've seen so many engines run slow that when I see one running at rated speed it looks odd!

[dkrenshaw]

Yep, it's not often you see a big Corliss doing actual work!

[ntrains]

@spencermcgrew At rollag we dont run it at speed because the belt gets to do alot of movin at high speed, theres nothing wrong with the engine.

[NGinuity]

Oh wow, I grew up in Montpelier and I never knew about this.

[JelloOnWeb]

I live in rockville

[caterpillarnut]

I wouldn't go so far as to call it abuse; after all, in a factory application you can bet good money they would have been run at rated speed all the time (or close to it).

[ponkkaa]

I could sit there all day and watch this.

[wackyvorlon]

Where is this engine?!