This video is of the Huge 130 Ton 1914 Cooper Corliss Stationary Steam Engine in Freeport, Illinois that originally came out of the Matthiessen Hegeler Zinc Rolling Mill in Lasalle Illinois. While I shot this video a few years ago and posted it in 2012, we will be celebrating its 100th birthday this year in 2014. It is owned and operated by the Stephenson County Antique Engine Club in Freeport, Illinois which also has the Silvercreek & Stephenson Railroad (with its annual Halloween Train Of Terror) and the Silver Creek Museum at 2954 S. Walnut Rd. Freeport, Illinois 61032. The engine is located in a building right behind the Museum which is accross the road from the Railroad complex at the corners of Lamm & Walnut Roads just a couple miles South of Freeport and about a mile off of Highway 26 This is the Largest Steam Engine within a 500 Mile Radius of Freeport Illinois, and the Largest Operating Steam Engine in the Entire United States. . The 130 Ton engine has a 25 foot 4 inch diameter flywheel that weighs in at 60 Tons with a total rolling mass of 85 Tons with the crankshaft, hub, and flywheel, yet on start up when the valve is opened, it will get up to speed in less than a single revolution. While it does run at a slow RPM, just imagine taking an 85 Ton Semi tractor trailer rig and getting it up to speed in that short of a time. This does it with a single cylinder. That is the awsome power of Steam. There are a few other videos of this engine on here, but I haven't found any others with it running anywhere near its rated speed of 45 RPM where it puts out a staggering 4798 horse power on 225 psi of steam pressure. The paint color is just a little darker than John Deere Green. This engine was disassembled by a group of club members, and transported from Lasalle to Freeport, where it was eventually reassembled after aquiring the land to build it on, and then the new building was erected over it. If you look closely, you can see where the steel frame building required a little modification to clear the flywheel rim, as a mistake was made in the measuments and the main beam did not clear the flywheel. Another good size comparison, is the old Wallis OK Tractor that can be seen in the background through the spokes of the flywheel. The engine can be seen running each time the Railroad and Museum are open including on Memorial Day, Fathers Day, Independance Day, Labor Day, and during the clubs annual Threshing Show aka the Freeport Show which is held just up the road at the Stephenson County Fairgrounds, where I operate the Club's Steam Powered Circular Sawmill. I'm not posting the individual dates on here, as they change each year with the holidays and most of the open dates being on weekends, but you can find the dates posted on the clubs website at http://www.thefreeportshow.com along with other information about the club and its activities.
Comments
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How tall huge flywheel ?
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How long would that thing spin with no input and no load?
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This thing makes enough torque to measurably change the earth's rotation.
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Thanks for posting this. My dad worked in the boiler room on the SS Admiral as a teenager and I have steam in my blood.
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What a smooth and very quiet running machine.
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First time I've seen a Corliss engine where you can see the valve gear working. It's actually far simpler than it sounds from the description.
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A lot of love went into making this engine.
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flags where fun touch
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Please have a look at the Kempton Park triple expansion engines and their size. Operating at 225 psi, their crankshafts weigh in at 30 tons and carry two flywheels, each 33 tons. And look at the size of their big end bearings.These machines (albeit laid out for 24/7 operation) crank out 1000 hp. This engine 4800 hp? I guess a recheck of your calculations is due.
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though torque for this thing should be over 100,000 if it makes that much HP
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I love external combustion so much raw power just waiting to go (after the hours of boiler prep)
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One boiler horsepower is equal to the thermal energy rate required to evaporate 34.5 lb of fresh water at 212 °F in one hour. So you're saying the boiler is evaporating 34.5 x 4798 pounds. That's 82 Tons of water. About two semi tanker truck loads. Every hour.
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this thing is monstrous hook that to a pulley and you could pull not just a house BUT A CONDO DOWN >:D
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That flywheel positioning lever is pretty impressive all on it's own!
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Wow ! And yes - Corliss engines did produce HP in the thousands.
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I guarantee that engine does not produce 4700 hp Not happening. Tipple expansion steam engines of that size witch is a technological step above that could only produce a fraction of that. And no they did not put flux capacitors on the boilers to boost the power output.
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Awesome engine ,,,, Steam Power ,,, you can't beat it.
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I finally got around to counting the revolutions, and IF I counted right, it looks to be running at 20 RPM which would still be just under half of what it would have run at the factory. Any other videos I've found of this engine all show it running very slow at around 5 to 7 RPM. While the governor is functional, it is disabled as there is No Variable Load on the engine to need it. The speed is being maintained by the opening of the throttle valve only.