Steam Power: the Allis Engine

The Allis Engine in the Waterworks Museum in
Boston, MA.

I’m not able to insert a picture but this is beautiful work, both the engine and the photography.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41658249@N02/6970562995/in/set-72157629191465674

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41658249@N02/6970474931/in/set-72157629191465674

“Allis is a 5-story, self-contained steam engine that was the
most thermally efficient pump of its era. Installed in 1898, Alllis
was also 30 percent more fuel efficient than any other steam engine of
its era.

The parts were manufactured in Milwaukee and sent to Boston via train,
where they were assembled in the open air while an extension to the
Waterworks building was constructed around it–brick by brick.

Apart from two giant flywheels that had to be hand-started by workmen
with crowbars, Allis practically ran itself. It required nothing more
than periodic oiling. Workers spent the rest of their time as they
liked, and they often liked to polish and tend to Allis. The engine’s
relatively pristine condition today gives evidence to the care
lavished upon it at the time.”