Stock No: 15511

A rare and perfectly detailed live steam scale model of a rotative vertical reciprocating beam engine with James Watt type parallel motion linkage. This hand-built engine has been made from burnished steel, cast iron and bronze, which has developed a good patina from over a century of enjoyment. It also retains its original paint and comes with its original carrying case. The single Mahogany clad double action, low pressure cylinder has a stroke of 2 5/8 inches and a bore of 1 1/8 of an inch, the piston produces power on both the upward and downward strokes. The fly wheel measures 11 inches in diameter and the beam, pivoting on a single bronze column, measures 8 1/4 inches. This engine was built between 1865 and 1870, most probably as an apprentice piece, or for demonstrating the workings of this type of engine. It is mounted on a Mahogany plinth with a brass plate with the inscription “MADE BY ROBERT GILCHRIST OF BERWICK ON TWEED 1865 1870”

English, circa 1870.

Scottish engineer, James Watt invented His parallel motion mechanical linkage for the double acting Watt steam engine in 1784. In a letter to his son written in 1808 James Watt wrote “I am more proud of the parallel motion than of any other invention I have ever made”. Watts' new double acting engines were powered by steam on both the upward and downward strokes, along with his parallel motion, these engines were much more efficient than previous engines built by Thomas Newcomen and Watt.

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