The Camillus Steam Engine Museum

is located in the Camillus Erie Canal Park on DeVoe Road in Camillus NY, just west of Syracuse, near the Newport Road exit of NY-5. It houses a growing collection of various types of steam engines. At the last count, it had twenty one engines in differing states of repair.

The museum is a work in progress and can usually be seen during volunteer work hours on Saturday mornings. To obtain a tour at other times, volunteer, or request additional information on the project, contact Jim Mackessy at 315-469-2895, or e-mail him at: jmackess@twcny.rr.com. It is best to contact Jim if planning a Saturday visit, as he and the other volunteers are involved in some off-site projects and field trips. They welcome your interest and support, and eagerly await your visit!

The museum's prize display is a 450 horsepower Rice and Sargent engine rescued from the basement of the L.C. Smith and Brothers typewriter factory in Syracuse in 1998, just before the old factory was demolished. The engine is of the Corliss type, incorporating inlet and outlet valve designs patented by George Henry Corliss. The valves control engine speed by controlling the steam shut off point during each inlet/expansion stroke rather than by simply throttling the steam supply. This eliminates the irreversible throttling process and results in more thermodynamically efficient operation. Fuel savings more than compensated for the added cost of the shut off mechanism.

The Rice & Sargent engine was originally equipped with a Crocker and Wheeler 300 kW D.C. generator. The generator powered large motors on each floor of the factory that drove lineshafts, to which the manufacturing machinery was belted. At the time (1913) large factories had no recourse but to provide their own power, as the local power companies did not yet have enough capacity to provide for other than lighting and light electric motor usages. With the onset of WW II, production demands drove a modernization of the plant, which included introduction of commercial power as an alternate to the power produced by the steam engine. The boiler room and the electrical systems were all modernized, and the steam engine was rebuilt and refitted with a Westinghouse alternator. The alternator produced 375 kva., (480 volts at 452 amps, 60 Hz 3-phase). The "dead front" switch gear on display was also installed as part of this modernization. The rest of the plant was upgraded as well, with modern machine tools that had individual motors, eliminating the need for lineshafts. In the postwar years, the plant required power in excess of what the engine could provide, so the engine was relegated to back-up service and was used when the exhaust could be utilized for heating purposes during the winter months.

The engine is an excellent example of a late period Corliss engine specifically improved for direct connected electrical generation. The men who held the patents on these improvements, John Sargent and Richard Rice, formed a company to market their engine in 1895. Originally built by Builder's Foundry, of Providence, Rhode Island, the line was soon picked up by Providence Engineering Works of the same city, as a replacement for the somewhat dated Greene patent engine they had been making. Mr. Rice had previously worked at the William A. Harris Steam Engine Co., E.D. Leavitt of Cambridgeport, Mass, and Bath Iron Works in Bath, Me.. Mr. Sargent was formerly with the Providence Steam Engine Co., The Dickson Mfg. Co., E.D.Leavitt, and the Swanscott Machine Co.. Their patents involve improved governor types, overspeed protection devices, improving valve placement and form for ease of service, and, of course, the releasing cut-off gear designed for high speed running, which is necessary for generating electricity. The Providence Engineering Works went on to build over 500 Rice & Sargent Engines. Three are known to have survived, ours being number R-480.

Museum volunteers have transported and refurbished the engine shown below so it looks almost as good as it did when it left the Providence Engineering Works in Rhode Island where it was built in 1913.

The museum also contains many examples of engines made in upstate New York, both by large firms and small shops run by individuals. The oldest is a Wood,Tabor and Morse engine from the 1870's, built in Eaton, New York. The newest is an Ames Iron Works Uniflow, the pinnacle of piston steam engine development, built in 1933. This is a vertical 3 cylinder engine resembling a marine diesel in appearance, and was the type of engine used in marine applications as late as the 1970's. Some smaller engines were manufactured by individuals and marketed commercially. An example of this is a two cylinder single acting engine by A.L. Stickle of Weedsport, N.Y.. Two are known to exist.
As the Rice & Sargent project nears completion, plans are being made for the display of the next major engine, a horizontal Ames Uniflow complete with General Electric slate panel "live front" switch gear, from the Syracuse China plant on Court St.. In addition to the engines, the museum has steam pumps, lubricators,and other period engine accessories, as well as a collection of flat belt driven machine tools appropriate to the "line shaft" era.

Further information about the Camillus Steam Engine Museum can be found at http://eriecanalcamillus.com/steam.htm.