Oldenburg Engine

August 2002
Farm Collector Staff 
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 Restored Oldenburg Engine fired up
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The 1928 Fairbanks Morse engine spent its working life producing electricity for an Oldenburg, Ind., Catholic Academy and Motherhouse. Then, idled by alternating current technology, the 80-hp, diesel engine sat silent for 16 years mostly in a barn with only varmints for company.

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Today, though, it's restored and running again - thanks to members of the Franklin County, Ind., Antique Machinery Club. They plan to have it fired up for their annual show, Sept. 26-29, at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Brookville.

Back on April 12, 1928, the Sisters of St. Francis in Oldenburg signed the original contract to purchase the engine and its generator from Fairbanks Morse & Co. of Cleveland. The cost was $8,726.

The Sisters planned to use the machinery to provide electricity to the Oldenburg Academy, which they operated, and to their Motherhouse.

The outfit they bought included the 80-hp VA diesel engine with a 50-kw DC generator attached. The engine had 2 cylinders, which ran at 300 rpm; a 12-inch bore; a 15-inch piston stroke, and a type 'H' two-stage air compressor belt, which ran at 3 hp. It also had a type 'DH' 115-volt direct current motor and a switchboard that met the National Electric Code. The gross weight was 21,175 pounds

Fairbanks Morse Co. installed it and a 12,000-gallon fuel oil tank, which had a hand-operated gear pump to transfer oil from the storage tank to the engine's fuel tank; FM engineers supervised the installation for $15 per day.

The Sisters requested that the unit be tested two eight-hour days, after which the company was notified in writing of their approval of the purchase. They operated the engine on the fourth shift, which was at night; The Sisters ran four 6-hour shifts daily and used coal-fired boilers in the daytime.

In 1928, according to their records, fuel oil produced 39,310 kilowatt-hours at eight cents per gallon, with an additional $125 paid for a 250-gallon drum of lubricating oil. The cost per kwh worked out to .0123 cents, for a total of $484.87. Steam, on the other hand, had a cost of .05 cents per kwh, for a total of $1,965.50.

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