THE STEAM ENGINES OF NEW YORK

R.D. #2 West Winfield, New York 13491.

During the years when steam power was the driving force on the
American farm, a large percentage of the portable and traction
steam engine manufacturers in the United States were located in the
state of New York. I have no concrete information on which to
speculate why so many different engines were made in New York state
as opposed to other states which had a similar blend of industry
and agriculture.

Some of these engine builders such as Buffalo-Pitts and
Westinghouse were made in fairly large quantities and were
distributed over a large area. These remain well known to
collectors and enthusiasts today. The great majority of these
manufacturers however, were small-scale operations and only sold in
their own particular localities. These makes are almost unknown to
most collectors today. Some of these engines were produced by small
town foundries which were operated only to serve local needs. They
also may have lacked the facilities and financial base to produce
such a costly machine.

Many of these engines were undoubtedly seen by their makers as
the beginnings of a large and successful manufactory. However the
only company which I have thus far discovered that made steam
engines, and is still in business, is the Ames Iron works of
Oswego, N.Y. This company, incidentally is still producing steam
boilers, although, not the type with which we are dealing here.

In retrospect it seems to be a very large undertaking to
manufacture a portable or traction steam engine. It would seem to
me to be as huge a task to make one of this type engine using the
tools and technology of lets say the period 1860-1880 when many of
these small companies started business. Bending the thick iron
sheets into useable shapes for building boilers and wheels, for
instance, would require either heavy machinery or perhaps, in some
cases, heavy manual labor. The large and heavy engine and gear
castings would require the use of heavy, large lathes and boring
mills to shape the rough castings into a precision part. If today a
complete restoration of a rough and incomplete steamer seems to be
a task indeed for even a well equipped shop, imagine building
one!

An odd fact has emerged while compiling information on steam
engines made in New York state. While a large percentage of the
steam manufacturers were located in the state, a glance at a list
of one cylinder gas engine manufacturers reveals that the situation
is almost entirely reversed! Very few of the total were produced in
this state. Also it doesn’t appear that any of the steam engine
makers made the switch to gas engines when the trend to gas power
cut into the market for steam engines.