The engine in steam at Birmingham's Thinktank museum
Origins
Type
Watt beam engine
Designer
James Watt
Maker
Boulton and Watt
Date
May 1779 (1779-05)
Country of origin
England
Former operator
Birmingham Canal Navigations
Purpose
Pumping water
Measurements
Cylinders
1
Bore
32 inches (81 cm)
Stroke
8 feet (244 cm)
Preservation
Collection
Birmingham Museums Trust
Location
Thinktank
Working
Yes
The Smethwick Engine is a Watt steam engine made by Boulton and Watt, which was installed near Birmingham, England, and was brought into service in May 1779. Now at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, it is the oldest working steam engine[1][2] and the oldest working engine in the world.[3][4]
^"Oldest steam engine". guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
The SmethwickEngine is a Watt steam engine made by Boulton and Watt, which was installed near Birmingham, England, and was brought into service in May...
in 1891, leaving Smethwick in the County of Staffordshire.[citation needed] The world's oldest working engine, the SmethwickEngine, made by Boulton &...
Steam engines were constructed at either end of the Smethwick Summit to pump water used in the operation of the locks back to the summit. The Smethwick Engine...
surviving Watt engine is Old Bess of 1777, now in the Science Museum, London. The oldest working engine in the world is the SmethwickEngine, brought into...
at their Soho Foundry in Smethwick, near Birmingham, England. Between 1775 and 1800, Boulton and Watt produced 496 engines. The partnership was passed...
planetarium and a collection that includes the SmethwickEngine, the world's oldest working steam engine. Other science-based museums include the National...
engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used...
was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist...
A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating...
The Engine Arm or Birmingham Feeder Arm near Smethwick, West Midlands, England, is a short canal which was originally part of a feeder tunnel for a pumping...
like on trunk engines. Therefore, the longitudinal dimension of the crosshead must be matched to the stroke of the engine. On smaller engines, the connecting...
A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank, the connecting...
of gilded bronze). In 1782, it became the first site with a Watt steam engine with the sun and planet gear. It was also home to the first steam-powered...
the firm of Boulton & Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham...
mechanically restraining it; most commonly the reciprocating internal combustion engine, the case this article refers to unless otherwise noted. Hydrolock occurs...
(pumped liquid cooling, air cooling, etc.). The working fluid of a heat engine or heat pump is a gas or liquid, usually called a refrigerant, coolant,...
back to the summit – one at Spon Lane locks, and one at Smethwick locks: the SmethwickEngine. When the summit became too busy John Smeaton designed a...
Smethwick is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. The area is centered on Bearwood Road; one of Smethwick’s...
Lancashire inventor Samuel Crompton. Boulton and Watt's SmethwickEngine, now the oldest working engine in the world, is brought into service (May)). A joint...
Stockton and Darlington Railway, the safety valve tended to go off when the engine hit a bump in the track. A valve less sensitive to sudden accelerations...
the SmethwickEngine. Back pumping at locks Ashtead Titford Perry Barr Walsall Dudley Parkhead Back pumping between levels Ocker Hill Smethwick Summit...
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