The weekend before last saw RPM Rigging
http://www.rpmrigging.com/ return to the slate quarry in Pen Argyl, PA to move two more steam hoists. One went to Ohio Vintage Coal in Ohio. This was a Flory built double drum steam hoisting engine. It operated a cableway at the Courtney hole (later known as the Albion quarry) of Stephens, Jackson & Company. RPM donated the move of another steam hoist from the same quarry. Its destination: my front yard. The unloading can be watched at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2RJzEnjSTE
Photos of the entire process of moving it are online at:
http://news.webshots.com/album/554465898nbYpyC
This particular hoist was used to pull narrow gauge rail cars loaded with bituminous coal up an incline to the coal bins at the boiler house. The hoist operated until the mid 1960s when the boiler house burned down and was replaced with an oil fired package boiler. Based on its design, the hoist must have been the oldest at the quarry, probably dating to the quarry’s opening in 1878, maybe even a decade earlier if it had a previous owner. The date and place of manufacture is unknown. The hoist is missing a number of pieces; however, I found a lot of spare Flory steam hoist parts that I am hoping I can fit to it. I have or will soon bring home a driving rod, crank disc and shaft, reversing links, and bearing stands. This will enable me to run it on one cylinder. The only major piece I will need to cast or fabricate to make it function will be a gear. The missing gear was shattered long ago, but the fragments show it was identical to one of the gears on the shaft that was lying beside the engine.
The missing engine parts may still exist. They were purchased in the late 60s or early 70s by an airplane pilot from Mt. Bethel or Portland, PA. He wanted to use them to power a steamboat. I was told that person might be Bill Payne, but he moved away at least a decade ago. I am still trying to track him down.