Home to four of the world's largest steam engines and an ASCE National Landmark and AWWA Landmark
Large Engine Museums and Related Water Works History

See additional displays on the World Triples Page
 

Big Iron Museums – USA  2 Meg, PDF 

A listing of Big Iron Museums in the USA that provide public tours for either walk-in or pre-scheduled tour guest.

 

Text Only version Here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made In Ohio – Steam Powered Machinery Index 
(With pictures) 9.7 Meg, PDF

A linked Index, alphabetical and by city, for manufactures of steam engines and steam powered machinery made in Ohio.

 

 

 

 

The Association for Industrial Archaeology



The AIA has money to give away - could your organization or project benefit? The AIA has a number of award and grant schemes but we need people to apply for them. Over £50,000 has been given out in Restoration Grants in the past two years. Please see our Awards Page for details of all we can do.

 Anson Engine Museum Anson Engine Museum    

This unusual and fascinating museum used to be one of the best kept secrets among Cheshire's many attractions. Over the past few years it has undergone some major changes and is now recognized as one of the Country’s leading specialist museums.

 Bolton Steam Museum


Bolton Steam Museum

The largest collection of working mill steam engines in the UK

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Boston Water Works Museum Boston Water Works Museum

The Waterworks Museum interprets unique stories of one of the country's first metropolitan water systems through exhibitions and educational programs on engineering, architecture, social history, and public health.

 

Colonel Ward Pump Station, Buffalo, NY

In the early 1900s colossal five story high, 60-foot, steam pumps delivered water to the city of Buffalo. These mammoth steam pumps still sit along side their smaller replacements, and have attracted attention from pump and steam engine enthusiasts.

Claymills Victorian Pumping Station Online MuseumClaymills Victorian Pumping Station Online Museum

We have four beam engines by Gimson of Leicester 1885, Five boilers Thompson 1936-37, Steam driven workshop, Forge and a 1930's dynamo house with early (1890's) Crompton dynamo driven by a Buxton and Thornley steam engine.

 Cleveland Water Works HistoryCleveland Water Works History

While water has guided the development of the Greater Cleveland area, it almost kept Cleveland from becoming a city. Founded in a swampy area on the shores of Lake Erie, the settlement that later became Cleveland was plagued by malaria, which wiped out almost all the early settlers. More came, however, drawn in part by the easy availability of water from Lake Erie and the rivers and creeks that flow into it.

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Coolspring Power Museum


The Coolspring Power Museum

Collection of historic internal combustion stationary gas engines is the largest, mechanically most interesting, and historically significant in the entire country.

 

Crossness Pumping Station Crossness Pumping Station   

The Beam Engine House was constructed in the Romanesque style and features some of the most spectacular ornamental Victorian cast ironwork to be found today. It also contains the four original pumping engines, which are possibly the largest remaining rotative beam engines in the world,

 

 Detroit Water WorksDetroit Water and Sewerage Department, The First 300 Years

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is the third largest provider of high-quality drinking water and wastewater treatment services in the United States. It has been a most incredible journey.

 

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Erie Pennsylvania Water Works, home for a 20 million gallon per day( MGD) Bethlehem Steel Triple Expansion High Duty Pumping Engine (aka Big bertha).

Visitors wishing to see Big Bertha can schedule tours throughout the year. Tour guides need advanced notice and a group size of at least 10 people. Call 814-870-8032 and ask for Aaron L. Stankiewiz to learn about available tour dates.

If you are not able to put together a group, they have an annual tour during the city’s “Celebrate Erie” on the third of fourth Saturday in August. Erie Water Works opens their doors to Big Bertha during that time for anyone wishing to see the engine.

 

Forncett Industrial Steam Museum Forncett Industrial Steam Museum

 

Goulburn Historic Waterworks Museum Goulburn Historic Waterworks Museum 

 

Hamilton Museum of Steam and TechnologyHamilton Museum of Steam and Technology  QEW, Hamilton, Ontario

Take a peek into life at the beginning of Canada's industrial revolution. This magnificent example of 19th century public works architecture preserves two 45-foot high, 70-ton steam engines which pumped the first clean water to the city over 140 years ago. One engine operates as a demonstration every day!  

The only surviving facility of its time in North America, the museum is a National Historic Site and a Civil and Power Engineering Landmark. These Canadian made engines are the oldest surviving examples in the nation.


Historical Construction Equipment Association

Historical Construction Equipment Association

Dedicated to preserving for public education the history of the construction, dredging and surface mining equipment industries.

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Howard Steamboat Museum, in Jeffersonville, Indiana

 Howard Steamboat Museum, in Jeffersonville, Indiana

The mission of the museum is to preserve the Howard family story, their mansion and the history of their shipyards and to foster an appreciation of the development of river steamboats and commerce along inland rivers.

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Kempton Steam Museum, London, UK   Home for the Worlds Largest Operating Triple Expansion Steam Engine, "The Sir William Prescott". 62 feet tall. An awesome museum.

See their Video 

 

 

 Kew Bridge Steam Museum Kew Bridge Steam Museum, Brentford, Middlesex -
Nine pumping engines of various types and designs, including a 1846, Cornish beam engine, reputed to be the largest working beam engine in the world.

 

 Louisville Water CompanyLouisville Water Company Pumping Station and Water Tower

It has stood on the banks of the Ohio River for 150 years, serving as a visual landmark for the city of Louisville and the water utility that bears its name. Now, during its 150th anniversary, Louisville Water Company is in the midst of a $2.2 million renovation project that will bring the historic structure to closely resemble its appearance in 1860.

Markfield Beam Engine and Museum Markfield Beam Engine and Museum      The principal exhibit is the Wood Bros. Beam Steam Pumping Engine of 1886. The Engine has been restored and can be seen operating under steam power on designated days. The Engine House also has been renovated.

 

 Markham Grange Steam Museum Markham Grange Steam Museum
 
Museum of Power Museum of Power , Housed in a former Pumping Station and newly refurbished, the museum contains a fascinating collection which ranges from a working overhead machine shop to a petrol powered iron. The jewel in our crown is the 'Lilleshall' triple expansion steam pump now back on steam after 50 years.

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National Museum of Industrial History  National Museum of Industrial History,  Bethlehem, PA
  In development.

 

 
Papplewick Pumping Station Britain’s finest Victorian WaterworksWelcome to Papplewick Pumping Station,

Britain’s finest Victorian Waterworks. The Pumping Station is in steam 8 times a year. The majority of the site is accessible for all but due to the historical nature of the Engine House access is via a small flight of steps leading to the porch and main door; there are also internal stairs for reaching the upper floors.

 

 

Papplewick Pumping StationPapplewick Pumping Station  ,

Working examples of Victorian pumping engines in an Ornate Victorian Architecture structure, opened in 1884, with two unique Watts Rotative Beam Engines.  The main building houses two massive beam engines, built by James Watt & Co. of Soho Works.

 

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Paxman History PagesPaxman History Pages , A comprehensive history of the engine builders, Paxman & Co. of Colchester, and their involvement in steam engineering. Starting with their first portable engine in 1870 and the expansion of their range to include a wide variety of horizontal and vertical steam engines, traction engines and also steam locomotives.

 

Pumping Station at Mill Meece Pumping Station at Mill Meece  The Mill Meece horizontal tandem compound steam engines are the only ones of their type still capable of being steamed. Along with all the ancillary equipment of boilers, economiser, Weir pumps, steam winch and weigh bridge the station forms a complete example of an Edwardian water supply pumping station.

 

 Ryhope Engine Museum, SunderlandRyhope Engine Museum, Sunderland , Two double-acting, rotative beam engines preserved in their original pumping house.

 

 

Spotswood Pumping Station Spotswood Pumping Station. Melbourne, Australia 

The Spotswood Pumping Station was built in the late nineteenth century as a key component of Melbourne's first centralized sewerage system. Today it is one of Australia's most important industrial heritage sites.

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Shreveport Water Works Museum USA  
 
Society for Industrial Archeology  Society for Industrial Archeology
The SIA is made up of members, world-wide, who have a strong interest in preserving, interpreting and documenting our industrial past and heritage
 
The Museum of Retro Technology
 

The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial HeritageTICCIH

The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage is the international organization for industrial archeology and the industrial heritage. Its aim is to study, protect, conserve and explain the remains of industrialization.

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Steam Engine Library University of Rochester, Rochester, NY,
                                          A collection of historical documents relating to the history of the steam engine
 
The Water Works Conservancy The Water Works Conservancy, Inc. NJ
A history, educational and historic preservation advocacy organization, started in 1994 as a grassroots effort to save the historic Hackensack Water Works site on Van Buskirk Island in Oradell, NJ. The mission of the Water Works Conservancy, Inc. is to tell the story of water as a vital resource, through the historic interaction between the Hackensack River, its ecosystem and the humans who depend upon it.  In 2007 the museum opened at 383 Kinderkamack Road, Oradell, NJ, and began developing programs and exhibits around the themes of the Hackensack River, the history of the Water Works and the history of Bergen County.

 

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International Stationary Steam Engines by Rob Dickinson

Tees Cottage Pumping StationTees Cottage Pumping Station Coniscliffe Road, Darlington

Tees Cottage Pumping Station is a Victorian waterworks in Darlington in the North East of England which began supplying water to Darlington in 1849.

 

 

The Steam Museum The Steam Museum

This core collection includes many fine examples of rare or unique steam powered machinery; ranging from WW2 special forces steam generators, to Traction Engines and Steam Rollers, Stationary Engines, Railway Locomotives, Historic Fairground Rides and Steamships.

The Water Works Museum Hereford The Water Works Museum Hereford

The working museum which makes the story of drinking water spring to life

 

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The New England Wireless and Steam Museum The New England Wireless and Steam Museum
 Road Island,
Steam & Compressed Air for Models.  Licensed Boilers & Licensed Engineers. New England's Largest Steam-Up Boiler. Giant Working Steam Engines & Hot Air & IC.

 

Waco, Texas Pumping Station, Allis Chalmers Corliss Engine

Pictures courtesy John & Cathy Mandell

 

 

Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum Today the museum is home to a growing collection of transport, artifacts and displays, interpreting the nationally important steam and transport first achievements of the Lea Valley Corridor.

 

 

The Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation

 Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation
Rescue operations for a William Tod Co. 34" x 68" x 60" Cross Compound Stationary Steam Engine

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