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Documents & Publications |
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An amazing model
builder, Chris Rueby, has built a working model for the engines used at our Main
Station, the Buffalo Waterworks, and other locations. Watch the video
HERE.
See
the NEW full size animation of the R.D.
Wood Engines at Old River Station by:
Chris Rueby
There's A Limelight Mystery Afoot
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Leland
L. Hite of Cincinnati Triple Steam based in Cincinnati,
Ohio, tells the story of a capricious river that dictated
the need for a pumping engine of gigantic proportions.
American version published in
the
Engineers
& Engines Magazine. |
From
the organization
Cincinnati Triple Steam based
in Cincinnati, Ohio, Leland L. Hite tells of the extreme
difficulties associated with the installation for a system
of steam-powered pumping engines of gigantic
proportions on a capricious river that dictated its need.
British version published in the Old
Glory
Magazine. |
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A Pocket Guide to Old River Station 6
Meg, PDF
By: Leland L. Hite
Docent for Cincinnati Triple Steam, Leland L. Hite,
describes amazing details regarding four of the world's
largest steam engines. In addition, learn how the pump
house was built at ground level and lowered by sand hogs. |
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Greater
Cincinnati Water Works Timeline 1817–2017 |
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A
Chronology of R. D. Wood & Company
5 Meg, PDF
By Paul M. McConnell, 2017A
chronological history for the R. D. Wood & Company by tour
guest Paul M. McConnell.
R.D. Wood & Co. was the builder of four the world's largest
crank and flywheel water pumping steam engines housed at Old
River Station, Greater Cincinnati Water Works.
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Big Iron Museums–USA
2 Meg, PDF

A listing of over 27 Big Iron Museums in the USA that
provide public tours for either walk-in or pre-scheduled
tour guest.
Text Only version Here
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Made In Ohio
– Steam Powered Machinery Index
(With pictures) 9.5 Meg, PDF
A linked Index, alphabetical and by city, for
manufactures of steam engines and steam powered machinery made in Ohio.
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The Engine Indicator, by John Walter,
2.4 Meg, PDF |
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Preservation by Operation:
36K, PDF
by: John S. Porter B.Sc., C. Eng., F.I. MarEST. Formerly
Trustee, Kew Bridge Steam Museum, London
Experience of the Restoration and
Operation of Large Stationary Steam Engines and the
Implications
for the Professional Engineer.
This is a must read for anyone considering the
restoration
of a large stationary steam engine.
"Restoring a superseded large stationary steam engine to an
operational condition for educational and entertainment
reasons is an attractive proposition to many, including
professional engineers. Yet there are many problems in
adapting such machines to work under off-design conditions
in the context of a voluntary group in the culture of 21st
century safety and responsibility. This paper discusses the
experience gained over thirty five years at three such
museums in London. In particular, the need for careful
appraisal of how the engine will behave in its new role, the
requirement to carry out the work within conservation
guidelines, and the problems of maintaining and operating
the engine after restoration is complete are reviewed." |
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Cincinnati’s Richard Miller Treatment Plant:
Setting the Foundations for the Future
10.5 Meg, PDF
By: Jeff Swertfeger, Lawrence Moster,
Leland L. Hite, and Bruce L. Whitteberry
Very possibly no other department of the
City of Cincinnati possesses a more interesting history than the
Water Works: not only from its special record, but because it is
more closely connected with the development of the city, and
illustrates its progress to a better advantage. |
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 Early
Cincinnati Steam Manufacturing:
The Lane and Bodley Company,
1850-1920,
4.5 Meg, PDF
by
Sandra R. Seidman, Northern Kentucky University
Originally published in Steam Traction,
May, 2006.
Revised in 2008, pictures added December, 2011 by L. Hite "There
were three firms which could be considered major
agricultural manufacturers for their day: Miles Greenwood’s
Eagle Iron Works, Blymyer Manufacturing Co., and Lane and
Bodley Co. Both Eagle Iron Works and Blymyer Manufacturing
were sold and renamed several times, eventually either going
out of business or completely losing their identity. Lane
and Bodley was the longest survivor of these early firms,
always retaining its original name and a measure of family
ownership and remaining in business until 1920."
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Alexander Bonner "Moses"
Latta, Nineteenth-Century Inventor and Entrepreneur,
by Sandra R. Seidman, Northern Kentucky University, 470K,
PDF
"Alexander B. Latta is given credit for the first
workable steam fire engine produced in 1853 for the city of
Cincinnati."First published in
the
Journal of Kentucky Studies, Northern Kentucky
University,
Volume Twenty-nine, September 2012 |
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First Steamboat to Descend the Ohio River
in 1811 3.7 Meg, PDF (Numerous illustrations
and pictures)
by: Thomas D. Schiffer, Northern Kentucky,
You can contact Mr. Schiffer via email
HERE
"Part love story, part drama, part success story, part
history, part tragedy, this is the story of innovation of a
new form of transportation on western rivers. It is not at
all a bad story. Keep in mind that most of us if not all of
us reach the heights of our endeavors by standing on the
shoulders of those who went before." Pictured
is a Steam Launch owned by Thomas D. Schiffer, Northern
Kentucky.
See more here
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A Photographic Story of the Flood in the
Ohio Valley, January 1937
By Clem Schutte, Published by O. Middendorf, 33 Meg, PDF
Best Flood Pictures
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Firefighting
Murals
at the former communications headquarters for the Cincinnati
Fire Dept.
Located at the Greater Cincinnati Water Works, Eden Park
pumping station. 2.5 Meg, PDF
After the building at Eden Park was discontinued as a
pluming station it was used by the Cincinnati Police and
Fire Department as the city dispatch for emergency
communications. In 1941
Herman Meissner completed a series of
murals for the fire department section of the
building. The murals depict 12 scenes in a fire fighting
evolution that sequence through time. Pictures by Lee
Hite |
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The
Story Behind The Myth of the "Lap Seam Crack"
By Bruce E. Babcock, PhD, 4.5 Meg, PDF |
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1909 Consolidation Coal Co. Contract, 37 Meg, PDF
1911 September Invoice from Cincinnati Gas Coke, Coal & Mining Co., 9
Meg, PDF
1914 October Payment Voucher American Steel & Wire Co., 16 Meg, PDF |
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The only two
operating steamboats in the Greater Cincinnati area by owner Thomas
D. Schiffer |
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Twenty two foot steamer (MISS BLUE) was built in
Clayton, New York in 1910 and rebuilt by Harry Card in 2004. |
At about 400 RPM. the steamer travels at
5-6 m.p.h. Seats 5 to 6. |
She will cruise at 60-90 p.s.i.g. with a max of 150
p.s.i.g. Piloted from the front or the engineers station |
Steamboat (MISSIE) piloted only from the rear and
uses a home-built, fore-and-aft compound, condensing engine, with a
propane-fired water-tube boiler. |
MISS BLUE seats five to six, can be piloted from the
front (usually by his wife) or from the engineer’s station behind the
boiler (two wheels). |
She will cruise at 60-90 p.s.i.g., 120 p.s.i.g. max
at about 400 RPM and 5-6 m.p.h. |
A home-built, simple engine, single cylinder and a
wood-fired water-tube boiler. |
The Island Queen (925-1947, by Cincinnati
artist and model builder Mr. John I. Fryant |
As a child, Mr. Schiffer would ride the Island Queen
Steamboat, and referred to it as the CONEY ISLAND BOAT, while the crew
called her BIG LIZ.. |
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Steamboaters Miss Blue, the Ajax, the Phoenix and the
Oliver cruse the Dora Canal in Florida. March 1-5, 2013 |
The alligators were asleep |
Steamers Miss Blue and the Oliver at the Crazy
Alligator |
This gentleman lost his boat in a boat-house fire a
few years back and this is his replacement PHOENIX (from the ashes). |
Steamer AJAX under way. |
The OLIVER is a sister boat to MISS BLUE...both were
built by L. E. Fry, Clayton, New York in 1910 |
Members of the Dora Yacht Club, watching intrepid
steamboaters embark in near gale force winds! |
Miss Blue at Sunset at the Tavaris Dock. |
Mr. John I. Fryant with fellow artist Michael Blaser |
Mr. Thomas D. Schiffer, is owner of the only two
operating steamboats in the Greater Cincinnati area. Mr. Schiffer is
also the author for the
history of the Frisbie Engine & Machine Co. in Cincinnati
(steam engines),
and author for the history of the
Peters & King
Cartridge &
Gunpowder
Manufacturing Companies located where Kings Island is now.
The 22 foot long steamer (MISS BLUE) with the canopy
was built in Clayton, New York in 1910 and rebuilt by Harry Card in
2004. It has a home-built, simple engine, single cylinder and a
wood-fired water-tube boiler. She will cruise at 60-90 p.s.i.g. with a
max of 150 p.s.i.g. The boat has a three bladed Monel propeller with an
18” diameter and a 23” pitch. At about 400 R.P.M. the steamer travels at
5-6 m.p.h. MISS BLUE seats five to six, can be piloted from the front
(usually by his wife) or from the engineer’s station behind the boiler
(two wheels).
The second steamboat (MISSIE) can only be piloted from the rear and uses
a home-built, fore-and-aft compound, condensing engine, with a
propane-fired water-tube boiler. She will cruise at 60-90 p.s.i.g. with
a max of 120 p.s.i.g. The keel condenser will typically run about -10
p.s.i.g. She is built on a twenty-foot fiberglass Rose hull
equipped with a three bladed bronze propeller, 18” diameter and a 23”
pitch. At about 400 R.P.M. the steamer travels at 5-6 m.p.h.
Cincinnati artist and model builder Mr. John I.
Fryant displays the Island Queen
(1925-1947), scale 5/16 inch = 1 foot, with fellow artist Michael
Blaser. As a child, Mr. Schiffer would regularly ride the Island
Queen Steamboat, and often referred to it as the CONEY ISLAND BOAT,
while the crew called her BIG LIZ.. Rated at 4,100 PAX the steamer used
a 600 HP
tandem-compound non-condensing engine made by the
Charles Barnes Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, holder of
patents for the steam-jet pump,
vices, and more. The steamer blew-up and burned in 1947.
You can contact Mr. Schiffer via email
HERE |
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