The President Steam Engine- an index of posts so far

A Cornish Engine in the USA

“The only two non-William West lattice beams I know of is the Harleem Meer Engines in the Netherlands and the President Engine in the USA. The former was influenced by his Austen’s engine, and the latter designed by his nephew, John West”  _{From a talk given to the Friends of Luxuylan  Valley}

This was my sole knowledge of the President Engine before I started this short series of posts; some throw away lines that I soon discovered greatly undersold this very important piece of Industrial heritage.  Before this blog moves on to new topics, I will gather together the posts in an index. 

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The President Engine

The President Engine was claimed to be the largest stationary engine in the world, and is

The engine house in 2017

the it is the only remaining Cornish Engine house still standing in the USA. It was built by John West from Cornwall, forming an important example of how the Cornish engine concept being developed to meet the needs of North American mining industry.

This is an engine that deserves more recognition; a site that forms not only an important part of the USA’s industrial heritage, but also that of Cornwall’s rich engineering history.

The President Engine posts

• The President Engine and its lattice beam
• The Largest stationary steam engine in the world 1872
• Where is the President Engine?
• The President Engine Key Dates
• John West a Cornish Engineer in the USA
• The President Engine described
• The only Cornish Engine House in the USA
• Reasons to preserve the President Engine House

Related Posts

• William West of Tredenham
• Some Threads in History and the Last Great Cornish Engineer
• West’s lattice beams

External links

• Damian Nance’s paper on the President Engine

 

During the writing of these posts I discovered that there was a large amount of activity underway in the USA to preserve the President Engine house. I will update this blog with progress of that work, and hopefully will sometime in the future have the pleasure of hosting a post starting with the title “Reasons to visit the President engine house”. Meanwhile, if any readers know of websites or publications relating to the engine please drop me a message and I will gladly pass on the information here.

And finally, many thanks to  Mark Connar for providing much of the information within these recent posts. Good luck over there across the pond in preserving this wonderful piece of mining heritage.

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To learn more about John West’s famous Uncle

Here are two publications on William West of Tredenham, the last Great Cornish Engineer; one a paperback, one a Kindle publication.

 

The Cornish Engine House in Virgin Gorda

A little snippet of Cornwall in the British Virgin Islands

My last post on the President Steam Engine in the USA mentioned another remnant of Cornish mining across the Atlantic; the Virgin Gorda engine house. By pure chance that was and engine house that I have had the chance to visit, and so it seemed like a good excuse to locate the files on the laptop, and give them a public airing. 

A Caribbean gem of industrial history

My visit to this fascinating site in 2009 was a result of one of those rare occasions where my leisure (Cornish mining History) and professional  (Navigation) interests crossed paths. In this case the ship I was navigating anchored off Tortola, and I managed to grab a few hours off in the afternoon to explore.

Whilst my fellow shipmates headed rapidly off in one direction to explore the delights of the Pussers Rum distillery, I headed off in another direction to locate a copper mine.

Copper point- a Surreal Juxtaposition

The scenery that greeted me at Copper Point proved to be ample reward for the

hike across the Island for forsaking the chance to devour ‘Painkiller; cocktails all afternoon. It seemed so surreal, drystone Cornish walls and Caribbean scenery.  Vegetation from one Continent growing around the iconic architecture of another.

The engine house was partially standing with its bedstone still in place inside.

 

 

Remnants of past industry

This site has remains that are rare in Cornwall; ironwork.  Sat among the piles of masonry I found the rusting remains of a boiler.  Its survival in this salt laden atmosphere without preservation was remarkable.

The real gem of this site I found after some scrabbling down to the waterline. For there laying partly submerged in the sea lay the engine’s bob.

Partially encrusted in barnacles, and draped in fishing gear the two halves of a Cornish Engine Beam lay on the sand acting as a reminder on how far the Cornish and their technology traveled around the world, chasing the copper, chasing the tin.

The nearest source of refreshments to the site was a bar aptly named The Mine Shaft, and there hung from the ceiling I discovered one final  reminder of Cornwall, A St.Piran’s flag. The white on black hung in a wooden shack, in a far off Caribbean Island; a perfect excuse to toast Cousin Jack if there ever was one!

 

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The next post in this blog is planned to finish the series on the President Engine. Meanwhile, if you are a professional navigator, then pop across to  have a look at my other blog at Navsregs.