The World's Oldest Steam Engine! Newcomen Atmospheric Engine

This is the oldest, surviving steam engine in the world. The Newcomen Atmospheric Engine, located inside the Henry Ford Museum.
Visit the Newcomen Atmospheric Engine at The Henry Ford Museum - theHenryFord.com
Support the channel at http:patreon.com/IndustrialRevolution

[@rogermarsh9806]

There is a replica at Dudley open air museum in the midlands that occasionally is put to work,

[@MoraneAI]

These engines can run continuously, they don't have to stop because of the cylinder getting hot. The water jet cools the cylinder so it settles at a working temperature. I have experience of this because I helped to build a replica engine in Auckland New Zealand a few years back

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Which one did you replicate, or just a generic Newcomen type? Have any video of it running? Go ahead and put a link here so we can see it running, if you want. If it's in a museum, drop a link for them, too. My understanding for the overheating shutdown is that it wasn't something that happened fast. You'd have to run them for many hours, and even then, weather would impact it (hot sun vs cold wind). It's possible that's something Newcomen fixed along the way. He did make a lot of changes to fix various problems along the way.

[@stumccabe]

A wonderful survival from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Yes it is incredibly inefficient by today's standards but was Revolutionary high tech in the 1700s!

[@pauls5745]

Steam wasn't efficient, but those machines were the most reliable things on the planet.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

They did tend to run forever. May just be selection bias, but it looks like they ran until they closed down the mines or replaced them purely to gain efficiency.

[@1943L]

A very similar atmosphere engine was used to run a bone crushing machine in Staffordshire. It now runs once a moth I believe and uses the canal to condense the cylinder/steam.

[@the_retag]

Any link?

[@1943L]

@@the_retag It is next to the canal in Stoke on Trent. Used to run first Saturday in the Month

[@1943L]

@@the_retag The engine is next to the canal just south of Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. I believe it runs the first Saturday of the month.

[@wlfdrgn]

This is the first, good explanation of how a Newcomen engine works. Thanks!

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Amazing to think that it actually ran on just normal air pressure, isn't it?

[@zinckensteel]

@@Industrial_Revolution Atmospheric engines came in many forms, internal and external combustion, and continued to play an important role until the Otto 4-cycle.

[@davepennington3573]

@@zinckensteel Atmospheric (and steam) engines are only external combustion

[@Industrial_Revolution]

The only ones I know of are external combustion. There were still some in use at least into the 1950's, and it wouldn't surprise me if there were some later. I don't think anyone was building new ones, but these things were built so well that it seems like they just didn't die.

[@user-yp8di1pq8i]

That was awesome, thanks for sharing your knowledge of such wonderful experiences and history.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Thanks!

[@officialbritishtaxpayer5609]

I thought the oldest Newcomen engine was at Dartmouth in Devon.1725 now enclosed in a shiny new visitor centre . Having said that, this example at Dearborn is an incredibley important survivor. Good old Henry Ford, rescuing all these wonderful engines back in the 1930s! Many of them, maybe all would have been lost forever otherwise.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I think I found the one you're talking about. From their web site, "The beam and cylinder are believed to be original; valve gear was replaced in 1821, and used by the Coventry Canal Company from 1821 to 1913 for pumping water from a well into the canal at Hawkesbury Junction. The engine is a direct descendent of Newcomen's first machine." Sounds like only part of that one is believed to be original. It really says a LOT about these engines when, at 100 years old, they did a major rebuild and put it to use for another 100 years. Can you imagine any canal or mine pump installed today not being replaced in 20 or 30 years? I mentioned in another comment that it's entirely possible an older, fully-intact version is out there somewhere. Probably somewhere where a mine closed and everyone just forgot it was there. It'd be great to find one of the really early Newcomen engines intact, with the cylinder on top of the boiler and everything.

[@officialbritishtaxpayer5609]

@@Industrial_Revolution Yes that's the one I am thinking of. Yes it's incredible that these engines could be rebuilt after 100 years! I enjoyed your video - I hope that you'll cover the other engines Henry Ford rescued and meanwhile, keep up the good work!

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Thanks. I have a couple more in the works right now. Not sure when they'll be out. I'm trying to keep some variety in the videos, between steam engines, trains, canals, mills, etc.

[@steveshoemaker6347]

Amazing thanks very much...

[@friguy4444]

Those square nuts blow my mind LOL.

[@MrGlenferd]

I've seen this engine in the museum. Said it was rated at 4 horse power if I remember right. Great museum. You could spend days in there.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I just looked it up. 11hp, although since horsepower was something James Watt came up with later, partly as a marketing tool (which is why an actual horse is more than one horsepower), no one knew it when this engine was built.

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

On her birthday, i presented my wife with an old Dutch oven. Perhaps not the oldest, certainly the boldest though.

[@bicivelo]

Fantastic presentation! Liked and subscribed! I want to add this place to my bucket list. Here and the Crossness Beam Engines in the UK 😊😊

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Sounds like you're like me. The more of these I make, the more my list grows.

[@smallthings6590]

Subbed. Great channel.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Thanks! I have lots of good stuff coming up.

[@ArjayMartin]

great documentary.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Thanks!

[@user-ey6oi4xw8r]

Steam doesn't push the beam up, it can't, the piston hangs on a chain. Chains are for Pulling not Pushing, it would just crumple. The piston is Pulled up by the weight on the other end of the Beam, this draws steam into the cylinder for condensing.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Just the piston itself, not everything else connected to it. Mostly it's the weight of the pump shaft pulling on the other end doing the work, with the steam just helping speed it up a bit. That shaft weight is why, as you see in the video, with no pressure anywhere, a Newcomen Engine will come to rest with the piston in the up position. Check out the Watt Rotative Steam Engine video I have coming up to see how that transitioned from the chains you mentioned to rigid links. Not sure of the release date on it yet, but fairly soon. Quite a few other innovations in that engine, too.

[@radiofun232]

Very interesting and many thanks for uploading, also your explanation is to the point. 19 May 2024.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Thanks for the comment. I'm really glad to see how many people are enjoying this video.

[@trevortrevortsr2]

What you are showing is the 1760 engine from a colliery in Ashton-under-Lyne, not the "Black Country" -The oldest Newcomen steam engine still in one piece is the 1725 Griff Colliery engine which is now known as The Newcomen Memorial Engine that was moved by the Newcomon Society to Newcomen's hometown of Dartmouth in 1963 - The earliest effective industrial Necomen engine dates from 1712 though it no longer exists - a fine working replica of a similar 1715 engine can be seen at the Black Country Museum, Dudley.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Someone else mentioned the steam engine in Dartmouth. This is what their web site says about it: "The beam and cylinder are believed to be original; valve gear was replaced in 1821, and used by the Coventry Canal Company from 1821 to 1913 for pumping water from a well into the canal at Hawkesbury Junction. The engine is a direct descendent of Newcomen's first machine." The one in the Henry Ford Museum is the oldest complete one, since significant parts were replaced 200 years ago on the Dartmouth one. There may well be an even older one out there, probably at some long-abandoned mine, rusting out in the woods somewhere. If it exists, hopefully someone finds it rescues it. I keep hearing about a lot of great museums over on that side of the Atlantic that I need to get to. Also, I really want to see the working replica Newcomen and Trevithick engines. Neither was ever really used in the states, so we don't have those here.

[@OPGamer-wp1si]

It's better.... If working engine demonstration is on the background

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I agree, but we have a serious lack of running 200+ year old engines locally.

[@1pcfred]

Steam power is the Second Industrial Revolution. The First Industrial Revolution was the Spinning Jenny. That sort of thing. The first revolution was wooden machinery.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

When I decided to start this channel, one of the first things I did was to look for the official definition of the Industrial Revolution. I found there's a lot of them, and some were kinda odd. I hadn't heard this one, but I'm ok with it. I go into detail about what I picked and why in my What is the Industrial Revolution video, if you're interested.

[@1pcfred]

@@Industrial_Revolution when most imagine the Industrial Revolution it is the second one that comes to their mind. Metal machinery. But there was one before then. It had a greater impact on society too. Least it got folks more worked up over the implications of it. They weren't willing to accept the change. That's where the Luddites came from.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

There were definitely some huge water-powered mills around before steam, and they definitely had an impact on a lot of people.

[@David-fr9wn]

So you say there are others before 1712? But Hero's steam engine was the first in history some 2000 years ago

[@Industrial_Revolution]

That one could legitimately be called steam-powered, but to call it a steam engine is a bit of a reach, since it didn't actually do any work. It just spun in a circle for a little while. Proved a few physics principles, but not really an engine. I am glad you brought it up, though. It does show that most inventions are 99% using things that already existed and 1% some really new idea.

[@abrr2000]

The addition of an external condenser was responsible for the biggest efficiency improvement in a mechine in all of history. As instead of thermal cycling the entire cylinder, you only thermal cycled a small box. It improved the efficiency from 2% to 6% a 3 fold improvement in efficiency. Also, yes you can see them in operation. There are still some perserved and operation in the UK. Here is an example... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpbYl5mDjK2Zea8

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I just saw a video of one that was just restored in England. The external condenser didn't exist on the Newcomen machines. That was a James Watt invention. It came long later. I have a couple videos coming up on those. One is a Watt canal pumping engine, which added the condenser. The other is a rotative engine, which is almost like an intermediate step between atmospheric and higher pressure systems.

[@ronblack7870]

i thought they also had water pouring on top of the piston to help create a better vacuum seal . i seem to recall that from my college history of technology courses back in 1980.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I think you're thinking about the James Watt engines, which were a big improvement over the Newcomen ones. Watt added a second, water-cooled cylinder to do the condensing, which improved efficiency and fixed some other issues.

[@johnthompson3605]

nearly correct, the weight of the pump rods pull the piston to the top of the cylinder , the steam only enters the cylinder to be condensed with cold water and create a vacuum which then pulls the piston back down the cylinder, they used to have lots of problems with the cylinder cracking due to thermal shock.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I didn't run across any reports of cylinders cracking. The ones I've seen have been pretty solid. Was that more on the early Newcomen engines? There were a lot of revisions made pretty quick to make them more reliable. This one ran more than 100 years, although I have no idea how many boilers it went through in that time. With the earlier ones, with the cylinder directly on top of the boiler, I could see thermal shock being more of an issue. The extra 5psi didn't help much, but did help a bit. You're right, though, that left to its own devices, it'll always settle with the pump shaft side down and the piston up.

[@johnthompson3605]

@@Industrial_Revolution I think the cracked cylinders may if been on the early ones, bear in mind, cylinder technology in 1712, was not good, considering that this engine pre dates John Wilkinson's barrel boring machine, (1774 I think) so a precision fit between piston and cylinder wasn't possible, in fact there are records if running the piston up and down the rough cast bite with a mixture of tallow and sand to try to get some sort of fit, which most likely led to weak spots anyway.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

The construction of these things definitely improved over the years. Probably why there's none of the really early ones still out there.

[@allenjames515]

I suggest that the overall efficiency of a Newcomen engine, from chemical energy in fuel to mechanical work in lifted water was 0.1% and Watt's condenser lifted it to 0.4%. a respectable 1930 railway engine waa typically about 7%. None of these very low pressure atmospheric engines ever achieved 2% even with a separate condenser. We still have them in situ, lifting water in their original engine house more than 200 years old. Crofton Beam Engines but only a few days per year, electric motor normally.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Since I posted this, I've been seeing some running on occasion. Atmospheric engines never really made it to North America. Early on, there was so much water power, there was no need for it, and by the time anyone actually wanted more power, better steam engines were available. I do need to get over to Great Britain sometime and go check out everything that's there.

[@allenjames515]

@@Industrial_Revolution If you go to Dartmouth, where Newcomen lived, you can see a preserved engine from circa 1720, which had two working lives: first at coal mine, second canal supply. It was rescued and taken to Dartmouth about 100 years ago by Institution of Mechanical Engineers. It reciprocates by electric motor. The feature which interested me is a brass plate from American Institution of Mechanicals stating correctly that his engine was the beginning of man made power.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I'm thinking one trip isn't going to be enough. KZbin keeps suggesting more stuff over there related to the birth of steam power.

[@kennethm.pricejr.8921]

And it was in service for over 100 years!

[@Industrial_Revolution]

It's pretty amazing, as I look into more of these old steam engines, how many were still around more than a century later. Some made it into the 1900's.

[@davepennington3573]

@@Industrial_Revolution It would be interesting to see the atmospheric engine concept return to service pumping water for energy storage (and running on solar thermal energy). With better materials such an engine could pump basically forever. It's main efficiency problem can be eliminated by making the cylinder out of a low thermal mass structural material, and I have invented one which is very affordable and durable. This engine would be large but it would also be quiet and safe.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

So assuming it's electrical, from your description, how's the efficiency, compared to the pumped storage pump/generators in use today? The generator side would still be needed, too, of course.

[@davepennington3573]

​@@Industrial_Revolution Mechanical pump up, DC micro hydro down. Efficiency only matters if fuel has a cost. The parabolic collector/engine would be cast in place. Two water reservoirs would probably be the most expensive component but their functions are stacked (they are ideal fish rearing tanks). Another function stacked is hot water.

[@barriewright2857]

Hi i am from that part of the UK. And your historical information and information about the region are correct. If any one comes to this part of the UK you must come to the black country museum. To see the historical events and history of the industrial revolution.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I really want to get over there and spend some time museum hopping. The industrial revolution happened all over, but when it comes to early steam engines, they were nearly ALL in the UK.

[@robertpatrick3350]

The problem with defining which steam engine is the oldest is as intractable as the ‘Ship of Theseus’….. for the Brits ‘triggers broom’ and those on the other side of the pond ‘George Washington’s axe’. What’s more important is that they are preserved and whenever possible run on live steam! There’s nothing sadder than a steam engine being turned by an electric jockey motor!

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Yep. Others have brought up an older one, but it had been heavily rebuilt, and someone else pointed to the oldest working steam engine. This one's the oldest, basically original equipment steam engine. So which one is best? ALL OF THEM!

[@David-fr9wn]

The first steam engine was built in 1712 look it up

[@Industrial_Revolution]

This isn't the oldest, it's the oldest surviving steam engine. There were quite a few made before this, and parts of some of them still survive, but this is the oldest, complete one still around, at least that anyone knows of at this time. There may still be an older one that was abandoned at a mine somewhere waiting to be found.

[@trevortrevortsr2]

@@Industrial_Revolution I enjoyed your post however there is an older intact engine Newcomen the 1725 Griff Colliery engine

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I feel like I need to spend about a month going through that region and visiting all the industrial revolution sites in the area. I really want to see the working replica Newcomen and Trevithick engines.

[@chrisingle5839]

The One thing they failed on at the Ford Museum , is that they have ZERO steam engines operating. Even one would have been better. Maybe they have fixed this oversight since 1998, but id doubt it.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

They used to run quite a few. In the museum, if you look at steam engines with suspiciously new-looking, silver pipes feeding into them, those were set up to run when installed, even if on compressed air (to avoid dumping steam into the museum). The Corliss steam engine is the last one still running in the museum, and that one runs on low-pressure compressed air. Out in the village, though, aside from the steam locomotives pulling trains, and the steam-powered traction engine used at the Firestone Farm, they used to run quite a few. The machine shop and power plant both used to run live steam. I'm pretty sure the Menlo Park machine shop used to run on steam when I was a kid, too, but can't confirm that. Rumor has it they stopped running live steam on stationary engines due to an explosion of a boiler.

[@davepennington3573]

@@Industrial_Revolution The cost of insuring ancient steam engines (on steam) in public are probably prohibitive. I love looking at them but will never stand anywhere near one in operation, having read reports of what happens when they blow.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

@davepennington3573 Sorry, your reply got flagged as spam for some reason and I just now found it. They CAN be run safely, although accidents still happen, even when operated by qualified people. Fortunately, with at least two, independent, emergency pressure relief systems in place (usually), they're fairly safe to be around, as long as they're operated by people who know what they're doing. Big museums are probably somewhat safer than something like steam hobbyist shows, though. Not a lot of inspections on some of that hobby stuff.

[@eliotreader8220]

I don't think any of these engines worked in America. I think a few worked in other countries beside England

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Yep. Early in the US, there was so much water power available, no one would have thought to use steam. By the time anyone needed more power, there were much better coal-fired engines available.

[@trevortrevortsr2]

The French used one in Paris to pump water from the Seine River

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I just found a reference that there may have been a small one in Boston. Not much detail on it, though.

[@user-ey6oi4xw8r]

They called it a Newcomen Engine or a fire engine. Why did they change it to Steam Engine, the same name as Watt's Steam Engine? Confusing, no?

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Well, Watt's steam engine came along later. I have a video coming up on Watt's Canal Pump Engine which is nearly identical (except bigger) but with Watt's improvement of a condensing cylinder. Both Watt and Newcomen engines were obviously named for the engineers who built them. Fire engine was because it was the first engine that ran on fire power, instead of water power (water wheels) or wind power (windmills). Not really sure when the change to "steam engines" happened.

[@Ronilac]

"This is the oldest, surviving steam engine in the world." Maybe...

[@Industrial_Revolution]

There were definitely some built before it, but from what I've been able to find, no older ones have survived intact. There's a chance there may be one out in the woods at an old mine, somewhere, though.

[@trevortrevortsr2]

@@Industrial_Revolution I think your engine is 1760 from a colliery in Ashton-under-Lyne, not the "Black Country"

[@Industrial_Revolution]

The information I have is from Henry Ford Museum, where it current resides. Henry Ford collected it directly from the mine site.

[@stevelussing7750]

false.. the first patent for a working steam engine driven water pump was awarded to a Spanish inventor in 1606. It was used to drain water from the silver mines in Seville.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

The pre-Newcomen ones were even more efficient, and used direct suction from the vacuum to pull water up a max of about 30 feet. rather than using pistons and pump shafts, unless you know a different one (which is possible). If you do know a different one, can you share a link?

[@lindsayford8224]

He said the oldest surviving

[@user-ey6oi4xw8r]

​@@lindsayford8224 They're not Steam Engines they're Atmospheric Pumps!

[@Industrial_Revolution]

@user-ey6oi4xw8r well, steam-powered atmospheric engine, at least. It's producing reciprocating work, instead of rotational, but lots of engines do that. Any engine that uses pistons, really.

[@gwynwilliams4222]

No its not the romans invented the first steam engine 2000 years ago yes it was small but it worked 😊

[@Industrial_Revolution]

I know the one you're talking about, but the problem is, although that one was steam powered, and it did prove a lot of physics principles, it didn't actually do any work, so it didn't really qualify as an engine. Still, there's a LOT of very good technology that's been around from a couple thousand years ago or more.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Check out the waterwheel video I have coming out tomorrow afternoon. That one has been around for at least a couple thousand years. Where I know of older stuff, I plan to at least mention it, when I can.

[@user-ey6oi4xw8r]

They aren't Steam Engines, they're Atmospheric Pumps, they provide Atmospheric Power. Steam doesn't push the piston up, weight on the Pump side pulls it up. Atmospheric Power didn't kick off the Industrial Revolution, even with a 70 year long starting advantage, Steam Power did. Take away James Watt's Steam Power and you don't get an Industrial Revolution. Steam Engines provide Steam Power, that's why they're called Steam Engines. Like James Watt's Engines. Britain from 1800 to 1900. 20,000 Waterwheels decreased in number. Windmills decreased in number. Englishman Thomas Newcomen's 1,500 Atmospheric Pumps disappeared. Scotsman James Watt's 500 Steam Engines increased in number to 10,000,000 !!! For every SINGLE Waterwheel in 1800 we now had an additional 500 Steam Engines in 1900. And we didn't need a flowing river of water for each one either, so they could be sited anywhere. The total Power Output of the whole country increased by 500 times in just one human lifetime !! This WAS the Industrial Revolution. It was a James Watt Steam Power Revolution, not a Thomas Newcomen Atmospheric Power Revolution. Now we could have millions more Factories, Steamships, Locomotives and whatever else we needed Power for.

[@davepennington3573]

Watt improved the Newcomen engine. It burns coal to make steam, which displaces atmospheric pressure. Try running one without steam!

[@Industrial_Revolution]

Strangely, it does look like Henry Ford's replica of a Watt rotative steam engine may have been set up to run with compressed air instead of steam. It was a double-acting cylinder, condensing out of both ends, so it'd probably run, just with a whole lot less power. In this case, with no load on it, anyway, that power loss didn't make any difference.

[@user-ey6oi4xw8r]

​@@davepennington3573 The Newcomen Atmospheric Pump couldn't be improved, even by Watt. Watt dumped Newcomen's Atmospheric Power and Arkwright's Water-Power for Steam Power. To achieve that he had to invent a new engine, the world's first PRACTICAL Steam Powered Engine. Then? An Industrial Revolution.

[@Industrial_Revolution]

@user-ey6oi4xw8r Actually Watt did directly improve on Newcomen's engine. I have two videos coming up that show it. The first improvements can be seen on his canal pump engine, adding a condensing cylinder. Everything else is the same. The other video is on his rotative engine, where he added a bunch of improvements, including a double-acting cylinder, although it was still using low pressure steam and a condensing cylinder, rather than high pressure steam.

[@chrishaushalter6983]

All I can say is wrong

[@nicks4934]

One thing the USA didnt invent lolz

[@rjmun580]

This engine is older than the USA.

[@barney2633]

I trust you are joking, Many of the world's major inventions were created whilst America was being colonised. American inventions only really began after the industrial revolution in the UK.

[@lukeamato423]

Or insulin ...

[@davelowe1977]

You should really look up the list of british inventions on wikipedia.

[@peterwright9607]

One of many..