Model of Beam Engine. Cabinet steam engine

Model of 'Cabinet' Beam Engine, made by Mr. Miller, (Miller & Ravenhill), and representing the steam engine as it was left by James Watt as he disengaged from the engine-building business c.1800.

This engine was the property of James Watt, who bequeathed it to Mr. John Kennedy, of Manchester; it may be said to represent the steam engine as left by Watt. It is a small double-acting beam engine with a separate jet condenser and air-pump. The slide valve is of the long D form; the cylinder is steam-jacketed. Watt's parallel motion is employed to guide the top of the piston-rod and the air-pump rod. The simple crank and connecting rod is used to secure rotative motion. The slide valve is worked by a single eccentric, and the speed of the engine is controlled by Watt's conical pendulum governor, which acts on a throttle valve in the steam passage. The cast-iron tank, standards, and beam, together with the general arrangement of the engine, hardly differed from those of similar engines of 50 years subsequently.