This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2015)
A stationary steam engine, preserved at Tower Bridge in London. This is one of two tandem cross-compound hydraulic pumping engines formerly used to raise and lower the bridge.
They were introduced during the 18th century and widely made for the whole of the 19th century and most of the first half of the 20th century, only declining as electricity supply and the internal combustion engine became more widespread.
Double-acting horizontal stationary steam engine. The piston is on the left, the crank is mounted on the flywheel axle on the right.Mill engine, Queen Street Mill, Burnley. William Roberts horizontal tandem compound engine - 'Peace'. Marshall undertype steam engine
There are different patterns of stationary steam engines, distinguished by
the layout of the cylinders and crankshaft:
Beam engines have a rocking beam providing the connection between the vertical cylinder and crankshaft.
Uniflow engines have admission valves at the cylinder heads and exhaust ports at the midpoint.
When stationary engines had multiple cylinders, they could be classified as:
Simple engines, with multiple identical cylinders operating on a common crankshaft.
Compound engines which use the exhaust from high-pressure cylinders to power low-pressure cylinders.
An engine could be run in simple or condensing mode:
Simple mode meant the exhaust gas left the cylinder and passed straight into the atmosphere
In condensing mode, the steam was cooled in a separate cylinder, and changed from vapour to liquid water, creating a vacuum that assisted with the motion. This could be done with a water-cooled plate that acted as a heat sink, or pumping-in a spray of water.
Stationary engines may also be classified by their application:
Watkins, George, Stationary Steam Engines of Great Britain, Landmark Publishing, various ISBNs
Vol 1, Yorkshire (2000)
Vol 2, Scotland and Northern England (2000)
Vols 3:1, 3:2, Lancashire (2001)
Vol 4, Wales, Cheshire,& Shropshire (2002)
Vol 5, The North Midlands (2002)
Vol 6, The South Midlands (2003)
Vol 7, The South and South West (2003)
Vol 8, Greater London and the South East (2003)
Vol 9, East Anglia & adjacent counties (2004)
Vol 10, Marine Engines (and readers' notes, indexes to the series etc) (2005)
This series reproduces some 1,500 images from the Steam Engine Record made by George Watkins between 1930 and 1980, which is now in the Watkins Collection at English Heritage's National Monuments Record at Swindon, Wilts.