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Erick Nordberg posted
The latest issue of the SIA Newsletter included the announcement of a $500,000 gift to the Burden Iron Works Museum in Troy, New York. The newsletter is a benefit of membership in the Society. Join or renew today: |
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HudsonMohawkGateway
"The modern horseshoe made by machine was invented in South Troy in 1835. Located along the Wynantskill, the foundry of Henry Burden that became known as the "Upper Works" had the capability of producing a million horseshoes a week by the third quarter of the 19th century. Powered by the most powerful vertical water wheel, Burden's wheel produced 1200 horsepower and operated all of the machinery that was contained within the works. The imposing wheel became a tourist attraction, and it was supposed to be the inspiration for the world's first Ferris Wheel." |
After horses became obsolete for transportation, the demand for horseshoes would have collapsed. So, Burden evidently switched to making the Rototiller. Note the steam engine in the right background.
Doug Williams took two photos in Oct 2017 to capture that steam engine.
I have no idea what this gizmo is, but there were several photos of it.
Here is a model of the waterwheel. I wonder if the pipe above the wheel had four valves so that they could control how many of the four sections were running with water. That would allow them to reduce the water consumption when they needed less horsepower to run the plant.
And here is how the waterwheel runs the plant. Note that the line shafts use gears instead of leather belts to transfer the power.
When I saw that tall overhead waterwheel, my first thought was where is the water coming from? There is no way it is coming from the Hudson River. So I got a topo map, and the answer became obvious. They probably ran a pipe from
Burden Falls up on the river bluff. (I included the Erie Canal label in the lower-left corner of this map excerpt.) This pipe from the top of the river bluff explains why the water wheel model includes a pipe.
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1893/93 Troy Quad @ 62,500
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The river bluff provides a significant head for the water in the pipe.
And before steam engines, the water on the bluff provided power for a lot of mills.
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