"Walking" Beam ??

[Jo]

Ok guys I have heard this term used time and time again "Walking" beam.. I am not sure what you really mean by it. Looking it up it seems to refer to a specific type of maritime (paddle steamer) engine with an over head beam but am I missing something

In the UK we would normally use the term beam engine to refer to an engine with a beam: so a Newcomen or Cornish pumping engine is a beam engine but it has no rotative crank, rotative engines that we also term beam engines include single cylinder, (Woolf or McNaught) Compound with a rotative crank but then a grasshopper is also a form of beam engine, then there is the side lever which still has a beam but it is underslung (to reduce head room for maritime applications) but we don't use the term "Walking" for any of them .

So why are you calling these engines "Walking", I can't see them creating so much vibration that they go wandering around 

Jo

[b.lindsey]

Good question Jo. I did find another reference relating to the use of what was called "walking" beams in the early oil derricks and pumps in addition to the reference you saw as to marine applications. The petroleum reference may be particular to the early days of that here in the US, but still doesn't really explain where the term "walking" comes from. It could well be that someone called it that for reasons that have been lost to history except the name stuck long after the reason was lost! 

http://www.petroleumhistory.org/OilHistory/pages/Cable/walking.html

Bill

[tel]

Yep, primarily an American term for a specific beam configuration for marine use. The term has come into a fair bit of mis-use in recent years, but then again, so have a lot of terms relating to steam engines.

[steamer]

Yes Tel is correct,

The beam on American Paddle steamers is often above the super structure, and as a result as the ship moves by, and the beam rocks back and forth, it looks like it's walking across the water.

Look here,,,,about half way down the page.

http://www.steamboatexplorer.org/timeline.html

Dave

[Tennessee Whiskey]

Well, that's stinking great. I can't download the file at home. Have to wait till work time

Whiskey

[Jo]

Thanks Dave I can see how that type of short beam mounted on tall tower on a Steamer will give rise to being called a "Walking" engine.

Nice operating mechanism  You will enjoy it when you see it Eric 

But I also seems to have been given to land based engines with the more traditional ratio of height to beam length, which have parallel motions. Is this just as Tel says a  misuse of terms ?

Jo

[Roger B]

I think that Bill's comment sums it up

"except the name stuck long after the reason was lost!"

  

[tel]

The song is ended
But the melody lingers on

(Nat King Cole)

[smfr]

Here's a lovely model example in a steamboat 

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJAY6mkxTIg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJAY6mkxTIg</a>

Simon

[tvoght]

 And it seems there is a historic example to be seen right there in San Francisco, Simon:

"Eureka is a side-wheel paddle steamboat, built in 1890, which is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park...."

"It is the only walking beam engine in the United States preserved in a floating vessel."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_%28ferryboat%29

--Tim

[Maryak]

"Eureka is a side-wheel paddle steamboat, built in 1890, which is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park...."

"It is the only walking beam engine in the United States preserved in a floating vessel."


--Tim

Yes, I had a memorable 3 days there at an International Maritime Museums Conference in 1994 where I presented a paper on the restoration of our steam tug. The Eureka is a magnificent vessel, the thing that really impressed me was the size of the engine controls, sure would have been a muscle building exercise. Anyway I just gotta say that if the bloody great beam decides to take a walk I'd prefer to be on another vessel. 

Best Regards
Bob

[tel]

Anyway I just gotta say that if the bloody great beam decides to take a walk I'd prefer to be on another vessel.

No sense of adventure, that's your trouble Bob! 

[tangler]

Blimey, I'd completely forgotten that I went round Eureka back in '06.  It was while we were waiting for our trip to Alcatraz.  I was there for a conference down the coast - it was busy week!



Rod

[smfr]

Wow, I had no idea! I shall have to take a field trip. I can't find anything about steaming days, though. Maybe she doesn't run any more

Simon

[steamer]

No ...she doesn't run anymore Simon.....Or I'd be there too.

I saw her back in .......96?.....I think

Dave