Box 57-C School St. Sullivan, OH 44880
Most of the large old horizontal pumping engines have been
retired, but at York compressor station owned by Columbia Gas
Transmission Corporation, five of these old five hundred HP
engineering masterpieces are still in continuous operation. York
station is located on State Street at the outskirts of Medina,
Ohio. I have the pleasure of helping to maintain and overhaul these
smooth running old units.
These units were manufactured in 1922 by Cooper-Bessemer Corp.
in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. The bore is twenty one and a half inches and
the stroke is thirty six inches. The cylinders are mounted in
tandem and the piston and rod units are screwed together through a
center distance piece, then the entire assembly is screwed into the
crosshead, which is attached to the crankshaft by a large
connecting rod. The piston fires on both sides (the design is
similar to a steam engine with power strokes in both directions).
Piston cooling is accomplished by water being pumped through the
hollow piston rods. Natural gas is used for fuel, and ignition is
by magneto and spark plugs. A seven ton fourteen foot diameter
flywheel slowly revolves on a fifteen inch diameter crankshaft
which turns in poured babbitt bearings. Length from the flywheel
end to the tail end measures fifty six feet. About ninety-eight
cubic yards of concrete was used in each engine base.
On a layshaft, which runs full length of the engine, each
cylinder has a single eccentric which operates both the intake and
exhaust valves. Water is pumped into the exhaust pipe below the
exhaust valve to cool the exhaust pipe. When the engines are
running steam puffs out of outdoor exhaust pipes just like a steam
engine. Governor settings from 69 RPM to 125 RPM are used depending
upon the amount of natural gas being pumped. These quiet, smooth
running engines with their steady chuff-chuff-chuff are a sight to
behold. It is sad to see these old units being retired in most
locations, but parts are hard to find and expensive. Some parts are
still available, and some are made at the station, but sad to say,
the end is near.
