Stan Ellerbeck purchased this 1869 Gibbs and Sterrett steam engine frame from a collector in Bradford, PA, where it worked on a local oil field. The engine was converted to gas in the late 1800s but the cylinder and other pieces from that conversion are long gone.
Stan came up with the idea for his crosshead assembly after visiting Coolspring Power Museum in Coolspring, PA, and looking closely at the Gibbs and Sterrett engines on display.
Stan needed to make a cylinder adaptor mount for the intake valve assembly. In this photo, Stan is boring a hole in the intake valve mount casting to the correct diameter of the intake valve assembly. Stan Ellerbeck
An interior view of the Bessemer cylinder and piston as found. Stan rebored the cylinder.
Stan machines the bottom of the front cylinder mount plate. Back to the photo gallery menu Stan Ellerbeck
Cylinder adaptor plate being bored to match the intake valve mount casting. Stan Ellerbeck
The front cylinder mount plate is set in Stan’s milling machine to make it square. Stan Ellerbeck
Stan finds the bed and cylinder for his steam-to-gas conversion and gets to work. Click here to view this gallery.
