Coolspring Spotlight: Circa-1915 150hp Turner-Fricke
Manufacturer: The Turner-Fricke Manufacturing Co., Pittsburgh, PA, and Sharon, PA
Year: Circa 1915
Serial No.: 441
Horsepower: 150
Bore: 13in
Stroke: 13in
Owner: Paul Harvey
The partnership of George Edwin Turner and Harry C. Fricke saw many ventures before their own engine production. They created Keystone Engineering providing Marinette engines coupled to generators for electric lighting use. When Foos acquired Marinette, this venture ended, and they decided to produce their own engines in a new factory built in Sharon, Pennsylvania. The new company was formed in 1907 and ended in 1925 with the deaths of the partners.
Features
Image: Courtesy of Gas Engine Magazine Staff
The circa-1915 150hp Turner-Fricke engine was one of three in the power house of Roystone Station, the main pumping station of the Pennsylvania Gas Co.
The engine they produced was a massive and sturdy machine of the “T” head design: the intake valves are on one side of the engine and the exhaust valves are on the other side. It was designed to run continuously. The alternator it drove is placed beside the engine. The two camshafts projected through the crankcase providing accessory drives for the governor, the air-start valve, the magneto, and the ignition timer. Although commercial power was limiting its use, many of these engine generators were sold throughout the entire country.
Image: Courtesy of Gas Engine Magazine Staff
The circa-1915 150hp Turner-Fricke engine was one of three in the power house of Roystone Station, the main pumping station of the Pennsylvania Gas Co.
History
This engine was one of three in the power house of Roystone Station, the main pumping station of the Pennsylvania Gas Co., which was located near Sheffield, Pennsylvania. This is also the station in which our 600hp Snow engine was used. The Turner Fricke was acquired by Paul Harvey in the early 1970s. It is the only one of these magnificent machines to survive.
Learn about this engine and 38 others in Coolspring: Discovering America’s Finest Antique Engine Museum, Vol. 2. Order your copy at www.GasEngineMagazine.com/Coolspring
Published on Nov 12, 2020
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