1300 Frenchtown Road
East Greenwich, RI 02818 USA
Telephone: 401-885-0545
Robert W. Merriam, Director
This High Speed engine was built by the Armington & Sims Engine Company, Eagle Street, Providence, RI. It was delivered to the Hartford Electric Light Company in 1883. It was connected to a Thomson-Houston Electric Company generator that would power 28 lights. It has a 9.5" bore and a 10" stroke and produces 50 Horsepower at 350 RPM with 175 PSI of steam. This square design is still the preferred ratio of bore to stroke. It has a balanced crankshaft and a Rites governor. This engine design was also used by Thomas Edison to drive his generators at Pearl Street. Henry Ford was chief engineer at Detroit Edison Electric light before he made automobiles. Both Edison and Ford thought highly of the Armington & Sims engines.
This engine and generator was donated to the NEWSM by the Connecticut Light and Power Company in 1999. When received, the engine was missing the piston, piston valve, piston rod, and valve rod. Replacement parts were made by the Thursday crew and the engine now runs. The generator was restored and connected to a power panel. By throwing a few switches you can disconnect lights in the Steam Building from the grid and connect them to this generator.
Robert Merriam Demonstrates the Thompson-Houston Generator
A typical power plant with Thompson-Houston generators and Armington&Sims steam engines.
Large Armington & Sims
This High Speed engine was built by the Armington & Sims Engine Company, Eagle Street, Providence, RI. It was first delivered to the Narragansett Pier Electric Light Company. It was later used to power the Sea View Railroad that ran from East Greenwich to Narragansett. It has a 12" bore and a 12" stroke and produces 75 Horsepower at 350 RPM with 175 PSI of steam. This square design is still the preferred ratio of bore to stroke. It has a balanced crankshaft and a Rites governor. This engine design was also used by Thomas Edison to drive his generators at Pearl Street. Henry Ford was chief engineer at Detroit Edison Electric light before he made automobiles. Both Edison and Ford thought highly of the Armington & Sims engines. When the Sea View Railroad discontinued service in 1922 Henry Ford bought the engine and generator and moved it to his museum in Dearborn, MI. The Henry Ford museum had several of these engines and donated this engine to the NEWSM.
The Armington & Sims engine was probably installed in the Sea View Railroad Co. power plant in Narragensett Rhode Island. This plant in Hamilton Rhode Island powered the trolleys and also supplied power for lighting for local towns. 200 HP Greene and 250 HP Brown-Corliss steam engines and a Westinghouse-Parsons turbine were installed here. Photo courtesy of G.T. Cranston.
This is one of the trolleys from the Rhode Island Company (Sea View Railroad) at Farrington's in East Greenwich. You can see one of these trolleys in front of the car barn in the previous image. Photo courtesy of G.T. Cranston.
This is a wheel from one of the Sea View Railroad trolley cars. Mr. Johnson found it while he was demolishing the brick smoke stacks at the power plant. It was used as the grounding device for the railroad's generator.
The Sea View Depot in Narragansett, Rhode Island in 1909, the southern end of the railroad.
This train was powered by the engine show above.
This small bronze Armingtom & Sims was designed to drive an industrial sewing machine used in the garment district of New York.