Introductory physics texts from the 19th and early 20th century usually included a fair amount of technology, including the preeminent piece of technology, the steam engine.     The steam engine at the right, in the Greenslade collection, is an unusually detailed model which has run well on compressed air. It is an example of the horizontal steam engines used as motive power for most 19th century factories.

   The two cross-sectional models below are typical of those sold by most apparatus manufacturers. Although they are almost identical, they have different marks on them: the Washington and Jefferson model was sold by the L.E. Knott Apparatus Co. of Boston, and is listed at $2.65 in the 1916 catalogue, while the Wooster model was sold by the Chicago Laboratory Supply and Scale Co of Chicago for $3.00. The price comes from the 1912 catalogue of the C. H. Stoelting Co of Chicago, which was the successor to the Chicago Laboratory Supply Co.
                        Washington and Jefferson College                                                      College of Wooster
 

This large and handsome sectional model of a steam locomotive is on display at the College of Wooster in Ohio.

This locomotive model is in the apparatus collection at the University of Cincinnati. The 1928 Central Scientific Company catalogue lists it at $6.75, and notes that it is "A complete model of the locomotive engine showing a section through the steam chest with the piston and valve connected to their proper parts. Excellent illustration of link motion; use of reversing gear and action of eccentric clearly shown."    The photograph is by Kelly Peller.

This steam locomotive model appears to be the same as the one above, but this time it bears the logo of the Chicago Apparatus Company. The catalogue description is almost the same, indicating a common origin. In the 1936 catalogue it cost $6.50.    It is in the Greenslade Collection.

At the left is a "Sectional model of a horizontal steam engine with distributing valve regulator and throttle valve, with handle for turning." is is listed in the 1900 Max Kohl catalogue at 54 Marks (about $13) and is in the Greenslade Collection.

Nineteenth century physics instructors used slide projectors for demonstrations. This is an articulated steam engine model which fits into the projection gate of a slide projector. It is at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.

This articulated cardboard model of a European-style steam locomotive is by J. Salleron of Paris, and is in the Museum at the University of Mississippi.    The Mississippi collection also includes the pair of working cardboard models of stationary steam engines, also by Salleron, shown below.     These models were bought by Frederick A.P. Barnard (1809-1889), who taught natural philosophy at Mississippi from 1854 to 1861.

Better than a cardboard model of a locomotive is a brass model. This one is in the Garland Collection of Classical Physics Apparatus at Vanderbilt University. The front bumpers are of European design, and the letters "O" and "F" near a valve suggest that the model was made in France.    The boiler is fired by kerosene burning on a wick underneath the boiler. The front wheels may be clamped at an angle to make the model run in a circle on the floor.     The model is about 25 cm in length

The steam engine model at the left is in the apparatus collection of the University of Arkansas, and is representative of the transportable and self-transporting steam engines used to power threshing machines in the early part of the twentieth century.    This one was made by Weeden, and has Central Scientific Company catalogue number 71248. I suspect that it was made sometime between 1930 and 1950.

The demonstration steam engine at the left is on display at the University Museum at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. The transparent cylinder allows the motion of the piston to be observed. Note the presence of the governor, which may be seen just above the axis of the flywheel.    This apparatus is undated and unsigned, but there is a good chance that it was added to the collection in the second half of the 1950s by Frederick A.P. Barnard, who later became the president of Columbia College in New York City.

   The two steam devices above were sold by the Central Scientific Company, and shared a common base, boiler, sight glass and safety valve. The Steam Turbine cost $8.50 in the 1940 catalogue, and used a 400 W electric heater. The Steam Engine cost $9.00 and, since it used less steam, used a 300 W electric heater. Both devices were 24 cm in length.They are in the collection of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York

Gasoline Engine Models

This Gas Engine Model is in the apparatus collection of the University of Vermont.     The 1928 catalogue of the Central Scientific Company lists it at $15.00, and notes that “this model is an exact reproduction, in section of the single cylinder, 4-cycle commercial gas engine. All parts are adjusted to their proper position, and exhaust and intake valves, piston head and spark plug are all shown to their best advantage. It is easily demonstrated how compression and exhaustion is accomplished, and if the secondary of an induction coil is connected in series with the spark plug the spark may be shown at the proper time of compression. On wood base 10 by 30 cm.”

The model of a single-valve gasoline engine model was made by Stansi Scientific of New York. The date is probably in the 1920s.    The device is in the Jack Judson Collection at the Magic Lantern Museum in San Antonio, Texas.

The 1936 Milvay catalogue, published by the Chicago Apparatus Company, had a section titled "Motive Power of Heat" in which this Large Gas Engine Model with "Spark-Plug" Lamp ... $25.00 is shown.    In this case the motive power is produced by turning the crank on the back side. On the front side the input and exhaust valves can be seen opening and closing in the four-cycle operation, with the lamp flashing on at the beginning of the power stroke.     The model is 37.5 cm high, and is quite heavy.     It is in the Greenslade Collection.

   The 1928 catalogue of the W.M. Welch Scientific Company of Chcago had a special section of "Automobile Techniques", and the centerpiece was the Automobile Engine Model shown below. It "it is a model of an internal-combusion, four-cylinder, poppet-valve engine. The action of the valves is clearly shown, the exhaust and intake valves being colored differently to distinguish the relative positions at different times. The cam shaft operating these valves is completely exposed [at the bottom in the right-hand picture] ... A distributor with its four moving contacts is mounted on one end of the engine block..." A crank, missing from the left-hand side of the leftward picture, is used to operatue the model. Light bulbs, representing spark plugs, go on at appropriate times in the cycle. This cost $45; the dry cell to light the lamps was extra. This is in the Greenslade Collection.