Robert Fulton Line Vertical Engine


Another Marvin Industies Robert Fulton Line engine, this time a vertical one, again made sometime
between the 1940s & 1950s. The first two images were from the ebay listing, sadly by the time it had
travelled the several thousand miles from Los Angeles to sunny Wiltshire it wasn't in such good condition.
The flywheel had been broken down into it's component parts, short of making a complete new one i'm
not sure what can be done about that. The steam valve was seized but Rocket 40 and a gentle tap with a
drift sorted that out. It's missing the safety valve but that can be easily manufactured. Once stripped down
the tale of woe continued, the base of the boiler has rusted through in several places. Unfortunately all
too common with steel boilers. On the plus side, the heating element is ok and there is quite a lot of the
original transfer left intact. This is going to be a challenge...........


























I was able to cut a circle of brass sheet and successfully solder it to the side of the base section and the centre bolt
which holds the heating element. This did result in some heat damage to the external paint but this is a small price
to pay for a working engine. It does indeed now work, video here. The pictures below show the engine with a
safety valve and flywheel borrowed from my Robert Fulton Horizontal engine. After the boiler had been repaired.














The engine now has it's own scratch bulit safety valve and a new flywheel.
Well it's actually a Mamod lorry wheel which has been sleeved to fit the shaft.














I've had this engine for over 5 years and i have only just spotted that i had the
chimney/smokestack on upside down! So here's a picture of it the right way up.




Back to American Engines Main Page    Back to Steam Main Page