Regional Historic The American Society ofMechanical Engineering Mechanical EngineersLandmark

Harris-Corliss Steam EngineRandall Brothers, Inc.Atlanta, GeorgiaOctober 16, 1985

Sometime during 1977 the old 350horsepower Harris-Corliss engine atthe Randall Brothers Co. was retiredfrom its job as a prime mover for thewoodworking plant. Retirement didnot come because of the age of theengine, over 80 years, but because ofthe U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency’s concern over the smoke fromthe boiler smokestacks. The enginewas still, and is to this day, in perfectworking order.

Because of the EPA concern, theboilers, which had previously beenfired by scrap woodchips from thewoodworking plant, were converted tooil, but even this did not prove suc-cessful. Fuel oil was too expensive andwinter supplies are unreliable. In 1977the Randall Brothers plant switched togrid-supplied electricity

One of the final jobs for the enginewas to run a vacuum system thatsucked up sawdust around the oldplant, but that job, too, yielded to out-side electricity.

History of theRandall Brothers’Engine

The Randall Brothers’ engine has beenaround so long that no one remem-bers when things happened to theengine or even when it was purchased.According to a brass plaque on the en-gine, it was built by the William A.Harris Steam Engine Co. of Pro-vidence, R.I. Historical records suggestthat it was built sometime before 1895,because the engine was exhibited atthe Cotton States and International Ex-position of 1895 which took place onthe site of what is now Piedmont Parkin Atlanta. The engine is typical of themachinery that helped Georgia re-cover from the effects of the Civil War.

Records from the William A. HarrisSteam Engine Co. indicate that Exposi-tion Cotton Mills, Atlanta, Ga., ordereda 350 horsepower engine on April 12,1898 for delivery on May 16, 1898. Thisorder was filled with the engine thatwas on exhibit at the 1895 Exposition.

Harris Steam Engine Companyworks–1878

Randall Brothers, Inc. purchased theengine from Exposition Cotton Millssometime between 1898 and 1910. Theengine was used on a regular basis todrive an electric generator and topower machinery, including lumbersaws, through overhead line shafting.The boilers that supplied the steamwere capable of burning wood, coalor gas until converted to fuel oil inthe 1970s.

This Harris-Corliss steam engineserved the Randall Brothers for morethan 75 years. Toward the end of itsoperation there were some problemsfinding replacements when parts woreout. When parts needed to be re-placed, Randall Brothers simply madethem in their own machine shop.

Although no longer in regular use, thesteam engine is in its original locationat the Randall Brothers plant. It is inoutstanding mechanical operatingcondition, and is regularly available tothe public, particularly engineeringclasses at the Georgia Institute of Tech-

Two views of Harris-Corliss Engine as itappears today, still at Randall Brothersalmost 90 years after it was purchased.

nology for whom the boilers areoccasionally fired up to show the oper-ation of a classic Corliss steam engine.

The Corliss EngineCorliss type engines were well madeand efficient, but expensive. The bestquality, hard, close-grain charcoal ironwas used for the cylinders and othercastings. The cylinders were generallysteam-jacketed and provided with pat-ented safety relief attachments for theescape of entrained water.

The essential feature of the Corliss en-gine is the valves that admit the steamto and exhaust it from the cylinder.There are separate steam and exhaustvalves for each end of the cylinder.

The valves are cylinders that oscillateabout their longitudinal axes in cylin-drical spaces bored out of the cylindercasting.

The oscillatory motion alternately ex-poses and covers openings (ports)connecting to the cylinder. The motionof the valve is provided and controlled

by a wrist plate drive mounted on theside of the cylinder.

It should be noted that only the ex-haust valves are directly connected tothe wrist plate so that they arepositively controlled by the plate’s mo-tion. The inlet valve is not positivelyconnected to the wrist plate, but is ar-ranged to be moved so far, at thebeginning of the piston stroke atwhich point a disengaging or “trip”gear acts and the valve is closed veryrapidly under the action of a spring.

The actual speed of closing is con-trolled by an air dash-pot with a valvethat can be adjusted to give the desiredspeed of valve motion. The trip gearcan be made very “light” so that thegovernor is not affected by its action,consequently the latter can be madesufficiently sensitive to keep speedvariations within very narrow limits(one percent of nominal).

The valves are small and the area ofcontact very limited, so friction is re-

duced to a minimum. Other advan-tages of this gear compared to moreconventional piston and slide valvegears are that:

1. it is light;2. it is easy to maintain in a steam

tight condition because they canbe made self-adjusting within thevalve gear;

3. the steam enters and leaves thecylinders by separate ports so theeffects of heating and cooling ofthe cylinder material on the steamare reduced;

4. the clearance volume at the endsof the cylinder can be made verysmall because the valves can be lo-cated at the very end of thecylinder;

5. valve action is very rapid thus re-ducing “wiredrawing” effects at theinlet valve.

The Corliss valve gear led to extremeefficiency in terms of steam consump-tion. This general type of valve gearwas the most efficient for controlling

low to medium speed engines (20 to175 rpm).

Randall Brothers EngineThe Randall Brothers’ Harris-Corlissengine is rated at 350 horsepower at aspeed of 90 rpm. The flywheel is13 feet in diameter with a 25-inch faceand the drive belt is approximately102 feet long. The engine cylindermeasures 16 inches in diameter with a42-inch stroke. The crank shaft diame-ter is 14 inches. This simple engineoperates at a steam pressure of 125 psi.

The American stationary steam enginebusiness was an outgrowth of the NewEngland textile industry which beganwith the Slater Mill in Rhode Islandjust before 1800. The result was that atone time Providence, R.I., was theworld center of steam enginemanufacturing.

Order for Harris-Corliss Engine,April 12, 1898

George Henry Corliss(1817-1888)George H. Corliss was an inventor andmanufacturer of the finest and mostefficient steam engines of the late 19thcentury. He was born in Easton, N.Y.,June 2, 1817, and began his workinglife as a clerk in the factory store ofWilliam Mowry & Co., a cottonmanufacturer.

In 1838 he opened his own store,which led him to consider, as a resultof complaints by his customers, thepossibility of using machinery in themanufacture of ready made boots andshoes. This gradually led him into theinvention and construction of varioustypes of machinery and eventually hefound his way into the steam-enginebusiness .

In 1844 he moved to Providence, andjoined the machine and engine busi-ness of Fairbanks, Bancroft & Co. By1846 he was a partner in the firm andhad invented the steam engine thatbears his name. This steam engine, in-

George Henry Corliss

cluding an improved valve gear, waspatented in 1849. The patent was re-issued in 1851 and again in 1859. Thisspecial valve gear revolutionized steamengine design.

In 1856 George H. Corliss incorpo-rated the Corliss Steam EngineCompany in Providence. In time thecompany became the world’s largestmaker of stationary engines. Duringthe Civil War, the Corliss Companymanufactured a number of precisionparts for the iron-clad Monitor.

Corliss held 68 patents and pioneeredideas in standardization and mass pro-duction. He died in 1888.

William Andrew Harris(1835-1896)William Andrew Harris began his ca-reer as a bank clerk at the Union Bankin Providence in 1852. He left thebanking business in 1855 to take a jobas a draftsman at the Providence Forge& Nut Company (Rhode Island ToolCompany).

In 1856 he became a draftsman for theCorliss Steam Engine Company. Foreight years he was the right-handman of George H. Corliss and, duringthat time, made all the drawings forthat inventor's numerous patentapplications.

He was the first of Corliss’ chief assis-tants to leave the Corliss Company. In1864, he established the William A.Harris Steam Engine Company—alsoin Providence—to manufacture theHarris-Corliss steam engine. Harrispaid royalties to Corliss until expira-tion of the basic Corliss patent.

The company built more than 5,000engines and sold them all over theworld. They were particularly popularin textile mills, but many went to Cubato drive sugar mills; others were usedin early electric lighting plants and stillothers were used in the Connecticutbrass industry and in mines in theWest.

William A. Harris

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe Atlanta Section of the ASME gra-tefully acknowledges the courtesies ofRandall Brothers, Inc. for its coopera-tion in planning the designationceremony and for the many years ithas made the Harris-Corliss Steam En-gine available for study to themechanical engineering classes of theGeorgia Institute of Technology. Weextend our appreciation to the follow-ing institutions for assistance ingathering information about the man-ufacturers of this engine:

Georgia State Department of Archivesand History

Atlanta, Georgia

Department of Archives DivisionOffice of Secretary of State of

Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island

Brown UniversityJohn D. Rockefeller LibraryProvidence, Rhode Island

University of Rhode IslandKingston, Rhode Island

Rhode Island Historical SocietyProvidence, Rhode Island

The New England Museum of Wirelessand Steam, Inc.

East Greenwich, Rhode Island

Atlanta Historical SocietyAtlanta, Georgia

Georgia Institute of TechnologyAtlanta, Georgia

Fulton County Public LibraryAtlanta, Georgia

The American Society ofMechanical EngineersDr. L. S. Fletcher, PresidentDr. P. Kezios, Past PresidentDr. Ralph E. Powe, Vice President, Region XI

ASME Atlanta SectionJohn Cerny, ChairmanDr. Pandell DurbetaklKatherine MorganWilliam J. Conley IIWilliam B. Crawford, History & HeritageBobby L. Green, Region XI

National History and HeritageCommit t eeDr. R Carson Dalzell, ChairmanRobert M. VogelRobert B. GaitherRichard S. HartenbergJ. Paul HartmanJoseph P. Van OverveenEuan F. C. SomerscalesCarron Garvin-Donohue

Randall Brothers Inc.Luther H. Randall, Jr., Chairman of the BoardWilliam C. Shreve, PresidentHarvey A. Tatum, Executive Vice PresidentH. W. Persons, (Ret’d Chairman)William P. Burke, Vice President MillworkJ. Harold Williamson, Vice President-SalesEugene F. Robinson,Vice President-Administration

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