Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

This is one of those unicorns that seem more like legends than things you find listed for sale as something much more common.


This is akin to finding the Holy Grail and bringing it home.


I was clearly the only one at the auction that knew what this is. It was difficult to contain this sort of excitement.


This story is about a Seth Wilmarth Water Motor or Engine. Seth Wilmarth while running the Union Works in South Boston, MA built the largest known lathe at the time then built the Pioneer Locomotive and the Jenny Lind. The Pioneer was completed in 1851.


In 1874 he patented an improved water motor for powering small machinery such as sewing machines. Since it was expected to replce the treadles under the Sewing tables of well to do customers, it was built in an iron "vase" with a cast top and was painted black with flowery designs in gold and red to make an aesthetically pleasing piece of hardware for the ladies.


This one may have had a working life in a shoe factory in Brocton, Massachusetts as there is a twin cylinder engine mentioned by the collector in a newspaper article from Middleboro in 1952 and some photographs of the collector Eldon Anderson of Wellfleet. This entire engine collection was that of Eldon Anderson and was finally auctioned off this weekend, after collecting dust for many decades in the attic after Eldon passed on.

Eldon and some of his collection 1952.


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Here is the engine:


At the auction

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At home


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I was interested in this one, but had two other lots I was determined to get and won them both. Didn’t think of you being there, should have had you pick up my stuff! 

I was interested in this one, but had two other lots I was determined to get and won them both. Didn’t think of you being there, should have had you pick up my stuff!

Hi Nick, yes, had you called I could have picked them up for you and boxed them today.


I hung around for an extra hour to bid on the Lake Breeze fan for a friend who left at the end of the morning session.
He said if I could get it for at or under 1000 including tax and premium, he would like to have it and would give 1000 no matter what my cost was. So I owned a Lake Breeze Stirling Cycle (hot air fan) for a grand total 30 minutes and put 101.20 in my pocket on the way home.

Gil

Nope, I watched it, but wasn’t going to go over $250... premiums and shipping add up too fast in these auctions

Gil, amazing engine. Thank you for sharing your photos and video. Where/how does the water discharge/exhaust ? Don