#77 Worthington Horizontal Cross-compound Pumping
1925
Corliss-driven pump, typical of early 20th-century US practice
Smaller and cheaper than a triple-expansion vertical engine, the horizontal cross-compound pumping engine, Pump No. 2, ran at relatively slow revolutions and was considered the height of engineering from the 1890s to World War I. This pumping engine at the York Water Company was built by the Worthington Pump & Machinery Corporation, Snow-Holly Works, Buffalo, New York.
Corliss steam engines, characterized by four cylindrical oscillating valves, each separately controlled by cut-off gear (1849), drove many types of machinery and enjoyed great commercial success throughout the world well into the twentieth century. The highly efficient steam distribution system was conceived by George H. Corliss (1817-1888) of Providence, Rhode Island.
This engine at Chestnut Hill High-Service Pumping Station in the Boston metropolitan area is another example of the Worthington Cross-Compound duplex pumping engine." Photo source: HABS/HAER Website.
Landmark Location
York Water Company
130 East Market Street
York, PA 17401
Visiting Info
By appointment
Ceremony Notes
May 1982. Designated by the ASME Susquehanna Section.