This single cylinder engine has the cylinder located in the top of a three pass vertical fire tube boiler to minimize heat loss. It has a 7″ bore, an 8″ stroke and produces 10 HP. It has three eccentrics on the crankshaft for the slide valve, the feed pump, and an optional cut-off control. It was designed by William Baxter and built by the Colt Fire Arms factory in Hartford CT about 1868. Colt lost much of its firearm business after the Civil War and manufactured steam engines as an attempt to diversify its business. This was a very popular design and almost 300,000 were built between 1868 and 1898.
This engine was later used as a heating boiler by the Faxon Company in Quincy, MA and subsequently donated to the museum. It is missing the governor that mounts to the left upright and is missing the boiler feed pump that mounts to the right upright. The engine was restored by George King III.
