Corliss Centennial Engine

This is the largest engine that the Corliss Steam Engine Company built. It was installed in the Machinery Hall of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. The engine had a 44 inch bore, 10 foot stroke, was more than 45 feet tall, had a fifty-six ton, thirty foot diameter, twenty-four inch face flywheel, and produced 1,400 horsepower at 36 RPM.

This engine was first started at the Centennial Exposition by President Ulysses S. Grant and the Emperor Dom Pedro of Brazil. It powered 13 acres of equipment in the Machinery Hall through more than a mile of shafting.

After six months of service at the Centennial Exposition the engine was shipped back to the Corliss factory in Providence. Seven years later the Corliss Centennial engine was sold to the George Pullman company in Chicago and ran their factory until 1910.

Front View

Side View

Top View

The Corliss Centennial engine at the George Pullman company in Chicago.
Photo courtesy of the Pullman State Historic Site, Collection of Frank H. Beberdick.

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