National Mall -- American History Museum

US Postal Museum	Full-scale displays: Model A Ford delivery truck, Biplane mail carriers, Stagecoach carrier, Mailman diorama.
Modern Art	Map of the National Mall, National Art Gallery, East Building Modern Art, Many Calder mobiles, Various works that appealed to me, including Drip art by Jackson Pollock
American History Museum	Map of The National Mall, Archie Bunker's chair, First U.S. railroad steam engine, Monster electric motor, Porter-Allen steam engine, Unaflow steam engine
Air and Space Museum	Map of The National Mall, Viking Lander, German V-1 Missile, Apollo Lunar Module, Hubble Test Telescope, Joint U.S and Soviet space lab, Pioneering Aircraft, U.S.S Enterprise Poster (Harry's ship)
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Washington DC Mall -- Museum of American History
Map of The National Mall, Archie Bunker's chair,
First U.S. railroad steam engine, Monster electric motor,
Porter-Allen steam engine, Unaflow steam engine

April 14, 2012

Posted July 8, 2012, ©2012 Herbert E. Lindberg

You've probably noticed that fewer pictures of narrower scope were taken in Washington than on the train and in Charleston and Savannah. That's because we had to walk so far from our hotel to The National Mall, so I took only my Canon Elph SD450 hooked onto my belt. On this day we hiked all the way to the American History Museum on a day there was a parade along Constitution Avenue. After going through this obstacle course our legs were good for only a limited time in the museum. We waited in line and saw all the first lady's gowns (no photography allowed), and then went on to see a few things of interest to me -- Archie Bunker's chair and classic motors and engines.

Porter-Allen Engine, 1881. The most successful high-speed steam engine,
was manufactured from 1862 until the 1920's, unchanged in basic design.
Seen here are its reciprocating engine flywheel and governor (the vertical centrifugal thingy with little balls)

Unaflow engine -- This was REALLY interesting - wish I had had more time to trace how it worked.

The example here was built in 1926 by Skinner Engine Co. in the U.S. The basic principle was translated into a fully workable and efficient machine by Johann Stumpf of Chalottenburg, Germany. After construction in 1908 of his first engine and general recognition of its economy, the unaflow principle was adopted by most major European builders.

During the years just before World War I, when construction of medium and large reciprocating engines began to decline rapidly in favor of steam turbines and Diesel engines, more than a dozen major U.S. engine firms obtained license rights to build unaflow engines. The majority were produced by Skinner Engine Co.

The unaflow's great commercial advantage was its capability of full steam expansion in a single cylinder, with steam economy equal to that of compound and triple-expansion "counterflow" engines at a huge saving in weight and first cost. The most powerful unaflow engine built was 10,000 hp.

US Postal Museum	Full-scale displays: Model A Ford delivery truck, Biplane mail carriers, Stagecoach carrier, Mailman diorama.
Modern Art	Map of the National Mall, National Art Gallery, East Building Modern Art, Many Calder mobiles, Various works that appealed to me, including Drip art by Jackson Pollock
American History Museum	Map of The National Mall, Archie Bunker's chair, First U.S. railroad steam engine, Monster electric motor, Porter-Allen steam engine, Unaflow steam engine
Air and Space Museum	Map of The National Mall, Viking Lander, German V-1 Missile, Apollo Lunar Module, Hubble Test Telescope, Joint U.S and Soviet space lab, Pioneering Aircraft, U.S.S Enterprise Poster (Harry's ship)
Home Page Continue on to Air and Space Museum