Steam engines are what made the industrial world around us. They were the cause of the industrial revolution. Without the power of steam the world around us would be behind by at least a century. Most people thought that steam had no power and that it would not do any good, the truth is though that the power of steam is amazing. It took a lot of work to learn how to drive a steam engine because it took so much time, energy, and precision to steer. Steam engines have been the most helpful but the most dangerous piece of machinery in the world.
Thomas Newcommen invented steam engines in 1705. James Watt made more improvements to them in 1769. Steam engines powered things like tractors, trains, sawmills, boats, and even factories. According to Marshall Brain said, "They were the foundation to the industrial revolution." There are many different companies that made steam engines and there are many different models (Brain).
Steam engines work a lot like cars. Steam engines do have pistons but instead of a small explosion to make the piston move, steam engines use pressure. As the pressure intensifies in the cylinder it slowly moves the piston to start. Once the machine starts up the piston will constantly move back and forth until there is .
no more steam. The piston has a rod extended from it which connects to a cross beam that connects to the wheels and makes it move. The most popular boiler used was the fire-tube boiler. The boiler is the heart of a steam engine. It is the source of the power. The fire-tube boiler was a tank of water perforated with pipes. The hot gas from the coal or wood fire runs through the piping to heat the water tanks. The entire tank is always under pressure (Brain).
There were around one hundred different traction steam engines companies. The first one is the Advanced Thresher Co. The company began on March 1 1881. (Norbeck 54) In 1902 it joined forces with the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Co.