The engine operated at the Caprington Colliery, Ayrshire. It was
built to a design created by Thomas Newcomen, who created the first
steam engine to pump water by devising a method to generate power
from atmospheric pressure.
How does the Newcomen engine work?
His engine utilised a piston working within an open topped
cylinder. The piston is connected by chains to a rocking beam. At
the other end, the beam is connected to the pumps in the mine by a
rod. On the outboard stroke, the cylinder is filled with steam from
the boiler and then cold water is injected into the cylinder to
change the steam back to water and create a vacuum (when water
turns to steam it expands 1500 times, so a contained volume of
steam, if condensed back to water, will create a vacuum). The
vacuum then pulls the piston down and, via the rocking beam, raises
the plunger in the water pump.
The diagram below shows this principal in action. Steam is show
as pink and water as blue. The valves move from closed (red) to
open (green).
What is the history our Newcomen engine?
The Caprington Colliery opened in the mid-seventeenth century
and constantly had problems with drainage as it was located in the
low-lying Irvine valley. The Carron Company, Falkirk, first
supplied parts for a Newcomen Engine to Sir William Cunninghame of
Caprington in 1781, but the pumping shaft collapsed in 1828 and
that mine was subsequently abandoned.
Despite having a poorer fuel efficiency than a Watt engine, another Newcomen was ordered from
the same firm in 1811 at a cost of £352.42. This was perhaps
because fuel was in abundance and a one-off payment for a Newcomen
was easier to manage than an annual licence fee to Boulton and
Watt.
The engine was erected on a site near Earlston, which still
survives today. One of its component parts, a knee pipe bearing the
inventory number N1708, was recycled from the original 1781 engine.
The new engine drained the Blind Coal seam at a depth of 50 metres
and worked continuously for ninety years, with a replacement cast
iron beam in c.1837 and several new boilers.
How did the engine come to the Museum?
In 1901, the engine was replaced by electric
pumps and gifted to the Burgh of Kilmarnock by Colonel Cunninghame
of Caprington. Andrew Barclay & Sons were commissioned to erect
the engine at the Dick Institute, where it remained until 1958,
when the structure was deemed to be unstable.
The engine then remained in storage for forty
years, until the opening of the new Museum of Scotland in 1998 gave
it new life. Rebuilt inside the Museum during construction, the
restored engine boasted new components to replace those that were
in poor condition or missing, including the original wooden parts
and the engine house, which was designed based on existing engine
houses from the period, historical documents and photographs.
Above: The Newcomen Engine on display in the Scotland
Transformed gallery.
The engine can be found in the Scotland Transformed gallery. It is
operated by hydraulic power and you can see it in motion at various
times throughout the day. The display is complemented by a working
model of a Newcomen engine, also on display in Scotland
Transformed.