The Villaume Box Company Steam Engine Then and Now
Here’s a little video of the Villaume Box Company Millwork Factory steam engine. Built by Twin City Iron Works of Minneapolis in 1904. This machine worked in Saint Paul from 1904 to 1958 and was the prime source of electricity in the factory. It sat idle until 1971 and then it was moved to Thresherman’s Hill in Rollag, Minnesota. Here’s a whole bunch of specs that are pretty meaningless to me, but may sure will intrigue any garage logicians that stumble across this blog. The machine has operated there since August of 1971. The steam engine, a Corliss valve gear, operates 380 horsepower at 72 rpm with 150 psi steam pressure. There is a single cylinder with a 20-1/2 inch bore and a 48 inch stroke. The crankshaft is 10 inches in diameter and the connecting rod is 12 feet long. The flywheel is 16 feet in diameter and 29 inches wide, weighing 19,000 pounds. The flywheel moves at a surface speed is 42 mph. The steam engine’s belt driven generator was built by Allis-Chalmers of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1904, weighs 16 tons. 50 cow hides were used to make the belt. The machine generates 3 phase power at 60 cycles with a capacity of 850 amps at 240 volts for a total power of 205 Kilowatts. The Foundation is 250 cubic yards of concrete, 7 feet deep, for a total foundation weight of 500 tons.
The Steam Engine in 1905
On July 3, 1897, the Villaume brothers incorporated their company. As the population of St. Paul and the surrounding area increased, the need for beer boxes continued to grow and over the years the company made hundreds of thousands of them for the Hamm’s, Grain Belt, Schmidt, Yoerg, Schell, and other breweries. In addition, it solicited business from commission firms in the city and soon had a profitable business making boxes for bananas and onions and other vegetables. After several episodes of the big flood, St. Paul decided to make changes on the river flats. New dikes were planned and the design for a new Plato Avenue would take a large chunk of the company’s property. Villaume purchased 16 acres on the Milwaukee in Eagan and moved out there in of 1970.
Villaume Box Company Millwork Factory 1928
