From the book :-
" Images of America, Around Waynesboro " by David W. Thompson.
In a crucial development for Waynesboro, George Frick brought his shop to Waynesboro in 1861 to manufacture a grain
separator patented by local inventor Peter Geiser.
Frick set up a 50-by 100-foot shop on what is now South Broad Street.
Deciding to concentrate on producing steam engines, he later sold the separator business to the firm
of Geiser, Price
and Company in 1867 to raise capital. Still short of funds and lacking easy access to railroads, Frick was ready to move
to Hagerstown in the early 1870's,
but a group of 13 citizens came up with $34,000 in capital in 1873 and formed Frick
and Company, saving the industry of Waynesboro. When the railroad finally arrived
in Waynesboro in 1879, Frick moved
to a new site adjacent to the line at the west end of town.
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The Eclipse Corliss Engine
This engine was built by the Frick Company, Waynesboro, PA., in works established 1853 and incorporated 1885.
Taken from the Book -
" New Catechism of The Steam Engine " by N. Hawkins, M. E. [ Last Published 1904 ]
Publisher : THEO. AUDEL & Co - New York - NY.
- First Copyrighted in 1897,1904
by Theo. Audel & Co -
( A link to the very large History of this Company - Is provided at the Bottom of this page )
Above - The Eclipse Cross Compound Corliss Engine. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Frick Company produced Corliss engines in the following styles :-
Horizontal or Vertical form, Condensing or Non-Condensing, single or in pairs.
" Compound " Engines, Tandem, Cross, Triple, or Quadruple.
The valve gear is of the most approved pattern; an independent and separate valve controls
each port, and is so placed that a short passage leads with the least amount of waste room
to the piston; the exhaust valves, from their position, drain the water from the cylinder.
The steam valves are so constructed that they act as relief valves in certain cases, and
the valves themselves are solid castings from end to end, and separate from the driving stem
The valve stems are made of Deoxidized Phosphor Bronze, as are also the trunnions, glands,
shoes and springs, and the stems are made interchangeable.
The wrist plate motion opens the steam valves quickly, giving boiler pressure at closest cut-off,
and kept in motion up to the point of extreme travel, permitting the point of cut-off to be
exactly determined and disengagements effected positively. Both the steam and exhaust valves
are given a peculiar dwell movement where it is most needed. The reversal of the valves is bought
about without shock, the movement being so easy from a state of rest to a rapid motion, and
that without straining the connections, the wear and tear of moving parts - as light as they
sometimes are made - is scarcely perceptible.
to Waynesboro in 1883, to compliment an already large array of other Stationary and Traction engines.
By the 1930's the Frick Company had grown to an immense size employing over 1,200 workers in Waynesboro.
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Seen below are two images of the Eclipse Girder Frame Corliss Engine.
~ Credit goes to the Cornell University Library for these images ~
The Frick Company built as many as twenty eight different sizes of this engine
from 12 x 30 to 36 x 60 inches,
rating from 46 to 66 and from 568 to 803 horse-power
respectively, according to varying conditions of cut-off.
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The largest Corliss engine ever built by the Frick Company had a rating of 3,000 horse-power.
A small piece on the Frick Company
of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania
** For a detailed History of the Frick Company - go to the bottom of this page **
