Civil War Blockade Runner Condor: Top of Engine Machinery

Condor’s steam machinery consists of two oscillating cylinder engines mounted directly below the paddle wheel shaft. Each engine consists of an inverted 60-inch-diameter steam cylinder, six feet in length that is mounted on trunnions directly beneath the paddle wheel shaft. Piston stroke, based on the paddle wheel shaft web cranks, was 4 feet. Each cylinder oscillated on 12 inch diameter trunnions that also admitted steam into and out of the cylinder. A four foot six inch diameter oscillating air pump was mounted between the two oscillating cylinders and underneath the center crank web. The top of the air pump contained a series of valves that admitted air to the cylinder through heavy rubber impregnated fabric diaphragms. Levers to regulate the amount of steam admitted to the engine and controlled forward and reverse on the valve chest were mounted on a brass pedestal behind the air pump. A five foot long vertical steam pump lies near the port side of the hull aft of the port steam cylinder.