Hudson Powered

Hudson Powered. . , A LOOK INSIDE , The water cascading over the wheels, the hissing pistons, and the exposed gears, connecting rods, and crankshafts must have made the wheel house a dynamic and noisy place. Cutaway view shows the inside details of the wheel house. , Based on drawings by the Historic American Engineering Record. , , THE WHEEL HOUSE , You are looking at the remains of a timber-faced stone dam on the Hudson, and rusted pieces of water-powered machinery. Three overshot water wheels drove a blast engine that forced air to the blast pipes in the furnace, pumped water to cool the tuyeres, and powered the drop stamps on the charging bridge., AIR , Four cast-iron blowing cylinders forced air from here to the hot blast stove, a brick structure on top of the furnace; there the air was heated to 500 degrees F by waste gases rising from the stack. The hot air was then forced down to the hearth through a cast-iron pipe called a downcomer., MECHANICAL DRIVE , The water wheels turned a drive shaft that extended from here to the charging bridge where it supplied the power to lift the drop stamps: heavy blocks of hardened cast iron that crushed iron ore., COOLING WATER , Cast-iron nozzles, called tuyeres, blasted super-heated air on the fire, raising the hearth temperatures to 2500 degrees F. A belt driven pump, powered by the water wheels, supplied cooling water from here to prevent the tuyeres from melting in that intense heat., . This historical marker was erected by Open Space Institute. It is in Tahawus in Essex County New York