OLIVER EVANS CHAPTER

Author: Muriel K, Veep

  • Hold onto your engineer caps, railroad history lovers

    One of the World’s Largest Steam Locomotives Is About to Make a Triumphant Return Now, six decades after the last Big Boy was taken off the rails, the Union Pacific is rebuilding one of the famous locomotives in honor of the upcoming sesquicentennial celebration of the first Transcontinental Railroad. It’s a project so ambitious that…

  • A 3D-printed house you can actually live in should be ready by 2019

    This piece seemed an appropriate follow-up to the post on Edison’s concrete houses. In The Netherlands, a company called Van Wijnen is working with the city of Eindhoven to build the world’s first community of 3D-printed houses. The planned community will have five houses, all printed with concrete. Each subsequent house will build on the…

  • Edison held 49 cement patents

    This Saturday several OE members will be taking the Cement in the Lehigh Valley tour. The Intermountain Concrete Specialties website features information on Edison’s cement products that might be of interest to our group. “Most people know Thomas Edison for the light bulb, but did you know the famous inventor also held 49 cement patents?…

  • LINSEED OIL MILLS IN NEW JERSEY 1732-1955

    Carter Litchfield was an early member of the society and a generous supporter of the Chapter. His research focused on linseed oil mills and processing. His press publications can be viewed at this link.: https://openlibrary.org/publishers/Olearius_Editions. Several current Oliver Evans Chapter members have been involved with this title. This gazetteer provides historical background on the linseed oil industry…

  • Demo Days at the Thompson-Neely Grist Mill

      The Chapter is looking into a visit to a local mill operating the technology devised by our namesake, Oliver Evans. Also members might be interested in a visit to this farm and mill complex recently opened after restoration to a working mill by volunteers. Now the building will be able to function as a…

  • CEMENT IN THE LEHIGH VALLEY

    Association for Preservation Technology Delaware Valley Chapter (APT-DVC) and the Oliver Evans Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology PRESENT CEMENT IN THE LEHIGH VALLEY A FULL DAY TOUR ON SATURDAY, JUNE 9 Please join APT-DVC and the Oliver Evans (Philadelphia) Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology on Saturday, June 9 for an expanded…

  • Subway Archeologist

    Here is link to an article in the New Yorker highlighting the work of a dedicated individual, Philip Ashforth Coppola, who has taken on the mission of recording the 472 subway stations in New York City. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/07/sketching-the-mta-with-a-subway-archeologist His work is currently featured at the New York Transit Museum. http://www.nytransitmuseum.org/program/onetrackmind/ Selections of his drawings have been published…

  • Oliver Evans of Newport, Delaware

    On May 10th from 7-9pm at Greenbank Mills & Philips Farm, join us as we get to the grist of this amazing and remarkable man, born not far from our historic mill. Known primarily for the grist milling system that caught the eyes of both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Oliver Evans was a mind…

  • Program Reminder

    Breweries of the Schuylkill: A Virtual Trip Upstream speaker Rich Wagner, PA Brewery Historian   Date: Monday, May 7, 2018 Time:  5:30 Refreshments              6:15 Program Cost: $10 per person if preregistered       $15 if not reserved in advance Place: Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center You can park in the…

  • How It Works: Model Steam Engines

    Sunday, April 29th at 2pm One of the best ways to learn how something works is to see a functioning model of it.  This month’s How It Works tour will show visitors how stationary steam engines work by operating a series of model steam engines using compressed air.  Many depict engines that rarely survived in…