The Silsby Manufacturing Company of Seneca Falls, NY, made the Steam Pumper seen at the Winmill Carriage Collection. Silsby is the oldest steam fire engine manufacturer in the United States, having produced their first engine in 1856. Mrs. Winmill purchased the Steam Pumper in Connecticut while on a trip to New England, and it underwent restoration in 1969.

The pumps and steam cylinders of the Silsby engine were known as the "rotary motion," a patent of Mr. Birdsal Holly. Although at first there was much criticism of the pump, it was later acknowledged by experts as the best fire-pump in the world.

The engines were built in seven sizes with weights ranging from 4,000 to 6,800 pounds, and a boiler capacity of 400 to 950 gallons. The pump does not require priming, and when started immediately draws water up to a height of 29 feet without the use of a check valve. It can force water though 3,000 feet of hose or upwards without danger of bursting the hose. The longest recorded distance of water thrown by a Silsby Steam Pumper was 364 feet at Reading, Pennsylvania on September 24, 1881.

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Silsby Steam Fire Engines

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