The Beam Engine

I went for a ride the other day around the island only to find something new.  A beam engine, open and running.  Eastney Beam engine.  A steam Powered Giant!

There were originally several of them to pump the cities increasing sewage away.  A dirty job, but one beautiful engine.  Restored to its condition in 1887, they've done a terrific job.  The building houses 2 engines although only one has been fully restored but it runs near perfectly aside from a squeaky seal.
Very late on in the era of steam it's designed perfectly to make it as efficient as possible.  A condensing engine using a mixture of Newcomen's original vacuum powered pistons by pulling the low pressure piston and James Watt's expansion Pushing behind the high pressure piston giving even more power and efficiency.  The steam is produced in a boiler in the room next door by burning coal and water is superheated through pipes before being sent to the cylinders.  Each engine has 2 cylinders, one high pressure where the steam is first expanded, before the steam is exhausted to the low pressure where air and water is jetted into the cylinder to cool the steam quickly creating the vacuum to pull the piston.  Each piston is also double acting so once the steam pushes the piston one way, the superheated steam is allowed in at the other end pushing it back again.  Using as much of that heat energy as possible and turning it into work to pump the sewage and water below.  The Watts link keeps the piston shaft perpendicular to the cylinder with beautiful movement attached to the massive beam above which is then attached to a flywheel to keep it going and a governor keeping the pace steady.
But the Victorians took pride in what they did and not only was it powerful but built as a showpiece of engineering, a thing of beauty.