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Evocative Images of Lost Toronto

Fort York 1934 TPL
175794
 
For those with a curiosity about all things mechanical.
I certainly didn't know what an "engine" looked like in 1900.
Polson Iron Works 1900 TPL
176070


176071
 
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Well, you made me think of our original coal fired radiator heating furnance, which at some point was converted to an oil fired boiler.
 
That's interesting LPCI, because the house In which I grew up was also heated by a coal/hot-water furnace.
My father eventually installed an oil-burner.
That old house is probably running on gas today.
 
Top of the line was a 20 HP steam engine (with boiler) that weighed 6000 lb. No word on the cutoff gear. I assume that would be self-acting. With better steel you could cut the weight quite a bit. But these beasts had a pitiful power to weight ratio.
 
That's interesting LPCI, because the house In which I grew up was also heated by a coal/hot-water furnace.
My father eventually installed an oil-burner.
That old house is probably running on gas today.
I realize now that the pipes in the basement were wrapped in asbestos. I visited the old house a while ago. The current owners gave me a tour. The basement was transformed!
 
I realize now that the pipes in the basement were wrapped in asbestos. I visited the old house a while ago. The current owners gave me a tour. The basement was transformed!

Not uncommon back in the day. Pretty safe if left undisturbed; i.e.. not allowed to get airborne. Asbestos was pretty ubiquitous back them, and the lead paint held it all together.
 
Not uncommon back in the day. Pretty safe if left undisturbed; i.e.. not allowed to get airborne. Asbestos was pretty ubiquitous back them, and the lead paint held it all together.

Along with the lead water pipes (both the mains and internal) and the lead sewer pipes. And the 60-amp knob-and-tube wiring (no ground wires) in homes built between 1880's and 1930's.
 

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