My Dad helped put these very engines together when the plant was built in Natchitoches. I grew up around these engines, used to play in the engine buildings when i was little. Dad was the plant foreman when i was born (1955) and we lived onsite. There were 2 engine buildings, A & B. Can't remember how many were in each building. The engines i believe where in pairs, joined at the crankshaft. Happy Times. Everytime I visit Natchitoches I visit the plant. None were running in 2022 last time I was there. Toured A building and got me a souvenir spark plug. Kinder Morgan owns the plant now and had talked about getting one building running again but too expensive.
I'm in Ogden Iowa now. They have 4 of these still in service. Last 4, I hear. To be decommissioned next year. Got some great video. It's pure music to hear.
Great footage, thanks for posting this video. It is good to know that there are others out there that appreciate these old slow speed engines. It is these types of mechanical marvels that delivered billions of cubic feet of natural gas all through our country. They also represent a fine generation of hard working folks who helped shape the USA...
Brings back many found memories. Great friends, good times, entertaining stories. I grew up around these (some older) at Ogden, Ia., Beatrice, Ne., Palmyra, Ne., and many other compressor stations. Thanks for the memories.
I fear these old marvels aren’t going to be with us much longer. I wish someone would preserve at least one. I was privileged to see them in operation and help maintain them.
Several old companies had them: Panhandle Eastern; Southern Star Central, are two I recall. I do not know if any are still on duty. The compressors are quite efficient mostly because they are so slow; engines mot so much, plus they are huge laborious jobs to repair. Emissions and safety rules have doomed them imo.
I remember working on very similar units at the TGP Pump Station in Cleveland Texas. It really was a unique experience. I remember the operators becoming frantic when these large engines would *run away* so to say. I was the guy who would replace 100's of windows in the building during the winter because the thrust from the engines backfire was so strong it would blow out large groups of window pains near the exhausts. To my knowledge the engines are still onsite but went out of commission around 2011 after being replaced by an electric motor driven compressor. The plant originally had 2 buildings with 8 Cooper Bessemer each. The first electric motor driven compressor was installed in the late 90's and the first 8 Coopers along with building were removed. I'll tell you one thing, that is a lot of floor to mop around those eight engines and yes there was a basement level to mop as well. * 16ft flywheel * 8 horizontal pistons * 1600 hp @ max rpm of 125
I worked in the Division A office in the 80s and those engines always amazed me. At the Cleveland station, during wet weather you could go in the basement and see water squirt out of the expansion joint between the basement floor and engine pad on #1 I think. Apparently, ground water under the foundation seeped in and squirted out with the engine movement. I was in the engineering department in the late 80s and did the initial estimate for converting the station to electric compression. The price tag was astronomical and I was surprised years later to find out that it had been done.
I remember the water coming up as well. We would have to squeegee and pump out the water. I drove by the TGP plant in Cleveland last year and noticed they finally removed the last remaining 8 engines. The most amazing thing was when they had all 8 on line.
This engine looks like the huge Snow Compressor engines. Bessemer must have had a partnership! The Snow engines were also built in PA, in the early teens.
Great vid. The old horizontal large gas engines are in a league of their own. Slow speed but, insane amounts of torque, and great ruggedness. The look and sound just perfect. Maybe inefficient but who cares, I sure as hell don't!!!!!!:)
B Building is gone but A building still stands. None of the engines are in service. In the next few years we will drop the stacks but leave the building and the engines.
My Dad helped build the plant in Natchitoches. Put those engines together. I lived at the plant from 1955-1966, Dad ended up the Plant Foreman until he transferred to another compressor station . I used to play in those buildings when i was a kid around all those exposed parts. There was A building & B building. I think A had 9 engines (actually 2 engines with a common flywheel) and 8 in B building. B building is gone, A still there (I visited yesterday 4-20-22) but none of the engines are in shape to run. I was told about 600K per engine to get in running condition.
I worked as a summer hand when they were decommissioning B building in 96. I spent most of the summer mopping up oil and water from the A building basement.
Many other companies here and in Europe built large double acting gas engines. The Cooper company and the Bessemer company merged around 1929 or so. Snow merged with Worthington I think in 1917? Cooper-Bessemer and Snow/Worthington competed with their doubleacting designs till about the late 40's. Then they pretty much discontinued the horizontal double acting engines.
My Dad helped put these very engines together when the plant was built in Natchitoches. I grew up around these engines, used to play in the engine buildings when i was little. Dad was the plant foreman when i was born (1955) and we lived onsite. There were 2 engine buildings, A & B. Can't remember how many were in each building. The engines i believe where in pairs, joined at the crankshaft. Happy Times. Everytime I visit Natchitoches I visit the plant. None were running in 2022 last time I was there. Toured A building and got me a souvenir spark plug. Kinder Morgan owns the plant now and had talked about getting one building running again but too expensive.
There were 9 units in A Building; I don’t remember how many in B.
Each was a Cooper-Bessemer Type 26, twin tandem; 1600 horsepower at 125 RPM.
I'm in Ogden Iowa now. They have 4 of these still in service. Last 4, I hear. To be decommissioned next year. Got some great video. It's pure music to hear.
Holy cow! I was a Kelly hand there in the summer of 1996. This brings back lots of memories and nightmares, lol!
Great footage, thanks for posting this video. It is good to know that there are others out there that appreciate these old slow speed engines. It is these types of mechanical marvels that delivered billions of cubic feet of natural gas all through our country. They also represent a fine generation of hard working folks who helped shape the USA...
Brings back many found memories. Great friends, good times, entertaining stories.
I grew up around these (some older) at Ogden, Ia., Beatrice, Ne., Palmyra, Ne., and many other compressor stations.
Thanks for the memories.
I fear these old marvels aren’t going to be with us much longer. I wish someone would preserve at least one. I was privileged to see them in operation and help maintain them.
Do you know if any are still working and where?
These at Station 40 Natchitoches Louisiana had not run in several years when I retired circa 2022.
Several old companies had them: Panhandle Eastern; Southern Star Central, are two I recall. I do not know if any are still on duty.
The compressors are quite efficient mostly because they are so slow; engines mot so much, plus they are huge laborious jobs to repair. Emissions and safety rules have doomed them imo.
It's amazing that there are still stations around which are running these big double-acting engines...
I remember working on very similar units at the TGP Pump Station in Cleveland Texas. It really was a unique experience. I remember the operators becoming frantic when these large engines would *run away* so to say. I was the guy who would replace 100's of windows in the building during the winter because the thrust from the engines backfire was so strong it would blow out large groups of window pains near the exhausts. To my knowledge the engines are still onsite but went out of commission around 2011 after being replaced by an electric motor driven compressor. The plant originally had 2 buildings with 8 Cooper Bessemer each. The first electric motor driven compressor was installed in the late 90's and the first 8 Coopers along with building were removed. I'll tell you one thing, that is a lot of floor to mop around those eight engines and yes there was a basement level to mop as well.
* 16ft flywheel
* 8 horizontal pistons
* 1600 hp @ max rpm of 125
That's cool man. I work at the aqua dulce plant station 1 on that same tgp system
I worked in the Division A office in the 80s and those engines always amazed me. At the Cleveland station, during wet weather you could go in the basement and see water squirt out of the expansion joint between the basement floor and engine pad on #1 I think. Apparently, ground water under the foundation seeped in and squirted out with the engine movement. I was in the engineering department in the late 80s and did the initial estimate for converting the station to electric compression. The price tag was astronomical and I was surprised years later to find out that it had been done.
I remember the water coming up as well. We would have to squeegee and pump out the water. I drove by the TGP plant in Cleveland last year and noticed they finally removed the last remaining 8 engines. The most amazing thing was when they had all 8 on line.
Was Loretta still working there when you were there?
all those great engines.........
Like out of the comic books with the strange shapes, pipes, wonderful sound.
This engine looks like the huge Snow Compressor engines. Bessemer must have had a partnership! The Snow engines were also built in PA, in the early teens.
We have the same engines running today in Natchitoches,La .... Cooper bessemer type 26 model, We have 9 in one building.
Great vid. The old horizontal large gas engines are in a league of their own. Slow speed but, insane amounts of torque, and great ruggedness. The look and sound just perfect. Maybe inefficient but who cares, I sure as hell don't!!!!!!:)
@tadpole482 Does Ogden have such a station? Would like to drive on down and take a look-see.
I'd love to go just to feel the energy
Any chance of seeing a video of the engines in your station?
B Building is gone but A building still stands. None of the engines are in service. In the next few years we will drop the stacks but leave the building and the engines.
This is in Louisiana.
Can you imagine the look on the salesman’s face when they told him he had the order got these machines.
It was during WWII and it was all hands on deck.
just a couple of engines in there
its in LA
this is actually from Natchitoches
My Dad helped build the plant in Natchitoches. Put those engines together. I lived at the plant from 1955-1966, Dad ended up the Plant Foreman until he transferred to another compressor station . I used to play in those buildings when i was a kid around all those exposed parts. There was A building & B building. I think A had 9 engines (actually 2 engines with a common flywheel) and 8 in B building. B building is gone, A still there (I visited yesterday 4-20-22) but none of the engines are in shape to run. I was told about 600K per engine to get in running condition.
I worked as a summer hand when they were decommissioning B building in 96. I spent most of the summer mopping up oil and water from the A building basement.
where is this station located at?
Hey Justin, do you know if these are still operating at Natchitoches?
No
Many other companies here and in Europe built large double acting gas engines. The Cooper company and the Bessemer company merged around 1929 or so. Snow merged with Worthington I think in 1917? Cooper-Bessemer and Snow/Worthington competed with their doubleacting designs till about the late
40's. Then they pretty much discontinued the horizontal double acting engines.