National Museum of Industrial History

Restoring a Giant: Bringing a 115 Ton Steam Engine Back to Life
2019-06-02 07:00 - 08:00 (America/New_York)
For over a decade the National Museum of Industrial History has been working with staff and volunteers to restore a massive 115-ton stationary steam engine to working order. Now, with the contributions of local companies and thousands of volunteer manhours, the museum’s Corliss water pumping engine runs again, 105 years after being built by the Snow Steam Pump Works in Buffalo, NY. The engine was used by the York Water Company and pumped 8 million gallons of water a day. Today the engine, the most powerful operating water works steam engine in North America, is a focal point of the museum’s 13,000 square foot exhibit space, where it has painstakingly been repainted to its original color and mechanically restored to its former glory. On May 31st through June 2nd the museum will debut the operational engine to the public for the first time. Patrons will be able to see the engine at work and hear from museum experts and guest lecturers during special programming throughout the weekend which is generously sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
On Sunday, June 2nd the museum will host a special presentation at 11am with the museum’s historian offering a detailed overview of the engine’s meticulous renovation. From pouring special reinforced concrete foundations and utilizing massive cranes to put it in place to painting the engine to its original scheme and firing it up for the first time, visitors will have a special opportunity to see what was involved in such a historic restoration and ask questions of the restoration team. The presentation is included in regular museum admission.
On Sunday the engine will operate at 10am, 12pm, and 3pm. Prior to the 12pm demonstration, NMIH will host a ‘whistle blow’ with steam whistles from the museum’s collection. The museum will also host an all-day demonstration of scale steam engine models, demonstrating different types of engines using artifacts from the museum’s collection.

Restoring a Giant: Bringing a 115 Ton Steam Engine Back to Life
2019-06-01 07:00 - 08:00
For over a decade the National Museum of Industrial History has been working with staff and volunteers to restore a massive 115-ton stationary steam engine to working order. Now, with the contributions of local companies and thousands of volunteer manhours, the museum’s Corliss water pumping engine runs again, 105 years after being built by the Snow Steam Pump Works in Buffalo, NY. The engine was used by the York Water Company and pumped 8 million gallons of water a day. Today the engine, the most powerful operating water works steam engine in North America, is a focal point of the museum’s 13,000 square foot exhibit space, where it has painstakingly been repainted to its original color and mechanically restored to its former glory. On May 31st through June 2nd the museum will debut the operational engine to the public for the first time. Patrons will be able to see the engine at work and hear from museum experts and guest lecturers during special programming throughout the weekend which is generously sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and York Water Company.
On Saturday, June 1st the museum will host a special presentation at 11am with the museum’s historian offering a detailed overview of the engine’s meticulous renovation. From pouring special reinforced concrete foundations and utilizing massive cranes to put it in place to painting the engine to its original scheme and firing it up for the first time, visitors will have a special opportunity to see what was involved in such a historic restoration and ask questions of the restoration team. The presentation is included in regular museum admission.
On Saturday the engine will operate at 10am, 12pm, and 3pm. Prior to the 12pm demonstration, NMIH will host a ‘whistle blow’ with steam whistles from the museum’s collection. The museum will also host an all-day demonstration of scale steam engine models, demonstrating different types of engines using artifacts from the museum’s collection.

NMIH Corliss & Phillipsburg 'Big Allis' Presentation and Tour
2019-05-31 07:00 - 09:00
For over a decade the National Museum of Industrial History has been working with staff and volunteers to restore a massive 115-ton stationary steam engine to working order. Now, with the contributions of local companies and thousands of volunteer manhours, the museum’s Corliss water pumping engine runs again, 105 years after being built by the Snow Steam Pump Works in Buffalo, NY. The engine was used by the York Water Company and pumped 8 million gallons of water a day. Today the engine, the most powerful operating water works steam engine in North America, is a focal point of the museum’s 13,000 square foot exhibit space, where it has painstakingly been repainted to its original color and mechanically restored to its former glory. On May 31st through June 2nd the museum will debut the operational engine to the public for the first time. Patrons will be able to see the engine at work and hear from museum experts and guest lecturers during special programming throughout the weekend which is generously sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and York Water Company..
The Corliss’ debut weekend kicks off on May 31st with a special tour and presentation at 11am. Participants will gather in the NMIH lobby, then carpool half an hour away to Phillipsburg, NJ where they will see an almost completely intact steam-era waterworks. The Phillipsburg engine is currently down for maintenance, which will allow guests the unique opportunity to climb up and down the five-story tall machine. Expert guides will discuss the history of the site, restoration work on the engine, and demonstrate the historic electric motor that powered another pump. After a lunch break, the group will return to NMIH where museum historian Mike Piersa will demonstrate the Corliss, detail the restoration process, and describe different aspects of the machine’s operation, from its fourteen foot diameter flywheel to the governor and gauges on the engine. Admission to the special talk and tour of both engines is $25, with proceeds going to both the National Museum of Industrial History and the Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center to further fund the restoration of historical machinery.

Community Appreciation Day
2019-05-25 06:00 - 13:00
Join NMIH for a fun-filled Community Appreciation Day brought to you by Moravian Village of Bethlehem. Guests can enjoy free admission, youth coloring activities, and raffle prizes throughout the day. Additionally, the following activities are scheduled during the day and are free admission:
• Special screening of ‘Men At Lunch’ documentary at 10:30am
• Special screening of ‘Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter’ documentary at 1:30pm
•$5 guided tours at 2pm
Sponsored by:

The Unique Birth of Martin Tower
2019-05-11 10:00 - 11:00
NMIH is excited to host Gordon Baker, a retired licensed professional engineer and Civil Engineering graduate from Lehigh University has a unique history with Martin Tower. Assigned to Bethlehem Steel’s Fabricated Steel Construction (FSC) division, a sector of the company known throughout the industry as the place to go for major steel structures, he helped develop and implement a computerized system that produced shop drawings needed to fabricate building beams and columns.
This system was used for the first time on the development of Martin Tower at Bethlehem Steel’s Leetsdale facility, where Mr. Baker trained draftsmen in the use of the new program. Although cumbersome using 1960s technology, the numerically controlled program allowed for the computerization of equipment that punched holes in steel beams and burned shapes into plates. Later in the development of Martin Tower Mr. Baker supervised the fabrication of the beams and columns as an Assistant Superintendent at the Leetsdale fabrication shop.
This event is free with regular museum admission.

First Friday and 'Building an Icon' Slideshow
2019-05-03 12:00 - 16:00
The National Museum of Industrial History will celebrate First Friday with the SouthSide Arts District by offering reduced $5 admission from 4pm to 8pm and a special slideshow (free to the public without museum admission) with hundreds of rare photos from the construction and subsequent years of Martin Tower titled “Building an Icon.”
Celebrating nearly 50 years since its inception, and before its implosion on May 19th, the images trace the tower’s history from its groundbreaking in 1969 through its operational days as Bethlehem Steel’s headquarters. The photos, pulled and scanned from the museum’s archives, are being seen for the first time in decades.

Triumph and Tragedy: Building the Transcontinental Railroad
2019-04-28 10:00 - 13:00
NMIH commemorates the 150th anniversary of the ‘Golden Spike,’ the final spike joining the rails of the First Transcontinental Railroad across the United States. Guest speaker Ron Luckock will tell the tragic and triumphant stories behind the workers who toiled to build the railroad and showcase a 100lb G-scale model of the famous ‘Big Boy’ locomotive used by Union Pacific that stretches almost five feet long.

Visitors will then have the unique opportunity to carpool to Mr. Luckock’s house, which houses an astonishing 4500 sq. ft. O-scale train exhibit featuring over 600 scratch built models depicting the forks of the Delaware River where five railroads, three canals, and two rivers met and interchanged.

Ron Luckock served as an Air Force combat photographer and attended Santa Barbara City College and the Brooks Institute, earning a B.A. in Photographic Arts. He later worked as a machine operator at Ingersoll Rand in Phillipsburg, NJ until his retirement in 2000. His passion for railroads and trains is a life-long pursuit, with his Lehigh River Valley setup taking 40 years to complete.

This special presentation and tour is $5 in addition to regular museum admission.

SouthSide Community Day
2019-04-27 06:00 - 13:00
Join us on Saturday, April 27th for free museum admission, youth coloring activities, and a day of fun during the 13th Annual Cops ‘n’ Kids Lehigh Valley Celebration of Reading and the Arts & Sciences and SouthSide Arts District‘s Spring on the SouthSide.
This special event is sponsored by:

Music at the Museum: Songs from the Golden Age of Radio
2019-04-06 14:00 - 16:30
The medium of commercial broadcast radio grew into the fabric of daily life in the United States in the 1930s and 40s, providing news and entertainment to a country struggling with economic depression and war. The National Museum of Industrial History is bringing music to the museum with a memorable evening featuring songs from the Golden Age of radio and tours of the 2019 Signature Exhibit “Don’t Touch That Dial: 100 Years of Radio”. Guests will enjoy performances by the Corinne Mammana Quartet and a chance to explore the museum with expert guides. Light appetizers & non-alcoholic beverages will be served. All attendees receive one complimentary alcoholic beverage. Cash bar available on site.
All proceeds benefit the Museum’s ongoing educational programs and exhibits and the care and preservation of its unique collections. Tickets are $25 for NMIH members and $30 for the general public. Ticket includes 1 drink ticket, light appetizers & non-alcoholic beverages, museum admission and musical performance.
With a sophisticated and soothing style, Corinne Mammana is an American jazz singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist and bandleader. She is praised by JazzTimes for her “superb technique.” Her debut EP ‘Under an August Moon’ celebrates the Great American Songbook via a four-song collection of jazz standards from the 40s and 50s, as well as contemporary songs.
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