The Heavy Stuff, #15--Big Pistons (1872)

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

And from the Scientific American, 18 days before Christmas in 1872, comes this magnificent monster of an elevator that would raise and lower large carts from "the bunkers to the calcinating kilns" (which is almost the title for something). The lifting mechanism were a pair of giant cast iron cylinders 48" in diameter constructed in 8' lengths placed 14' apart, designed to lift 15 tons per lift (6,000 tons per week), raised on a 15' wooden platform with 14" thick flooring.  It was a beast.