An oscillating steam engine features the minimum number of moving parts and an interesting motion. Rudy’s design captures both the solid construction and smooth running characteristics of full-size oscillating engines. This “long stroke” engine has a bore of .750″ and a 1.500″ stroke. Detailed plans for this engine can be found in volume 2 of The Shop Wisdom of Rudy Kouhoupt.
One of the first large donations to the Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum was the collection of famed model engine builder Rudy Kouhoupt. Rudy’s niece, Susan Alvaro, was kind enough to donate his entire lifetime engine collection for display at the grand opening of the museum in 2006. After retiring as a chemist, Rudy had a second career building engines and writing magazine articles documenting the process. Many people have built his models, but we have the honor of displaying all of his original prototypes. Rudy’s collection includes scale model engines, locomotives, tractors and more. Additionally, thirteen of Rudy’s model steam engines are hooked up to run on compressed air to demonstrate their function.
