This is a flywheel type steam pump in which the steam cylinder at the top and the water pump cylinder at the bottom are connected by a Scotch yoke mechanism. Rudy designed unusual flap valves for the water pump to give it high efficiency. Rudy also wrote a construction series on the flywheel pump that ran in Live Steam magazine. These articles ran in the issues from Nov/Dec 1997 through Sept/Oct 1998. This water pump can be seen running on compressed air in the video below.
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.
