I can put you in touch with someone who is selling brand new (not rebuilt or restored) Gardner-Denver 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 3 AA-AA duplex pumps. They are the smallest pumps made by Gardner-Denver, and are ideal as feedwater pumps for small boilers (i.e. steamboat, steam tractor and hobby boilers).
They are pricy at $4500.00; but they list for $10,000 and as I said, are zero time pumps with no need for rebuilding or restoration. They even carry a factory warranty. Larger steam pumps can still be purchased from Gardner-Denver, Union Pump Textron, and few other firms:
[www.survivingworldsteam.com]
Next place to look is on e-bay. They do come up for sale from time to time. The usual caveats about e-bay apply; and I have seen everything from some real beauties in good working order to major basket cases with parts missing. If you don't know what you are looking for/at, and have not priced one, I recommend teaming up with someone who does. They are sometimes overpriced by someone who thinks they have a real "jewel".
Finally, like all things steam, you sometimes just stumble into one. As our nation's rust belt industries continue to come down, several of them operated steam pumps until the very end. You may luck out and obtain one for nothing or next to nothing.
I worked at a petrochemical plant for five years. When I first got there, the plant had two dozen steam pumps scattered about the plant site. As portions of the plant site that were shut down in 2000 were demolished; I was given the chance to find homes for some of them, and took three of them home. Another one in my collection was a trade for a larger steam pump from that same plant site.
The smallest one was sold by someone on e-bay who did not realize it had been freeze damaged and was missing many parts. When I pointed it out to him and he pulled the auction, I then bought it from him for a fraction of what you pay if it was intact. It will probably never run again, but it is a good example of a small steam pump, and I have also used it in it's present condition as a teaching tool to explain how they work. It is the only one I actually paid for.
(The nameplates came from one of the Babcock and Wilcox boilers in the boilerhouse along with the silver fuel oil pump just prior to it's demolition back in 2005.)
-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a
