Ashton Valve company

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Ashton Valve Sanitary bubbler

Around 1900 people were drinking water at public fountains using the same cup, known as the COMMON CUP. Sickness and death soon followed and Ashton Valve soon hit the market with their line of sanitary bubblers.

https://safedrinkingwaterdotcom.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/100-years-of-outlawing-the-common-cup/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/history-of-water-fountains_n_6357064

https://jdbengineering.com/weird-mep-history-common-cup/

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Early refrigeration led to deadly ammonia gas being released in to neighborhoods near the factories. As usual sickness and death were close behind and Massachusetts passed laws around 1914 about combating the dangers. Ashton Valve developed 3 products to help remedy the situation, ammonia gauges, relief valves, and diffusers.
Here are some sheets on the law and the products.

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The company also offered engine room clocks. They made the clock bodies and the clock works were made by Chelsea, Howard, or Seth Thomas.

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In the 1896 catalog there are a few items that were not produced by Ashton Valve but are related to the industry. Here are pages of a few of them

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Ashton safety valve #56A

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Instruction book #17 Railroad Edition. Parts and breakdowns for Ashton Valve products.

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Patents for steam whistles.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US14562A/en?q=steam&q=whistle&q=patents&oq=+steam+whistle+++patents&page=3

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4541A/en?q=steam&q=whistle&q=patents&oq=+steam+whistle+++patents&page=5

https://patents.google.com/patent/USRE621E/en?q=steam&q=whistle&q=patents&oq=+steam+whistle+++patents&page=6

And more:
https://patents.google.com/?q=steam&q=whistle&q=patents&oq=+steam+whistle+++patents

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Three safety valve aticles from the turn of the century. 1901

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1913

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and 1909.

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Another RR item, the wheel press recording gauge

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What better way to make a gauge easier to read in a dark boiler room than to illuminate it? I found one from around 1900 where the bulb was fixed behind the gauge, not always practical. Here's what Ashton Valve came up with.

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The 1920 catalog included a few pages explaining the reasons that the Ashton pop safety valve was superior to it's competition.

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More turn of the century adverts

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Ashton recording gauge circular #73

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A few vintage articles about safety valves.

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Ashton Valve only used Jessop Steel, a UK steel manufacturer from Sheffield England for their valve springs. Here is some information about the company. Catalog page from the 1896 catalog.

https://www.westyorkssteel.com/blog/thomas-jessop-man-steel-veins/

RickA

Ashton marble or slate tablets.
An attractive way to display multiple gages on the wall of a boiler room. One of these was on ebay a few years ago. It weighed almost 500 pounds, being a large slab of 1" thick slate, and you had to pick it up.
Here's a description from the 1914 catalog. " These tablets, like those on the following pages, are some of the most attractive designs for gages, both as to neatness of appearance and economy of space. They can be furnished in any style of marble or slate desired, and the prices include the necessary acorn nuts and gage screws. Name plates and wall bolts are always extra."

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A great story from an old Ashton Valve employee, Fred Casey, who worked the railroads before becoming an employee.

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I recently picked up a 1941 Railroad Gage Catalog.

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Power and the Engineeer magazine 1909. A couple of mentions of "new" Ashton Valve items

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In the 1922 book, "The 20th century guide for Diesel operators", there are a couple of articles involving Ashton Valve products.

The link to the entire book is below too.
Part 1


https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_159657621546213&key=e813d017cbaa4f81b8c533d5382e65a2&libId=kdgg7oqp0100pcxy000DAplk9bs9e&loc=https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-and-history/ashton-valve-company-377044/index3.html&v=1&out=https://archive.org/details/20thcenturyguide00rosbrich/page/n7/mode/2up?q=ashton+caisson+pressure+gauge&ref=https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-and-history/&title=Ashton Valve Company - Page 3&txt=The 20th century guide for Diesel operators; a practical book for operators, schools, libraries and those interested in Diese

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I recently picked up this quadruplex RR gage.

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Recently I was able to obtain copies of circa 1895 Ashton catalog. Only 12 pages! The 1896 edition was 75 pages.

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A few of the old catalogs are now available online on archive.org.

https://archive.org/details/ashtonvalvetradecatalogs

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Locomotives letting off steam and the noise it caused in RR stations became such a problem that it was addressed by the Mass legislature in 1879. Here's the state inquiry and the solution the Ashton Valve company produced.

Solid_Fuel_Man

"Perfect and noiseless release of steam pressure". 

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Is that possible?

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The company had a number of patents. Most of them RR related.
Attached are a few of them.

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I just picked up this Ashton pop safety valve. This was manufactured after the company left Cambridge Mass in 1948 and set up in Wrentham, Ma. It was sold under the Crosby-Ashton

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1877, the company first incorporated in Hartford CT. I recently was able to obtain a copy of the letter from the Hartford Daily Courant which is attached below along with a photo of one of the first stock certificates.

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Trade show giveaways

Often at a industry trade show, the companies displaying their products will offer customers a little token gift as a thank you or a reminder of what they have to offer. Attached is a picture of some of those giveaways I've collected. The mirror (round with safety valve in middle) is about 3" in diameter. Everything else but the dry shaver is quarter size or smaller.

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An old safety valve circular. #20

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Ammonia relief valve #23 B

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Ashton gages #109

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Improved double dial locomotive steam gages #52-D

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Indicating or recording pressure and vacuum gages #105 B

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Refrigeration and services valves and gages #112

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Master pressure and master pilot gages #101 D

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Master pressure and master pilot pressure gages #101 F