Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum
Encyclopedia
The Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum (AGSEM) is a living-history museum founded in 1969 located on 55 acres (222,577.3 m²) of county-owned land on the outskirts of Vista, California
. The Museum is a non-profit 501c(3) organization. It is located at 2040 N Santa Fe Ave. in Vista. It is run on a nearly all-volunteer basis, along with two museum employees.
The museum is open almost every day of the year and has two bi-annual shows, on the 3rd and 4th weekends of June and October. The museum also has other public and private events throughout the year.
Vista, California
Vista is a city in north San Diego County, California. It was incorporated January 28, 1963 and became a charter city on June 13, 2007. Located just seven miles inland from the Pacific Ocean in northern San Diego County, the City of Vista has a Mediterranean climate...
. The Museum is a non-profit 501c(3) organization. It is located at 2040 N Santa Fe Ave. in Vista. It is run on a nearly all-volunteer basis, along with two museum employees.
The museum is open almost every day of the year and has two bi-annual shows, on the 3rd and 4th weekends of June and October. The museum also has other public and private events throughout the year.
Technology museum
- Gas Engine Row has many large stationary gas engines from the early 1900s. On the row is an operational 15 hp Fairbanks-MorseFairbanks-MorseFairbanks Morse and Company was a manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, locomotives and industrial supplies until it was merged in 1958...
mine hoist winding engineWinding engineA winding engine is a stationary engine used to control a cable, for example to power a mining hoist at a pit head. Electric hoist controllers have replaced proper winding engines in modern mining, but use electric motors that are also traditionally referred to as winding engines.Most proper...
, a pumphouse powered by a 15 hp Fairbanks-Morse engine, a 150 hp horsepower 1922 Fairbanks-Morse type YV engine connected to a large alternator, an enormous 1914 Chicago-Pneumatic hot-bulb air compressor, an 80 hp Western engine, a 120 hp Western engine, a 200 hp Western engine and many other stationary engineStationary engineA stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. It is normally used not to propel a vehicle but to drive a piece of immobile equipment such as a pump or power tool. They may be powered by steam; or oil-burning or internal combustion engines....
s. Almost all of the engines on Gas Engine Row can be seen running during the shows.
- Steam Engine Row showcases many different types and sizes of stationary steam engineStationary steam engineStationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars , agricultural engines used for ploughing or...
s; from a monstrous 300 hp Allis Chalmers Corliss engine with a 12 feet (3.7 m) flywheel, to a small J. Lefel & Sons portable engine. They are all powered by steam from two large boilers, nicknamed Pat and Rich, after two long-time museum volunteers who maintain and operate them.
Steam engines
- There are six operational steam traction engineTraction engineA traction engine is a self-propelled steam engine used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin tractus, meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any traction engine is to draw a load behind it...
s on the grounds, with a 1913 Buffalo-Pitts steamroller and a 1909 20 horsepower CaseCase CorporationCase Corporation was a manufacturer of construction and agricultural equipment. In 1999 it merged with New Holland to form CNH Global, a Fiat Group division...
undergoing restoration. The operational steam tractors are: An 1895 Russell & Co. 15-30 steam tractor, a 1902 AdvanceAdvance-RumelyThe Advance-Rumely Company of La Porte, Indiana was organized in 1915 as a producer of many types of agricultural machinery, most notably threshing machines and large tractors...
16-30 steam tractor, A 1912 J.I. Case 60 hp steam tractor, a 1920 Minneapolis 20 hp steam tractor, and a 1916 15-30 Russell & Co. Most, if not all, of these tractors can be seen steaming around the grounds during the show days. - see also: Timeline of steam powerTimeline of steam powerSteam power developed slowly over a period of several hundred years, progressing through expensive and fairly limited devices in the early 17th century, to useful pumps for mining in 1700, and then to Watt's improved steam engine designs in the late 18th century...
; Steam power during the Industrial RevolutionSteam power during the Industrial RevolutionDuring the Industrial Revolution, steam power began to replace water power and muscle power as the primary source of power in use in industry. Its first use was to pump water from mines...
Tractors
- The museum is also home to a large number of old tractorTractorA tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
s. Two D8 Caterpillars, a D9, a few large 1930s Caterpillars, some BestBest Manufacturing CompanyThe Best Manufacturing Company of San Leandro, California was a manufacturer of farm machinery, now probably most well known for its steam tractors....
crawlers and many other examples of tracked tractors can be seen at the museum. The typical tractors such as FarmallFarmall tractorFarmall was a model name and later a brand name for tractors manufactured by International Harvester . The Farmall name was usually presented as McCormick-Deering Farmall and later McCormick Farmall in the evolving brand architecture of IH....
, John DeereJohn DeereJohn Deere was an American blacksmith and manufacturer who founded Deere & Company, one of the largest and leading agricultural and construction equipment manufacturers in the world...
, Oliver, and Allis-ChalmersAllis-ChalmersThe Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. of West Allis, Wisconsin, is an American company known for its past as a manufacturer with diverse interests, perhaps most famous for their bright Persian Orange farm tractors...
can be seen out at the museum, but there are more than a few rarer examples too. There is a 1924 Buffalo-Springfield road roller, a gigantic 1918 30-60 Aultman-Taylor gas tractor, a 1911 Fairbanks-Morse 15-25 kerosene tractor, a 1915 International HarvesterInternational HarvesterInternational Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...
Mogul 8-16, several Rumely Oil-Pulls, and many more.
Blacksmithing
- There is an operational blacksmithBlacksmithA blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
shop with an operating line shaftLine shaftA line shaft is a power transmission system used extensively during the Industrial Revolution. Prior to the widespread use of electric motors small enough to be connected directly to each piece of machinery, line shafting was used to distribute power from a large central power source to machinery...
setup powered by a 15-horsepower 1917 Mogul gasoline engine. During the show days, there are multiple forges lit, and multiple blacksmiths can be found working pieces of iron into many different things. - see also: BlacksmithBlacksmithA blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
, History of ferrous metallurgyHistory of ferrous metallurgyThe history of ferrous metallurgy began far back in prehistory. The earliest surviving iron artifacts, from the 5th millennium BC in Iran and 2nd millennium BC in China, were made from meteoritic iron-nickel. It is not known when or where the smelting of iron from ores began, but by the end of the...
Model Railroad
- Also located on museum grounds is the Short Track Model Railroad Club, featuring an N-scale model railroad with trains travelling through more than 40 modules, including a drive-in movie theater, a fairgrounds, farms, towns, a coal mine, and a Donner Pass exhibit which was in progress as of the October 2009 show.
Textile museum
- The Museum Weavers are housed in a 4000 square feet (371.6 m²) barn, featuring more than 50 working looms for WeavingWeavingWeaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
. Members of this club meet weekly to learn and practice weaving, rug-making and rope-making.
One-room school
- The School of Times Past is a model One-room schoolOne-room schoolOne-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
house which hosts field-trips from local elementary schools, offering a program to teach children about the workings of an early-1900s farmstead.
Mill museum
- The working GristmillGristmillThe terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
grinds wheat and corn into flour, which is available for sale during the twice-yearly shows. During the summer months, the museum grows sorghum cane, which is made into molasses for the fall show.
See also
- Category: Museums in San Diego County