The Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum (AGSEM) is a living-history museum founded in 1969 located on of county-owned land on the outskirts of

Vista, California Vista (; Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California. Vista is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad, CA Metropolitan Area and has a population of 101,638. Vista's sphere of influence also includes portions of u ...

. The museum is a non-profit 501c(3) organization. It is located at 2040 N Santa Fe Ave. in Vista. It is run by several paid employees, along with volunteer help. 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. Exhibits at the museum include:

Technology museum

Gas Engine Row has many large stationary gas engines from the early 1900s. On the row is an operational

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

mine hoist

winding engine A 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 tradit ...

, a pumphouse powered by a Fairbanks-Morse engine, a horsepower 1922 Fairbanks-Morse type YV engine connected to a large alternator, an enormous 1914 Chicago-Pneumatic hot-bulb air compressor, an Western engine, a Western engine, a Western engine and many other stationary engines. 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 engines; from a monstrous Allis Chalmers

Corliss engine A Corliss steam engine (or Corliss engine) is a steam engine, fitted with rotary valves and with variable valve timing patented in 1849, invented by and named after the American engineer George Henry Corliss of Providence, Rhode Island. Engines f ...

with a 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 engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor 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 t ...

s on the grounds, with a 1913 Buffalo-Pitts steamroller and a 1909 20 horsepower Case undergoing restoration. The operational steam tractors are an 1895 Russell & Co. 15-30 steam tractor, a 1902

Advance Advance commonly refers to: *Advance, an offensive push in sports, games, thoughts, military combat, or sexual or romantic pursuits *Advance payment for goods or services *Advance against royalties, a payment to be offset against future royalty pa ...

16-30 steam tractor, a 1912 J.I. Case steam tractor, a 1920 Minneapolis 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. Tractors - Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum

Tractors

The museum is also home to a large number of old

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...

s. Two D8

Caterpillars Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symp ...

, a D9, a few large 1930s Caterpillars, some Best crawlers and many other examples of tracked tractors can be seen at the museum. The typical tractors such as

Farmall Farmall was a model name and later a brand name for tractors manufactured by International Harvester (IH), an American truck, tractor, and construction equipment company. The Farmall name was usually presented as McCormick-Deering Farmall and l ...

, John Deere, Oliver, and

Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers was a U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various industries. Its business lines included agricultural equipment, construction equipment, power generation and power transmission equipment, and machinery for use in industrial set ...

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 Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

Mogul 8-16, several Rumely Oil-Pulls, and many more. Blacksmith - Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum

Blacksmithing

There is an operational

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

shop with an operating

line shaft A line shaft is a power-driven rotating shaft for power transmission that was used extensively from the Industrial Revolution until the early 20th century. Prior to the widespread use of electric motors small enough to be connected directly to e ...

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.

Model Railroad

Also located on museum grounds is the Short Track Model Railroad Club, featuring an NTrak model railroad with trains traveling through more than 40 modules, including a drive-in movie theater, a fairgrounds, farms, towns, and a coal mine and other scenes. The Short Track, N-Scale, Model Railroad club is an educational organization that seeks to further the appreciation of railroad history in the United States. Many members are also National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) members and a few have earned the title of "Master Modeler." Their Donner Pass, N-scale, model railroad exhibit shows the Southern Pacific crossing of the Sierra Mountains between Colfax, CA and West Reno, NV. There is also a small layout that can be operated by children (The Young & Victorious RR).

Textile museum

The Museum Weavers are housed in a {{convert, 4000, sqft, m2, adj=on barn, featuring more than 50 working looms for

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

. Members of this club meet weekly to learn and practice weaving, rug-making and rope-making.

Mill museum

The working

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

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.

Sawmill

The Sawmill is run by a D-3000 Cat diesel engine, Hawthorne Machinery in San Diego provided the cylinder liners. The Sawmill was re-assembled and improved following a donation from the Pederson Brothers who had operated it in the Big Bear area years ago. This is likely the only Sawmill that can be seen operating in San Diego County.

References

Official site
Museums established in 1969 American West museums in California Technology museums in California Farm museums in California Open-air museums in California Textile museums in the United States Mill museums in California Transportation museums in California Museums in San Diego County, California Weaving History of metallurgy Schoolhouses in the United States Steam museums in the United States 1969 establishments in California Gas museums Vista, California