I love how he's not just a collector with deep pockets, but he really KNOWS this stuff and LOVES it.

I liked steam since I was a kid. I thought I had a knack for it. When I spotted a steam train engine design book in an antique store, I knew I had to have it. Rushing home, I dived into the book, expecting to confirm my 'knack.' After the first 3 pages of math, I shelved the book, thoroughly humbled. I don't even know where the book is anymore.

Jay Leno is amazing!!! I'm hoping he has a full & speedy recovery from his motorcycle mishap. 🙏🙏

I love that Jay always wants to be the one actually turning the knobs and doing everything. Not like most rich people that just sit and watch everyone else getting their hands dirty.

Man that last part with only the sound of the engine running is almost a drum break or sample.

Those boffins 150 years ago and more, were pretty damn clever, Thanks Jay and Friend, great vid

That's Burbank airport on the other side of that fence. "Balls to the wall" is actually from aircraft. Throttle levers had a ball on the end and balls to the wall meant all the way forward/full throttle. 30 years working in Burbank, I saw Jay drive by in some amazing vehicles. Always waved if he saw us.

You two should make more new videos!

Thank you Jay for preserving this piece of history!

Thank you Jay for preserving these mechanical wonders of yesteryear!

Amazing how Jay knows, exactly HOW his vast array of varied vehicles and machines, operate, as well as their history...wish I knew him PERSONALLY, to be able to spend time, with him...

Jay has done an incredible amount of good for industrial preservation and restoration.

Just so we're clear here... "Balls out" is probably the only term that came from the old steam governors. Balls to the wall was actually an aircraft term for full throttle, because the old throttle levers had a spherical knob on the end where you would grab it. When the balls (plural, since most aircrafts have more than one throttle, one for each engine) were "to the wall", or front of the cockpit, you were giving it the beans!

Very impressive thanks for sharing this with us sir have a great weekend

Nice Video, we run a Case 65hp on our demonstration sawmill. No matter how many years you do it, I never loose my fascination with steam!

It really is amazing that they came up with this back when we were still basically in the dark.

Jay is fantastic. It's easy to listen to him explain about the history

fantastic! and is nice to see Jay's pride and knowledge regarding it. When i was 6 years old my parents gave me a toy steam engine as birthday present, coz i loved locomotives. Of course my father was the one that handled the lighter at the beginning. I used it for many years and kept it. Now 36 years later, I play with it with my 4 yo daughter and she really amazes with it. It makes me happy.

As a long-retired steam marine engineer, I always love seeing old pieces of steam machinery. Thanks for the video. By the way, the "governor" is correctly known as a "Watt's governor", after James Watt, although it is thought the principal had been used in the 17th century.

Enjoyed this video very much. When I was a preteen my dad got a job operating Wilmington Water Works where they had two Holly steam engines, manufactured in Buffalo, New York, that each weighed 500 tons and could pump twelve million gallons per day. In 1968 they were replaced with electric pumps. As kids we liked to watch the fly wheels spinning through the floor at which time my dad would yell get out of there you will knock your block off. Sure enough they were no safety guards of any kind. One was sold to a scapper who told my dad it cost more to move than it was worth in scrap.The engine that is left can still be seen at Wilmington Water Works in Wilmington Delaware.

Thermaldynamics!!! The hotter it gets the more efficient it runs! Amazing piece of history, art and science!

Having operated a old stationary boiler. You've haven't had fun until you see a newbie staring in ahh watching the outside of the boiler begin to sweat. We used the boiler to run our big Monach a Corliss design engine.

Jay, I would pay you to be your floor sweeper ,just to be part of the action at your garage

I have so much respect for jay just keeping things like this because they where history.

I love this kind of stuff. Thank you Jay for acquiring this and making it run again. I was a Navy and Merchant Marine engineer for many years and did a lot of steaming. It's amazing how far we've come with steam. Nuclear power is steam power.

Very cool Dennis. Thanks for sharing!

That sound. I just want to put it on a loop to listen to when I go to sleep. 😴. It's so hypnotic.

The engine sound would make an awesome "white noise" track for sleeping.

Wow. You know Jay Leno. That bloke is a legend, even here in the UK. Cheers for the vid. hah. Awesome vid. Thanks again.

I would love to see jay around steam locomotives

Watching Steam engines run is something I could easily enjoy all day long. They're mechanical works of art.

Thanks for saving and restoring this gem. I saw it in the Ford Museum when it was a museum. The MBA’s took over and it’s more like a carnival now. This is what made America. Thanks Jay, for your generosity. You might wish to contact Illinois Railway Museum. They’re allied with a fantastic family in Barrington Hills and he bought some tickets for those engines.

Hard to beat the sound of a well run steam engine. great video.

Jay breathed life back into this fascinating machine......... and a genuine personality seems to have emerged. This is the ultimate toy for the adult kid. Peronally, I'd be delighted to own a similar machine designed to run a sewing machine or popcorn cart. Bore of 2 or 3 inches, stroke of perhaps 7 inches. Such fun !!!!

Thank you Jay. May you have a speedy recovery.

Awesome upclose and personal video. Really appreciate the time taken to explain things.

Excellent to see it working and thank you for sharing. J.L. a genuinely good bloke and a proper enthusiast 👍

I remember that auction at the Henry Ford Museum. It would have been about 1995. They sold a lot of stuff that should have NEVER been let go….Jeep prototypes( 1941 4 wheel steer Jeep, Ford GP#1, prototype Amphibious Jeep) I bought a lot of WW1 posters at that auction for 1/100 of their actual value. It was stated at that time - “Items are out of the scope of the collection” for the reason why that the items were being sold off. Shame.

The engineers and machinists from those times were giants! No cad ware no CNC. They just had what was in their heads. BTW Jay you need a whistle for that thing. Actually I have a steam whistle if you would be interested.

Mr... Jay... I used to watch your shows... until you retired... but then I found these videos on youtube... thanks for keeping this part of history alive! As a chemical engineer, steam engines and their design based on entropy/enthalpy concepts should not disappear from engineering school. Thanks.

I love these videos with Dennis and Jay!

125hp at 50rpm is a truly staggering amount of power. It’s 1,000s of lb-ft of torque

I could set and watch it for hours. Have been around steam tractors. Wonderful pieces of engineering. Thank You for Saving it For Us To Enjoy 😊

You could fall asleep to the sounds this thing makes. Like some sort of mechanical heartbeat. 💓

Man jay sure did move around alot faster in his younger days

What a beautiful machine. Thank you guys for producing this video.

The technology from the 1860s is incredible. To think it was moved on a horse and wagon!

I hope one day Jay makes a museum out of his collection, while still taking them out and enjoying them. Its admirable that hes not just a collector, hes truly preseving history.

Jay putting in work

This was thoroughly enjoyed!

Awesome machine! One of the many jobs I've worked on was in Chicago at the Bureau of Water Pumping back in the late 90's into the early 2000's. I was there to install the the control systems for new electric drives replacing all the steam driven water pumps, drives from 500 to 2500 HP. Those old pumps were so amazing! One of the saddest jobs I think I've ever had to do was seeing all that cool equipment scrapped forever. Not to mention the hundreds of jobs that went along with them........ The prices that come with progress.

Thank you for sharing this with us. I hope that you get well soon and make a complete recovery.

It's so amazing he saved that old steam engine. It's a little sad it's not actually running machinery but it's saved and that's what's important.

It's very Impressive Jay takes these wonderful old Machines and Save Them....His Hobby. Keeps Jay Young and Happy 😊😀💙😌

Thank you for your attention to details and your stellar explanation of your amazing machines. Jay Blessings to you as you heal!!🙏🏼

That governor is so cool. They would use something like it in the older tape machine motors, where a weight would swing out under tension as the motor rotated and cut power off and on to keep the motor at a steady speed.

Awesome to see that old steamer running!

Abraham Lincoln once told someone that, as an engineer, George B. McClellan had a knack for building a stationary engine. I doubt he could have built on this good.

Jay is such a good American. I am enthralled with his enthusiasm for Americana…

My grandfather was obsessed with steam engines

18:20 The song begins! Amazing visual art song. That wonder sings. Appreciate learning new about the old. Cheers 🖖💨

That's a fairly simple steam engine. I've been involved in restoring steam locos the last 30 somthing years. now THAT'S a challenge....😎

iI was working with a paper making company in south east LA in the late 90's to convert their Paper making machine to a variable speed AC drive system. They were replacing a steam engine which was built in the 1870's. They kept the steam engine in service as the backup drive. To the best of my knowledge it is still in service.

This is so cool. I wish my father was around to see this. He worked in the power house for Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. He was a First class stationary steam engineer. I remember as a young man getting the tour of the power house. I am now 67. If my memory is correct, there two very large flywheels. They were massive, as a small child they seemed to be around twenty or so feet in diameter. Half of which would go beneeth the floor. There were multiple large boilers that we were allowed to look into the sight glass on them. Dad worked there until the late 80's. I do beleive that these massive machines were removed and sent over to the Greenfield Village in Dearborn. The powerhouse was updated just before he retired. George B

Thanks for all you do to save all they antique engines. One of my favorite smells is steam and oil. Been a Steamfitters for 48 years.

Just love steam power When I was younger I had the pivolige of working with steam traction engines and displaying them at rallies, on occasion while leaning on a wheel the gentel rocking motion and comforting sounds with a an ale in hand it could send you off to sleep but you always woke up to the sound of somthing not quite right Keep up the good work

Beautiful video. Thanks a lot!

it’s nice to see a piece of history thank you great video.

Those balls are known as the flywieght govenor and prevents that engine from going into overspeed. The faster the flywieghts go, centrifugal force pushes them out and regulates the steam back to keep the engine at a constant speed. We use 3- 1938 steam turbines that utilized the same govenor, before we switched them over to pneumatic actuators, to provide service water to our chemical plant up here in Sarnia Ontario. At our local oil fields we still use bull wheels with babbit bearings exactly like the ones on that flywheel. This is by far the greatest technology ever created. Thanx Jay for preserving it and keeping it alive

Glad you brought this video out of the Archives. I am very interested in steam powered cars and machines. Thanks for sharing this piece of history with us. Keep up the good work. Happy Motoring 😃

In Walla Walla, WA there was a wood mill/cabinet shop named Whitehouse-Crawford. Up to the 1930's they used a plant like this to run their various machines, saws, planers, etc. via a system of overhead belts that fed to each machine. After the '30's they used large electric motors to power the belts. As a kid I used to walk by the shops just to peak through the open doors and watch the system of belts whirling away. Get well soon Jay!

The "balls to the wall" governor is so cool! Simple but effective!

I love how he just nonchalantly obeys the directions of the man who runs the steam generator, whom I assume he pays to do so. Okay, I also love that he has this engine because it’s cool and historic.

Rudyard Kipling spoke for steam engineers when he penned "McAndrew's Hymn" almost 130 years ago.

Beauty in motion

My grandfather said that about the thick steel ball and a drop of H2O..it will crack...but this thing was antique when ford bought it . So cool

That engine sounds fabulous, so quiet and lulling. You wouldn't want to be the operator, I'd be asleep within 10 minutes modern life is rubbish thanks Mr Leno

Mr Lenno , I’m glad to see you’re ok . Yes steam engines are dangerous . It’s really hard to know just how dangerous until one blows up in your face , like you found out . Thanks for coming back . I think that your page is a good one . Keep up the good work friend , and I hope to see more of your content . Even if you do a repeat .

I was a power plant operator in Australia, we called it a Flyball Governor.

Keep up the great work Jay!

The "music beat" of that machine is really cool!!! Gives me good memories of discoteque days!

He's right about Steam pushes everything, I've seen the UP Big Boy steam locomotive push a long heavy Freight train in Nebraska

Well now I know about the balls. Thank you 😊

Very cool!!!!!!! 👍👍

There are many models and small versions of these steam engines, yet having the original full size engine that RUNS, can't be duplicated. Thankfully, there are many engines being restored around the world for educational and historical porpoises. My favorite engines were built to pump sewage up and out at the Abbey pumping station and the Crossness Pumping station.

I love that it's so awesome and amazing thank you for sharing!

we in working with steam learned alot about thermodynamics and entropy.

My wife said as I never stop working in my life time, she is going to put my ashes in an hour glass so I can keep going when I'm dead. So Mr Leno, if you feel a cold draft at night in your garage/museum and the brass-works has a polished look it's me.

it’s crazy how far we have come to the point where i’m not done with my engineering degree and i can understand in great detail every part of this machine and how it works. kinda crazy

Two of my favorite men. Love the steam engines. Should get out to Rolag

I find it funny how fast the camera man stepped back when he heard the water sits and it's rusting on the inside 🤣

Facinatig very special piece of history

We need an extended version of just the steam engine running. I could fall asleep to it.

Awesome video. ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️

Jay Leno the most interesting man in show busness

with a moustache like that you know u can trust this guy with steam

Short version, I respect Mr Leno for his mechanical knowledge. Do not want to write a TLDR.

Love your videos, Jay. Best Wishes to you!

Thank you very nice👍

Thanks Jay and ur team....