Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum
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The Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum (AGSEM) is a living-history museum founded in 1969 located on 55 acres of county-owned land on the outskirts of Vista, California. 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 private and public events occurring during some of the other months of the year.
There are a multitude of interesting exhibits at the museum. Gas Engine Row has many large stationary gas engines from the early 1900s. On the row is an operational 15 horsepower Fairbanks-Morse mine hoist, a pumphouse powered by a 15 horsepower Fairbanks-Morse engine, A 150 horsepower 1922 Fairbanks-Morse type YV engine connected to a large alternator, an enormous 1914 Chicago-Pneumatic hot-bulb air compressor, an 80 horsepower Western engine, a 120 horsepower Western engine, a 200 horsepower Western engine and many other stationary engines. Almost all of the engines on Gas Engine Row can be seen running during the showdays. Steam engine row showcases many different types and sizes of stationary steam engines; from a monstrous 300 Horsepower Allis Chalmers Corliss engine with a 12' diameter flywheel, to a small J. Lefel & Sons portable engine. There is an operational blacksmith shop with an operating line shaft setup powered by a 15 Horsepower 1917 Mogul gasoline engine.
During the showdays, there are multiple forges lit, and multiple blacksmiths can be found working pieces of iron into many different things. There are 6 operational steam traction engines on the grounds, with a 1910 buffalo-pitts steamroller and a 1911 60 horsepower Case undergoing restoration. The operational steam tractors are: A 1895 Russell & Co. 15-30 steam tractor, a 1902 Advance 16-30 Steam tractor, A 1912 J.I. Case 60 Horsepower Steam tractor, a 1920 Minneapolis Steam tractor, and a circa 1915 15-30 Russell & Co. Many, if not all, of these tractors can be seen steaming around the grounds during the showdays. The museum also has a significant amount of old tractors out at the museum. Two D8 caterpillars, a D9, a few large 1930s Caterpillars, a few Best crawlers, and many other examples of tracked tractors can be seen at the museum. The typical tractors such as Farmall, John Deere, Oliver, and Allis-Chalmers 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, several Rumely Oil-Pulls, and many more.
Showdays are on the Third and Fourth weekends of June and October.
The Museum is a non-profit 501c(3) organization. It is located at 2040 N Santa Fe in Vista.
