Jay Leno's Most Powerful Steam Engine | Behind the Scenes
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- Опубліковано 27 січ 2023
- Jay fires up his massive 1866 Wright stationary steam engine and gives us an industrial history lesson.
#jaylenosgarage #jayleno #steamengines #steampowered #steampower #industrial #machines #engines #history - Авто та транспорт
I love how he's not just a collector with deep pockets, but he really KNOWS this stuff and LOVES it.
Except he's wrong it takes only 45min to an hour to get up to steam. We do it all the time on our steam traction engine.
@@wwjd6922 Ok, but he was comparing huge boilers running stationary factory engines, so...
Jay is a walking talking encyclopedia of mechanical marvels. Anything after horses he knows about it
@@TheTreegodfatherWell, in this case, size does matter. On the other side of his stationary engine from your steam traction engine you have much larger engines. Like, the engine of the mid-40s Navy Destroyer I was stationed on in the late 70s early 80s. They COULD raise steam in 12 hours. Normally, though, it was closer to a day so the tubes wouldn't warp as fast.
Even with 'little' boilers (600-800hp ~100-150psi) it's usually a good idea to bring them up slow. We shoot for about 12 hours at work for the 3 pass cleever's, and maybe 8 hours for the superiors.
Sure...we COULD probably rocket them from cold to 120Psi inside of 3 hours...but then we'd be re-tubing them every couple of years.
Traction engines warm up quite quickly. Designed differently, with comparatively small volumes of working water.
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.
That’s Jay for sure!
@@MyClassicCarTV Jay will go down in history as the world's greatest caretaker of automotive/stationary equipment. Since he's so open about his personal collection and will happily showcase and demonstrate everything he owns amongst the viewers. Literally no one else with private car collections will be on his level of generous.
The guy is literally telling him what to do from off stage in the video and he's telling Jay what to do and why. Jay likes his image, but clearly this is a grunts job usually and Jay is just acting like this for the camera
@@pjbth he didn’t make any effort to hide it. He pays that man to know how to run it, so when he decided he wanted to do it he listened to the man who knew. That’s an admirable quality in my opinion.
@@wesleywlee He really wanted to proper image for the TV audience. If he ever turned the "knobs " before, he wouldn't of had the caretaker telling what to turn
Jay Leno is amazing!!! I'm hoping he has a full & speedy recovery from his motorcycle mishap. 🙏🙏
I thought he got hurt from a steam car?
He was burt while starting one of his steam-powered cars.
@@christianmccollum1028 this is true, but several weeks later he had a motorcycle accident in Las Vegas!!
@@christopherkraft1327 I didn't know. Thank you.
@@christopherkraft1327 From what I've read, he got clotheslined whilst out riding that motorcycle, as he was pulling off the main road and into a lot to inspect a fuel leak issue. If I were him, I'd be hoping that there is not a third incident anytime soon, or does the reported recent cancellation of his show by NBC count as that? 🤔😰
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.
🤣🤣
@@MyClassicCarTV Errr does Jay have an apprentice license for high pressure steamy boilers ? 😅
I had a very similar experience maybe ill actually trand and make something someday
I have the book "Basic Steam Locomotive Maintenance" which is more about how steam locos are designed and how they operate. Well worth reading, it's one of my railway "bibles".
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!
Never knew that. Cool!
Industrial engines and tractors also used ball speed regulation
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...
He knows because he's actually a mechanic as well.
He has a full restoration team that works with him.
He also has a metal 3D printer for making parts for all this old stuff.
Man that last part with only the sound of the engine running is almost a drum break or sample.
You two should make more new videos!
Thank you Jay for preserving these mechanical wonders of yesteryear!
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.
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!
I put two Riley Stoker's to " sleep" in 2013! 250 PSI, 150,000 BTU! Some days I miss running the "old girls" but then I remember the work! Now I'm a "legacy employee" " glorified helper", younger guys run the new gas burners and I take care of " utilities"! The Stoker's are still here, dry layup! Only missing the ash handling system!
Those boffins 150 years ago and more, were pretty damn clever, Thanks Jay and Friend, great vid
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.
Thank you Jay for preserving this piece of 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.
The new nukes from Moltex use molten chloride salt within the fuel tubes and the heat transfer “pond”. At 600 to 700 degrees centigrade (approx 1100 to 1300 F). Stem conditions are the same as a thermal power plant 575C at 120 bar. Makes the warm steam in a PWR look pretty lame.
@@davidelliott5843 wow 1067 degrees at 1764 PSI is a lot more than I ever steamed. The highest pressure boilers that I operated was 1200 PSI water tube steam generators the lowest were 150 psi fire tubes.
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.
Jay has done an incredible amount of good for industrial preservation and restoration.
Jay, I would pay you to be your floor sweeper ,just to be part of the action at your garage
Jay is fantastic. It's easy to listen to him explain about the history
Wish he would open a museum. I guess that would allow everyone to appreciate the cars unlike the asskissers he preferes.
Watching Steam engines run is something I could easily enjoy all day long. They're mechanical works of art.
For me, the one thing that's missing the the load on the engine. Connect an electric generator to it or something that would provide some load so that the engine would actually work instead of just idling.
That's why, for me, steam locomotives are more interesting, since they are actually used and even if the train is not long, the engine still actually has to work. Or, there is a guy who has a steam-powered machine shop with line shafts etc.
I think the steam engine technology was shelved to quickly, I could imagine a steam turbine engine being powered by thorium a low level form of radiation . It’s just a thought I’m not a engineer.
@@007007niki Well, steam turbines are still used, it's the reciprocating engines that are no longer used, because they are less efficient than turbines or internal combustion engines.
A load is the answer. I saw a video on YT about an early single cylinder oil engine running and it wasn't making too much noise but someone said in the comments that when that engine was used to power machinery it could be heard 5 miles away.@@Pentium100MHz
@@007007niki Steam turbines are used, what do you think spins the generator in a coal or nuclear power plant? :) It's the piston engines that are not used anymore because of their lower efficiency compared to turbines.
Wow. You know Jay Leno. That bloke is a legend, even here in the UK. Cheers for the vid. hah. Awesome vid. Thanks again.
This was filmed about 15 years ago
@@MrThatnativeguy Even then, Jay is doing the whole world a favor by showcasing history as well as preserving it in both automotive and non automotive forms.
It really is amazing that they came up with this back when we were still basically in the dark.
You do realize the sun was around back then too, right? We also had windows to let sunlight shine inside buildings. And don't forget, fire, yeah we had that too back then. Sure it's an amazing engineering feat, but they didn't do it in the dark.
@@galacticcaveman4045 -- 🤣🤣 It's amazing what we had back then. Clothes even !!
This thing was built about a hundred and fifty years after the first one, cool and impressive as it is they didn't come up with it in the dark!
Steam locomotives were made about 25 years before that engine.
@@galacticcaveman4045 idioms.
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.
I have so much respect for jay just keeping things like this because they where history.
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.
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.
Nice! It's really a shame, whoever did that clearly had the intention of fragmentizing history. Would love to see those posters somehow. Have you ever thought of digitalizing those? You know, the build up to ww1 is key to understanding the whole of 20th century and have a peep into the propaganda of the time would be sweat! Love history and loved this video from Leno. Bye bye!
Very impressive thanks for sharing this with us sir have a great weekend
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.
Man jay sure did move around alot faster in his younger days
He has seen it all no need to hurry.
We all did...
Thermaldynamics!!! The hotter it gets the more efficient it runs! Amazing piece of history, art and science!
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.
Very cool Dennis. Thanks for sharing!
The technology from the 1860s is incredible. To think it was moved on a horse and wagon!
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.
Was Lincoln giving little Mac a shot?
That sound. I just want to put it on a loop to listen to when I go to sleep. 😴. It's so hypnotic.
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.
The engine sound would make an awesome "white noise" track for sleeping.
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....😎
He should have bought UP's steam engines......
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.
What a beautiful machine. Thank you guys for producing this video.
Awesome upclose and personal video. Really appreciate the time taken to explain things.
Thank you for your attention to details and your stellar explanation of your amazing machines. Jay Blessings to you as you heal!!🙏🏼
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.
The "music beat" of that machine is really cool!!! Gives me good memories of discoteque days!
Excellent to see it working and thank you for sharing. J.L. a genuinely good bloke and a proper enthusiast 👍
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.
125hp at 50rpm is a truly staggering amount of power. It’s 1,000s of lb-ft of torque
Thank you Jay. May you have a speedy 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.
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 for sharing this with us. I hope that you get well soon and make a complete recovery.
I would love to see jay around steam locomotives
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.
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.
Rudyard Kipling spoke for steam engineers when he penned "McAndrew's Hymn" almost 130 years ago.
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.
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
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 😊
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 😃
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
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
I love these videos with Dennis and Jay!
Jay is such a good American. I am enthralled with his enthusiasm for Americana…
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!
Theres a company here called Wabash and they make floors for Wabash semi trailers, there had a steam engine running the plant until atleast the 90s
Some of the old sugar cane grinding mills in Louisiana used to be ran by steam engines as late as about the 1980s. My boss at one time had a family mill, he said you knew how much cane you were grinding by walking into the mill and hearing how fast the steam engine was running. The few still running nowadays are powered by steam turbines turning generators.
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
Steams in my blood thanks to my ancestors baxk in England. Il never forget the first massive stationary engine i saw and was amazed. If i ever have the cash jay has, id have one of these too.
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
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.
It's very Impressive Jay takes these wonderful old Machines and Save Them....His Hobby. Keeps Jay Young and Happy 😊😀💙😌
I worked as fireman and oiler on a coal fired steamship built in 1906. Engine was triple expansion steam engine. Every thing was manual controlled. I love your toys Jay.
This was thoroughly enjoyed!
18:20 The song begins! Amazing visual art song. That wonder sings. Appreciate learning new about the old.
Cheers 🖖💨
You could fall asleep to the sounds this thing makes. Like some sort of mechanical heartbeat. 💓
I was a power plant operator in Australia, we called it a Flyball Governor.
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
it’s nice to see a piece of history thank you great video.
Jay putting in work
He's right about Steam pushes everything, I've seen the UP Big Boy steam locomotive push a long heavy Freight train in Nebraska
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 .
This was shot back in 2007.
The gigantic stationary steam engines run at such a slow speed that they'll last another 400-500 yrs lol
@@TheSilverShadow17 amazing isn’t it .
Now I’m thinking of modern cars , and the way they run at these in readable high speeds . They’re like light bulbs , they burn out before you get even have the places you think you could get . Know what I mean ?
I thank him for exhibiting what he has .
Their dangerous only if you don't understand or neglect them.
Of that I have no doubt . And just how many know how a steam engine works ?
I had to learn about them from a museum display . At the Franklin institute in Philadelphia Pennsylvania . @@tevya017
with a moustache like that you know u can trust this guy with steam
Beautiful video. Thanks a lot!
Well now I know about the balls. Thank you 😊
I love that it's so awesome and amazing thank you for sharing!
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.
For those in the middle of the country, in Colorado Springs, there is the Western Museum of Mining and Industry. There is a steam engine on display and rotating for the public to see! That machine has a HUGE rotating flywheel to be in awe of!
I find it funny how fast the camera man stepped back when he heard the water sits and it's rusting on the inside 🤣
The "balls to the wall" governor is so cool! Simple but effective!
Good to hear from you Dennis. You both look great
Gave a good weekend!!
Thanks, but this was shot back in 2007. We all looked better back then. 🙂
My grandfather was obsessed with steam engines
Two of my favorite men. Love the steam engines.
Should get out to Rolag
Awesome to see that old steamer running!
Hard to beat the sound of a well run steam engine. great video.
Keep up the great work Jay!
We need an extended version of just the steam engine running. I could fall asleep to it.
Short version, I respect Mr Leno for his mechanical knowledge. Do not want to write a TLDR.
Clayton steam generators are still being used across USA. I've done water treatment on them for years.
Beauty in motion
I would love it if we got a video of just some shots and audio of the engine running from different angles. Im really fascinated by the valve gear and trip mechanism on this engine.
Fascinating. What Mr Leno is calling a "drip valve" is what is known as a "cylinder cock" on a steam locomotive. It serves the same purpose though in that it keeps the piston and cylinder from hydro-locking.
Thanks, now I know what he was talking about.
Very cool!!!!!!! 👍👍