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World's oldest steam engine brought to life

The world's oldest steam engine designed by James Watt has been brought back to life in Birmingham, England, where it was built in 1775.
The Smethwick engine was the forerunner of all the steam engines which powered the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world beyond.
It is now on display at the ThinkTank part of Birmingham Museums.
Learn more about James Watt and the steam engine at History West Midlands www.historywm.com

Пікірлер: 111

  • @bruceraykiewicz6274
    @bruceraykiewicz62743 жыл бұрын

    As a 78 year old 'live steamer', it does my old heart good to see a young man working on this historic stationary steam engine. Thank you for this video.

  • @mindeloman
    @mindeloman3 жыл бұрын

    The main oak beam is original from 1779. Makes me wonder how old the oak tree was from which they harvested it.

  • @killerdeamonking

    @killerdeamonking

    3 жыл бұрын

    Most likely 15th \ 16th century trees can live 200-400 years depending on the type of tree and it's environment.

  • @paullee4033
    @paullee40334 жыл бұрын

    When I was a apprentice in1971 i worked at a agricultural engineering workshop there was a man who allways worked in the work shop called Fred Poole he had worked for Birmingham bus department during the Second World War and after the war had bad health he bought a little cottage just outside Welshpool to convales after a while he got better and worked at our workshop he told me he did his apprenticeship at a place called bellis and morcom in Birmingham who built steam engines I will never forget Fred he taught me a lot of things that people today could not do and I owe him a lot

  • @bigredc222

    @bigredc222

    3 жыл бұрын

    Hopefully, you've been able to pass on some of what you've learned to a younger generation.

  • @artisanwhitehall

    @artisanwhitehall

    3 жыл бұрын

    We are a dying trade we people who understand massive steam engines.

  • @tobybrown1179

    @tobybrown1179

    2 жыл бұрын

    Have you started a channel to teach other from the lost ways? Hope you used some of his knowledge during your career

  • @philrowe689
    @philrowe6893 жыл бұрын

    Why in Heaven's name is it felt necessary to have "music'" playing throughout this otherwise excellent video. We're allowed to SEE the engine running, but not HEAR it. It's the sight AND SOUND of steam that is so special. Completely ruins the experience. I wonder what Dr Andrew would think if, at one of his lectures, there was someone with a radio playing music while he was speaking ...

  • @SteamCrane

    @SteamCrane

    Жыл бұрын

    It's maddening! It would be easy to re-edit the same video with the original sound. Didn't watch it.

  • @donaldasayers
    @donaldasayers3 жыл бұрын

    Would prefer to hear the engine not the music.

  • @remote_photography_services_CO
    @remote_photography_services_CO5 жыл бұрын

    That is amazing. All of those who worked to preserved this engine deserve a lot of credit.

  • @johnblackburn2237
    @johnblackburn22375 жыл бұрын

    It is amazing that this engine survives to this day

  • @renegadeoflife87

    @renegadeoflife87

    3 жыл бұрын

    Yeah, just surviving at all is quite the feat. Most of these engines were replaced by newer designs a century ago and left to rot or dismantled to clear space for other things. But can you imagine anything from today still existing, let alone being in working order, 200 years from now?

  • @christophersmith3376
    @christophersmith33762 жыл бұрын

    Why did you add clanking sound effects? Would have been great if you let the machines speak for themselves!

  • @AEKarnes
    @AEKarnes4 жыл бұрын

    Great work all of you, a fantastic achievement. Thank you for not being afraid to run this beautiful machine.

  • @drlegendre

    @drlegendre

    3 жыл бұрын

    Great job.. replacing a rope packing? All in a day's work 100 years ago.

  • @SteamCrane
    @SteamCrane Жыл бұрын

    Fascinating! Could you post an edit without the music so we can hear the engine? Didn't watch, just skipped through to see if the "music" ever stopped. Thumbs down pending a version with natural sound. Looking forward to it!

  • @johndavies9270
    @johndavies92703 жыл бұрын

    A wonderful 3 minutes worth of film. I'm delighted to see her running under steam, and know how much of this incredible, historic machine is in fact original. 119 years of duty? That itself is amazing. Thanks for this

  • @williamarmstrong646
    @williamarmstrong646 Жыл бұрын

    But aren't Newcomen engines atmospheric engines, the function of steam being to create a vacuum, air pressure doing the work?

  • @haroldpearson6025
    @haroldpearson60253 жыл бұрын

    The old science museum in Newhall St was much better. It was housed in an old industrial building with many rooms on different levels. Creaky wood floors and passages, subdued lighting. It was a place to explore with a surprise round every corner. It was also free entry!

  • @paulbrent7293

    @paulbrent7293

    3 жыл бұрын

    You’re dead right there Harold, the old Science Museum was a place of wonder and awe for me as a kid in the 1950’s. As you say, the layout helped and all the interesting things gave it a great ambience. Yes, it was totally free entry as all museums ought to be, they should be a place of inspiration not a money making enterprise.

  • @davidcockayne3381

    @davidcockayne3381

    3 жыл бұрын

    Absolutely, the new place is soulless.

  • @gregorymalchuk272

    @gregorymalchuk272

    3 жыл бұрын

    What happened to the old building?

  • @Nigel_Gardiner

    @Nigel_Gardiner

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@gregorymalchuk272 demolished for posh apartments

  • @flybobbie1449

    @flybobbie1449

    2 жыл бұрын

    Spot on, the new one has no soul.

  • @crazyhorsetrading8655
    @crazyhorsetrading86552 жыл бұрын

    brilliant to see this engine so well preserved. Well done to all who where and are looking after this treasure from our past.

  • @lewiemcneely9143
    @lewiemcneely91433 жыл бұрын

    Just because it's old doesn't mean it's TOO old!

  • @rustyaxelrod
    @rustyaxelrod3 жыл бұрын

    Fascinating. It’s amazing to think how far we have come in such a short time. The designers and builders of this engine were working with basic principals that still govern such things today. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before and I suspect they would be proud and amazed to see what has been accomplished. I realize steam power is little more than a novelty now but it built an entire country before we moved to internal combustion and electrics and even so, many of the principals still apply.

  • @bigredc222

    @bigredc222

    3 жыл бұрын

    Steam is still used very much, all nuclear-powered ships use steam, and nuclear power plants use steam, all coal-burning power plants use steam, the city of New York sells steam to thousands of buildings throughout the city for heating, and thousand of building have boiler plants to make steam to heat them.

  • @marknerren402

    @marknerren402

    3 жыл бұрын

    Steam power just went from reciprocating to turbine but is still in wide use.

  • @slackalice100
    @slackalice1003 жыл бұрын

    Fantastic piece of Engineering history.

  • @uncommonsense360
    @uncommonsense3605 жыл бұрын

    Older than the US

  • @ddoty2073

    @ddoty2073

    4 жыл бұрын

    By a year

  • @mr.randomgamer888

    @mr.randomgamer888

    3 жыл бұрын

    the fact a machine like this is even comparable just shows how new America really is

  • @royfearn4345

    @royfearn4345

    3 жыл бұрын

    US is nobbut a babby.

  • @absinthefandubs9130

    @absinthefandubs9130

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@mr.randomgamer888 Most European nation-states are way younger but somehow still pride themselves in having millennia of history. As it turns out, patriotism is a cluster of lies people tell themselves to avoid acknowledging they're, well.. people.

  • @Neat_profile

    @Neat_profile

    6 ай бұрын

    It shows how NOT REALLY SPECIAL Watts is. If he hadn't done that, someone else would have.

  • @robertpatrick3350
    @robertpatrick3350Ай бұрын

    When the engines moved from MSI to Thinktank there was a significant risk that they wouldn’t be able to run on live steam due to cost and would be operated on jockey motors, it required considerable effort to enable sufficient funds were available. Most of the installation work for the engines was undertaken by Heritage engineering of Glasgow…… some of the engines had been in pieces in long term storage which presented significant challenges when being assembled and commissioned.

  • @malcolmrichards8922
    @malcolmrichards89223 жыл бұрын

    Interesting video, but not the world's oldest, and why the silly background music?

  • @tonytiger75

    @tonytiger75

    3 жыл бұрын

    Oldest surviving James Watt engine

  • @Nigel_Gardiner

    @Nigel_Gardiner

    3 жыл бұрын

    Oldest working

  • @dannyhussain5489
    @dannyhussain54893 жыл бұрын

    Phenomenal! I worked and studied at the Assay office, an institute that Matthew Boulton was a core part of!!

  • @JungleYT
    @JungleYT3 жыл бұрын

    Well, I hope they took measurements on that Oak beam... Still, I've heard wood from old forests was denser, like Notre Dame that caught fire...

  • @StabilisingGlobalTemperature
    @StabilisingGlobalTemperature15 күн бұрын

    Good to see it working. I would like to have heard it too. A bit of music at intro and exit is fine. But not throughout.

  • @tonyking2030
    @tonyking20307 ай бұрын

    What a wonderful engine, so very nice to see it back in steam!

  • @derekferguson385
    @derekferguson3853 ай бұрын

    OMG! What is that dreadful music all about. Whoever made the film must have thought the subject was so boring they would have to provide music to keep people awake. 🙄

  • @thomasburke7995
    @thomasburke79953 жыл бұрын

    What a fantastic feat .. to make that breath life again .. awsone job.

  • @Kevin-ix4qz
    @Kevin-ix4qz3 жыл бұрын

    When they used to build things that last

  • @chrischiampo7647
    @chrischiampo76479 ай бұрын

    Really Cool That it’s Still Working 😀😮😮👍🏼

  • @dw4956
    @dw49562 жыл бұрын

    Now thats true sustainability.

  • @50srefugee
    @50srefugee2 ай бұрын

    Fascinating subject, well presented. HOWEVER: many of us who enjoy videos of machinery, particularly the old historical beasts, want to hear their roars, hisses, and groans, not irrelevant music.

  • @clottedcreamtea8695
    @clottedcreamtea86953 жыл бұрын

    I would go to brum just to see that . We have a newcomon engine where i live ,but its running on electric

  • @simontaylor2319
    @simontaylor23192 жыл бұрын

    Nice building Nick

  • @gillbraund8800
    @gillbraund88003 жыл бұрын

    Great video, and even now we still use steam to drive turbines to produce electricity after all these years. How good is to know that it's all, even those oak radials, BRITISH....

  • @TheHunterg30
    @TheHunterg305 жыл бұрын

    the old science museum was free , now all the machines which were donated ,you now have to pay to see at the so called think tank, parking is ridiculous due to Birmingham's anti car policy

  • @thomashenderson3901

    @thomashenderson3901

    4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks and noted, I'll plan ahead properly when I go there!

  • @yakamarezlife

    @yakamarezlife

    4 жыл бұрын

    Pay to go in a museum lol work at the Smithsonian there all free to all like every museum should be

  • @hungryjack8032

    @hungryjack8032

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@yakamarezlife somebody has to pay the bills. You want to see old stuff, you pay to see it.

  • @yakamarezlife

    @yakamarezlife

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@hungryjack8032 that ain't how it works in America

  • @hungryjack8032

    @hungryjack8032

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@yakamarezlife depends on where in America you are and which museum you go to. Some are pay to enter, others are "free" but supported by local taxpayers. Either way Utilities and taxes need to be paid because electricity is never free here in America.

  • @andy16666
    @andy166664 жыл бұрын

    Cool engine.

  • @ravichristian6364
    @ravichristian63643 жыл бұрын

    very good

  • @peteacher52
    @peteacher525 жыл бұрын

    What a pity that the interesting content was spoiled by the addition of obtrusive added noise that some call music.

  • @Sorga_myth_dewa_real
    @Sorga_myth_dewa_real Жыл бұрын

    If Mr Savery and Mr Newcomen wasnt invented very first pressure engine.perhaps now i am still care and cleaning the horse pup/feses..thank you very much

  • @tobybrown1179
    @tobybrown11792 жыл бұрын

    Wonder it wasn’t scrapped for the steel during world wars

  • 4 жыл бұрын

    Song at the beginning??

  • @mikego18753
    @mikego187535 жыл бұрын

    heh Jim,that,s fantastic,the oldest.you must be 'chuffed'.

  • @jonksmodels
    @jonksmodels2 ай бұрын

    I'm confused when you google "worlds first steam engine", you get 100 different answers?

  • @williambeaumont1312
    @williambeaumont13123 жыл бұрын

    A lot has changed since then.

  • @JJStillOn60FPS
    @JJStillOn60FPS3 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for helping with hw

  • @larsiabobam17
    @larsiabobam174 жыл бұрын

    Es ist sehr spannend

  • @tunneltug
    @tunneltug3 жыл бұрын

    The worlds oldest steam engine is the Newcomen engine in the Dartmouth Museum one of three built for the Griff Colliery in Warwickshire in 1712, 63 years before this one. This is just "The Oldest James Watt Steam Engine"

  • @Shadow0fd3ath24

    @Shadow0fd3ath24

    3 жыл бұрын

    Its still the worlds oldest steam engine though, they even said it in the vid. Not historys. Just in the world. Seeing as Newcomen ones arent even extant anymore

  • @tunneltug

    @tunneltug

    3 жыл бұрын

    Yes they are existent, the oldest steam engine in the world is on display in Dartmouth and the second oldest is on display in the Henry Ford Museum.

  • @Nigel_Gardiner

    @Nigel_Gardiner

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@tunneltug do they both run as smoothly as this one?

  • @tunneltug

    @tunneltug

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@Nigel_Gardiner Who cares? smoothness isn't what is claimed or disputed, it's just as relevant as asking do they both weigh as much as this one

  • @Nigel_Gardiner

    @Nigel_Gardiner

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@tunneltug this is the world's oldest WORKING steam engine. There are a couple of others older but not working. This one works and so is promoted as the oldest working engine. That is why the matter of the engines working is relevent.

  • @Neat_profile
    @Neat_profile6 ай бұрын

    World's oldest steam engine was the Aelopile.

  • @hisexcellencytrump855
    @hisexcellencytrump8553 жыл бұрын

    Engines made today can't get past warranty period

  • @raymondo162

    @raymondo162

    3 жыл бұрын

    get a honda m8 !!

  • @mdtransmissionspecialties
    @mdtransmissionspecialties2 жыл бұрын

    Could you imagine if they restored one of uss Texas’s engines?

  • @davidaustin2172
    @davidaustin21723 жыл бұрын

    Just proves how the old stuff lasts, will any stuff built today still be working in 50 years time, never mind 250.

  • @jackrm1170
    @jackrm11703 жыл бұрын

    I saw Smethwick and thought of Danny G

  • @billyfoster3223
    @billyfoster32232 жыл бұрын

    America was still being founded as a country when this engine was new!!😁😁

  • @mr.slaphappy3794
    @mr.slaphappy37943 жыл бұрын

    No description?? lol

  • @user-hb5hb1bk8i
    @user-hb5hb1bk8i3 жыл бұрын

    Он талант!

  • @richarddefour5220
    @richarddefour52203 жыл бұрын

    Not the older, haven't you earder of the "Fardier", from Cugnot?

  • @Nigel_Gardiner

    @Nigel_Gardiner

    3 жыл бұрын

    Oldest working

  • @richardwatts5230
    @richardwatts52304 жыл бұрын

    ONE TON EVERY MIN.

  • @drlegendre

    @drlegendre

    3 жыл бұрын

    He quoted "1500 buckets of water per minute".. whatever that's supposed to mean. Is a bucket some antiquated unit of measurement? Either way, without knowing the height they were raised, we can't calculate the power.

  • @who-gives-a-toss_Bear

    @who-gives-a-toss_Bear

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@drlegendre 1 bucket [UK] = 4 gallon [UK]

  • @Zebred2001
    @Zebred20013 жыл бұрын

    Bleedin' clever what?

  • @trevortrevortsr2
    @trevortrevortsr24 жыл бұрын

    It's great that the operators of the engine are young and not made to wear fancy dress garb that is so naff in museums

  • @walterbennie816
    @walterbennie816 Жыл бұрын

    More efficient, thermodynamic problems,, steam and steam condensate meeting, improvement, vacuum needed to operate the engine, what a load of bluster! Newcomen's Atmospheric Pump couldn't be improved, even by Watt, it was a 70 years long dead-end. A 100% efficient Atmospheric Newcomen Pump will only give 14.7psi. of Atmospheric Pressure, and we know that's impossible. It would be more like 10 psi. A vacuum isn't needed for a Watt High Pressure Steam Engine to work, straight from Watt's mouth, a condenser is optional. The story of a model Newcomen Atmospheric Pump (true or not) is worth mentioning? The change from Newcomen's Atmospheric Power to Watt's High Pressure Steam Power and his invention of the world's first PRACTICAL High Pressure Steam Engine to achieve that, (the big change) isn't worth mentioning? (as usual). And this is straight from the top man! No wonder us minions don't know any better.

  • @wattage-uk9zt
    @wattage-uk9zt8 ай бұрын

    James Watt didn't improve Newcomen's Atmospheric Pump, it couldn't be improved, even by Watt. James Watt realized Newcomen's Atmospheric Power was the problem. So Watt dumped Newcomen's Atmospheric Power for High Pressure Steam Power. To achieve this he had to INVENT a new engine, the world's first High Pressure Steam Engine. It was nothing to do with efficiency, although it was more efficient. His new engine could work without a separate condenser but it made his engine more efficient by recirculating hot water and eliminating Atmospheric Pressure, which opposes a Steam Engine. Watt's engine didn't need a vacuum to run, straight from Watt's mouth, if you don't have enough cold water for a condenser, just release used Steam to the Atmosphere. Then? An Industrial Revolution! No more Newcomen Atmospheric Pumps or Arkwright's Water-Wheels.

  • @philnewcomers9170
    @philnewcomers917010 ай бұрын

    where were the first atmosferic steam engine parts made Bristol orColbrookdale that is a much more important question What was an improuver No one has taken this point up Darby and Goldney founded Colbrook dale on the back of Nnewcombes ground breaking invention The other point is when was the pickel pot condencer first made those chaps would have seen the problem and fixed it with the pickel pot ,dont you think ?

  • @Pocketfarmer1
    @Pocketfarmer18 ай бұрын

    Was the pump diameter really 90cm? Did Watt work in metric measures?

  • @andyjohnson8852
    @andyjohnson885219 күн бұрын

    Interesting video - why the awful music?, background music on scientific programs is not necessary - nor a presenter - just a voice over.

  • @who-gives-a-toss_Bear
    @who-gives-a-toss_Bear2 жыл бұрын

    Worlds oldest steam engine, so not an atmospheric engine. In 1712 Newcomen invented the world's first successful steam engine. This engine is powered by steam pressure not atmospheric pressure. 2:33 1500 Buckets =166.666’ Barrels = 55.555’ Pipes = 6000 Gallons (UK) =27.27654 Kilolitres. No preservation order on the old museum site, somebody slipped up! Can’t make a profit from FREE. Back to the old days where the rich pricks rule and can buy your seat in the government.

  • @GopalKrishnan-ku3hn
    @GopalKrishnan-ku3hn4 жыл бұрын

    ū