The Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum (AGSEM) was formed in 1969 and is located on 55 acres (220,000 m2) of county-owned land on the outskirts of Vista, California. The museum is a 501c(3) non-profit organization. Check it out here
The museum is open practically every day of the year. In addition, it has two bi-annual exhibitions, held on the third and fourth weekends of June and October. Throughout the year, the museum hosts various public and private events.
Among the exhibitions were the following:
Zuest Family Spinners Cottage: The Henzie collection complements the AGSEM’s Fiber Arts Program, a valuable resource in Southern California. With the purchase of the Henzie Collection, AGSEM will be able to conserve and display rare and significant historical objects and use them to further its objective of educating future generations in fiber arts.
Sawmill: The Sawmill is powered by a D-3000 Cat diesel engine, with cylinder liners supplied by Hawthorne Machinery in San Diego.
Gas & Diesel Tractors: The Museum has an extensive collection of kerosene, gasoline and diesel tractors dating from the early days of mobile power to the heyday of the mechanized family farm in the 1950s.
West Coast Watch & Clock Museum: Browse the gallery to view the latest additions to the collection. Bring the kids because they will love our “Timely Animals” Scavenger Hunt!
Steam Traction Engines: These Steam Traction Engines were built during the American Industrial Revolution. These tractors replaced horses for the most strenuous work on the American farm, allowing farmers to work considerably bigger farms than horses could.
Farmhouse: The parlor is furnished with turn-of-the-century furniture ranging from a velvet tufted loveseat to needlepoint-covered side chairs, tables, and a wood-burning parlor furnace for comfort. A Victorian pump organ gave a lovely way to spend an evening for the family’s amusement.
Short Track Railroad: In 1992, the Short Track Railroad commenced operations. It began as an NTRAK club and toured widely around Southern California.
Gas Engine Row: AGSEM’s collection of significant gasoline and diesel engines, some of which are the only remaining specimens, is shown at Gas Engine Row. Engines like ours were used to power everything from farms to industries from the 1890s through the 1940s.
Blacksmith & Wheelwright Shop: The Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum’s Vista Forge provides blacksmithing lessons for all skill levels. The Forging Station is located in Building G and shares space with the Wheelwright Shop, and a line shaft is driven machine shop.
Weavers Barn: The Weavers Barn at the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum is a 4,000 square foot facility where we hold and operate over 50 looms as well as many of the machinery required to transform fiber into the fabric, such as spinning wheels and carders, warping boards and swifts, and bobbin winders and shuttles.
Steam Engine Row: Allis Chalmers, Green Field, Vilter, Worhtington, Skinner, Ohmen, Star, Peerless, Union, Farrar and Trefts, Jamos Leffer, Nagel, Wachs, Idea Ajax, Orr & Sembower, Frost, Ball, and many others are among the engine manufacturers.
Grist Mill: Virgil White, a Museum member, runs the Indian River Grist Mill. The name Indian River is derived from Virgil’s home state of Missouri.
It can be found at 2040 N Santa Fe Ave. in Vista. Learn more by visiting their website or call (760) 941-1791. Additional info