Generally, you had one big engine at a factory hall that drove equipment via overhead transmission shafts. To turn a machine on or off, you would often move a flat belt between a pulley fixed to the shaft and a "freewheel" pulley right next to it. I have a few older books, the stuff is fascinating! Incidentally, this is also where quite a few buffalo hides ended up... as driving belts for european industralisation. I have heard about additional smaller engines in some contexts, like capstans on ships or one to turn over a big engine in order to get lubrication everywhere when you wanted to start it. But generally, shafts and pulleys are much cheaper than individual engines. This was true even in places where electric power was used- i have seen a photo of a single big 50kw motor driving a hall of machines in one of my books. Individual electric motors seem to have slowly taken over between the two world wars.

Yeah. When I was kid growing up in Cleveland, Ohio.... (1960s, & 70s) they still ran a paddle wheelers on Lake Erie. Some operated in the summer, to take people to Cedar Point, where there was an amusement park, on a peninsula jutting out into the lake. Others took people to Ontario, Canada,...which wasn't that far across the lake from Cleveland. Cincinnati may still operate paddle wheelers, presently. I loved watching how they worked, and they always had windows into those engine & piston rooms.

8.5/10 Needs work

Little end or big end?

My ears tell me there is more than one double thud per turn. You hear the one nearest the camera mike more. Guess there is more than one loose rod bearing. There always seems to be a periodic thud/knock in KZbin videos of old marine steam engines. Maybe its because they are cold, and stop thudding after the engine has been running a while.