From the Pottsville Historical Museum near Merlin Oregon, comes this video of a 1936 Fairbanks Morse 32D diesel powerplant going through warm-up exercises for a transfixed audience.

This video has made its home in a tab of my web browser for quite some time now, and I watch it whenever I feel the need for a moment of zen. There is something soothing about the combination of spinning flywheel and puffs of smoke that calm and focus my easily distracted… squirrel!!

A long-time producer of windmill, gas, coal gas and diesel powerplants for industrial uses such as mining, milling, logging and marine, Fairbanks Morse has been around in one form or another for a staggering 189 years.

And speaking of staggering, did you see the SIZE of them @#$% smoke rings?!!?  If I ever win the lottery you bet your ass I’m gonna get one of these in my back yard to play with. Hit the jump to see this big old thing in action.

They say the ground shakes each time it fires. And I’m pretty sure I just heard someone say “Roadtrip!!” Even though that means I’ll end up visiting crazy relatives… (Oregon, you know…)  Continue reading Musical Mechanical Monstrosities