If water power gave birth to the industrial revolution, it was steam which drove its growth. Steam powered the factories, which produced more and more each year. Steam powered the railroads, which delivered passengers and goods. Steam powered tools and machines, electrical generators and automobiles. In its day, steam was king.

The museum's main gallery was once the boiler room and engine house for the Boston Manufacturing Company, with soaring ceilings, giant boiler, and an engine pier that supported a massive steam engine with a 20-foot flywheel.

In this area you'll see steam-powered engines and equipment, including collections of live-steam model locomotives, full-size marine engines, a steam generator, and Waltham Pumper #1, the city's first horse-drawn, steam-powered fire engine.

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