# Oldest machines that are still in practical use **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508 "2015-06-14T14:09:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/61 "2015-06-15T14:08:30Z")
> [@Bert\_Nobbins](#): > > It’s no longer part of the water supply system, but The Bull engine at Kew waterworks (London) was built in 1856 and only taken out of service in 1944. > > [http://www.waterandsteam.org.uk/our-engines/bull-engine](http://www.waterandsteam.org.uk/our-engines/bull-engine) > > It still works fine- I’ve seen it going. > > It should be easy to find old steam engines that worked much later than that, but I highly doubt if any are actually still in service today. > [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > The Hook Norton Brewery has a [steam engine](https://www.hooky.co.uk/about-us/steam-engine.ashx) that’s been in use since 1899 and is still doing its thing. > > Although it is still used for its original purpose, I think it’s around now for nostalgia/tourism purposes as much as anything. Along the same lines, there was a slate mine in northern Wales that was still using an 18th-century steam engine to pump water when I was there in 1993. The mine was basically defunct but they were still bringing up slate on a small scale for tourists, and still using the pump. I can’t remember which mine it was, though. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > That article is about a major upgrade to the whole avionics system from end to end. Over the years from even the early 1960s, many new black boxes had been bolted in. Most, as you suggest, related to new weapons, radar, or electronic warfare. This is more about replacing the basic instrumentation needed to fly and navigate the airplane and co-exist with ATC. Ah, okay. If you had to guess, how much of a modern B-52 differs from the originals, percentage wise? > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Our local NPR affiliate enters their fund drive information on an Apple IIe. They use it only for that, and it works just fine, so why change things? > > They have more modern computer equipment for everything else, however. My old boarding school in the UK is still using [BBC Micros](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro) to teach BASIC programming, though they have perfectly good PCs. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/62 "2015-06-15T15:13:24Z")
Not as old as some of the examples given, but one of my rifles is a Lee-Enfield .303 British rifle; my example is from WWI, but they’ve been around since 1895 or thereabouts. In some key ways, this rifle (and there are others, I’m sure) is a good example: the rifle is still in active use by a large number of people, particularly in India and neighboring areas. It’s also the most-powerful rifle I own (others are .223 or similar), so if I was placed in a situation to dispatch, say, a bear, it would be my go-to weapon. I take it to the range every couple of years and it works flawlessly. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/63 "2015-06-15T15:32:57Z")
The chucks–if that’s the right word–and other metal forming equipment from Waldo (full name?) copper pot company, from the late 19th century, are still in use. ([Old cite](http://blog.westelm.com/2012/12/18/studio-visit-brooklyn-copper-cookware/), but I know the guy, and still used until very recently.) But those aren’t machines, but maybe still count, as negative-Theseus components of one. ETA: Probably early 20thcentury. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/64 "2015-06-15T15:34:06Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > Not as old as some of the examples given, but one of my rifles is a Lee-Enfield .303 British rifle; my example is from WWI, but they’ve been around since 1895 or thereabouts. > > In some key ways, this rifle (and there are others, I’m sure) is a good example: the rifle is still in active use by a large number of people, particularly in India and neighboring areas. It’s also the most-powerful rifle I own (others are .223 or similar), so if I was placed in a situation to dispatch, say, a bear, it would be my go-to weapon. I take it to the range every couple of years and it works flawlessly. Right, and the US .50 caliber machine gun is still being made and used, from a 1915 or so design. Machine guns tend to wear out, but I assume somewhere there’s a few almost 100 year old parts. Not as old as the Lee-Enfield, but I give bonus points for the added complexity. And, not quite so complex, but still containing multiple moving parts, I have a mechanical apple peeler-corer that I use regularly. I don’t know when it was made, but the design is surely at least a century old. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/65 "2015-06-15T16:33:42Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Well, it’s a light bulb in that it’s a glass bulb and emits some light, but it has such a heavy filament and it runs so dully that it’s more of a Centennial Hand Warmer. Not at all surprising it’s lasted so long. …as I did indeed say, right after the portion you cited. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/66 "2015-06-15T16:40:33Z")
A 30 year old [Commodore](http://woodtv.com/2015/06/11/1980s-computer-controls-grps-heat-and-ac/) computer is still controlling the HVAC systems for 19 Grand Rapids public schools. That’s pretty old for a program running 24/7. It was written by a high school student who apparently still maintains it. They’re about to spend 2 million bucks to replace it. ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/67 "2015-06-15T17:35:34Z")
I toured an old mill just a couple of years ago, which was still using the Jacquard looms imported in/around 1860. They were still ticking away weaving cloth. They wove cloth for restoration of antique houses and cars, mostly. They still had all the original patterns of that mill on file. Unfortunately my memory is playing a trick on me and I can’t remember the name of the mill. It would have been in the Pennsylvania area though, as best I recall. These were the Jacquards driven by hole-punch cards, which are thought to be ancestral to computers. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/68 "2015-06-15T17:56:41Z")
The Salsbury Cathedral Clock may be a contender for the oldest - the majority of historians date ot to the 1380s, and it is still working (and mostly original parts). Note similar claims by clocks in France and Italy. > **[Salisbury Cathedral clock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_cathedral_clock)** > > The Salisbury Cathedral clock is a large iron-framed tower clock without a dial, in Salisbury Cathedral, England. Thought to date from about 1386, it is a well-preserved example of the earliest type of mechanical clock, called verge and foliot clocks, and is said to be the oldest working clock in the world, although similar claims are made for other clocks. Previously in a bell-tower which was demolished in 1790, the clock was restored to working condition in 1956 and is on display in the Nort Any still-working machines older than that? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/69 "2015-06-15T18:20:33Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > The Salsbury Cathedral Clock may be a contender for the oldest - the majority of historians date ot to the 1380s, and it is still working (and mostly original parts). Note similar claims by clocks in France and Italy. > > [Salisbury Cathedral clock - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_cathedral_clock) > > Any still-working machines older than that? The Wikipedia page on the Salisbury clock lists two that might be older: > [@](#): > > The Salisbury cathedral clock is a large iron-framed clock without a dial located in the aisle of Salisbury Cathedral. Supposedly dating from about 1386, it is claimed to be the oldest working clock in the world,[1] although a similar claim is made of the clock in the cathedral of Beauvais in France (said to date from 1305).[2] and the clock tower of Chioggia in Italy. [3] The clock is one of the group of 14th to 16th century clocks to be found in the West of England. (See also Wells, Exeter, Castle Combe, Ottery St Mary, and Wimborne Minster.) An attempt to date this clock to around 1386 was made by T.R. Robinson which has been supported by others. Most of the parts of the striking train are believed to be original. The great wheel of the going train is also believed to be original. > **[Salisbury Cathedral clock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_cathedral_clock)** > > The Salisbury Cathedral clock is a large iron-framed tower clock without a dial, in Salisbury Cathedral, England. Thought to date from about 1386, it is a well-preserved example of the earliest type of mechanical clock, called verge and foliot clocks, and is said to be the oldest working clock in the world, although similar claims are made for other clocks. Previously in a bell-tower which was demolished in 1790, the clock was restored to working condition in 1956 and is on display in the Nort ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/70 "2015-06-15T18:30:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The Wikipedia page on the Salisbury clock lists two that might be older: > > [Salisbury Cathedral clock - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_cathedral_clock) Yes, I know - I said so in my post that you quoted. 😃 > [@](#): > > Note similar claims by clocks in France and Italy. My question is whether there are any still-woking machines older than these clocks. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/71 "2015-06-15T19:00:14Z")
The hoist that carried workers and ore at the Tower Soudan Mine, Tower MN is 90 years old and still running. The mine started underground operations in 1892 and closed in 1962. The Electric Hoist was installed in 1924. The SMN State Park Service has been operating this Hoist and has been carrying tourist 1/2 mile underground for the last 50 +years. [Find a video tour](http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/lake_vermilion_soudan/index.html). at this site. about 3/4 of the way down the page there are links to snapshot tours and the Video tour. (I am not able to link straight to the video tour, Sorry). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/72 "2015-06-15T19:51:41Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Yes, I know - I said so in my post that you quoted. 😃 > > My question is whether there are any still-woking machines older than these clocks. I was surprised, though, that the French clock claims to be over 75 years older than Salisbury. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/73 "2015-06-15T20:00:31Z")
> [@Gbro](#): > > The hoist that carried workers and ore at the Tower Soudan Mine, Tower MN is 90 years old and still running. > The mine started underground operations in 1892 and closed in 1962. > The Electric Hoist was installed in 1924. > The SMN State Park Service has been operating this Hoist and has been carrying tourist 1/2 mile underground for the last 50 +years. I’ve ridden that elevator twice - once back in the '80s, and again in 2005. It’s a long way from top to bottom (2300 feet, vs. 1400 feet for the Willis tower), and it hauls ass, and it’s pretty loud (clanky/rumbly). Interesting tour if you happen to be in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/74 "2015-06-15T20:06:54Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Could also be survivor bias. The machines that were not accurate decades ago got replaced eventually with machines that were accurate enough. This is a major reason why older machines that are still in use today tend to be “better made” than newer machines. It isn’t that, out of the new machines being manufactured today, at a significant fraction of them are probably made as well or better, but 50 years from now, only those well made machines will still be in use from this era. Machines today are produced with greater consistency and engineering. Good engineering means not over-engineering. Greater consistency means a narrower variance between the “better” and “worse” versions of the same device that come out of the production line. So overall, it’s likely that modern machines won’t last as long as the behemoths which have made it to today. But they will work first time out of the box and continue functioning for as long as was expected by their designer. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/75 "2015-06-15T20:08:23Z")
The coffee grinders at a coffee company I worked at were installed in the 1940’s and were still under daily heavy use. Bearings were replaced periodicaly as well as motors and other componets. Not unusual to see lathes and mills from world war II days still in use. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/76 "2015-06-15T20:24:11Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > The coffee grinders at a coffee company I worked at were installed in the 1940’s and were still under daily heavy use. Bearings were replaced periodicaly as well as motors and other componets. Not unusual to see lathes and mills from world war II days still in use. The Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation has a lot of examples of 19th century machinery, much of which is in operating condition and used on a regular basis in demonstration – lathes, mills, saws, and weird pieces of equipment I’ve never seen before, like large-scale mils that will plane a large piece of metal in one sweep. They’re not re-creations, like many of the operating machines at places like Sturbridge Village, but the original machinery. I believe the operating industrial looms and spinning machines at American Textile Museum in Lowell, MA are original, as well, and have been restored to working order. But they aren’t re-creations. Of course, the above are, despite being originals and working, not used on a continual basis as practical machines. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/77 "2015-06-15T22:43:20Z")
Sparkler’s Filters in Texas is still using an archaic [IBM 402 Accounting Machine](http://www.pcworld.com/article/249951/if_it_aint_broke_dont_fix_it_ancient_computers_in_use_today.html) - they keep their inventory on punch cards. When they need to run different reports, they plug in different hard-wired control panels which reprograms how the machine works. In 2012 they told the Computer History Museum that as long as they’re working, they’ll keep using them. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/78 "2015-06-15T22:47:52Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > The Salsbury Cathedral Clock may be a contender for the oldest - the majority of historians date ot to the 1380s, and it is still working (and mostly original parts). Note similar claims by clocks in France and Italy. > > [Salisbury Cathedral clock - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_cathedral_clock) > > Any still-working machines older than that? As I already said in post#10 > [@](#): > > If you go to Salisbury Cathedral you can see what is “_Probably the oldest working [mechanical] clock in existence, made of hand-wrought iron in or before 1386._” Some parts have been replaced or restored but it is still largely the original clock. > > This doesn’t really fit the OP’s criteria though because it exists as a curiosity rather than the apogee of clock design. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/79 "2015-06-15T22:56:38Z")
Definitely not the oldest but I thought this story about 19 schools still having their AC and heating controlled by a 30 year old Commodore Amiga computer was funny: [http://woodtv.com/2015/06/11/1980s-computer-controls-grps-heat-and-ac/](http://woodtv.com/2015/06/11/1980s-computer-controls-grps-heat-and-ac/) ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508/80 "2015-06-15T23:31:10Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Definitely not the oldest but I thought this story about 19 schools still having their AC and heating controlled by a 30 year old Commodore Amiga computer was funny: > > [http://woodtv.com/2015/06/11/1980s-computer-controls-grps-heat-and-ac/](http://woodtv.com/2015/06/11/1980s-computer-controls-grps-heat-and-ac/) Post 66 already has this story, and yes it is an amazing story especial given what the price quote is for replacement?? :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-machines-that-are-still-in-practical-use/722508.md?page=5)