Another valuable tool
Last October, I attended the American Thresherman Assn. Steam,
Gas and Threshing Show in Pinckneyville, Ill. While I enjoyed the
unseasonably warm weather that day, the falling leaves made me
realize that soon, the show season would be over, and I’d be
spending a restless winter waiting for spring. Fortunately, I found
something that has made the winter months a little more bearable:
www.YouTube.com.
For those of you not familiar, YouTube.com is a free
video-sharing website. While you need to register in order to post
videos, unregistered visitors are allowed to view any of the videos
on the site without becoming a member. Type “hit-and-miss engine”
into the site’s search function and you’ll find yourself swimming
in gas engine clips from around the world. I was aware that some
collectors had been posting videos of their engines on YouTube, but
I had no idea that there were so many on the site. The
international representation is particularly impressive.
As easy as it is to navigate your way around the site, I knew it
would be better if the clips were organized in a central location.
So, to help our readers, we made a Gas Engine Magazine page on
YouTube and created an index of the engine videos on the site. The
index is the quickest way to find gas engine videos on YouTube.
I’ve done the searching – all you have to do is the watching.
Many collectors have already realized how helpful the Internet
can be. With e-mail and online forums, questions can be asked and
answered in seconds. With YouTube, you can watch an engine running
from the comfort of your home. While nothing beats the experience
of attending a show in person, those who are physically unable to
do so now have the opportunity to continue enjoying the hobby. I
can also see it becoming a good way for clubs and show organizers
to promote and advertise their events.
At the GEM page on YouTube, you’ll find over 200 videos
categorized by manufacturer, with new ones being added every week.
Once the show season starts up again, we’ll also be uploading our
own videos to the page.
The easiest way to find the GEM page on YouTube is to visit
www.gasenginemagazine.com and click on the direct link. And if you
upload your own videos and want them to be included in the index,
please let me know.
Christian Williams
Assistant Editor
cwilliams@gasenginemagazine.com
www.GasEngineMagazine.com