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There also used to be "central turbines" whereby there was a central spinning rod that one could attach belts to in order to spin a thing to get work out of it.

There also used to be "central turbines" whereby there was a central spinning rod that one could attach belts to in order to spin a thing to get work out of it... called line and shaft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qt5tltnvF8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qt5tltnvF8

cjrp 5y ago
Really cool, sort of like how an ICE drives ancillaries
- spenczar5 5y ago
  Cool indeed, but pretty dangerous and difficult to reconfigure. Electric wires and motors are so much smaller, and easier to protect, and more interoperable, so you can see why they won out.
  - AlexTWithBeard 5y ago
    That was one of the reasons behind having factory whistles: all workers take their places, the whistle, then the whole thing is started. While it's running people are not supposed to move around.
snalty 5y ago
There's a cool working example of this at Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield, England.
DrBoring 5y ago
I once saw this in use at a restaurant to drive ceiling fans. I looked up some videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-uCvwEq3co https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-uCvwEq3co https://youtu.be/1IWTM1rNCnw?t=78 https://youtu.be/1IWTM1rNCnw?t=78
Someone 5y ago
That was normal in the age of steam. Having lots of tiny steam engines on the factory floor does not make sense. Keeping them running is too labor intensive, they would be fire risks, and they’re less efficient.
- DuskStar 5y ago
  And in the age of water, running shafts to the waterwheel was vastly easier than having a wheel at each station.
Smoosh 5y ago
And a similar system used to be common for shearing: https://www.sheepcentral.com/wool-growers-support-call-to-phase-out-shaft-driven-shearing-equipment/ https://www.sheepcentral.com/wool-growers-support-call-to-ph...