History on show

People admire machinery at the Otago Vintage Machinery Club open day at Outram on Saturday.

Club treasurer Tom Rietveld said the club had been going since 1981 and had about 30 members — a crew of "retired guys" — who met every Wednesday.

Among the machines on display was a showman’s engine built from scratch from recycled bits by club member Andrew Harbrow. A showman’s engine was used at carnivals to generate power for Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds, Mr Rietveld said.

He said it was important to preserve the machines because they were technological history.

"We have to keep some of it alive even though we can’t keep it all."