Article: Miniature steam engines run in the family. (Jensen Manufacturing Co. Inc.) (Cover Story)

ost steam engines have disappeared from use or been put in museums, but after 60 years in the business Thomas Jensen continues to build and sell working miniature models, some of which weigh as little as 2 lbs. Sales of the tiny machines have supported him and his family since the 1930s. Now, at age 91, he said he continues to work on this endeavor purely for the love of it.

Jensen, a Danish-born mechanical engineer, admits that he is most content in his machine shop, a small garage-like building almost invisible to passersby. Inside, between 3000 and 5000 tiny machines, about % the size of full-scale steam engines, are churned out each year.

His company, ...

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