Live steam
![A hand-crafted, coal-fired, 1:8 scale 2-10-0 'live steam' locomotive in 7 1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge, built in 14,000 hours over a period of 15 years.](/Images/godic/202501/24/Livesteam2655.jpg")
![A Live Steam Festival displaying equipment ranging from small stationary engines to full-size locomotives. Porvoo, Finland, 2003](/Images/godic/202501/24/Lsfestival2656.jpg")
![A propane fired 1:8 scale live steam train running on the Finnish Railway Museum's miniature 7 1⁄4 in (184 mm) track.](/Images/godic/202501/24/Livesteamtrain2656.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202501/24/Working_principle_of_steam_locomotive_model2656.gif")
Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam is used to operate stationary or moving equipment.
A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those that are replicas, scale models, toys, or otherwise used for heritage, museum, entertainment, or recreational purposes, to distinguish them from similar devices powered by electricity or some other more convenient method but designed to look as if they are steam-powered. Revenue-earning steam-powered machines such as mainline and narrow gauge steam locomotives, steamships, and power-generating steam turbines are not normally referred to as "live steam".