The pipe organ link is amazing to me - I remember reading somewhere (fact-checkers, knock yourselves out) that until the invention of the telephone exchange, the largest pipe organ would have been the largest mechanical system ever invented...,(reply>), pipe organs are mostly repetition of the same thing.  These simulators are **sophisticated**.,(reply>), it wasn't just pipe organs but player pianos which helped with some of the systems.,(reply>), @Caspar von Campenhausen Clock tower pendulums aren't much bigger than you'd expect to see on a grandfather clock, the giant pendulums are a Hollywood invention.,(reply>), Big clock towers? They aren't very complex, but they need a big pendulum to keep the time and a bunch of cogs to move the hands...,(reply>), A lot of sailors would question that claim. ;)