All fired up

The No. 1 is serial no. 8948; it is a 22- by 36-inch machine with steel wheels and axles. The Currans also own a No. 2 Sawyer-Massey mill, 'part of the deal' when they purchased the 11 -22. The No. 2 is serial no. 6400; it is a 28- by 44-inch machine with steel wheels and wooden axles.

'We have begun to conserve it,' Bob says, 'in hopes that it will be at Cookstown next year. Notice I said 'conserve,' not 'restore.' We conserved the No. 1; it sports original paint, striping and decals. It was carefully hand washed, and a coat of wax was liberally applied. The No. 2 will receive the same treatment.'

He adds that the No. 2 is too large for the 11-22 to run, so they may show it next year and then sell it. The mill is more suited to being run by a 20-60 (20-22) steam traction engine or a 20-40 kerosene tractor, Bob says, noting 'There has been interest in our selling it even before we landed it home.'

Last summer, the 11-22 took the place of the 20-22 for the first time at the Georgian Bay show, powering the No. 1 thresher, and drawing its own curious crowd.

'This one broke virgin prairie soil,' Wayne reports of the Nichols and Shepard. Sherwood's Sawyer-Massey and Bim Watson's George White engines are as familiar to the Milton Steam Show crowds as the Curran's 20-22 was to folks at Georgian Bay.