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South By SOUTHWEST:
New Mexico Collectors Showcase Treasures
By Leslie C., McDaniel
The seasoned collector of old engines wears many hats: mechanic, body man, historian and sleuth. Dan Cook discovered that when he found an old engine in New Mexico.
His Kelly Hotball engine is one of just three known to exist. When he bought it, and for some time after, Dan (who lives in Las Cruces, N.M.) had no idea what he gotten.
"I looked in every book I had," he said, "but I couldn't find anything."
"I heard this unique sound, and it got my attention," he recalled. "Then I saw it: and I thought, 'Man, there's my engine!'"
The engine's owner, Robert Johnson, Canyon, Texas, filled in the gaps for Dan. Their engines were made by the Kelly Brothers Company, Dalhart, Texas, in the early part of the century.
"They made bits and spurs," Dan said, "and they were so good, every cowboy worth his salt had Kelly spurs."
When the company began manufacturing engines, they bought the Fairbanks Morse flywheel, took the name off it, and started making engines designed for use in the southwest.
"That sent me down a dead end for 18 months, thinking it was a Fairbanks Morse," he said.
In 1929, the company was wooed by Mexican officials with the promise of a major contract for a large irrigation project near Mexico City. When the Kellys arrived, however, their company was nationalized, and they lost control over all their forms and patterns.