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Banking on Steam:
Indiana Man Builds Restoration Business
By Leslie C. McDaniel
At the dawn of a new millennium, state-of-the-art technology is the hallmark of most professions. For an Indiana man, though, it's obsolete technology that pays the bills.
In a shop just southeast of Indianapolis, Bob Gold and two full-time employees restore steam engines built nearly 100 years ago. They'll tackle just about any job.
"Whatever somebody wants us to do, we'll attempt it," Bob says. "What we do is as simple as putting in a set of tubes, to taking an engine that looks like a refugee from the scrap yard, and making it a running engine again. We do repairs to fireboxes, make tanks and bunkers, and we'll do oddball jobs. We do a good bit of boiler repair. That's heavier work, and harder, but it's something that most people don't feel confident doing themselves."
"I've been going to steam shows for as long as I can remember. My grandfather was very mechanical, and he was a steam enthusiast," Bob says. "He had been an operator of steam engines in the 1920s and 1930s. He always talked about wanting an engine ... well, he finally bought one, but he never saw it run."
That engine - a 1919 60 hp Case - is Bob's now. The vintage steamer is up and running now, but Bob seldom has time to play.
"There's always something else pushing it to the side," he says. "Usually we have several different projects going on at one time. We probably do six to eight major jobs in a year. Right now we have stuff here from western Missouri. We're shipping pieces and parts - a contractor's tank and bunker - for a 50 hp Case to California. We've shipped one set to Arizona. We go nationwide with parts... mostly Case parts, but we do some others. We've made water tanks for Minneapolis engines and Reeves engines, whatever comes along. If we can help, we will, or maybe we'll pass 'em along to somebody else."
Steam engine restoration is far from a boom industry.
"I know of two or three other guys who do a little of this stuff in addition to fabricating and repair work," Bob says, "and I know people who work full-time on steam locomotives. But I don't know of any other shop solely dedicated to working on this stuff."
For employee Brian Vaughn, who earlier served in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear machinist's mate, steam engine restoration has been a dream job.