One for the Ages
Horse-drawn Rumely portable steam engine pulls the seniority card
By Leslie C. McManus
When Rumely collectors gather, it’s the big boys – like the 30-60 OilPull or the equally massive Advance steamers – that draw crowds. But it was a comparatively modest Rumely that generated buzz at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in 2006. In that case, age was the trump card.
“This is the oldest known piece of Rumely equipment,” explained Graham Sellers as he showed off his horse-drawn portable steam engine. Manufactured by M. & J. Rumely in La Porte, Ind., the no. 2 was built before 1882, when Meinrad Rumely bought out his brother, John, and changed the company name to M. Rumely Co.