Zagray Farm Museum: A Living Link to the Past

By Leslie C. Mcmanus
Published on February 11, 2014
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This cupola furnace was salvaged from a Collinsville, Conn., foundry. The Zagray brothers used it to make castings.
This cupola furnace was salvaged from a Collinsville, Conn., foundry. The Zagray brothers used it to make castings.
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A Nelson truck loader built by Nelson Iron Works, Clifton, N.J., in the 1930s. Club members said the piece was used to load shoveled snow into trucks, a job hard to imagine during Zagray's 2013 summer show, when sweltering temperatures were the order of the day.
A Nelson truck loader built by Nelson Iron Works, Clifton, N.J., in the 1930s. Club members said the piece was used to load shoveled snow into trucks, a job hard to imagine during Zagray's 2013 summer show, when sweltering temperatures were the order of the day.
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QVEA volunteer Dave McClary guides youthful visitors through century-old equipment in the Zagray machine shop.
QVEA volunteer Dave McClary guides youthful visitors through century-old equipment in the Zagray machine shop.
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One of several tractors scattered around Zagray Farm Museum, abandoned so long that a tree has grown through it and lichens have formed on the tires.
One of several tractors scattered around Zagray Farm Museum, abandoned so long that a tree has grown through it and lichens have formed on the tires.
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Mike Brigham holding his Wright reciprocating saw with a Mall Model 10 two-man chainsaw at his feet. The Mall dates to about 1949-'51. Made of die-cast aluminum and magnesium alloys, it weighs nearly 70 pounds.
Mike Brigham holding his Wright reciprocating saw with a Mall Model 10 two-man chainsaw at his feet. The Mall dates to about 1949-'51. Made of die-cast aluminum and magnesium alloys, it weighs nearly 70 pounds. "The bigger two-man bows are unusual," says Mike, who owns the saw with his dad, Danny. "They're very slow but they have a lot of power."
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A fragment of Tom Maikshilo's saw collection on display at Colchester. Tom also collects chainsaw memorabilia: signs, pamphlets, oilcans and manuals.
A fragment of Tom Maikshilo's saw collection on display at Colchester. Tom also collects chainsaw memorabilia: signs, pamphlets, oilcans and manuals.
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Chainsaw collector Tom Maikshilo.
Chainsaw collector Tom Maikshilo.
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At the QVEA, the next generation gets a bit of hands-on experience with construction giants of the past. Paired with volunteers, kids take a turn at the levers of this Northwest Model 80D shovel, which always draws a crowd no matter who’s operating it.
At the QVEA, the next generation gets a bit of hands-on experience with construction giants of the past. Paired with volunteers, kids take a turn at the levers of this Northwest Model 80D shovel, which always draws a crowd no matter who’s operating it.
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George Jarvis, 84, has a lifetime of experience operating massive equipment like the Northwest 80D shovel.
George Jarvis, 84, has a lifetime of experience operating massive equipment like the Northwest 80D shovel.
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Bob Hanna's 1951 Ford 8N with a flathead V-8 Funk conversion.
Bob Hanna's 1951 Ford 8N with a flathead V-8 Funk conversion.
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Jon Cicarelli added a headlight kit and found a cultivator to pair with this Wheel Horse 701 prototype.
Jon Cicarelli added a headlight kit and found a cultivator to pair with this Wheel Horse 701 prototype.

Zagray Farm Museum sends a very bad message to packrats. Formerly owned by three bachelor brothers, the 200-acre complex in Colchester, Conn., fairly groans beneath the weight of lovingly preserved old iron, much of which is put through its paces during shows put on there by the Quinebaug Valley Engineers Assn. (QVEA).

Tractors, all manner of tools and machinery, a machine shop, sawmill and even an 1866 cupola furnace salvaged from a foundry are among the relics amassed by brothers Stanley, Harry and Willie Zagray — all of who apparently shared a disinclination to part with anything, ever. Now owned in a cooperative joint venture between the QVEA and the Colchester Historical Society, the farm is a living museum showcasing the rise of mechanization in agriculture, construction and industry. “We try to maintain the brothers’ interests,” says Mark Maikshilo, QVEA past president.

The museum produces three shows a year. Demonstrations showcase an 1800s sawmill, planer and cordwood saw, vintage construction equipment, plowing with oxen or tractors, stationary power and blacksmithing. The Zagray brothers’ machine shop gives a remarkable look at machine tools dating to the late 19th century.

The heart of the farmstead

The oldest part of the farm shop building was built before World War II. Stanley Zagray worked as a machinist at Pratt & Whitney through the war years. By about 1950, when he began working from his home shop, the brothers had expanded the shop. “They were very industrious guys,” Mark says. “They had a turbine they used to channel their own power for electricity from a brook nearby. It wasn’t enough to provide electricity for the whole house but what they got, they got for free.”

Wood stoves heated the shop. A lifetime’s accumulation of smoke coated the walls with a smudge so thick that the brothers used it as a sort of blackboard. Notations, calculations and words of wisdom they scratched into the smudge remain visible today.

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