My little 1 /2 size Engine

R.R. 1, Box 75 Kirkman, Iowa 51447

Pictured here is a little one-half size engine I have been
working on for the last three years. I call it a Rumely, after the
20 horsepower 1915 Model as shown in Jack Nor-beck’s book
Encyclopedia of American Steam Traction Engines on page 228. That
engine is owned by Dennis Salley of Mason, Michigan, where it has
been shown at the Michigan Steam Engine & Threshers Show at
Mason. I have never met Dennis, but plan to contact him
sometime.

The reason I call it a 1915 Rumely is because, after I located
an engine, it had a link reverse and so I had to set the steam dome
ahead to make room for the valve gear. The only boiler spec I had
to go by was a 65 Case which is quite similar except for a higher
dome and set farther ahead.

The engine is a Hyde windless engine made in Bath, Maine, with a
4 inch bore and a 6′ stroke. That, too, would be more like
Rumely, as Case seemed to keep their bore and stroke in some
engines the same measurement or within an inch.

The front wheels are made-over wheels from a manure spreader,
the rear wheels from a McCormick grain binder. The front door is a
flywheel from a 1957 Ford with automatic transmission. The front
mounting and axle, also smoke stack, I made out of material I could
find out of a junk pile.

I knew I was facing a challenge when I started. Also, my friends
wondered if I could really come up with something that would
resemble a steam traction engine. I think I surprised myself as to
the way it shaped up it just seemed that everything I needed became
available when the time came. I still have the steering gear to
install, as well as the drive train.