Owners of old steam engines, and some people only interested in
them, met in the Community Building at Mocksville January 13 to
organize. They selected the name ‘North Carolina Steam
Historical Association’.
Bob Powell, owner of three of the iron giants, who lives in
Mocksville, was elected President.
The organization is to be nonprofit, and its purpose will be to
promote fellowship among the people interested in perpetuating the
memory of the steam engine and to arrange for annual shows of the
puffing monsters.
It is hoped that the first show in North Carolina can be
arranged for the coming Summer.
Powell announced that, according to his best information, there
are at least 62 steam engines in the state that have wheels. Some
pull themselves along, and others, called ‘portables’, were
made to be pulled along by horses or mules. There are other engines
that are stationary, but Powell did not have any figures on
them.
Many stationary engines are still in use in factories and a few
in saw mills over the state.
