1511 Iglehart Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota 55104
The weather for the 78 show was ideal. The temperature both days
was comfortable; not too hot and no sign of rain.
A fine grove of shade trees was well taken by exhibitors of gas
engines of all sizes. Threshing of oat bundles, lumber sawing,
shingle making and stove wood sawing by gasoline powered saw rigs,
were attractions during both days of the show.
A power operated blacksmith shop was in operation. A gas engine
of about 15 HP was belted to a line shaft. When I arrived at the
show I saw a man with a traction steam engine filling the storage
tank on the engine with water at the well on the show site. The
operator of the engine told me he was Henry Lahr of St. Joseph,
Minnesota. He said he has operated a shop where he had done both
blacksmith and machine work for fifty years. He told me he had
recently threshed 400 bushels of oats on his farm using the above
engine, which he said was 18 HP, running his 32′ Minneapolis
thresher. With that he drove the engine away. And as he did, a man
remarked, ‘he built that engine.’
At the gas engine exhibit I met Mr. & Mrs. Bob Bartheld and
son, Jeff, who is an auctioneer. Their exhibit of 12 to 14 small
engines was most interesting. Mrs. Bartheld, who had helped with
advertising the show, was officially connected with the flea market
which was in progress at the show.
They showed a gas engine made at Fairmont, Minnesota. The
company is still in operation. The engine is used on railroad
section cars replacing the old hand-powered cars that section crews
used in the old days. The engine is rated at 8 HP when idling and
at 13 HP when the throttle is wide open. It runs in either
direction.
With all of the train wrecks we hear of nowadays, it’s
interesting to know that the tracks are being repaired, and that
the wrecks may be avoided. We have always owed much to the men who
worked on the section crews.
John Goldsmith of Amery, Wisconsin, was there with his usual
fine exhibit of small gas engines.
George Wilson, Jr., of Eau Claire, Wisconsin had five gas
engines and a miniature John Deere saw rig. The engine is one inch
bore and one inch stroke. Others were a Sattley 1 HP and two 3/4 HP
Nelson engine. He has eight more engines at home, all restored and
painted.
John Helmer of Bruce, Wisconsin brought his centrifugal water
pump. It was powered by Rupert Wheeler’s 3 HP Simplicity
engine. There was also a 2 cylinder Maytag, and a single cylinder
Reo engine in this exhibit.
George Wilson, Sr., of Rice Lake, Wisconsin was giving rides
using his model Rumely Oil Pull as usual, pulling a light wagon. He
had a one cylinder small engine which he made that runs on gasoline
vapor. He has a 2 HP tractor at home that runs on vapor from
gasoline.
Models he intended to make in the winter of 1978-79 were a John
Deere, a Galloway and three New Hollands. Besides the fine work Mr.
Wilson has done with his model engines, he has another hobby which
he considers a main one. It is the building of miniature racing
boats. The boats he builds are 3′ in length and they are
modeled after Bill Muncy’s Gold Cup Hydroplane, 3000 HP. Mr.
Muncy lives in Los Angeles, California.
At the shingle mill, I met Orlin Jergenson who was sawing
shingles stamped ‘Anoka Engine Club.’
The Rodgers Show is sponsored by the Anoka Engine Club, Inc.
Walter Dehns owns the land where the show is held. Andrew Heie had
a large exhibit of tools most of which he had made himself. Of his
16 gas engines he has restored, he had 5 of them mounted on trucks
on exhibition at the show. He has a F-14 Farmall which was in the
parade both days.
The parade which took place at 2:00 each day consisted of 108
rolling units, 8 steam traction engines, 80 gas tractors, antique
trucks and cars, including a 1922 Model 490 Chevrolet, passed the
announcers stand.
Ralph Altenweg did a fine job announcing the parade both days.
An announcer can really add interest to a parade. Like the
announcer at a rodeo, he can add attention on the part of a crowd
as to what is going on at the time.
The Rodgers Show as it is today is the result of a small
beginning, when they showed two steam engines and a few gas engines
at the county fair at Elk River, Minnesota.
