Greetings on a lovely day. We’ve had a beautiful summer.
Plenty of rain (for a change) and moderate temperatures. We’re
really enjoying this summer instead of just suffering through
it.
One of our readers and I are looking for a permanent museum here
in Pennsylvania that includes in its exhibits a steam shovel. The
reader is Mr. Gordon Cole, 15861 Pomona Drive, Detroit, Michigan.
Anyone knowing the whereabouts of this museum; your getting in
touch with one of us would be appreciated.
We have a helpful hint this month from Mr. S. L. Speer,
Bismarck, Missouri. He tells us that while rebuilding a Madison
Kipp oil pump recently, he had some difficulty in finding suitable
gaskets for the oil level glass until he discovered that an
ordinary kitchen sink washer fit perfectly. An ordinary round
typewriter eraser makes a very good striper when repainting an
engine. Remove the circular eraser from the original brush handle
and fasten it to a wood handle with a stove bolt so that it
revolves freely. Brush the paint to be used for striping on a piece
of pine board then run the eraser over the board to pick up the
paint. Place a yardstick along the area to be striped and roll the
eraser along the edge of the yardstick, and the result will be a
clean straight stripe. Many thanks Mr. Speer. If more of your
readers would send in examples of how ordinary or everyday fixtures
or articles can be used for our steam hobby, I’ll see that we
have a helpful hint every month.
Mr. C. Syd Matthews, 137 Wellington St. W. , Tornoto 1, Canada
has or will soon have a set of notes on the construction of a 32
Reeves Cross Compound scale. Mr. Matthews is from the Reeves
Historical Society. These notes will be supplementary to the
blueprints which have already been advertised and from which at
least three people are building models now. Anyone who has an
interest in the Reeves or a scale model of one might do well to
contact Mr. Matthews. I’m sure he can give excellent help and
directions.
Mr. Leonard Newton, 1427 Elm St. , Grinnell, Iowa sends
compliments to Roy Glessner for his Cartoon Book and to Lorin
Bixler for his biography of Cornelius Aultman. Mr. Newton would
like to interest someone in writing histories of Port Huron,
Advance, Case, Gaar Scott, Avery, Huber, etc. ‘It is a great
service to us old timers and also to the younger generation coming
up’.
Mr. Morris Blomgren, Route I, Siren, Wisconsin has an L Case and
also a C Case tractor that he used on a sawmill and planer. They
run very well under load, but they both run very uneven when there
is no load. Could anyone tell him what might cause this?
In the July August Issue we ran a classified ad for Mrs. Mary
Harkinson, New Baltimore, Pennsylvania who was selling a 212 inch
steam engine. We have a letter from Mr. George Matthews, 813 Ridge
Ave. , Lakewood, New Jersey who went to see Mrs. Harkinson and
tells us that they are not 12 inches long, but about 6 to 10 foot
long in an old cider mill. He says they are in good shape. Perhaps
this would interest someone.
Mr. Harold Weber, Route 2, Box 211 A. High Ridge, Missouri is
looking for literature or leads as to where he could find
literature and pictures of a stationary unit made by Automatic
Furance Co. , Dayton, Ohio. Model ‘A’ one if the only thing
he can find on it.
Charles Pitt told us of the pleasure he has had in running and
firing engines, helping with threshing demonstrations, etc, at the
steam shows in his area. He says, ‘I just wish that everyone
could experience the thrill of opening a throttle and feeling the
power throb through a steam engine. It makes me realize just how
small and insignificant we truly are.’
What more could I add? Kitty
