ENGINEER BRINGS BACK STEAM ENGINE

As a registered engineer with the state of Illinois, Clarence
Chronic helped design a number of steam engines and troubleshoot
for several companies that manufactured them.

Clarence’s love for steam engines helped draw him to his
rightful ‘calling’ as an engineer when he was a boy of 12
as, even then, he daydreamed about building the steam-powered
machines. As he approaches his 94th birthday in September, that
love for steam engines and the era they represent is still
present.

The knowledge stored in his head has resulted in the
construction of yet another steam engine, more than 20 years after
his retirement.

The steam engine in question is correct in design down to the
smallest detail. However, there is one difference from the engines
that used to power threshing machines and saw mills in the early
1900sthis one is a model at approximately scale of the
originals.

Over seven years ago, Dale Robinson, a former school teacher and
himself a steam engine lover, got the idea of building a model
steam engine and immediately sought out the help of Chronic, now a
resident of Newton Rest Haven.

Clarence provided the scaled drawings of all the major parts
needed and Robinson provided the hours of precision work (part-time
over a period of between 7-10 years). Their efforts resulted in the
model one-cylinder, firebox-type boiler engine Clarence used to
dream about at the age of 12.

Robinson himself is no stranger to steam engines. He operated
one for numerous years and still owns one today which operates a
saw mill.

The steam engines that the two men used to work with were fueled
by wood and coal. Robinson’s model is powered with charcoal,
but that’s really about the only deviation from the way it
was.

Clarence was kept informed of the progress of Robinson’s
project, but had not really had a chance to see it operate
(complete with steam-powered whistle) until given the opportunity
one afternoon.

A troubleshooter for manufacturing companies before he took his
first fulltime engineering job in 1917, Clarence has ‘engines
in his blood,’ recalls longtime friend and work associate Cliff
Shaffer.

What does Clarence think of the engine he designed and Robinson
built in this day of nuclear power advances never dreamed about in
the heyday of the steam engine?

‘Considering what it is made out of,’ Clarence joked,
‘it turned out very well.’

Spare parts would be a nice way to describe the pieces selected
to form this little bit of historic machinery, but ‘make and
form junk’ might be closer to the truth.

The little steam engine probably won’t wind up in a museum
or as the featured attraction in a country-wide tour (even if the
steam engine should make a comeback in these days of threatened
energy shortages).

It will most likely remain in the backyard at Robinson’s
house or in his work shop in his garage. However, this is not to
say that the project that took so long to complete will not serve a
useful purpose.

It will undoubtedly provide countless hours of steam engine talk
and memories for Clarence and others like him who remember how it
was and allow them, when they hear the steam-powered whistle blow,
to close their eyes and relive those days when the steam engine
revolutionized the power industry all across the nation.