HE HAS A MANIA FOR MACHINERY

By Marcus T. Orr
Published on January 1, 1971
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''This Delco helped farmers a little in my generation, but wouldn't do much for yours,'' Frank Grooms tells Union REC Member Services Director Roger Morley.
''This Delco helped farmers a little in my generation, but wouldn't do much for yours,'' Frank Grooms tells Union REC Member Services Director Roger Morley.
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It is a reproduction from an ad in the Nov. 1918 Farm and Fireside magazine, telling about the Delco-Light plant.
It is a reproduction from an ad in the Nov. 1918 Farm and Fireside magazine, telling about the Delco-Light plant.
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Frank Grooms, R. 1, Richwood, Ohio, loves to restore old mechanisms to like-new condition. Here he shows a brass whistle and an oiler from an old steam engine.
Frank Grooms, R. 1, Richwood, Ohio, loves to restore old mechanisms to like-new condition. Here he shows a brass whistle and an oiler from an old steam engine.
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Frank's sense of humor is evident in these pictures. He shows a child's toy steam engine which is hooked up and running on the same steam and oil as his big Huber.
Frank's sense of humor is evident in these pictures. He shows a child's toy steam engine which is hooked up and running on the same steam and oil as his big Huber.
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Nostalgic about threshing, Frank owns this 1920 Huber steam engine and (at right) a Pre-Civil War ''Groundhog'' thresher.
Nostalgic about threshing, Frank owns this 1920 Huber steam engine and (at right) a Pre-Civil War ''Groundhog'' thresher.
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Frank Grooms in the solitude of his workshop.
Frank Grooms in the solitude of his workshop.
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It is a 1904 ''New-Way'' vertical engine, ''It wasn't built with those flyball governors,'' Frank said. ''I just put 'em onlike to see 'em run.''
It is a 1904 ''New-Way'' vertical engine, ''It wasn't built with those flyball governors,'' Frank said. ''I just put 'em onlike to see 'em run.''

They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. If
that’s the case, I’ve got lots of treasure.’

Retired steel mill worker Frank Grooms grinned as he looked up
from his cluttered workbench. He was cleaning the magneto from one
of the 15 or 20 old internal combustion engines he has rescued from
trash heaps.

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