![Above are Mr. and Mrs. Baker [Jim & Kate, of Mineral Wells, Texas. 76067] at 1912 S.E. 15th St. They showed an unbelievably accurate and finely crafted 2'' Scale 65 H.P. Case steamer. Mrs. Baker did not just stand and watch, she soaked fuel pumps in alcoh](https://ogden_images.s3.amazonaws.com/www.farmcollector.com/images/1976/05/05170724/IMA_V31_I3_May_1976_12-5-1.jpg)
722 East End Ave., Lancaster, PA 17602
Mr. Bruce I. Groninger of 3608 Hillcrest Road, Harrisburg, Pa.
has built a Shay style locomotive with track and donated it to the
Rough & Tumble Engineers Association. His interest comes
naturally, since he worked 40 years on the Pennsylvania Railroad,
ending his career as a conductor.
It is quite an accomplishment for a railroader to build a
locomotive from scratch. Mr. Groninger used a Soule, double
throttle steam engine made by the Soule Mfg. Co. of Meridian, Miss.
He purchased a boiler made in 1940 by the well known Fitzgibbons
Boiler Co. of Oswego, N. Y. with home office in New York City. The
wheels he obtained from a junk yard, the brass bell was donated to
him, and the track came from an old railroad bed near Dillsburg,
Pa. The balance he salvaged wherever available, and assembled.
Mr. Groninger’s locomotive was on display in 1975 at the
Adams County Fairgrounds at Abbottstown, Pa., and was brought to
Kinzers on the truck of our Vice-President, Amos Stauffer, and was
displayed at the Reunion of 1975, although we were not able to
operate it because no track had been laid.
It is a 36′ gauge with 4000 feet of track and when the
roadbed is completed it will encircle the complete Reunion Grounds.
Mr. Groninger is constructing a second passenger car and hopefully
the roadbed and track will be laid in order that the train will be
in operation at ‘The Old Threshermans Reunion’ of
1976.Â
Francis Sevart is an ‘Old Reliable’ at this show. He can
operate anything with the deftness of a brain surgeon. Seriously he
has capabilities above average and has common sense ‘he
hasn’t even had tapped yet.’ I believe with only minor
check-out he can operate everything on the reservation. He proves
part of this in the picture above as he operates Gene Owens’
Baker engine on the Baker fan. Francis resides at 111 North
Cherokee St., Girard, Kansas. Courtesy of Bernard A. Hines, 7197
Mississippi St., Merrillville, Indiana 46410.
With our sawmill the R&T organization has sawed enough
lumber and weatherboarding to construct an engine house, in the
style of a covered bridge, which complements the local Pennsylvania
Dutch country.
Another new display we hope to have in operation by 1976 is a
Hamilton Corliss steam engine, which was donated to us by the
Federal Paperboard and Glass Co. of White Hall, Md. It has a
20′ bore and a 48′ stroke; the flywheel is 12′ in
diameter with a 34′ face. The connecting rod is 12′ cc; the
crankshaft is 10-1/2′ in diameter and 7′ long. The overall
length of this large stationary steam engine is 28′.
