It later saw service for the Oregon Lumber Company of Baker,
Oregon. After the logging days came to an end in 1947, the engine
was shipped to the Black Hills Central at Hill City, South
Dakota.
It was brought to the La Porte County Historical Steam Society,
Inc., Grounds at Hesston, Indiana, to be used for providing
3′) Flying Dutchman Railroad located on the grounds. Boiler
pressure is 200 lbs., tractive power is 25830 lbs., drivers, 32
‘ Courtesy of Wilbur J. Place, 1602 Weller Ave., La Porte,
Indiana 46350.
Out here in our great northwest the derrick system was used very
much. Sometimes the ‘header’ crew would be days ahead of
the threshing crew and would stack the heads into long stacks,
nearly always two stacks together. As you can see in the picture
the derrick was mounted on a wagon and was moved from stack to
stack that way. The Jackson Fork was pulled by a team of horses and
the driver had to unhook the cable and back his team back and hook
up again and that old double tree got awful heavy before those long
days were over. Lots of times grain was headed and taken right into
the thresher but a lot of rigs used the old derrick way. The man on
the stack would push the Jackson Fork down into the stack and take
a ton of grain off the first load. It would be pulled up to the
center of the table or derrick and the man on the stack would pull
his rope and dump the load, then would pull the fork back for
another load and that fork got heavy before the day was over.
On my father’s rig he used extra power from a different
pulley off the separator to the derrick table and a man sat on a
seat on the edge of the table and he pulled the forked grain to the
derrick and this did away with a team. When grain was put up in
bundles this system was never used. The fork had four tines (long)
and was about four feet long. At the front of the fork was a catch
and when the rope was pulled it dumped the load.
Hope this will explain the ‘Jackson Fork.’ Courtesy of
Clarence E. Mitcham, Route 1, Mead, Washington 99021.
The engine was purchased from Unice Kellems, Darby Indiana in
July 1960 and moved to Florida in July 1969. It is currently being
restored by Herb Johnson.
(Now it does not say who the man is pictured with the engine,
but I suppose it is Herb Johnson). Anna Mae. Courtesy of Herb
Johnson, Rt. 1, Box 108-A, Longwood, Florida 32750.
The picture was taken in 1898 near Bavaria, Kansas, in the
Central Part of the State. All persons working are local people.
This rig was owned and operated by A. F. Komarek. Courtesy of J. F.
Komarek, Bavaria, Kansas 67419 (son of A. F. Komarek).
