R.R. 6, Greensburg, Indiana 47240
Anthony Moorman was recently honored and presented a gold watch
at a dinner and social meeting of the Pioneer Engineers Club of
Indiana at Rushville. The occasion was the retirement after 25
years of continuous service as treasurer of the Pioneer Engineers
Club. Mr. Moorman cited a desire to let the younger generation take
steam show and relax and be an exhibitor without the added duties
of an officer. Each year Tony exhibits his Advance Rumely, but with
an office in the club, he had to always get someone else to operate
his engine. Hopefully, he will now be able to operate his own
engine for the first time in many years.
Mr. Moorman’s association with the club goes back to the day
when the Pioneer Engineers Club was organized 29 years ago. His
interest in steam engines goes back to when his father, a German
immigrant started a sawmill at St. Maurice in 1906. Naturally the
mill was powered by steam. Some of the engines they used were: an
Atlas skid engine, Gaar Scott, Advance compound, Aultman Taylor,
Baker, Case. Some of the above engines were used in a portable
sawmill they would take around and saw on the farms.
Tony’s first engine he owned was a 20 H.P. Baker. One of his
biggest regrets was the junking of a perfectly good 20 H.P. Aultman
Taylor during World War II.
Since he had a 75 H.P. Case in the mill and no longer needed the
Aultman he decided to scrap it for the government. In 1960 the old
75 Case was retired and replaced by electric. It had served well
and still ran like a new engine. It was by far the cheapest power
he ever used. The old Case was restored and sold to William Clem of
Manassas, Virginia.
Tony acquired his Advance Rumely in November, 1948 from a man at
Batesville. He had known of this engine since the day he saw it
unloaded from a railroad car when it was new. The second day it
run, it threshed on the Moorman farm. He always thought that it was
a fine engine and would like to own it someday. He drove it home on
Thanksgiving day when it was nearly 0 degrees. A fire had to be
built under the engine to thaw out the pipes under the engine. It
was a trip he would never forget.
Other engines he owned for a time was a 23-90 Baker counter flow
that he took on payment for a saw bill. It had been in a flood and
completely submerged and pushed up against a tree. It took 2 days
to pump the mud out of the boiler and get it fired up to run home.
The engine is now owned by Robert Price and is at Urbana, Ohio. He
also converted a 1907, 6 H.P. Case portable into a traction engine,
mounted on truck chassis. His last engine he restored was a 1907 18
H.P. Baker now owned by Jerry Moorman. The only engine he now owns
is his favorite, the 20 HP Advance Rumely.
As summer arrives, once again it will be time to fire the Rumely
and just enjoy being an engineer. The Club deeply appreciates the
long years of service to the club and wishes the best to him.
