Spalding’s Corner: Mystery Steam Engine

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Judging by the scant replies, last issue’s “mystery” engine was a real head scratcher. In fact, only one response guessing to its identity came through, from regular contributor Gary Yaeger, Kalispell, Mont.

“I am real anxious to find what kind of ‘guesses’ you get regarding the Case on Spaulding’s Corner this issue. I got a poor photocopy of a copy of that same photo from Tommy Lee several years ago.

“It appears to be either a 12 or 15 HP, judging from the wheels.  It is a boiler from a center-crank era engine, and ironically, notice it has a long smokebox. The smokestack is consistent with the last center-cranks, too. The side-crank is inconsistent with any Case engine I have seen. Notice the steam chest is on top of the tandem-compound engine. Tommy said it had to be a one-of-a-kind or some kind of Case experiment. I am sure you will get a lot of guesses as to what it could be, but I will be sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for the next issue to find out what it really IS.”

So, can anyone fill in the blanks? For getting his answer in first, Gary gets a free copy of Prof. P.F. Rose’s Steam Engine Guide.
This month’s mystery engine comes, as usual, courtesy of John Spalding, 112 Carriage Place, Hendersonville, TN 37075 (genesis 645@aol.com). The engine’s origin is unknown, hopefully some sharp-eyed reader can identify it. 

The first person to correctly identify the engine, by mail, gets a free copy of Prof. P.F. Rose’s Steam Engine Guide. Good steaming!  

  • Published on Sep 24, 2009
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