Thank you, Reiner

Sussex, Wisconsin. I was doing what I do best steering and firing
to keep the steam pressure up while my husband, Wes, handled the
controls. After the two day show was over and it was time to return
the engines to the barn, Reiner Nettesheim approached me and asked
if I would like to help him drive his 22 HP Keck-Gonnerman back
home. On the way he asked, ‘How would you like to run the
controls and drive it down the road?’ I could feel panic start
to set in and said, ‘I don’t know how.’ ‘Well,
we’ll fix that. You can’t own a steam engine and not know
how to run it,’ was his reply. So, at that point, I started
steam engine school, and Reiner Nettesheim and his reliable
Keck-Gonnerman were my teachers.

Now, this was no easy task, as I am a nurse with only a slight
mechanical ability, but a fast learner and eager to absorb
interesting knowledge, and steam engines are very interesting to
me. Over the winter months I studied books like Boiler Safety Act
and Boiler Rules, Clarke School of Traction Engineering, Part XII,
Value Gears and Reversing Mechanism, Traction Engine Troubles, and
Steam Engine Guide. My co-workers just shook their heads and would
point to the picture of the Baker engine on my locker at work.

By the time June had arrived I was eager to get started on the
practical factors. It was a very warm Saturday morning as we fired
up both the Baker and the Keck-Gonnerman and proceeded down the
road to Reiner’s housea three and one half mile trip from the
engine storage shed at Harold Meissner’s farm. Half way there
the bottom hand hold under the fire box on the Baker let go. This
was lesson number one: how to put a fire out in a big hurry. With
the water and the steam all gone, we put the Baker in tow behind
the Keck-Gonnerman and continued on. I was shaken with the whole
experience but was comforted by Reiner’s easy going manner and
reassurance. ‘Take it easy. Things like that happen now and
then. We’ll fix those hand hold plates.’

The next couple of weeks were spent getting the repiping and the
repainting done on the Baker. By the time July 4th arrived, it was
time to take the Keck-Gonnerman in the Hartland, Wisconsin, parade.
Reiner, his cousin Ivo, and I took turns running the engine and
handing candy and sample coal out to the kids. The next parade was
the Sussex Lions Daze, and with it came the challenge of climbing
hills and going down again. I watched Reiner’s every move. He
was surprised as he hardly had to say a word when it was time for
the return demonstration. Just when I was getting the hang of those
small hills, we went to the Pewaukee Fireman’s Day Parade.
Going up was not so bad, although I had to work to keep the steam
pressure up, but when we turned around and it was time to go back
down, I was ready to abandon ship. Those hills were so steep and I
kept thinking, ‘what if something goes wrong?’ And, did you
ever notice that when they set up the line up for a parade, it
never fails that you end up with a small motor scooter or small car
in front of you that you can hardly see. Sure, I might have felt
better if there wasn’t anything out in front of us, but with
marching bands and horses and little children, I was getting more
nervous by the minute. Reiner kept a reassuring hand on my shoulder
and said, ‘you’re doing just fine. Don’t worry, the
Keck would reverse in an instant if you pull the lever back too
far.’ Before starting down I made sure we had enough water in
the boiler and that the draft door was closed. We had about 125
pounds of steam pressure on. In my mind I kept going over all the
things I had seen Reiner do and all he had taught me as we started
down. It seemed like we would never get to the bottom. I was so
deep in thought that I hardly saw all the people on the street
yelling and waving and asking us to blow the whistle. Once down,
the rest was easy, and on the way home, Reiner said, ‘I
couldn’t have done better myself.’ Boy, I was on a high all
the way home!

Then it was time for the engine shows to start. First we were
off to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin for the Dodge County Antique Power
Show. Here I operated the Keck-Gonnerman on the threshing machine
and ran it on the tractor pull. Reiner just sat back and enjoyed
the fact that he didn’t have to do any work. I was proud of all
that I learned and Reiner was proud of me. Now, at our engine show
at Sussex it was time for Wes to take the back seat and let me run
the Baker, and I did on the threshing machine, sawmill and just out
running on the little hills in the park and giving friends a ride.
I was beaming with pride and self-confidence and I owe it all to a
tall, slender, kind, gentle man who never thought women didn’t
belong on a steam engine.

I owe you a lot, Reiner, and this is my way of saying ‘Thank
you for a job well done.’