One does not have to be very old to remember when steamrollers
put the final touches on newly paved roads. Many highway
departments were still using them well into the 1940s.
Most steamrollers are gone now, but they are not forgotten.
Memories of many spectators at a parade commemorating Holyoke’s
100th anniversary last Sept. 30 were jogged by the sight of a
vintage 1920 Buffalo Springfield steamroller lumbering proudly
along the route.
Decked out in bright red and green, the old 10-ton steamroller
rattled and clanked past the reviewing stand at Holyoke’s Town
Hall with firemen stoking its furnace and steam billowing from its
stack.
This rare glimpse into the past was offered by a man with an
unusual hobby: Chester Petrowsky of Belchertown, who collects and
repairs old steam engines.
Petrowsky found the Buffalo Springfield model abandoned in an
area salvage yard. It is a relic of the East Longmeadow Highway
Department, last used about 30 years ago. Although it has been
retired from active service since then, it is no stranger to the
parade circuit. The Holyoke Centennial Parade was the ninth in
which it has appeared around the state since repairs were completed
by Petrowsky in 1965.
Few highway departments today would even consider taking the
time to stoke the engine with coal for four or five hours to get up
a good head of steam before taking a roller out onto the road; nor
would they be likely to employ anyone to sit up late with the
machine to see that it cooled properly and, once cooled, to clean
out the furnace after each use.
Chester Petrowsky does all of these things. But he sees his
steamroller as more than a machine made to serve a function.
He also willingly accepts the hazards of operating the vehicle.
‘There are no brakes on this roller.’ Petrowsky said,
adding that when executing a turn preparations must be made 20 or
30 yards in advance.
His collection began with the acquisition of the Buffalo
Springfield in 1961. Now his front and back yards are thickly
littered with old relics in varying states of repair.
‘Before I ran into that steamroller I had never done any
mechanical work,’ Petrowsky said. It took him almost four years
to reconstruct it. He took it apart, piece by piece, cleaning,
repairing and painting each piece before putting the whole machine
back together again.
He takes great pains to duplicate the original appearance of the
engines he repairs. He contacted the Buffalo Springfield Co. of
Springfield, Ohio, to learn more about his steamroller, but the
company had few records left to offer him.
But the steamroller will live on in the memories of those who
lived in the days when these smoking behemoths performed before
audiences of awe-struck children and passers-by.
Adam Ambrose is a free lance writer.
