59/1: What is it worth?
I have a hit-and-miss engine I would like to sell. I was wondering if you may know of anyone who could tell me the year and how much it is worth. It’s an Economy engine number 62246 5E (with number 1425).
Thank you. I appreciate any suggestions.
Pamela McCoy,
Port St. John, Florida
pamjmccoy@icloud.com
Thanks for sharing, Pamela! Readers, please contact Pamela at the email above with any helpful information regarding this engine and its value.
— Editor
59/1: Parts request response
Someone was wanting electrical parts for a WI engine. This engine is a Briggs & Stratton WI. I have one that is lever-start but has no gas tank. I also have a B&S WHI that I would sell.
Joe Strube, Concord, North Carolina
jbs19311@att.net
Joe is referring to the parts request in the March/April 2023 issue of GEM, Flywheel Forum letter 58/3/2: Bolens plow engine parts needed. Thanks for writing! — Editor
59/1: Buried treasure
I wanted to pass this knowledge to fellow gas engine enthusiasts so the history is not lost. Hopefully, someone can research this and save this engine. There is a gentlemen here in my town of Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, who is in his 90s, who was an upper level superintendent in the St. Louis Bell Telephone in the 1960s at the 1010 North Pine office in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. He told me this building was a large original switching office for Bell Telephone.
In the basement was a huge gas engine, with an attached generator, that was the backup power plant to supply electricity to the phone system of St. Louis if the power went out. It was put in the building when it was built. They de-commissioned the engine in 1965/66. The engine was actually in a separate room, under the street adjacent to the basement of the 1010 North Pine building and there was a large opening in the basement wall to access and maintain it.
When they de-commissioned the engine, they filled in the access wall, then cut a hole in the street and filled the room completely full of sand, encasing the engine. So this engine is still located there, entombed in sand under the street.
If someone is interested, I can put you in contact with this gentleman.
Kive Kerr, Oklahoma
kefam2005@gmail.com
Wow, that’s incredible! If anyone does decide to take on an engine resurrection of this scale, contact Kive via the email listed above. I would be highly interested in that story so document your adventure and take plenty of photos. However, depending on the current property owners, this may just be one of those relics that remains lost forever. Perhaps the engine has been discovered and removed already, in which case, please send an update with those details. Best of luck to all involved!
— Editor
Please send your questions and comments for Flywheel Forum or your contact information for GEM Experts to Gas Engine Magazine, 1503 SW 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609-1265 or email editor@gasenginemagazine.com.