Publicist P. O. Box 26 Plymouth, CA 95669
R. L. Bottimore tinkering with one of his engines, one of the
larger models exhibited at the fair
Someone forgot to tell the bright little mechanical men that
they were supposed to be put out to pasture, abandoned to the
California sun, black widow nests and the corrosive rust of winter
rains.
But there they were, some 200 ancient gasoline engines,
whirling, popping and trembling in excited, if seemingly pointless,
agitation. They spun and coughed aimlessly, no longer pumping water
from Mother Lode gold mines or into San Joaquin Valley irrigation
ditches.
The pumping and grinding and baling and sawing that they once
did is now being done by more economical and efficient electric
motors and modernized engines.
But they continue to spin and sputter and backfire, reeking of
gasoline and oil, spitting gray mists of exhaust which nonetheless
cannot hide their shiny new coats of orange and blue and green and
yellow paint.
They may no longer be needed in the fields and mines, but there
is no reason why they cannot be aesthetic anachronisms from an
earlier age, bringing pride to the men and women who patiently
restored them and a touch of the past to Northern California
residents who wandered appreciatively among them at the Amador
County Fair in the historic Mother Lode community of Plymouth in
August.
The engines were uncovered, rebuilt and polished to renewed
grandeur by members of Branch 13 of the Early Day Gas Engine and
Tractor Association, which after the fair was presented the
fair’s Blue Ribbon Award, given annually to a person or
organization which performs ‘a most outstanding public
service’ for the fair.
Branch 13, founded four years ago with 40 members, has grown to
more than 200 members who own hundreds of the ancient gas engines.
One member alone has more than 100 of the engines.
Most of the organization’s members are Central California
farmers, mechanics and equipment salesmen and repairmen. The branch
also boasts, however, insurance agents, engineers, government
officials and one Stanford University psychologist.
No one has been able to total up just how many gas engines the
branch members own because they delight in surprising each other
with newly restored equipment whenever they get together at a fair
or meet.
Aim of the organization, said one member, is to educate the
public about the engines, preserve them for historical posterity
and simply enjoy them as a recreational pasttime. ‘We want to
foster kids getting involved in this,’ said branch president
Louis Chapo of Sacramento, echoing a sentiment shared by several
others.
The engines, which formerly performed such chores as pumping
water, running rock crushers and fans in mines, operating milking
machines and washing machines and grinding and mulching farm
products, have been found abandoned in barns, closed miners, fields
and ‘the middle of the Sacramento River.’
Often, replacement parts to get the engines running again cannot
be found and have to be Specially cast and hand filed.
‘To start, some of the engines are just a mass of junk,’
said one member. ‘First you get a putty knife and start
scraping, but anybody can sit there and polish one of them. The
real idea is to get them running again.’
Harvey Brown of Knight’s Landing, known in the group as
‘The Pumpkin Boy’ because he paints each of his restored
engines a bright orange, said it sometimes takes him four to five
months of steady spare-time work to get an engine fired up
again.
A few of the engines are used for more than exhibition. A Rio
Linda truck driver has hooked up one of his to a buzz saw to ease
the task of cutting firewood. Another man uses one of his restored
engines to grind chicken feed.
One club member suspects that the horsepower rating used for the
ancient gas engines, most of which date from the early 1900’s,
was a higher caliber than the rating used for contemporary
engines.
‘In those days their horsepower rating was stallions and
today it’s ponies,’ he remarked.
Many of the operating parts of the older engines are exposed.
‘I get a kick out of seeing them run and seeing the infinite
variety of solutions these oldtimers came up with for the problems
they faced,’ said one member.
R.L. Bottimore and his son Tib, both of Gait, own around 100 of
the ancient gas engines, including a rare side-shaft Christensen
engine formerly used at the Eastern Star Mine in northern Trinity
County, California. Until they rebuilt the engine after dismantling
much of it and hauling it some five miles out of the Trinity wilds,
it had not been run for about 40 years and had been covered by some
30 feet of snow each winter.
An overview of a few of the vintage gasoline engines at the
Amador County Fair.
Pictured is an IHC wire-tie baler that we hope to have ready for
the show next year. Shown beside the baler is Harold Doebler of
Clarkston, who is helping to get the machine back in shape. We have
not been able to locate a 6 HP IHC engine for the baler yet. G.E.M.
is great, we really enjoy every page.
Central Michigan Antique Tractor & Engine Club had a fine
three day show on the Labor Day weekend. I was so impressed that I
joined the club.
Cliff Hardy, a heavy equipment merchant in Woodland, has
restored 65 of the engines over the past 15 years. His engines
range from a one-sixth-horsepower model to a 40-horse power
giant.
‘I like to see the enjoyment on peoples’ faces,’ he
remarked. Some male fairgoers, he wryly added, ‘point to this
and that and actually convince their wives that they know what
they’re talking about.’
Concerning restoration of the engines, he remarked,
‘It’s a pure challenge, the worse they are, the older they
are. Once you get them going again it sure gives you a good
feeling.’
This was the fourth year that the engines were exhibited at the
Amador County Fair, where they have firmly established themselves
as exceptionally popular crowd pleasers.
This year, the wives of branch members got into the act by
setting up an old-time country kitchen next to the engines where
they used vintage utensils to bake biscuits and cook up batches of
beans.
Although branch members have more requests to display the
engines than they are able to fulfill, they make a point of
including the Amador County Fair on their yearly itinerary.
‘It’s one event we all try to attend,’ said Chapo.
‘The accommodations are good; there’s a nice grassy area to
display the engines-it’s a good place for a family gathering
and to relax and really enjoy the hobby.
Naturally, the group will be returning to next year’s fair,
to be held Aug. 12 through 15.
