Nestled among the trees in beautiful east Tennessee, Jeff
Hutchings’ home was once again the site of the East Tennessee
Antique Engine Association’s Annual Crank Up engine show last
June 6-8, 2002. This was the club’s 31st annual show, and the
weather was absolutely beautiful. Attendees came from as far away
as Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin, and many of our regular friends
from Tennessee, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia made
the trek for the show.
We had 109 registered exhibits, with a total of 187 engines, 19
tractors and 87 pieces of miscellaneous equipment to go with the
displays. We also had 26 pieces of vintage equipment, including a
shingle mill, pumps, a wood shop and several grist mills.
Fairbanks-Morse was the feature engine tor the 2002 show, and
many examples representing this well-known manufacturer of engines
and equipment, including a Jack of all Trades and an Eclipse, were
on display. There were many other rare and exotic engines on hand,
including a Springfield, an 1882 Crossley-Otto slide valve and a
Gade. We had approximately 40 oil field engines, with examples from
Acme, Bessemer, Otto, Superior and Ajax represented. A cross-mount
Case and a Titan were big hits in the tractor area.
After several years of promising we’d get around to it, we
finally got Jeff Hutchings’ big Bessemer running. This one is a
whopping 70 HP, and it’s plumbed in to stay for a while.
Several club members got busy and put in a lot of effort to get
‘Big Bessie’ up and running, proving that when a group of
people get their heads together – along with some brute muscle
power – things get done.
Our next show will be June 5-7, 2003, and we invite everyone to
head on over to beautiful east Tennessee for a wonderful weekend of
fun. We will have a 60 HP four-cycle St. Mary’s oil engine up
and running, along with an Acme sucker rod engine set up in a
building and pumping two wells, just like in the old days.
Contact engine enthusiast Mike Tittle at: 108 Laurel Lane,
Unicoi, TN 37692, or e-mail: drmike@preferred.com
