732 Pennsylvania Ave., Williamsport, PA 17701
My wife and I have been retired for twelve years and we enjoy
attending engine shows. Every summer we attend shows. We’ve
been to shows in almost every state and Canada. One year we
attended one in Australia.
I was originally from North Dakota. As a boy growing up there I
remember all the farms had a windmill and when there was no wind,
my father used an old Economy with a Jaeger label to pump water for
the stock. My interest in gas engines started there and it went
from this experience to my present day collection of 40 small 1 HP
gas engines. My first gas engine was a John Deere 1 HP purchased
from a farm near New Rockford, North Dakota. It is getting hard to
find these small HP engines as the engine collectors know. I have
several hard-to-find types.
One source that pays off for me is attending small county fairs.
Where I live there is a small fair at Forks Ville, Sullivan County.
I usually have the only engines there, running a meat grinder, corn
grinder, etc. This display is very interesting to the local people.
The talk goes something like this: ‘I remember these. We had
one years ago. Don’t know what became of it. Wish I had it
now.’ Then again the conversation will be: ‘I have an
engine like this. It was my father’s. I don’t use it, might
as well sell it.’ So far, I’ve purchased five engines in
situations like this.
