Gasoline Engines

By Staff
Published on February 1, 1989
article image
Two engines powering George Stanley's shingle mill; inset, Stanley at the mill.

75 Kendall Ave., Framingham, MA 01701

On September 24 and 25, 1988, for the ninth consecutive year,
members of the Vermont Gas & Steam Engine Association
participated in a gasoline engine show at Victory, Vermont, a small
town located in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

This annual engine show is sponsored by the St. Johns-bury Lions
Club through the cooperation of Vincent Gravanti, owner of a large
field in the Gallup Mills section of Victory.

Co-chairmen of this event are Charles Aldrich and George
Stanley, both of whom are Victory residents and the activity is run
each year as part of the Holiday In The Hills, an annual program
conducted by residents of the towns of Victory and Granby.

At least 40 operating gasoline engines were on display this
year, several being of unusual nature.

Foremost was a setup owned and operated by George Stanley. It
consisted of an operating shingle mill and edger built by the Lyons
Iron Works and powered by two engines, 8 and 10 HP Stovers,
connected in a series arrangement.

One engine is a hit and miss type, the other being a throttle
governed type.

Another unusual display was a wooden dowel cutter machine owned
and operated by Elwin ‘Sawmill’ Brown.

Brown was turning out several varieties of wooden walking canes
and whistles and of particular interest was a small working model
of his dowel machine.

Visitors who wandered throughout the large field during the
two-day affair were privileged to see a large collection of Rumsey,
Domestic, Stover (several models), Lauson, Empire, Maytag, Alamo,
International (several models), Sears Economy, Associated,
Fairbanks-Morse Z, Fuller-Johnson, Caldwell-Hallowell, Cushman Cub,
DeLaval, Witte, Briggs & Stratton, Gilson and Leader antique
gasoline engines in operation.

In addition to the large collection of engines, a corn grinder,
butter churns, two 1940 Plymouth automobiles, several water pumps
and a water ram, together with a one-half scale Olds gasoline
engine, were in operation.

Power ratings of the engines ranged between one-half and ten
horsepower.

Popularity of this event, rumored to be the final one, was
evidenced by the fact that engine owners came from Oxford and
Gorham, Maine; Concord, Brattleboro, Brook-field, Randolph,
Victory, Rutland, Ludlow, Athens and Grafton, Vermont; Stratton,
New Hampshire; Bernardston, Massachusetts; Palatine Bridge, New
York and Montreal, Quebec.

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