Scout Troop Visit on April 27, 1974 – the scouts are posed
around the 1926 Fairbanks-Morse 80 HP, 300 rpm.
Courtesy of A. L. McGowen, Route 4, Box 379, Easley, South
Carolina 29640
Down here in South Carolina around the last of March and the
first of April, spring really begins to blossom. This is also the
time an old engine enthusiast begins to start getting the fever to
attend an engine show and display the engines he has restored
during the winter and also renew acquaintance with old friends.
My summer of engine activity usually starts with dewinterization
of the large Fairbanks-Morse diesels, by draining all the sumps
where water has collected due to condensation, and refilling the
cooling systems. Almost any day after the weather turns warm I can
expect someone to stop by for a visit, and his first interest is to
see the large F. M. diesel fired up. On April 13, Mr. Lloyd G.
Hallead and wife from Michigan stopped by for a visit and
demonstration on their way to Florida.
The first engine show in our area is held in Dillon, South
Carolina which is a good four (4) hours drive for me. It was
beginning to look as if the traveling for pleasure would be very
restricted due to the gas shortage, but at about this time of the
year things begin to get better. I knew with a light load I could
make the distance one way on a tank of gas and had been assured of
an equal amount for the return trip home.
I had been working all winter on a 1924, 5 H.P. throttle
governor Hercules on a 1914, 6 H.P. Fair banks-Morse. These engines
had really been a challenge to restore because of their rusty
condition, but after many hours of work and worry I was proud and
anxious to show them off. So on April 20 my local engine friends
and I started to go to our first 1974 engine show with three (3)
truck loads of engines. The weather was perfect and as for any
engine show the renewal of old friendship and engine discussion was
great. My Dad and brother, whom I hadn’t seen since New
Year’s, met me there and that is always enjoyable. They
don’t have any engines, but as both have been mechanics most of
their lives, really know how to appreciate a good running and well
restored engine.
Well, with the first engine show of 1974 over, the next few
weeks of work would have to be concentrated on the planting and
working of a garden, cutting grass and doing general yard work. I
was also hoping to finish a storage garage 20′ x 30′ that I
had started in the fall of 1973, but due to the economy situation
after the top was covered, I decided to stop the completion until
the spring of 1975.
On April 24 an engine enthusiast, Charles Calvert, whom I had
not met, called to see if I would help him with a 5 H.P. Stover he
was trying to get started. Mr. Calvert and I have had a very good
engine working relationship this summer and as beginner’s luck
would have it, he called me last night to say he had found a 1 H.P.
Mogul Jr.
Another first in my engine adventure came on April 27 when a
co-worker brought his scout troop and adult leaders for a visit.
One would be surprised at the questions a 12-14 year old boy can
ask about internal combustion engines.
With the garden and yard work under control on May 2, I started
to restore my first IHC, Type M engine. I have a complete set,
1-1/2 HP to 10 HP, of these engines and have been anxious to get
started on their restoration. After three month’s work the
little 1-1/2 H.P. IHC ran as well as any engine I have ever
restored. I planned to take it to the engine show in July at
Denton, North Carolina.
Restored 1923 IHC 3 HP, a product of this summer’s engine
activity.
Courtesy of A. L. McGowen, Route 4, Box 379, Easley, South
Carolina 29640.
On May 9, Mr. Eugene Brown from Butler, Pa. came for a visit.
Mr. Brown so happens to have a 1-1/2 HP Economy (Hercules). To see
the large 80 HP F.M. run, really was a treat for him.
Those of you who understand the language of engines know what I
mean when I say an engine will actually talk to you. One such
fellow, Don Brandt from Schenectady, New York, broke this language
barrier on May 21 during a visit with another co-worker, Andy
Johnson. Don’s itchy throttle fingers could hardly wait for me
to take him through the starting procedures on the big 80 H.P.F.M.
Don is one of a few who has a special feeling and appreciation for
machinery of years gone by.
Usually, during a visit from some one, you do all the showing,
but this condition was reversed on June 2 when a neighbor, Lance
Dunn, and a guest from Colorado arrived in a Model ‘A’. I
don’t believe a new one on the show room floor ever looked
better.
With school out and vacation near, plus the garden produce to
freeze and can, the engine restoration had to be set aside for a
few weeks.
The month of July would mean the start up of the 1-1/2 HP. IHC
as I had mentioned before and my first visit to the engine show at
Denton, North Carolina. On this trip I carried a 3 HP and 6 HP FM
and the just-completed 1-1/2 HP IHC. This show was small but I feel
it has great potential.
August was a month of planning for the Old Farm Day Show in
Pendleton, South Carolina to be held in Sept. Another day in this
month meant the discovery of a 1-1/2 HP Hercules in a junk yard.
The base of the engine had been broken up pretty badly, but there
were some good parts on it. I also started the restoration of a 3
HP IHC type M, the next in line of this set. The hardest thing on
these IHC engines I find to do is to remove the flywheel keys.
Sept. will have to go down as the most action filled month of
the summer. The Pendleton show was only a few weeks off, plus the
two courses I had started pertaining to my job had really left no
spare time. Then to make the time even more crowded Mr. Charles
Calvert, whom I mentioned earlier, invited me and my local engine
friends to set up an old engine display at a large shopping mall
complex on Sept. 13 and 14. This was a very successful weekend
because an old gentlemen came by and said he had an engine he would
be willing to sell. I now have a 3 HP Hercules throttle governor,
which is one type I did not have in my collection. The following
weekend of Sept. 21, the General Electric Company, my employer,
scheduled a family picnic and encouraged their employees to bring
their hobbies for display. I just couldn’t resist this
opportunity to show my engines where I knew many interested people
would be.
The final act for Sept. was the Old Farm Day Show. The show
events consist of three large steam engines, corn shelling and
grinding with an 8 HP Hercules by Ernest and Norman Durham, wood
sawing with 6 HPFM and 5 HP Hercules saw rig by Wallace Tinesly and
son, Jimmy. The remainder of displays consisted of 25 other gas
engines, feed grinder and a complete gas operated Maytag washing
doing the laundry.
I don’t know any better way to close out the summer of
engine activity than to be honored by a visit from the Greenville,
South Carolina chapter of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers and their families. I asked my friends Norman and Ernest
to bring their 8 HP Hercules arid corn mill for an added
attraction. My neighbor, San Waters, a great engine
conversationalist helped explain engine operations and
mechanics.
Well, here I sit writing on October 7 with four (4) engine
events behind me in one month and I will have to admit it becomes
more like work when you load and unload 3000 pounds of engines for
three weekends straight. We had one of the earliest freezes on
record this year so I guess the summer is over and it is once again
time to drain water systems and winterize engines.
