Fairbanks-Morse: Engine? Stove? Both!
It’s a beautiful summer morning at the Winamac, Ind., Power from
the Past Show. Engines are running, the weather is perfect and life
is good.
Time to think about some breakfast. Should we shut down
everything and join the crowd going to the food court? I am here
with my dad, sister Lois and brother-in-law Karl. We decide to cook
on-site.
Dad fires up his grill and cooks up some farm fresh bacon and
sausage patties, Karl puts some coffee on his Coleman stove, and I
turn to my 1920 Fairbanks-Morse ZA 1-1/2 HP throttler. It has been
running a while and the water (water only, no anti-freeze) in the
hopper is boiling merrily. I get out four Ziploc 1-quart freezer
bags. Into each I break two eggs, add some chopped red, green and
yellow bell peppers. Then I add some chopped ham, onion, mushrooms
and grated cheese (hold the cheese for Dad). I squish each bag
thoroughly to mix the contents, bleed all the air from the bags and
seal them.
As people walk by, they stare in amazement as I drop the bags
into the hopper of the Fairbanks-Morse. I relax with that morning
cup of coffee for 15 minutes, then pull the bags from the engine,
open them and four perfect omelets slip onto our plates. A little
salt, pepper and ketchup to taste, and life just got better!
Don’t look for this application in the Fairbanks-Morse
manuals.
Dennis K. Nash
105 Sashabaw Road
Ortonville, MI 48462
nashdk45@netzero.com
