Engine Stuff in Lapland

By Staff
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Here are photos of Branch No. 6 June 6 and 7th Meet. Everyone had a good time swapping yarns, eating chicken, hosting National Meet and just making noise. We had over 150 pieces of equipment on display from harvester to a steamboat.
Here are photos of Branch No. 6 June 6 and 7th Meet. Everyone had a good time swapping yarns, eating chicken, hosting National Meet and just making noise. We had over 150 pieces of equipment on display from harvester to a steamboat.
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Courtesy of J. C. Salerno, 204 Ball Road, Marion, New York 14505.
Courtesy of J. C. Salerno, 204 Ball Road, Marion, New York 14505.
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Courtesy of J. C. Salerno, 204 Ball Road, Marion, New York 14505.
Courtesy of J. C. Salerno, 204 Ball Road, Marion, New York 14505.
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Courtesy of J. C. Salerno, 204 Ball Road, Marion, New York 14505.
Courtesy of J. C. Salerno, 204 Ball Road, Marion, New York 14505.

Corydon, Iowa 50060.

When you get down in Southern Iowa where the hills roll towards
Missouri and the Missouri hills roll back until you don’t know
one hill from another, you are in Lapland. In all honesty, we
Laplanders don’t know whether we are Iowaians or Missourians
and most of the time don’t care. Many years ago the two States
got into an argument over where the State line was and both sides
called out the militia, but everything was settled without any
shots fired. At Lineville, Missouri a man who had served two terms
in the State Legislature found that after the State line was
settled that he was now in Iowa, so he ran for office and served
one term in the Iowa Legislature. Well, so much for local
history!

This summer, I decided to catch up on the engine activity around
this part of the country. First off, I decided to go over to
College Springs, Iowa and see Roger Eshelman and his collection.
Roger and I became acquainted by mail and made an engine swap by
letters. Roger and his family came down one Sunday afternoon and we
made our engine swap. We just didn’t have time to play hardly
any, when Roger had to go home. Roger is a good guy to know and he
has forgotten more about engines than most of us will ever know.
One Sunday morning I put in a telephone call to College Springs
just to be sure Roger would be home. When this was settled,

I wound up the spring tight in my Chev. II and away we went.
This was a good fun trip. Roger, I think, had around 40 engines. I
saw engines I had never heard of. Roger has the knack for taking a
rusty piece of iron and making it run. I wish I lived closer to
this boy. I would slip a rusty old iron cookstove into his
collection and I’ll bet a in few weeks, he would have it
hitting on all four lids.

My son-in-law, Normon Jay Nickel and family came home from
England in July. As soon as they got settled down, Normon and I
started visiting iron collectors. Our first call was to a fellow I
had just met, Everet Anderson of Humeston, Iowa. When we arrived at
Everet’s farm, he was puttering around in his shop on an old
Caterpillar R D 6. I saw an old Gas Cat 20 sitting in a weed patch.
Everet has 9 gas engines. The largest one is an Economy, 9 Hp. He
also had a Novo and a Monitor plus several Fairbanks Morse. The one
thing I enjoyed most was a Kincaid Garden Tractor. I remember
seeing the advertisement for these in magazines when I was a young
boy. The day before we visited Everet, he had been out on a trip
and had bought 3 McCormick Deering Tractors. This was a good yarn
swapping trip. I showd Everet copies of the Iron-Men Album and Gas
Engine Magazine and I think he got the fever.

Here are photos of Branch No. 6 June 6 and 7th
Meet. Everyone had a good time swapping yarns, eating chicken,
hosting National Meet and just making noise. We had over 150 pieces
of equipment on display from harvester to a steamboat.

Top left: There’s Sparky Hamp of San Jose
directing the operation. Bottom left: We had a variety here at
Branch No. 6 as we even brought them off the water. Here’s a
steamboat with some steam accessories being operated. Center: Grand
old steamer man is F. L. Williams of Sebastapol, California. Top
right: Ole reliable Ernie Goddard of North Highlands, California —
and they ran all day! Bottom right: Cliff Hardy in background, from
Woodland, California — and his Big Smokey Joe!

Next, we went over to Garden Grove, Iowa, which is just a hop
and a skip from Humeston or just about three winds on my Chev. II.
Here we visited Jim Smith. Jim is a steam engine man plus gas
engine man and plus anything antique. We admired Jim’s 20-60
Case steam engine, Ser. N. 30301. Jim sneaked over into Missouri
and caught this one. It had set 23 years in one spot. The smoke
door was missing and the coal hunkers and water tanks were rusted
out, but you would never know that now. Jim has held several
threshing bees with it over the past several years. Said he had
sold it to one of his sons who would carry on. Jim also had a
popcorn steam engine. After we left there, we chased down a lead I
had on a gas engine, but it was a dry run. Someone had beat us to
it over a year ago.

August 1st, Roger Eshelman’s lad, Albert Eshelman had a 3
day engine show. 1 predict this show will grow fast. It was Roger
Eshelman’s Dad who retrieved the old Titan Tractor that was
buried in a ditch for around forty years. This old dandy was
thumping along beautifully at the show. My Dad, Vinis Dickey, my
son-in-law and his Dad, Jay Nickel, attended this show. We all had
a good time and will be there for next year’s show. This event
was held near Grant, Iowa. This location is ideal for future
growth.

Ken Roloff and his 6 hp. Lazier Gas & Gasoline Horizontal
Engine. 290 RPM. Displayed at the 1969 Pioneer Gas Engine Reunion,
Fairville, New York.

The rest of my son-in-law’s furlough was spent in the usual
way. Every now and then we played with our gas engines. He and
family then left for Biloxi, Mississippi. They got there on Tuesday
just in time for the Hurricane Camille on Sunday. We are surely
thankful for their safety, but sure spent two anxious days, then
got a call from the Red Cross saying they were all right.

Dad and I went out to a young man in our neck of the woods who
is an up and coming engine man. He is Wayne Holder. Some of your
men around Gasoline Alley at the Mount Pleasant Show know Wayne.
Due to the fact I bought another home and am limited to space, I
let Wayne have three old engines. I had two that were still out on
the farm and we loaded them in short time. Wayne has around 12
regular gas engines and around that many small engines such as
Maytags and etc.

I have sold a lot of my Shantytown Village, but am establishing
my old General Store in the basement of my new home. I am keeping
three gas engines, a 1911 Sjcacke Cycle Car and Indian
Motorcycle.

Dad and I went to the Mount Pleasant Steam Show again this year.
This was our eighth year to attend this. This show gets better
every year. While at the show, I hunted up the Gil Johnson’s of
Iron-Men Album tent and renewed my subscriptions. I also asked Gil
to give us some more of his Dairyland Driftings writings.

1928 Farmall owned by Bob Erdle of Canandaiguq, New York. Shown
at PGEA Reunion 1969, Fairville, New York.

While hunting in the hills, 1 did run across one interesting
steam outfit. These two guys had a copper boiler with a lot of
copper tubing on it. They were catching the steam in jugs and
carrying it over the hill to an engine, I reckon. I never did see
the engine. The boys didn’t seem to want to show me the engine
and didn’t want any help in carrying the steam to it. In fact,
they were the only unfriendly engine people I met this year.

Well people, I had better close. It’s been a good summer and
I hope it’s been good for all you folks.

D. C. Sage’s Trailer: 1 hp. New Way, 3 hp. Fairbanks and a
1? hp. Jacobson. Mr. Sage is from Bradford, Pennsylvania. Mr.
Sage’s display was shown at the 1969 Pioneer Gas Engine Reunion
in Fairville, New York.

  • Published on Sep 1, 1970
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