8315 Amber Lane Newcastle, California 95658
On a Gas Engine Magazine/Wade Tour trip to Europe in
September of 1995 with C. H. Wendel, we visited the W. van Schayik
collection in Holland.
In a conversation with Mr. Van Schayik, he mentioned that he was
planning a trip to the U.S. and would be in California the next
month, so I invited him to come see me and my collection if he was
in northern California.
Much to our surprise, as I had forgotten all about that, about
two weeks after we came home, he, his wife, and a friend came
driving up our driveway. We looked my collection over and gave them
a mini-tour of Auburn, then went on up Highway 80 to Colfax to see
Don Dougherty’s collection of trucks and tractors.
One year later, while I was working in my shop, three men and a
lady drove up and introduced themselves; at first the only word
that I understood was Van Schayik, so I knew they were from
Holland.
Like all collectors I dropped what I was doing and gave them a
mini-tour of my collection and then up to Don Dougherty’s
again.
One of the men was Pieter Rooyackers. He asked me if he could
bring some members of ‘The Historische Motoren en Tractoren
vereniging’ on a tour that he was planning. I said it would be
all right if he let me know ahead of time. In February this year he
wrote to tell us that he was planning to bring 49 people! They
would stop at the Heidrich Tractor Museum in Woodland, stop for
lunch along the way, and come to my place and then go to Don
Dougherty’s.
Boy, did I have a lot of sprucing up to do to get the engines
and tractors ready for their viewing on May 16!
I asked some of the Branch 13 members if they would like to
bring some engines over and put on a mini-show for them.
Glenn Crockett from Rocklin was a big help running some of my
engines. From Auburn, Craig Barton brought his 8 cycle Aermotor,
Ron Ludford his 2 HP Fairbanks H belted up to an air blower, and
Gary and Gale Nored brought their 4 HP Fairbanks T. Buck Hay from
Newcastle brought a model Quincy engine, and Bob Rasmusson from
Sacramento brought his collection of hot air engines that he had
made. Our son Bill Jr. from Applegate, brought his nice collection
of hog oilers and helped start some of the tractors. Our son Jim
helped with the preparation and moving of equipment. My wife, Rita,
had some refreshments for them.
Glenn met the bus in town and guided them out. When the bus
stopped at the end of the driveway they hit the ground with their
cameras clicking all the way up the driveway to the shop where we
had engines running. Glenn had my I.H.C. 10 HP Famous, a cam
stopper One Minute, and a 2? HP Galloway running. I started my
cogwheel, some small steam engines, and six-inch Rider Ericsson.
Bill Jr. bar started the Best 25, and started the Moline Universal
with the help of one of our guests. I gave them a demo on sand
casting and pattern making pointers on the Biss-chop engine. Even
though there was a language barrier, as engine and tractor
enthusiasts we understood each other. After about two and a half
hours of visiting, Bill Jr. acted as a guide as the tour bus made
its way up through Auburn (which is part of the Gold country) to
Colfax and Don Dougherty’s collection. Don ran his newly
restored Yuba tractor, which was made in Marysville, California.
After they left I realized that I hadn’t had time to start some
of the tractors and engines that I wanted to show them. It had all
happened too fast!
My wife had a conversation with the coach driver about their
trip up from Los Angeles to San Francisco. He said that as he and
the tour director pointed out places of interest, they didn’t
act too impressed, but when they saw old tractors and farm
equipment, etc., along the way he could feel their enthusiasm. (She
said that’s just like Bill!) It was a fun time and a nice
reminder of the welcome and kindness we were shown when we were
over there. A special thanks to our friends for their help.
