This c. 1900 model T 2 HP Fairbanks Morse vertical engine and
Demings pump is owned fry Al Verrill, 26 Crestview Drive,
Colchester, Connecticut 06415.
Al Verrill of 26 Crestview Drive, Colchester, CT 06415 is the
restorer of this month’s cover engine.
Restoration on the c. 1900 model T, 2 HP Fairbanks Morse
vertical engine with Demings deep well pump was completed in time
for the 11th annual Belltown Antique Gas and Steam Engine Show in
East Hampton, Connecticut in April 1985.
Originally, the engine pumped water from a 300 foot deep well on
an island off the rocky coast of Maine until the arrival of
electricity. Then it was dismantled for easy loading on a small
barge for its trip to the mainland.
Considerable restoration was needed plus the carburetor was
missing and none were to be found, so Verrill borrowed one from his
good friend Phil St. Jean in Rhode Island. Wood patterns were made
in order to have a new carburetor cast at a foundry.
‘With no experience in pattern making, it was an interesting
challenge,’ writes Verrill. ‘But, with the able advice and
assistance of my good friend Norm Daggett, owner of Colchester Tool
and Die Machine Shop, the patterns delivered to the foundry were
excellent and after the necessary machining the carburetor
performed beautifully the fruits of two months’ work.’
