Jr. 3430 Lower Glades Road York, Pennsylvania 17402
I have been around gas engines all of my life. My grandfather
had two Flinchbaugh engines on the farm.
Before I was born, my parents bought the farm across the road
from my grandparent’s farm. I still live on that farm
today.
When I was a boy, I helped start the small Flinchbaugh to pump
water up to the house. I was amazed at how they ran and the noise
they made.
There was a 1? HP United left in the tobacco shed by the
previous owners. This engine was not in running condition. Sometime
during the 1950s, Dad said he needed some room, so he took all of
the brass off of the engine and junked what was remaining. I think
he got $3.00 for the cast iron. I still have one of the oilers and
the carburetor.
Domestic Stovepipe engines fascinate me because of the tin water
hopper and the design of all of the moving parts. I bought my first
stovepipe engine, the sideshaft, at an engine sale in upper New
Jersey. I remember there were at least fifty engines sold that
day.
This sale was in the late nineteen-eighties. The engine was
complete, but the Lunkenheimer carburetor was broken, so I replaced
it with another one.
I was aware that Domestic made a few push-rod stovepipes. Three
years ago, at the Portland, Indiana, summer show, I found one for
sale. When I bought the engine, it was already restored and
running.
Since I now had the two stovepipes, I figured I might as well
finish out the set with a stovepipe model. So, a model builder made
me one over the winter. I keep two out of the three engines in the
house.
My model is in the living room and the sideshaft is in the
family room. The pushrod is close by, in the garage.
