With a little help from the Lorain crane, the base of the water tower is now assembled and standing on the foundation piers.

After many years of hard work by the volunteers, the Snow made its first run at about 10 p.m. on the evening of June 11, 2013. The engine rolled over two or three times on compressed air and then started to hit. It came up to speed and ran on the governor. It's a tribute to the efforts, skill, and knowledge of the volunteers who disassembled, moved, and reconstructed a large and complex engine and obtained such a successful first run!

Note the "now running" status in the request for donations.

Here is the ignition coil box from the Snow. Each coil in the panel is connected to one of the make and break igniters, with four for each of the two double-acting cylinders (two igniters at each end of a cylinder). The igniters operate in pairs so that if one fails its partner allows continued operation.  An experienced engineer could typically shut down the engine, change out a failed igniter, and restart the engine in about five minutes.

When the engine is running, the telltale in the middle of each coil swings as current flows giving the engineer a visual indication that the corresponding igniter is operating.  Firing order at this box is in sequence from the top row pair to the bottom row pair.

The operating mechanism for an igniter produces an audible "click" when the igniter breaks contact to fire.  While standing on the near side of the engine close to a pair of igniters you can watch the box and observe the telltales swinging in time with the clicking of their corresponding igniters.

When the audience gathers you know the performance is about to begin. Runs of the Snow were popular events during the 2013 Summer Expo.

Snow engine runs left few vantage points available.