The Flywheel

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December 2012

Autumn Engines: Our Fall Show

By Paul Harvey

The Autumn show for Coolspring Power Museum has been frequently known for all kinds of weather ranging from rain to snow to mud. However, this year we were smiled upon with beautiful weather and pleasant temperatures. So the show went very well with a field full of exhibitors displaying their treasures and a great flea market. Of course there was plenty of good food accompanied by a very happy atmosphere as everyone seemed to be relaxing and enjoying themselves. Museum engines ran into the evenings with people congregating in the buildings for the fun and good conversation. But now the weather has changed and the museum has been completely winterized and awaiting spring to return. Plans have been made for 2013 and some projects will continue throughout the winter; but now we will recall the events of our recent great show.

Early Thursday morning as the show begins and visitors start to come in we see the Food Court awaiting breakfast guests. This is shown in Photo 1. The serenity at this time accented by the blue sky and red leaves makes me recall Helen Hunt Jackson's poem, "October's Bright Blue Weather." She is correct in saying that even June cannot rival such beauty. This feeling continued throughout the weekend despite a brief shower on Saturday.

Photo 2 shows our "faithful" Field Coordinator Jake Faith ready to place exhibitors and flea marketers in their appropriate places. He and his cohort, Ted Straka spend countless hours with their little Cushmans guiding these people into position. Jake and Ted are two of the unsung heros of making the shows successful. For those who know Jake, we feel that his new attire is entirely appropriate! And no less important are our early morning gatekeepers, Marilyn Harvey and Clair McKinstry who are awaiting guests in Photo 3. They are the first ones to greet our guests and direct them either to parking or to Jake for display or flea market spots. Although this is a sunny morning, they endure rain, cold and snow to keep the traffic flow moving.

In Photo 4 we see a beautiful Gould, Shapley, and Muir engine displayed by one of our Canadian friends. This is a hopper cooled version which was probably intended for farm use but still displays fine design and finish of all moving parts. Built in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, the GS&M engines displayed a diversity of design and use; from agriculture to industrial. Soon, a 22 1/2 hp GS&M of opposed twin-cylinder design will be on permanent location here. Be sure to see it next year.

Our flea market has been greatly expanded due to popular request and is very successful. Photo 5 shows a small portion of it and almost anything can be found there. All the visitors seemed to love it and I saw so much being purchased and carried out with the new owners smiling. Next year, the flea market promises to be even better.

As I toured the grounds, I saw a great early Olds engine for sale with the price boldly chalked on the side. Photo 6 shows this jewel which proves that one can find almost any gas engine that fits his budget for sale here. Olds was built in Lansing, MI and was the same firm that built the cars and the Reo (Ransom E. Olds) trucks that were used many years ago. The museum's first truck was a 1946 Reo which brought many engines here. Continuing to tour the exhibits, I found a most interesting tractor as shown in Photo 7. It is a Titan 10-20 built by International Harvester, circa 1916, and was very successful at that time. Although the museum does not feature tractors, it was really great to see such a beautiful machine here and we appreciate its inclusion into our show.

Photo 8 shows the museum's 600 hp Snow gas engine awaiting visitors. This engine was built by the Snow Steam Pump Works in Buffalo, NY in 1917 and compressed natural gas in the National Fuel Gas's Roystone compressor station near Sheffield, PA. It was in service until 1994 when it came to Coolspring. It compressed natural gas from the local wells and transported it to the Buffalo, NY markets. It is a huge machine, 75 feet long and weighing 140 tons. The flywheel, seen in the photo, is 18 feet in diameter. The project is nearing completion and we hope to have it running for the June 2013 show. It will be possible with a mild winter. Watch this publication for its progress.

Mike Murphy is doing his first start with his "new" 20 hp St. Marys vaporizing cup oil engine in Photo 9. This engine now resides at Coolspring and will be displayed in 2013 with the featured oil engines. It runs so well and it is a beautiful design with the heavy frame, side shaft, and vertical governor. It operates on the Hvid patent which was discussed in last month's issue of The Flywheel. St. Marys engines were first built in St. Marys, Ohio then this engine was built in their new facility in St. Charles, MO.

A new addition to the 175 hp Otto display is shown in Photo 10. This is a display case with several historic photos of the Brookville Water Works plus documentary letters that help us understand the evolution of engines there. Bob Mohney put together this great exhibit which is displayed beside the Otto. Of special interest is the percussion lock rifle displayed. It was hand built by the late plant engineer, Kenny Croyle. When the Otto was removed by John Wilcox in 1968, Kenny took a foundation bolt and hand bored it to 52 caliber, as well as hand crafted the stock. The huge barrel makes the rifle very heavy and the evidence of the bolt can be seen by the threads at the barrel's end. Its accuracy is proven by the inclusion of a target shot at 75 feet. Kenny's son was able to see the display during the show.

A new addition to our show is the shuttle van supplied by Krise Bus Service of Punxsutawney. Photo 11 shows the driver, Bernie, helping some visitors out. We will have the shuttle van at all our coming shows and it runs from both off site parking areas to our gate. It was well received and will be a great addition to save the long distance walking. Next year it will carry a banner that states Museum Shuttle and will continue to make trips every few minutes. Hope you enjoy this addition to our shows and feel free to flag it down anywhere along the road and get a ride. Please enjoy this new service.

Sometimes traffic congestion can delay guests from a timely arrival to enjoy the show. We have one guest from Eastern Virginia who has the perfect solution as can be seen in Photo 12. He finds the Oliver Township Social Center field a great place to land and can stay as long as he wishes. Besides, he told me he never has to worry about the state police radar speed checks!

Admittedly, Coolspring is about stationary internal combustion engines but sometimes their transport is just as interesting. Photo 13 shows a Superior engine on a trailer but then, what a tractor. It is a huge Model FW chain drive Mack on 14.00 x 24 tires. What a huge rig!! These were the big prime mover tractors of the late 1940s that could haul just about any weight. It was beautifully restored and admired by all. It was displayed by Tim Hoover and since this truck has a top speed of 28 mph, he had a great B model Mack and trailer to move it here!!

Photo 14 shows a very rare engine that was displayed. It was built by Miller Machine Works of Springs, PA in 1901. This was a small machine shop in southern Pennsylvania that only built a very few engines. This one was beautifully restored and ran so very nicely. It is always great to learn about another engine that I had not been aware of.

Continuing with Photo 15, we see a Kahlenberg semi-diesel that will be on display at the Friends Exhibition Hall near the Snow building. This engine is a small two-cylinder model of 20 hp. It is magnificently restored and a great addition. Kahlenberg was built in Two Rivers, Wisconsin and made engines for the great lakes trade as well as the Mississippi River. They pioneered a two-cycle oil engine (semi-diesel) very early and was very successful. This engine is of that type. The museum also has a 150 hp five-cylinder Kahlenberg in the Power Tech. building. It is always fun to see this monster run. It had been originally used in a Great Lakes tugboat. Kahlenberg now makes marine air horns and accessories, but no engines.

The show is now finally over after a lot of work and a very rewarding time. Sunday was still busy completing all the winterization of the museum. As I walked up to my home, I paused a moment to appreciate one last beautiful view of autumn as seen in Photo 16. As the sun was setting, I caught its last rays on the golden hillside with the Methodist Church in the foreground. I just had to take a moment to reflect how great autumn is and what a wonderful weekend we had been granted. I guess that Helen Hunt Jackson is right, "Love loveth best of all the year, October's bright blue weather."

Now the 2012 season is ended. We are avidly planning next year. Our theme engines will be "Oil Engines." By this we mean any and all compression ignition engines including the Diesel, the Hvid patents, the Mietz and Weiss, the Akroyd-Stuart designs, and all engines that have compression (no spark plug) ignition. Sounds like a great event and I'm sure we will have some surprises here. Looking ahead, 2014 will be Foreign Engines and Hercules, and 2015 will be Flame Ignition and Centenial Engines again.

Please watch this publication for all future events and articles. Our volunteer webmaster has done an excellent job at revising our web site. All previous Flywheel articles have been archived and available with a click. Please also see the "Jargon" page, which includes photos and explanations of engine terminology, as well as the museum Virtual Tour. Keep watching for even further additions.

Our first open weekend in 2013 will be April 20 and 21, and the June show will be June 13, 14, and 15, 2013. There will again be a History Day and Truck Show on Saturday, July 20. This is a great time for some really detailed conversation with our volunteer engineers. For more information, please call 814-849-6883, E-mail to cpm@coolspringpowermuseum.org, or write to P.O. Box 19, Coolspring, PA 15730. See you then!