The FlywheelAugust 2016June Show ReportBy Paul HarveyThe June 2016 Engine Show was perfect! The weather was great and,despite a shower after dark, we did not have the usual mud and dismalskies. Everyone seemed relaxed and happy to enjoy the engines theyexhibited in the show areas and also happy to enjoy all the museum'sengines. There was plenty of good food and a great flea market. I hopesuch a great experience can happen again.Our theme this year was 'One-of-a-Kind Engines,' and so many wereexhibited here. I certainly learned a lot by seeing machines that I hadnever been aware of before. The engines exhibited in the show fieldrepresented many unusual and unique designs.
It was a joy to tour.Proceeding with the photo tour of the show, Photo 1 showsSteve Tachoir's 30 hp Olin placed in the new engine pavilion. This wasthe first engine installed there. It is a beautiful, old style Olin andnow runs. It had been a static display on the front side of the John P.Wilcox Power House for about 40 years. The original location was aSouth Penn oil lease near Warren,Pennsylvania. Reportedly, it last ran in 1967.Photo 2 shows Chris Austin's 20 hp Bradford Improvedengine still waiting to be unloaded and operated.
Built by theCombination Engine and Compressor company ofBradford, Pennsylvania, itis the only one existing. It is a four-cycle engine with an enclosedcrankcase and pendulum governor. Most unique, it is a straight engine,without the compressor cylinder, and operated a rod line pumping powerjust north of Bradford, PA.A little vertical engine, built by the American Motor Companyof New York City, is seen inPhoto 3. Manufactured in the 1890s, it features a unique'V' arrangement of the valves. Rated at one horsepower, it weighs amere 50 pounds. Air cooling was accomplished with wire wrapped aroundthe pegs on the cylinder.
It is based on the 1889 patent of LymanMcNeth, number.Don Worley always brings a pleasant surprise and this aircooled, old style Jacobson was no exception. Note Photo 4. Its precision cylinder fins for air cooling are actually cast andnot machined.
It has the side shaft governor and electric igniter.Homemade 'one-of-a-kinds' are always interesting, as VinceBarber proves with his engine. Shown in Photo 5, itfeatures a very long and graceful connecting rod, and is a joy to watchrun. Looking closely, I can see pipe fittings and other items foundaround his shop. Creativity was certainly the beginning of the gasengine.Photo 6 is a massively built engine identifiedas The Michigan. Displayed by Bob and Steve Upham, it has gracefulcurved lines on the head and valve chest.
It runs, nicely of course,hit and miss with an electric igniter. A placard denotes that it isshown in memory of Richard Doty.Most of us are familiar with the Bates andEdmonds line of engines, made inLansing, Michigan.
Butthis one, Photo 7, owned by Woody Sins, is mostunusual. It has an overhung power cylinder and flywheel crank shaft.Many familiar features are seen on close inspection. It actually makessense, being a compact design for small power applications. Most allparts are easily accessed for repair and adjustment.Stiles Bradley brought his diminutive 1½ horsepower,inverted Webster, as seen in Photo 8. It features twosets of timing gears, one to operate the exhaust valve, and the other topower the igniter. It ran great and attracted a lot of attention.Photo 9 is a squat little engine that has to bedescribed as 'cute.' It is four-cycle and made as a stationary engine,but has the appearance suggesting marine usage.
It was built by Gleason& Bailey & Sciple of Seneca Falls,New York. Yes, the name plate has an '&'between each name! Note that the head, cylinder, and base are all onecasting. A machinist's nightmare!Charles Stickney built many unusual engines and Photo10 is no exception. This little engine was built to power awater pump; notice the forked rod that lifted the well plunger up anddown.
It features an overhung cylinder and all the complicated valvemotion that was typical of Stickney. Note the gasoline tank is mountedon the very top of the engine.This amazing tractor, Photo 11,was displayed by Nick Rowland and his dad, Ed. Built by theSexauer Brothers of Sulfur Springs, Ohio, it shows both extremely crude,as well as very sophisticated, design. Circa 1904, its main use was tobuzz saw wood.
It could easily drive to the location of the saw, do itswork, and then drive back home again. Fortunately, they found itpreserved in a corn crib where it had rested for many years. The engineis Sexauer's own design and features desmodromic valve motion; meaningthat the valves are both opened and closed under power. Ignition is bya Goodson magneto and plug, and it operates beautifully.Photo 12 is an engine with an oscillatingcylinder to permit the intake and exhaust functions. Displayed by DaveDeardorff, it is absolutely fascinating to watch run, with the cylinderoscillating back and forth in its mountings. This design was used insteam engines, but never before have I seen it in gas engines. It wasmade by Henry Philomen LaTour of Copper Cliff,Ontario, Canada,for marine use.The Lutz opposed piston engine is shown in Photo 13.It was built by Thomas J.
Lutz of Mansfield,Ohio, as a model to obtain his 1906 patent. Itappears crude at first glance, but it is very intricate and operatesbeautifully. He did obtain the patent but never produced any of theengines for sale. This one powered his small machine shop faithfullyfor many years.Photo 14 depicts a single-cylinder Caterpillartest engine built in 1938.
It is displayed by Gene Shepherd ofShelter Island, New York.The engine is single-cylinder with a 5¾ inch bore and 8 inchstroke producing 25 hp at 900 RPM. Major companies commonly built testengines to try their new designs, but they were usually scrapped afterthe testing to prevent the competition from using them. It is greatthat one has survived and lives again.Although not a 'one-of-a-kind,' a shingle mill always ispopular with our guests. Photo 15 shows Phil St.
Jeanchatting with a couple of visitors while standing behind his 1912 ChaseShingle Mill. Built in Orange,Massachusetts, these amazing machines cuttapered wooden shingles from pieces of logs.
Phil made several hundredshingles during the show. To the right is 15-year-old Denali John whois branding each shingle with the Coolspring Power Museum logo. Thebranding iron must be reheated in the propane furnace for each shingle!The mill is powered by my 1952 John Deere 'R' diesel tractor. Brandedand milled shingles were available to the visitors for a $1.00 donation.Photo 16 shows a nice little 4 hp engine thatwas labeled as 'unknown.' I had no idea of its identity, either.
It isa vertical with a rounded but open crankcase and hit and miss governor.Since then, it has been identified as a Witte vertical made for them bythe Star Mfg. I am still looking for more information.'
Witte Engine Serial Number List
The Earl' is a very pleasantly proportioned side shaftengine with a vertical governor. It is shown in Photo 17. It was built by the Earl Machine Works ofBurlington, New Jersey.Noted as 6 hp, it is serial number 37. I wonder how many were built?An unusual four-cylinder marine engine is seen in Photo18. Displayed by Dieter Lund, it was built by the StandardMotor Construction Company of Jersey City,New Jersey. It has a unique valve motion, aswell as electric igniters. Note the reversing clutch on the left side.Standards are very rare, and this is the first large one that I haveseen.This beautifully restored Dodge Power Wagon brings backmemories of the trucks used in the former days of the oil field.
See Photo 19. Indeed, this one is owned by Ray and LindaStiglitz of the Pembrooke Oil and Gas company. It look like it is readyto work in all the mud and grease!Finally, Photo 20 shows a little enginedisplayed by Ron McClellan. It is designed to operate as a steam engineor a gas engine. Initially thinking that it was built by Riddle Machineof Claintonville, Pennsylvania, I have since found a patent that it is aVictor Palm from Butler,Pennsylvania. It now resides in Coolspring andit will be interesting to further investigate its history and operation.I hope the reader will enjoy this tour of Coolspring's 2016June Show and a few of the great engines displayed. There were somany more.Next month, we will tour back memory lane to view someof the late Dr.
John Wilcox's early photos.