One of my favorite
events to attend is the Annual "Gas Up"
Antique Engine & Equipment Show in Gallupville New York. It is held
every year over Father's Day weekend and the weekend before. What I love about
it is that it's a living museum; there are all sorts of old time steam engines,
gas engines, tractors, cars, saws, pumps, rock crushers running all the time. The
sounds and smells of the old engines and equipment running and moving makes
this so much more than what you would see in a museum with just static
displays. This is nothing fancy; it is really just a bunch of antique equipment
enthusiasts who like to tinker with these old engines and mostly farm machines
who get together on an old farm. One of my favorites is an old steam shovel
(really a crane with a clamshell bucket) but since one of my favorite childhood
books was Mike
Mulligan and his Steam Shovel I think of it at that. What I find memorable
about it is how quiet it is. Unlike a diesel there is almost now noise except
for some clanging of machinery and steam being let out. There would be no
problem carrying on a normal conversation right up next to it. No wonder people
hated the noise of the diesel shovels when they first came out. Steam shovels
were in use between the 1870's and the 1930's so it is amazing to me and a
tribute to these old machine enthusiasts that they are actually running. One
old trencher actually had  a sizable tree grow through it which the owner cut
off the top and bottom and left the rest because it had grown around some of
the structural members. You can see the 10-12 inch tree trunk in the middle of
the trencher in the picture at the right. Despite the obvious long time sitting
in the field the tree attached to it implies the trencher
does run. The machines seem to be split between those that are completely
restored and absolutely beautiful, probably better than they were when they
were first sold and those that were just restored to running condition. One
example of the beautifully restored was an antique Oliver dozer. It has  a crank
start but started easily and was so easy to drive a baby could do it. That is a
barely walking toddler in the driver's seat! Yes he actually drove it although
the owner was never far off. It didn't go very fast but that baby was fearless,
he grabbed and pulled every lever he could reach. There is always something
going on that will bring a smile to your face, especially if you fascinated by
machines of all shapes and sizes like me.
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Re: Antique Engine & Equipment Gas-Up
