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We were steam before steam was "punk"
It all started a few years ago with rumors of an abandoned steam engine in the woods.
Yeah, I know, that was my reaction also. Been there, done that, heard a hundred stories or more. If you're a steam nut, you know that for every hundred stories you hear, 90 are dead ends, 9 of the remaining 9 are scrapyard candidates, and the last remaining one is usually unobtainable due to either an unknown owner - or worse, an owner who hopes that someone from "American Pickers" or some other TV show will show up and offer them fame, fortune, and bucketsfull of cash for the steam engine.
So you understand my initial lack of enthusiasm when Andy R. told me about an old engine in the woods. (Understand, Andy knows his stuff. Had it not been for plain laziness I would have checked it out when he first told me about the engine. But I was lazy. And I digress....)
Be that as it may, I was at Andy's veterinary clinic one miserable February Friday and somehow the engine came up in the discussion. As I was near the location and had nothing else to do (well, I'm sure I did, but I didn't feel like doing it), I decided to follow up on the lead and check it out. Following his instructions I found the location after about 15 minutes of trekking in the woods.
Words cannot express my feelings when I came around a tree and saw this.
Yeah, I know, that was my reaction also. Been there, done that, heard a hundred stories or more. If you're a steam nut, you know that for every hundred stories you hear, 90 are dead ends, 9 of the remaining 9 are scrapyard candidates, and the last remaining one is usually unobtainable due to either an unknown owner - or worse, an owner who hopes that someone from "American Pickers" or some other TV show will show up and offer them fame, fortune, and bucketsfull of cash for the steam engine.
So you understand my initial lack of enthusiasm when Andy R. told me about an old engine in the woods. (Understand, Andy knows his stuff. Had it not been for plain laziness I would have checked it out when he first told me about the engine. But I was lazy. And I digress....)
Be that as it may, I was at Andy's veterinary clinic one miserable February Friday and somehow the engine came up in the discussion. As I was near the location and had nothing else to do (well, I'm sure I did, but I didn't feel like doing it), I decided to follow up on the lead and check it out. Following his instructions I found the location after about 15 minutes of trekking in the woods.
Words cannot express my feelings when I came around a tree and saw this.
Pristine, caressed by time and nature. Anything but what I expected. A 19th century steam engine, complete except for its brass eye candy. The remains of a tree whose life has shared space with one of the engine's wheels, its brick base tinted green by the ever-encroaching lichen.
As Indy Jones said, this is history!
Of course, finding is one thing, acquiring is another. Fortunately, Andy had some leads.
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