1875 150 HP C.H. Brown stationary steam engine

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Ed went to the Libby's Mills in Gorham and bought the C.H. Brown engine from Doug Filbrook for $135. Along with the engine came a load of wood-burning grates, 160 feet of 2-inch x 6-inch steel channel from the rafters for the tin roof of the fire room, the old cast iron boiler fronts, two boilers, piping, and the complete saw filing shop - including the swaging machine and gumming machine to hog out the band saws. Much of this Ed had to leave behind, lacking enough equipment or help to haul everything back to Lincoln.

With the help of a young boy named Billy Dugay and a pickup truck, Ed went to Gorham with a little money, a come-along and a hydraulic jack to dismantle the big engine that once ran the Libby's Mills. They slept on canvas tarps in the sawdust bin, and Ed said it was still warm in the bin even though the mill had been shut down for several years. Ed had a single-axle, tandem-wheel trailer to use to bring the engine back to Lincoln, and for blocking and cribbing he used whatever he could find in the mill, including oil drums. While skidding one half of the flywheel one of the drums collapsed while supporting the massive piece. Billy jumped clear just in time.

Once Ed got the engine down to Lincoln he built forms and poured concrete foundations for it next to the sled dog ring at the Sled Dog Ranch. He mixed the concrete by hand, and after school his young sons would help with the job. Ed used the family's restored, wooden-cab Bucyrus Erie steam shovel 'Vesuvius' (which, by the way, is still at the Trading Post) to set the C.H. Brown engine on its new foundations. A pavilion covered the engine, and an attempt was even made to run the engine using a coin-operated friction drive fabricated from an automotive driveline so tourists could see the engine turn over.

As time went on the Sled Dog Ranch turned into the Trading Post and grew into a major White Mountain attraction. In the 1960s this writer helped dismantle, move and setup a wooden Howe truss covered bridge to cross the river and allow the railroad at the Trading Post to expand. Over the years buildings, exhibits and rides were added, always keeping to a Victorian theme and with an eye to the history of the region.

But things change, and by the end of the 1990s the C.H. Brown engine occupied prime real estate in the middle of what had become the park's Main Street. Removed from its site earlier last summer, it was offered to us because of our efforts in the preservation, restoration and operation of antique steam engines. We are very grateful to have been acknowledged by one of the pioneers of steam preservation and to be entrusted by him to receive and continue the preservation of this fine example of stationary steam engineering.

Looking forward
On Nov. 24, 2001, a crew of our volunteers, including Jim Robinson, Pat Moran, Jeff Robinson and Doug Gilmore with his restored 1962 B-61 Mack tractor and low-bed trailer, went to Lincoln to load the engine and bring it back to our museum in Kent, Conn. A crane was hired to load the flywheel halves, the cylinder and the frame. Smaller pieces were loaded by hand, and Ed's son, David, and his good friend, Peter Thompson, helped in the project. The crew spent the night visiting with the Clarks, returning to Connecticut the next day.

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