My Very Own Engine
(Page 3 of 5)
September/October 1996
Rory Esch
In May of 1995, I went to a swap meet with a good friend of mine
by the name of Herb Wilke. Herb is another young 'steam
head' just like myself. He has the hopes of owning his own
engine someday. But for the time being, he is always around to lend
a hand to anyone who needs one. On our way home from the swap meet
we decided to stop and visit Ralph Hoggle, another steam engine
collector from Slinger, Wisconsin. I was interested in showing Herb
his large collection of steam engines.
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While we were visiting with Ralph, he said, 'I heard you
were looking for an engine? I don't know of any 65s for sale,
but I do know of an 80 Case for sale in northern Wisconsin.'
This certainly perked my attention. But, I thought I would never be
able to afford an 80 Case. I took the information from Ralph and
headed home. The entire way home I was talking with Herb about the
possibility of owning an 80 Case. The idea seemed unthinkable.
That evening, when we returned home, I decided to give the owner
of the 80 a phone call. Not only did he have the Case for sale, but
he also had a 20 horse Advance for sale. He wanted to sell the two
engines as a pair, because he wanted the money to buy another steam
engine.
A few weeks had passed and I decided to take a ride to see these
two engines. After all, it would be a nice Sunday drive for my wife
Marcia and me. It was only about three hours northwest of where I
live. As it turns out, the engines were stored at the show grounds
in Edgar, Wisconsin. As we visited with the owner of the engines, I
looked them over with a fine tooth comb. He told me both engines
had current state inspections. He also told me the only reason he
was selling the pair was to purchase a different engine.
After a few hours of looking at his engines and all the other
engines stored permanently at the show grounds, he named his price
for the two engines. I tried to talk him into selling me just the
80 Case, but he wouldn't separate the two engines. We left
Edgar that afternoon with mixed feelings. I sure wanted that Case
but I couldn't afford both engines, nor did I have the space
for two engines.
About a week had gone by when the phone rang. It was Mr. Sommer
the man with the engines. He told me he would lower his asking
price for the pair. I told him I was only interested in the Case,
and if he didn't want to separate the two, then I wasn't
interested. My wife Marcia and I had talked about his lower offer
and thought the price sure didn't sound bad for two engines. A
few hours later that same night, the phone rang again. It was Mr.
Sommer. This time he lowered his asking price again and was willing
to throw in a large Aultman & Taylor separator. I couldn't
believe my ears. I told Mr. Sommer I wasn't interested in the
separator, but if he would lower the price again I might be
interested. I think Marcia could have picked my jaw off the floor
when he agreed to lower the price again. I couldn't believe it.
Before I would agree on the price, I wanted to see the engines one
more time. I took a day off of work and chased up to see the two
engines again. We agreed on a price and I became the owner of not
one, but two engines.
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