Steam Gauge Collecting AN AFFORDABLE ALTERNATIVE
March/April 1994
Barry L. David
 |
1. ''Minneapolis'' traction engine gauge.
|
Gauge Collecting
C/o D. M. Goodsell, 91 E. 200 S., Newton, Utah 84327
For the lover of antique machinery, steam traction engines
especially, it's easy to let yourself get discouraged as prices
skyrocket. The days of discovering that old engine amid the rubbish
of an abandoned farm are long gone. They've been replaced with
want ads, scrap parts dealers, and antique shops.
Unfortunately, the prospects for the young steam enthusiast are
less than favorable. When the engines do become available, they are
usually priced so high as to dampen the thrill of discovery, even
if you can afford one at all.
All hope is not lost. Every time I walk into my gauge room, I
relive the excitement of over a hundred such finds. I don't
have the money or the space to collect steam engines, so I enjoy
the next best thing: antique steam gauges.
In the beginning
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I was especially blessed to
have my grandparents living on one of the oldest farms in the White
River Valley. Huge, old growth stumps dotted the pastures. The
strategic firing platforms, provided by the stumps, aided in
maximizing the effective range of my Daisy Pump Pellet Rifle. The
objective of these mock war games though, was the rickety old barn
at the back of the pasture. The earthquake of 1964 had shaken loose
its heavy timbers and the rough cut planks covering its walls. It
now looked like swiss cheese because of all the gaps in the
wood.
Inside the barn, my eyes would soon grow accustomed to the
limited light provided by the rays of dust speckled pale yellow
seeping through the cracks. All was a maze of debris. Floor boards
twisted up from the agony left by the quake. On rusty nails, the
rust stains trickling down the bleached wood, hung the iron
monuments to man's illusion of conquering nature. Soon, all
evidence of the century old struggle that carved these pastures
from the forests will be lost. The barn will burn in some future
lightening storm and the rusty old tools now lining its walls will
fall into the mud and be forgotten.
In the meantime though, a young boy's imagination can be
sparked with wonder at the sight of all the strange old relics from
the past. The true purpose of most of them was unfamiliar.
There's an old tractor seat, huge box end wrenches, a two man
saw blade, and dozens of other rust stained articles of junk.
Hanging in one corner of the barn is something that caught my
eye. A 6 inch (measured across the dial) steam gauge was suspended
from a wire looped over a wooden peg. A few shards of glass poke
out from beneath the brass bezel (ring). The pointer hand is bent
and the whole gauge is covered with grease & dust. The brass is
tarnished almost black and the silver coating on the brass indent
dial is spotted with dried mud. But through all this, the lettering
on the dial is still legible. Written above the pointer is the word
'CASE.' Just below, in smaller letters, is 'J.I.CASE
T.M.CO. Racine, WIS. U.S.A.,' and below that is what I know now
as the 1907 Ashcroft Mfg. Co. (gauge maker) Trademark. This gauge
was all that remains of the hulk of an ancient traction engine,
having fallen prey to the merciless scrappers' furnaces over 30
years before.
Page: 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Next >>