THIRD GENERATION OF STEAM
May/June 1978
John R. DeGraffenreid
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20 HP double cylinder Keck Gonnerman and a scale model of same built 1969-1975.
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Route 1, Box 86-U, Brumley, Missouri 65017
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It all began in the year of 1912 when my grandfather purchased a
new 18 HP single cylinder side-mounted Buffalo Pitts. He purchased
a grain separator at the same time and began his threshing career,
in and around Bagnell, Missouri. My father said when they unloaded
it off the flatcar there was a factory man with it to start them
out on it.
In order to get to their home they had to cross the Osage River.
This was accomplished by loading on a barge for the crossing, which
almost swamped it, dad thought. This, not being a big wheat
country, they would thresh about three months and build roads and
run a sawmill the rest of the time. This was about par for the
course for the next 15 years, at such time they purchased a 27-44
Twin City tractor which they threshed with until about 1937. My
grandfather owned several engines during this time, but sold all
but 'Old Buffalo' which he owned at his passing in
1939.
In the early 30s a friend of the family borrowed the engine and
the sawmill to saw a tract of timber and in the process had a fatal
heart attack while turning a log on the mill.
The old outfit set for some years and one day my father said
'Let's go get Old Buffalo,' to my brother and I.
Needless to say, we were tickled pink to be in on this trip. We got
the necessary buckets, funnel, wrenches etc. to make her ready for
firing. We carried water for what seemed like an eternity before it
came into sight in the glass, but at that point you could see
progress even though small. Dad had laid the fire while we were
carrying water and since it was showing in the glass, he touched
the fire off and we finished filling to his satisfaction. To the
best of my knowledge there wasn't a leak any place. By this
time the water was beginning to boil and in a short time we could
turn the blower on and the fire burned brighter and the steam began
to raise faster and in a few minutes we had enough to fill the head
tank and in a few minutes we were on our road home: the unheard of
distance of six miles. This was on a Saturday and when night fell
we were about half way home by a creek, so we took on water and got
some big sticks of wood to bank the fire with and went home for a
well earned supper.
The next morning we went back and kindled the fire; in a short
time we were on our way home. While we were going along we would
blow the whistle long and loud and several people heard it and came
running to see the old engine running again and as I remember it,
my mother had to set a dinner table for about 25 people that day.
We went back and got the sawmill a little later and set it up and
began sawing for ourselves and our neighbors.
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