EDINBURGH, N.Y. – With the Adirondack mountains barely peeking through the clouds, the Edinburgh Old Time Engine show kicked off its third season on July 15 along the banks of the Great Sacandaga Reservoir. Sponsored by Papa’s Antique Engine Club, the show featured antique gas and oil engines, water pumps, grinders and tractors.
Lisa Brooker of Lisa Brooker Antique Engines, Worcester, N.Y., had her tent full of engines dating from the late 1800s to 1960. Her engines ranged in size and were used to power just about anything from sewing machines to washing machines to water pumps. Brooker explained that early engines were easily adapted and all they needed to run was a belt and some gas. Brooker herself was hoping the weather would hold so she could use her 1920 Kohler generator to make some ice cream.
Norman Ives, also of Worcester, stopped by to admire Brooker’s rare Carlisle-Finch engine. The little red engine is valued between $3,000 and 5,000. The Carlisle-Finch was produced from the late 1800s until 1914 and could have been purchased as a kit or assembled for $40. The engine is rare because nobody knows how many were actually produced. Recently retired, Ives has started a business making wooden stands and carts for antique engines.
Around the corner, collector Ernest Smith of Athol, N.Y., was drawing much attention with his 1938 Centaur garden tractor. The four-cycle tractor was built in Greenwich, Ohio, and must be steered with the feet. The Centaur has the peculiar distinction of having been made without brakes. The State of New York bought many Centaurs to mow alongside the roadways but due to all the accidents caused by lack of brakes, the state sold them fast. Smith says his Centaur plows well but sitting in the black steel seat for long periods of time is a little rough.
John Deere tractors and accessories were well represented, including a modified 1960 garden tractor with stuffed bear as driver. A few restored Allis-Chalmers tractors dotted the field as well. And if anyone forgot how hard it was to work without an engine, Papa’s Engine Club had a wooden horse-drawn cultivator on display.
Exhibitors say the show grows each year and the people the show draws are “real nice.”
The two-day show is already being planned for next year and will include room for flea market vendors. The show will again be in July. Set up can be done on the Friday before the show and anyone interested in exhibiting or attending can make inquiries to Mr Robert Rockwell, 272 Sinclair Road, Northville, NY 12134.
Limited camping facilities are available on site while New York State campsites are close by but will require reservations. Motels are readily available.
Edinburgh is on the western edge of Saratoga County in the Adirondack Park and can be reached via New York State Thruway, Route 30 or Adirondack Northway. State launch sites are nearby, as visitors may want to cruise the beautiful Sacandaga after the show.
