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Weekly News February 14, 2005Description
NOTE: This issue featured the first of Tom Marshall's historical recollections which became a prominent feature of future "Weekly News" issues.
As memberships are slowly rolling in, again this is the first Weekly News E-mail some of you are receiving. As mentioned last week, if you're not interested in receiving it, please let me know, so I can make a note and won't burden you with trivia.
The Stanleys and the Rickers of Maine: Two Maine families of the 19th century made it big with their enterprises: the Rickers of Poland Spring with their Poland Water and the Stanleys of Kingfield and Lewiston with their photographic dry plates. It has been said that the Rickers could (and did) buy Mountain Wagons at cost to service their three resort hotels, and the Stanleys could stay at these hotels on a complimentary basis. A photo in the new Stanley book (The Stanley Steamer: America’s Legendary Steam Car, by Kit Foster) shows F. E. and Augusta leaving the mansion house at Poland Spring in a 1913 Model 78, identical to ours. What is the Marshall connection? Israel Marshall, who built Auburn Heights, had kidney trouble as a result of a fall from a scaffold at the Homestead Mill at Marshall’s Bridge when he was 18 (in 1869), and this plagued him for the rest of his life. He thought going to Poland Spring and drinking the water might make him more comfortable, and this he did the last summer of his life in 1910. Mountain Wagons met the trains at Danville Junction and took guests to the hotels, 6 miles away. Israel’s son Clarence (my father) arrived in this way for a long weekend with his father. Stanleys were not strange to Clarence as he bought his second one, a Model K, in July of 1910 and also became a Stanley dealer that year. Israel had thought about the qualities of spring water for some time and in 1905 had “our spring” at the state line tested for its water quality. It was as soft as Poland Water; I have the results of this test. There are a number of Poland Water bottles from the early 20th century upstairs in the Museum.
This week is "Meeting Week" again, with a volunteers' meeting run by the Management Group in the Museum on Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 7:00 P.M. All are encouraged to attend, as Bill Schwoebel intends to explain how the Committees of the Management Group will function and name the volunteers from whom he has obtained commitments to head some of these committees. The ability to spread this responsibility around will determine the success of our Friends of Auburn Heights Preserve.
On Thursday, Feb. 17, the new Board will meet at 7:30 P.M. They have a full agenda. Mike May from Michigan expects to attend, and Bob Reilly intended to but illness is preventing him from coming. We hope everyone else on the Board can make it.
My apologies to Jerry Lucas and Richard Bernard. They had disassembled the rear axle on the Model 76 on January 27, and I hadn't checked at the time I wrote last week's News Letter. Mike May will take the differential at the end of this week for repair of the spider gears. Jim Personti had a scale to test the spring tension on the locomotive springs from the 402. We are trying to locate a source of supply for small spring leaves, so we can renew them. Emil and Jerry Novak ran the Rauch & Lang around the driveway last week with its
ewly-rebuilt motor, and Emil and Butch nearly completed the new flue for the Model 87 Stanley. Richard and Herman repacked the throttle on the Model 78. Jerry Lucas, Bill Schwoebel, and I, with our secretary Anne Cleary, made an appraisal of work that can be done on the Stanley cars during the coming months. Anne has this written up for us, and we would like input from some of the rest of you. Then we'll attempt to prioritize the projects, and undertake the most pressing. It turns out Dave Sedar, a new member of our team, is a paint expert, so his advice on painting will be most helpful. Steve Jensen and Ed Hoffmeister are trying to find small, heavy coil springs for the passenger car trucks. If these can be obtained, the replacement of springs in 8 of the trucks can proceed. Projects for Tuesday night will be those left over from previous times, like repairing the water tank on the Model CX. By Thursday night, we should be better organized as a result of our Management Group meeting for all members on 2/16. Chuck Erikson will probably be home from Aruba and continue his shop organization project.
Happy Valentine's Day! Tom
