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Weekly News October 10, 2011Description
My Introduction to Stanley Cars: When I was young, my father would talk about Stanley steamers, but I really didn’t know what they were or how they were different from the Packards of the 1930s, of which we had a liberal supply. Twice, in 1934 and 1937, when he bought a new Packard Twelve, he remarked that it was “nearly as smooth as steam.”
We went through New Paltz, New York, enroute to Lake Mohonk, in 1934 or 1935, and they were having a local parade. My father spotted a tiller-steered Stanley in the parade, but I didn’t get a good look and was not impressed. In June 1936, he spotted another tiller-steered Stanley, which we believe was a 1903 Model C, alongside an antique shop in Farmington, Maine. He took my picture seated in the car, and there appeared to be a similar car in worse condition behind it. It turned out that Raymond W. Stanley, the only son of F. E. Stanley, spotted the same car or cars at the same shop in the same summer and took a picture of his children, Francis and Joan, seated behind the tiller. Francis was the father of Sarah W. Stanley, one of the advisors to F.A.H.P. Since I didn’t see any of these tillers really run, I was not excited about my earliest introductions.
My father had purchased the John Becker car, our 1913 Model 76, and I first saw it when it arrived at Auburn Heights late in 1940. Since the 25-year-old tires were no good, he immediately changed the wheels to a size for which he could purchase new tires, that turned out to be Studebaker 23-inch demountables, for which he purchased 5 Sears Allstate 32 x 4½ tires. With help from a welder from Strickersville, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles away, they built a Derr-type water tube boiler and configured the burner pan to fit this rectangular design. The steering gear had to be lowered, and holes were cut in the sides of the hood to let out some of the heat. By early spring of 1941, it was ready to run, and I eagerly anticipated my first ride. As we prepared to go to the Delaware Motor Vehicle Department in Wilmington on a Saturday morning to get the car licensed, my dad realized he did not have a title or a bill-of-sale from John Becker, and he sent me to the old man’s home to get one. In a pigeon hole in his antiquated desk, Becker produced what we needed, and before long we were on our way to Wilmington in the Stanley. A third person was along, but I’m not sure who it was. It may have been Leroy Benge Sr., who later owned a 1915 Model 720, as his father had done a generation before. We had a successful trip—no trouble at all—which was a trademark of my father’s many drives in a Stanley. Rather than admiring an old car in those days, many people thought it highly amusing, and we put on stunts with ridiculous costumes and went to Halloween parades to please those who witnessed a 28-year-old steamer running.
The next winter, my father was busy converting his 1940 Packard 180 to a steamer, but possibly fearing it would not be 100% practical, he bought Robert B. Chase’s 1922 Model 740 as World War II gasoline rationing was fast approaching. Brooks A. Jones of Glens Falls, New York, delivered the 740 to my father by driving it the 270 miles from Earlville, New York, to Yorklyn on June 29, 1942, pulling up the driveway just before dark. The next day, I registered for the draft in the Odd Fellows Hall at Centreville, which was the beginning of four years away from home. My hopes to learn the operation of a Stanley were put on hold until my final return in August 1946. By that time, my father had several Stanleys on which to practice.
Work Nights: Bob Jordan has really organized well the reconstruction of the Model 607, records what progress has been made, and anticipates the next objectives. Emil Christofano and Jeff Pollock worked on the Rauch & Lang electric car, and a new vaporizer cable was made and installed on the Model 87. The Model EX was transported to Hershey on Tuesday by Bill Schwoebel, Butch Cannard, and Dave Leon. Kelly Williams looked over the Model 725, and it is ready to test under steam. Jerry Lucas and Jeff Pollock lapped in the valve seat on one side of the new cylinder block for the H-5, using a tool made by Herb Kephart and lent to us by Bill Rule. We arranged to have the 607’s hood returned to us in November, to be finished locally by Walter Higgins and Ashley Ritter (the latter of the New Garden Restoration shop). Mark Dugan finished striping the springs for the 607, and he now has the wheels and rear differential cover. The rear differential cover was put back and sealed on the Model 87, after the side clearance on the spider gears was slightly increased. This car is also ready for testing. Bob Stransky drilled the valve and gauge holes in the sheet metal he fabricated for the new firewall on the 607, and Mark Russell rebuilt the wooden steering wheel for this car. Ted Kamen and Bob Jordan painted the dash, pump box, and boiler bracket for this car. Steve Bryce repaired the overflow pipe in the water tank on the Model 76 and helped Ted and Bob install the steering gear box on the 607. The superheater on the Model 71 has been repaired, and is ready to be hooked up and tested and the burner put back under the car.
At Hershey, which was well attended by our members, Kelly Williams conducted two firing-up demonstrations with our Model EX on Thursday and Friday each for the benefit for those in attendance. This effort, instigated by Bill Schwoebel a few years ago, is always well received.
