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Weekly News May 5, 2008Description
The Pittsburgh Titans: Many fortunes were made in iron and steel in Pittsburgh in the 19th century. Names like Carnegie, Frick, and Mellon were legend. There were a myriad of smaller successes like Jacob Painter, Jr. (c. 1850-c.1938) and the Snyders of Shenango Steel, of whom I wrote a few weeks ago. Then there were Howard J. Heinz and his 57 varieties, and Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG). We had very brief brushes with a few of them and our experiences were always positive.
Mr. Painter attended many of my father’s Yorklyn trapshoots. Very tottery the last two times he was here in 1933 and 1935 in his big Packard sedan, complete with chauffeur and private secretary (who also shot), he was a poor shot but enjoyed himself immensely. The bronze statues in the front hall at Auburn Heights were gifts from Mr. Painter, and from his estate I was given a fine English Purdy trap gun. In 1984, as a guest of Whitney and Jean Snyder, I was treated to dinner, along with three others, at an exclusive country club in the affluent suburb of Sewickley, and we spent the night on the Snyder estate. Whitney had several fine cars including a 1911 Stanley that we restored to running condition for him at Auburn Heights in 1980.
About 1988 I attended a Mercersburg Academy Board of Regents winter meeting at the exclusive Duquesne Club in downtown Pittsburgh, where Scott Johns and I spent the night and enjoyed several meals. The Regents were guests of Dave Genter, also of Sewickley. Around the same time, Richard Mellon Scaife and his party of six or eight, having expressed interest in the Wilmington & Western Railroad through the efforts of Brian Woodcock, were entertained in the Red Clay Valley, where he rode in the cab of one of the W & W steam locomotives from Marshallton (or Greenbank) to Mount Cuba. Ruth and I met the train with the Mountain Wagon at the latter place and brought them to Auburn Heights for a lunch on the porch. Their Mountain Wagon journey was completed when we delivered them in Hockessin, and a special train took them back to Greenbank.
Finally, Ruth and I spent a very pleasant long weekend in Pittsburgh in February, 1992. Taking the day train from Paoli around the Horseshoe Curve to our destination, we enjoyed roof-top dining with a spectacular view of the city, a concert at Heinz Hall, a tour of Fort Duquesne in the Golden Triangle, the PPG building, dinner at Station Square, and the heights of Mount Washington. The Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh and the Phipps Arboretum were also included on an almost-balmy mid-winter weekend. I phoned a long-lost friend from Meteorology school days (Edmund C. Franz) and had a nice chat before he and his wife departed for an Elderhostel.
I am very proud of the Friends who represented us at Winterthur’s Point-to-Point event yesterday. Complete with period costumes for the occupants, we had eleven Stanleys and the Rauch & Lang electric on the field, all driven there under their own power. In a small way, we helped Winterthur celebrate the 30th Anniversary of this event, which draws 20,000 people annually. Rolls Royces were also invited, and 58 of them were registered. The 40 carriages, several of them coach-and-fours with 12 passengers riding on top, were spectacular as they paraded around the grounds, then parked for all to observe. Thanks to Art Sybell and the Boxler family, we had a deLuxe lunch and a special cake at the center of a semi-circle formed by the Stanleys. It was a long but glorious day. Along with over 20 of our regular volunteers, Bob Reilly, who last year made preliminary arrangements for our invitation to participate, was here with Barb and he drove the Mountain Wagon and the Model 78. Thank you, one and all.
On Saturday, Bill Schwoebel, Butch Cannard, Steve Bryce and Dan Citron took our Models 87 and 735 to Dover to take part in the Old Dover Days parade and give rides all afternoon around Dover’s historic Green. These cars and their tireless operators also took part in the Winterthur event on Sunday, a yeoman effort!
At least seven of our volunteers plan to attend the Eastern Steam Car Tour at Bennington, VT, June 15-20 . If more of you can go, there is still time to register, and you will enjoy it. We will be able to send either 2 or 3 cars, depending on trailer availability. Tom
