|
 | | We took a short
trip out of Springville. Just to the northwest, in a small town called Langford, is
Winter Farm, where Clarence and Irma Winter have collected old industrial
machinery and created a not so little display at the side of the road. This
is one small part of it. |
| The 'highlight' is this flywheel with a diameter of 24ft, a shaft size
of 30in and a weight of over 60 tons. It is from an engine which supplied a
compressor for a blast furnace at Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna. It was an 8
litre engine and produced 4000-5000HP. It was built in 1927. |  |
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Farrar & Trefts built this 40HP natural gas-fired engine in Buffalo in 1902. It is the only Bogart
engine of this type now known to be in existence. Originally installed in
John Thiel's mill, North Collins, NY the engine was sold to Vern Washburn
after the advent of electricity in the area. There it ground thousands of
tons of feed and sawed millions of feet of lumber during the wars. It was
bought by the Winters in 1968 and often appears at the Erie County fair. |
| There is an extensive collection of old farm and industrial equipment
which has been painted up and put on display. |  |
 |
In the same row is this collection of heavy duty lifting pulleys and gear
recovered from various plants in the Buffalo area. |
| This is Big Joe, an early mole plough used to lay electricity cables.
The tyres at the back are truck tyres and the main wheels are over six feet
in diameter.
It can plough the cables in up to four feet deep. |  |
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There is also a collection of old graders, tractors and 'dozers dating from the
1940s. |
| This is a Galion leaning wheel horse-drawn grader. |  |
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It would have been replaced by this Austin Westin unit in the 1960s. The
other crawlers date from the 1940s and were made by Moline in Illinois. |
| This is a Snow 450HP engine and compressor built in 1940 and used at the
Zoar Valley pumping station. |  |
 |
There are several huge engines without details, but they are a reminder of the heavy
industry which used to exist in the area. |
| This traction engine is from slightly earlier but such engines were common
amongst the farming communities. From the tracks in the area this is still
in working order and has been out very recently. |  |
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The children are never forgotten with this 15in gauge steam engine which provides
rides around the site in season. |
| There is a full size diesel railroad engine and several box and flat
cars together with this collection of old railroad signs. |  |
 |
On the other side of the road there are more exhibits and a number of ponds
with islands which used to have equipment on display. This is 'The Man of
the Sea", an example of the wood carving which is still practiced in the area,
usually done with a chain saw. |
| A reminder of the Indian heritage of the country with several totem
poles. This one includes a goose as a reminder of the huge flocks of geese
which descend on the farm and ponds at certain times of the year. |  |
 |
On the way back to Springville we stopped off to look at the path of the
extension to the I219 and stopped by the old power dam on Cattaraugus creek
in the Zoar Valley. It still provides power to Springville. This supplements
the grid but it is common for small American towns to have their own power
source. Note the fisherman in the river - it is trout season. | |