The Home Machinist!

This one in Fresno began in an amusement park in town many years ago. Spent the last 28 or so years on private property; now it's going to the zoo. I've never seen it run but the track that can be seen from the road doesn't look too reassuring. Hillcrest will be working on it before it goes to the zoo.

https://www.fresnobee.com/latest-news/a ... 53495.html

Did anybody notice the side rods? Looks like about 20-30 degrees out? The one seen part way into the video is not level?

Yikes! I guess Hillcrest has their work cut out for them.

Not surprising. Did you also hear the gas engine pushing it around? It sports injectors and a steam gauge, so must have been steam operated at one time. It’s a very nice looking 1870’s wood burner. At one time, I saw another one maybe in alive ?steam a magazine, with similar detailing, built by a guy in Northern cal. Perhaps this was built out of the same set of patterns?

Glenn

I don't know that much about this one. I talked to the owner, Earl Smittcamp, once and he told me that it came from a local amusement park called Pink City that was north of town back decades ago. Perhaps the 1950s. He said he bought it when they closed down. He planned on opening an old-fashioned small amusement park with kiddie rides in Clovis on Herndon Ave. with a carousel and a few other things but the city stopped him so he moved it to his ranch. The carousel was on his ranch at one time. I'm not surprised that the loco is a gasser. The steam gauge may be for air for the whistle and brakes. I'm fairly certain that the one at the zoo has air brakes; I know it has an air whistle. The folks at Hillcrest will know more about it than me.