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Connecticut Antique Machinery Association

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    Connecticut Antique Machinery Association

    2010 Fall Festival
    For all you antique machinery enthusiasts, it's that time again. The Connecticut Antique Machinery Association (CAMA) is having its Fall Festival Friday, Saturday and Sunday September 24-26. The hours are 10 am to 4 pm each day. It's located at their museum grounds in Kent, CT about one mile north of the village on the west side of Rt. US 7. It's a little south of Kent Falls state park also located off US 7. If you have a GPS, the co-ordinates are 41deg 44.385N, 73deg 28.095W. While the museum is open from 10 am to 4 pm, Wednesday through Sunday from May through the end of October, the Fall Festival is more than just a static exhibit as many of the machines will be in operation during the Festival weekend. Directions and a map are available at the website: www.ctamachinery.com

    The purpose of the museum is to preserve, restore and demonstrate antique machinery from our industrial and agricultural past. The collection includes:
    Agricultural equipment and mechanical farm implements
    Among the agricultural equipment on display is a variety of restored farm tractors dating back to the 1920s. Pre-internal combustion engine tractors powered by steam can also be viewed. These are huge machines as they contain a boiler, firebox, steam cylinder and a large flywheel. Also on display are reapers and threshers whose functions were later combined together in a single machine, the well-known combine harvester of today.

    Internal combustion engines, large and small
    A collection of early internal combustion engines including those fascinating types known as 'hit and miss' engines.

    Industrial steam power
    This exhibit includes both static and operating displays. A number of steam-powered road rollers (steam rollers) can be seen, many of them made by the Buffalo Springfield company. On our last visit, a pile driver (although diesel powered) was in operation along with a number of diesel and steam operated power shovels (steam shovels) all with drum and cable operated booms and buckets as opposed to the hydraulic cylinder actuated machines of today. Fascinating! Most interesting was an operating oil well drilling rig complete with engine and drilling head. The engine, which had originally been steam powered, was later converted to natural gas operation and was housed in a shed. The drive shaft extended about 30 feet away from the shed to the drill head. A couple of steam powered electrical generators were also operating. These were large machines that had originally seen commercial use. These were cylinder type engines completely different from the modern steam turbines in use today. The largest operating engine was a single cylinder steam engine of the type used to power early factories as they converted from water to steam power. The engine would provide power for every machine in the factory through a series of pulleys, belts and lineshafts. Because this was a low RPM, single cylinder engine, a large diameter, extremely heavy flywheel was required to maintain smooth operation-in this case, 12' in diameter. Very impressive!

    Narrow gauge railroad
    A 3' narrow gauge railroad operates on the museum grounds powered by steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in their plant in Eddystone, PA. No longer in existence, Baldwin was one of the three great American steam locomotive builders, along with Alco and Lima (also long gone from the scene).

    Mining museum
    In early America, iron ore mining, and smelting, took place in a number of eastern regions in places now located in the states of CT, NJ and PA. The mining museum is devoted to the tools, techniques and processes involved in extracting the ore and processing it in this local region.

    In addition to the museum's collection, outside exhibitors from all over the northeast bring their own tools, gas engines, steam engines, tractors and other historic machines to fill out the display and add to the fun. Also of interest on the museum grounds are the many vendors selling old tools and mechanisms for collectors and hobbyists.

    On our last visit there, my family and I had a great time, very informative and educational. The creativity and ingenuity in how American craftsman of our earlier generations met the challenges of the advancing industrial revolution is truly amazing. The museum is located in a beautiful rural area in the Litchfield Hills of western CT. Bring your wives, girlfriends, boyfriends or family as there is something for everyone to do in the area. The nearby town of Kent is a quaint little place with many antique shops for the ladies to explore. You can picnic or cook out at Kent Falls state park and walk the trail to the top of the falls. This is the same place that we utilized for a number of our Protege meets in the past. Not lately however - no one seems interested.

    The round trip mileage from our home to the museum was 235. A trip we all considered worthwhile to attend this interesting, informative and fun event. At the end of the day, we felt that another successful Protege mission had been completed.


    Happy Motoring!
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