National Pike show wraps up
Old-time equipment was on display at the National Pike Steam, Gas & Horse Association summer show, which ended Sunday.
Vintage tractors were among the attractions at the National Pike Steam, Gas & Horse Association summer show.
The rain came down in buckets and soaked some if the vintage-looking wares being sold at the National Pike Steam, Gas & Horse Association’s summer show, which wrapped up Sunday.
BROWNSVILLE – To appreciate how much turning the lights on has changed, one need only check out a hulking antique power generator on the grounds of National Pike Steam, Gas & Horse Association just west of Brownsville.
It chugs. It churns. It makes a heap of noise. It lives up to the designation “contraption.”
Yet, it once powered all of the Adirondack community of Long Lake, N.Y.
Seeing the ancient power generator in action was one of the attractions at the summer show of the National Pike Steam, Gas & Horse Association, which wrapped up Sunday after three days. About 3,500 people attended the show, according to Nick Weaver, the association’s president, and they saw demonstrations of shingle making, stone crushing, threshing, bailing and plenty of vintage farm and industrial equipment.
It’s one of two times a year National Pike Steam, Gas & Horse Association puts on a show, the other being in May during the National Road Festival.
This time around, the show also had a demonstration of mining techniques and showed off antique equipment from Caterpillar.
The show has been a fixture of the region since 1980, and Cecil resident Lynda Lamp has been attending for 33 years.
“I just like the old-fashioned part of it,” she said.
Clyde Seigler of Clinton, Allegheny County, is another frequent visitor to the show. He was perched under a tent amid intermittent downpours, showing off a hit-and-miss engine that was made in 1920. The 1890s to the 1940s were the heyday of the hit-and-miss engine, which got its name due to the sound it makes as it fires, coasts and fires again. Seigler is a collector of such devices and has vintage tools and parts in his collection.
“I always liked antiques,” he explained.
The association’s 2017 shows are scheduled for May 20-21 and Aug. 11-13.