THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606050114
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER SURRY
LENGTH: 96 lines
A 60-TON ENGINE would bring a smile to the grease-smeared face of Nelson Franklin of Hampton.
He would like to add that to the collection of 40 gas and steam engines he and his father, Chuck, have so far collected.
About six of them will be displayed Saturday and Sunday at the 6th annual Chippokes Steam & Gas Engine Show at Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry County.
``We're hosting the regional show, so it will be big,'' said Franklin, one of several collectors displaying items. There will be engines, tractors and lots of antique equipment.
There will be demonstrations of such farm activities as peanut picking, grain threshing, log sawing and pulls - tractors and mules. A few mules will also compete in a Sunday jumping competition.
A flea market, Civil War encampment, games and farm, mansion and museum tours will keep visitors occupied.
There will also be a petting zoo and antique cars and trucks. Food and non-alcoholic drinks will be available.
Entertainment will be by Solid Rock, performing bluegrass-gospel, a bluegrass group called Cut-N-Up, The Rev. Joseph I. Delong and Co. with old-time music and, from Suffolk, the Peanut City Cloggers.
For the devoted engine person there will be a 9:30 Sunday morning church service.
A pig pickin' is scheduled for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by a meeting of the Northeast Regional Early Day Gas Engine and Tractor Association, Branch 35.
For Franklin, those engines don't rank far below the breath of life.
``I'm a bachelor,'' the husky 29-year-old said. ``I'm married to my engines.''
Every year, between May and October, his heavy brides are carted to about 10 shows, including the granddaddy of engine events in Cool Spring, Pa.
``That's the Smithsonian of engine shows,'' Franklin said. ``The quality there is better than the ones on display at the Smithsonian Institution.''
A museum of his own is one of his dreams, a dream he shares with his father.
``He owns most of the English engines. I have most of the American built engines,'' Franklin said. ``I've always been interested in them. In the Navy, I was a boiler technician.''
Discharged several months ago, he now studies business management at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton.
``When I get out, I'll probably play with engines,'' said Franklin, who has been doing that four years, following in his father's footsteps.
The family garage on Sarfan Drive - no place for cars - is divided in two. One side is a showplace for the restored engines, sitting regally, with new car shines.
On the other side is the workshop where Franklin spends the bulk of his spare time.
``I don't watch television - not when I could be doing something else,'' he said. ``I have a desire to see how things work.''
Franklin makes them work, no matter how long it takes.
``One engine, a 1926 New Holland, took a year to restore. It took just a week to restore a boat engine,'' he said. ``There's very little literature on this, so you use common engineering knowledge.
``It's rough. It takes a lot of time and patience to restore them. I try and make each engine as close to the way it left the factory as I can,'' said Franklin, who leaves home whenever he can to run around the country, searching for long neglected, rusted engines.
``Finding them is the fun part,'' said Franklin, who usually finds them in old barns on old farms. ``I pay for some. Other times - somebody says, `You want it, take it.' ''
A Franklin favorite is an oil field engine built in Olean, N.Y. by Myrick Eclipse Co., ``used,'' he said, ``for pumping a single well.''
Another Franklin favorite is a 1912 Blackstone oil engine, which, he said, ``would have been used in small factories or a machine shop in England to run such things as lathes or drill presses. I like it because its style is a little different.''
It is not true - you've seen one gas or steam engine, you've seen them all.
``They operate on the same principle,'' Franklin said, ``but each one has its own personality. Some are poorly designed, some are beautifully designed.''
All are beautifully restored once he gets his good-sized hands on them.
In addition to engines, the Franklins also collect old tools and such fascinating items as oil cans and blow torches.
But, it is the engines they keep going that keeps them going. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by FRANK ROBERTS
Nelson Franklin works on a gas engine that can be seen at Chippokes.
AT A GLANCE
What: Chippokes Steam & Gas Engine Show
When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Where: Chippokes Plantation State Park, Surry. North on state
Route 10 to state Route 634. Follow the signs. The park is about 15
miles from Smithfield.
Cost: $3 for adults, children free. Reservations required for
Saturday night pig pickin': $10 for adults, $5 for children under
10. Overnight parking available.
Call: 1-804-786-7950 by CNB