Stationary Steam Photos

[JLGundersen]

http://hotrodrepair.com/images/Rollag/Montana_Boiler_Toss_thumb.jpg (http://hotrodrepair.com/images/Rollag/Montana_Boiler_Toss.jpg)
Montana Boiler Operator demonstrates his shoveling skills.
(click to enlarge - 572KB) (http://hotrodrepair.com/images/Rollag/Montana_Boiler_Toss.jpg)

http://hotrodrepair.com/images/Rollag/Villuame_Small.jpg (http://hotrodrepair.com/images/Rollag/Villuame_Quote.jpg)
Villuame Engine and poignant quotation.
(Click to enlarge - 3.3MB) (http://hotrodrepair.com/images/Rollag/Villuame.jpg)
(Click to enlarge quotation - 258KB) (http://hotrodrepair.com/images/Rollag/Villuame_Quote.jpg)

[M Kerkvliet]

I have always loved that sign JL...

http://hotrodrepair.com/images/Rollag/Villuame_Quote.jpg

I don't know who's idea it was to put it up, but I am sure to stop by and look a it every year and as I watch the engine run, and think about what it means to an organization like ours. It is a great part of that display.

Funny thing... the first year I saw it (1978) I spent months trying to figure out who Anon was... afraid to ask anyone... admitting I didn't know my literature! :biglaugh:

[CaseyD]

Once I saw that sign, it basically cemented in mind that I HAD to become a part of WMSTR to help preserve things, like the engine beneath it. That single quote is the summary of the 1950's, I would have to say. A video series from the Twin Cities PBS channel 2 called "The Lost Twin Cities," pts 1&2, tells the stories of everyting that had been lost over the years from Minneapolis/St. Paul. Through the two hours of the series, the majority of the time was during the 1950's. This is also when nearly everything operated by steam was either sold as scrap, or left to rot. But, as early as the 1960's, people seemed to had realized the mistake and tried rescuing things after it was realized what was lost.

[40avery]

Isn't that something! My Father and I stood before that sign and that is where I realized that WMSTR was where I wanted to volunteer and learn about some of my history. I wonder how many others out there have had the same experience.

[Joe Prindle]

The quote attributed to "Anon" is an excerpt from a poem entitled "The Covered Bridge", written by Georgia poet Anderson M. Scruggs and published in the 1938 tome "An Atlanta Argosy".

[JLGundersen]

Here is the entire poem, if anyone cares to read it.
[/URL]
[URL="http://www.america.net/~davdmock/argosy3.htm#anchor249966"]"The Covered Bridge" by Anderson M. Scruggs (http://www.america.net/~davdmock/argosy3.htm#anchor249966)

Thanks Joe. I'm sure I am not the only one who wondered where that quotation came from.

JL

[40avery]

It is "Anon" no more. We will have to change the sign now.:)

Very fitting that it is about a bridge. WMSTR is a bridge from the present to the past. Let no one tear it down!

Thanks guys for completing the story.

[M Kerkvliet]

The quote attributed to "Anon" is an excerpt from a poem entitled "The Covered Bridge", written by Georgia poet Anderson M. Scruggs and published in the 1938 tome "An Atlanta Argosy".

Excellent post Joe! I have wondered about that forever!

I think we need to get a copy of that poem, done in some presentable manner, and hang it on the wall in the Villume building!

THE COVERED BRIDGE



Some part of life becomes oblivion;
Something with roots deep buried in the heart
Of simple folk is lost, as one by one,
These pioneers of other days depart.
Only the country folk, whose careless tread
Endears a dusty road, can ever know
The peaceful, clattering joy of rude planks spread
Above a drowsy creek that gleams below.



Here was a refuge from the sudden showers
That swept like moving music field and wood,
And here cool, tunnelled dark when sultry hours
Danced with white feet beyond the bridge's hood...
Yet, there are soulless men whose hand and brain
Tear down what time will never give again.


-ANDERSON M. SCRUGGS.

[CaseyD]

How is the name Anon related, then? I can't imagine that the people who put all the time into a nice-looking sign like that would just make it up. Is 'Anon' Anderson Scrugg's nick name or pen-name?

[M Kerkvliet]

How is the name Anon related, then? I can't imagine that the people who put all the time into a nice-looking sign like that would just make it up. Is 'Anon' Anderson Scrugg's nick name or pen-name?

Whomever made the sign did not know who to credit the quote to Casey, so they put "Anon"... short for Anonymous. I wondered the same thing the first time I saw it.

[Gerald Parker]

I believe that John Cogswell found the quote and had the sign made. John Cogswell was one of the visionaries who shaped a lot of the exhibits we now have at Rollag. He was one member of a group of guys who found machines and figured out a way to get them to Rollag. He helped with the Pabst and did a lot of the initial work on steam locomotive #353. Other members included Ray Grantstrom, Ed Jungst (deceased), Don Sandberg (deceased) and the indispensible Elmer Larson of Larson Welding and Machine. Other "crazies" included Frank Orr (who rode inside the Villaume flywheel when it first ran), Jerome Swedberg, Ray Shoberg and Gerald Parker.

[CaseyD]

It's funny that you made a point to list yourself as a crazy...in this case, crazy must mean that Rollag is #1 on your list of priorities. Everyone, whether he or she be a member, worker or visitor, is lucky to have 'crazies' who will go the extra distance for a community such as this.

[CLMoen]

Have any steps been taken to make a copy of that poem? If not, Tim Moen has said he'd look for a board for me that could be painted nicely. Back when Tim & Neal Heminger put the pieces of the air compressor puzzle back together I worked on some signage for them and would be willing to paint this... hopefully in time for this year's show.

I liked to add Rick's comment that WMSTR is a bridge between the past & the future too!

Cherié Moen

[Tim Moen]

Thanks Cherie! I will get the sign up to the hill for you. I personally believe we should leave the sign that's there now "as is" to remember the work involved by all to get that engine here and running. All in one year!! Tim

[M Kerkvliet]

Have any steps been taken to make a copy of that poem? If not, Tim Moen has said he'd look for a board for me that could be painted nicely...
Cherié Moen

If you would do that Cherié, I think it would be a nice addition to hang on the wall somewhere, where one could read it and know where the quote came from! Maybe highlight the quote in the poem, or somehow make it known that "this" is the part of the poem that is quoted in the sign that hangs near the engine.

Great idea, and thanks for volunteering to do this!

Tim... Get the stuff she needs!

[CLMoen]

The sign is done ~ waiting to catch a ride out to the hill.

I will send it out with Amanda either tonight or tomorrow night. Hopefully someone can find a nice home for it :)

[Tim Moen]

Big Thank You To Cherie for making the new sign of the full poem!! Sorry, ran out of time to hang it for this year. It looks fantastic--- any thoughts on hanging it just below the original anyone? I think it would be O.K. Good to have you hang out for a few nights this year Cherie! Tim.

[Todd Hintz]

My father-in-law attended his first WMSTR in 1996, and asked his two sons and me along the next year. I stood before that sign in 1997, and knew that I had to help preserve the past. Sadly, Grandpa Larson left for a bigger steam show in 2000. So count me in the experience. My 15 yr old son is now a member too. Incidentally, we thought this year's show was the best so far. Neither of us could point to one particular thing that made it so, but we can't wait for next Labor Day.

[CLMoen]

Big Thank You To Cherie for making the new sign of the full poem!! Sorry, ran out of time to hang it for this year. It looks fantastic--- any thoughts on hanging it just below the original anyone?

You're welcome... if I would have had more time I could have gotten the writing straighter! My thought is that if it's hanging below the original it will block the view so maybe it could get hung on a side wall. ???