Salute to a Dream

摘要

On the Sunday morning of Oct. 13, 2002, engine enthusiast Don Walters of Gower, Mo., woke up early to attend the 2002 Small Farmers Reunion at the Lathrop (Mo.) Antique Car, Tractor & Engine Assn.'s show grounds, only to be severely injured when he flipped on a light switch and his home exploded due to a propane leak. Several days later, on Oct. 25, Don died in the hospital as a result of the injuries he sustained in the fire. There is a silver lining to this dark cloud, however. The town of Pattonsburg, Mo., had been destroyed by the Flood of 1993 and relocated, auctioning off much of the city property in 1998. That auction netted Don four very large Fairbanks-Morse engines (used in the city power plant) for the paltry sum of $2,000. Plus, he was able to witness all of them running just a few days prior to his purchase, so he knew what he was buying. For two grand he took ownership of two 150 HP 2-cylinders (one of which was sold to the Western Missouri Antique Tractor & Machinery Assn. in Adrian, Mo.), a 300 HP 4-cylinder, a 600 HP Opposed Piston (OP) 8-cylinder and many other parts, tools and paperwork for the engines.