Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Old Betsy unveiling held at fire station
By Bill Howes
Associate Editor
On a wet and rainy morning, the unveiling of 'Old Betsy' the Chariton Volunteer Fire Departmentıs 1883 Silsby Steam Engine, was held at the Chariton Fire Station on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Despite the rain, a good number of people showed up to see the finished product of the Old Betsy restoration project, which took nearly four years to complete.
People from all over Iowa will be able to see Old Betsy in its beautifully restored condition, as it will be on display at this yearıs State Firemenıs Convention held in Chariton Sept. 7-11. Old Betsy will be on display at the campgrounds northwest of town during the convention.
Due in part to the weather on Saturday, another unveiling of Old Betsy may be held again before the convention. One of the people present at the unveiling on Saturday was seven-month-old Macy Smith, whose
great-grandfather, Paul Show, was a 50-year member of the CVFD who actually worked with Old Betsy.
Before the State Firemenıs Convention, the CVFD is planning to have an Old Fashioned Saturday Night celebration with Old Betsy on the square. For the celebration, the Chariton firemen plan to fire up Old Betsy and shoot a stream of water over the top of the Lucas County Courthouse.
Last Thursday night, the Chariton firemen took Old Betsy up to the square and stopped in front of Piperıs. An old-fashioned post card is now being made of the old-fashioned steam engine.
Chariton fireman Chris Fisher said that the CVFD has been pumping Old Betsy about every day for the last week to ensure that it will be safe to operate for the convention parade and other parades held in the community. ³So far, it appears to be pumping better than itıs ever pumped,² Fisher said.
The CVFD has owned Old Betsy since 1883. Old Betsy, which is a size three steam engine, is just one of three steam engines of its type still in existence in the United States, and the only one of its type not housed in a museum. Of the other two size three steam engines still in existence, one is in a museum in Arizona while the other is in a museum in New York.
The restoration of Old Betsy was completed back on Aug. 7 when the last bolt was put in. The project was primarily done by a 12-person steamer committee made up of Chariton firemen. The committee members were Chris Fisher, Tim White, Joe Steinbach, Roger Manser, Brian Kline, Brian Crozier, Barry Smith, Pat Naylor, Steve Irving, Steve Davis, Ed See and Brad Jensen.
Although the committee did most of the work, the rest of the CVFD worked on the restoration project as well.
The restoration of Old Betsy was started back in October 2001. The first thing which had to be done for the project was build a new boiler because the old one had sprung a leak and because an ultrasound done on the old boiler showed its wall thickness to be 1/16 of an inch.
After this, Old Betsy had to be deemed out of condition until a new boiler was built and was stored in the old Hy-Vee Carpenter shop on Court Ave. Disassembly began on the old steam engine as the old boiler was taken to Capital City Boiler in Des Moines and a new boiler was constructed from the measurements of the old one.
While the new boiler was being built, the Chariton firemen went ahead and disassembled the rest of the machine. Kevin Dorland rebuilt the engine pump and Johnson Machine Works in Chariton rebuilt the engine.
The wheels and frames were taken to Bruce Smith, who painted them red, and then to Ron Bingham, who put gold leaf design on them. The engineıs coal box was also rebuilt and had gold leaf design put on it by Bingham as well.
While these things were being done, the Chariton firemen sent the plating to A & A Platers in Kansas City and Chrome Reflections in Des Moines. Both of these places nickel-plated all the major parts of the engine. After all the parts came back to Chariton, the CVFD began to put the steam engine back together in January 2005.
³Since January, we had worked on Old Betsy pretty much every day at the fire station until it was finished. Our initial goal was to have it done for the Fourth of July celebration, but since we didnıt quite reach that goal, we definitely wanted to have it done for the State Firemenıs Convention,² Chariton firemen Chris Fisher said.
Fisher also stated that the Old Betsy Restoration Project is dedicated to all past, present and future Chariton firefighters and to the citizens of Lucas County. He also commented on what a special treasure Old Betsy really is.
³Itıs an amazing piece of equipment and weıre fortunate to have it,² Fisher said.
The CVFD also expressed their appreciation to the different people and
entities who made the Old Betsy restoration project possible. They include: the citizens of Lucas County, Johnson Machine Works, Hy-Vee Inc., Smith Body and Frame, Ron Bingham, Kevin Dorland, Bob and Eric Johnson, Doug Klink, Mike and Leo Steinbach, A & A Plating, Miller Buggy Shop, Chrome Reflections, Capital City Boiler, the Johnson Foundation, House of Chrome, Kevin Norris, Mike Raffety, Ken Soberbeck, Brian Rowland, the Willis family and Chariton area businesses.