"Did you ever look out over a lake and think of somethin’
buried underneath it? Buried underneath it! Well man,
that’s just about as buried as you can get ! "
Lewis Medlock , Deliverance
Charlie Inman remembers the day when a flood washed a 20Horse Stickney engine into the Milk River . He then watched the engine slowly disappear into the mud over the next 50 years . He was nine years old and often day dreamed about digging it up and getting it running again .
Everything lined up and in 2000 Charlie was granted
permission by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to dig her out .
Arent they nice ?
Built in 1913 it is one of three remaining 20 HP Stickney engines ,
and weighs in at around 8,000 lbs . It was used in construction
of the Fresno Dam project and then discarded at the end of the project
by the contractor .
Nothin' but POTENTIAL baby !
A cast iron item item that was always submerged
and never dried out can be amazingly preserved .
If not exqusitely stuck . I would love to tap this
baby apart .
And tap on it Charlie did after 4 years and 2000 hrs
of carefull restoration . He has himself one big mother
of a showstopper with a hell of a story .
Photos copyright by Charles Inman , one happy dude !
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