Engines rev at Spring Gas-Up in Portersville
PORTERSVILLE -- Fans of vintage farm equipment gathered at the Portersville Steam Show grounds on a hot Saturday morning to check out restored engines, tractors, cars and other equipment at the Spring Gas-Up event.
Families met farm animals and rode a miniature train around a track at the grounds. Three-year-old Leo White, visiting with his grandmother, Karen Flanagan from Butler, was thrilled to see a horse up close.
“It’s his first time being here, and he loves tractors,” Flanagan said. “This is exciting, and he’s never touched a horse before. He rode the train and saw the sawmill. That was probably one of the most fascinating things, watching the sawdust kick out.”
Don Fuechslin, who is president of the Northwest PA Steam Engine and Old Equipment Association nonprofit group, said the organization’s events have drawn sustained crowds since the shows returned after the pandemic.
“We had one of our biggest shows last spring during the pandemic,” he said. “People just wanted out.”
Saturday’s event featured tractor pulls, live music, snack booths and a flea market with over 200 vendors, Fuechslin said.
“We get people from Texas and Florida,” he said. “We have a book that they sign. They come from all around to this show.”
Bob Lewis, a member of the association who has participated in Steam Show events for the past 40 years, showed off an old Bessemer engine to visitors.
“We brought this here in about 1980,” he said. “It’s an engine, and all the red valves are check valves. That’s the gas compressor, and the lines in the middle are the gas lines. It’s all connected to the same mechanism.”
Mechanics and agriculture run in Lewis’ family, he said.
“My grandfather in Harmony was an auto mechanic, and my other grandfather was an oil well driller. He came from Chicora,” he said. “I’ve been doing this pretty much all my life as a hobby.”
Children rode a train and explored the grounds, watching tractors roll on by. Edward Kozak of West View brought his daughter, Elana, 4, to the event.
“She’s gone (on the train) about 15 times already,” he said.
Rachel Wiegand brought her whole family from outside Kittanning to check out the event.
“This is our first time,” she said. “We saw the blacksmith. We saw the wood shop and the print shop. We saw a couple of horses and a couple of goats, and the sawmill.”
The Portersville Steam Show will return for the Summer Show from Aug. 4 to 7, and the Fall Fling on Oct. 1 and 2.
