Basehor resident Tim Christoff would like to save a piece of American history, actually several very big steel and cast iron pieces that together weigh 560 tons.
Christoff is leading a volunteer effort to keep seven 1927 Cooper-Bessemer engines, each weighing 80 tons, from going to the scrap heap. The engines until recently were used to compress natural gas at a Williams Pipeline station in Ottawa.
Mammoth relics replaced
But the company has replaced the mammoth relics with new engines, which are more efficient and environmentally friendly machines. The seven engines were slated to meet a wrecking ball followed by a trip to the salvage yard to make room for more storage at the Ottawa facility.
Christoff found out about the plan recently through a posting on an Internet site devoted to old engines, and he's been working ever since with Williams Pipeline officials to strike a deal that would allow old engine collectors to disassemble the machines and haul them off to be preserved.
"I just hate to see antiques destroyed," Christoff said. "You just don't see these anymore. How often have you seen an 80-ton engine?"
Chances are, if you have, you'd remember. Each engine is 52 feet long, 19 feet wide, 12 feet tall, has a flywheel that measures 14 feet in diameter and produces 1,000 horsepower.
Glimpse of industrial heritage
"They really are a look at our industrial heritage," said Richard Backus, editor of Topeka-based Gas Engine Magazine. "If you see one of these face to face, it will amaze you. They harken back to another time."
They're also a symbol of durability. Christoff said he was told the engines have run nearly nonstop since they were new more than 60 years ago.
"There is still a lot of life left in them," Christoff said. "They were designed to run a lifetime. They weren't designed to crap out at 50,000 miles like engines do today."
But more than anything now, they are heavy and hard to move. Christoff estimates it will take about a week per engine to disassemble the machines enough so that a 10-ton crane can move the parts. Then he estimates it will take a full day to load the three semitrailers needed to haul just one engine.
Williams officials have said they want the engines removed within the next 50 to 90 days. Christoff said he's trying to meet that timeline by getting several dozen volunteers to the site at the same time to disassemble several engines at once.
"I've got a lot of people ready to jump in there and start taking them apart," Christoff said. "I've got people from Montana and New York ready to come. They're ready to give up two weeks of their life to come and help. They're just waiting on my word."
Many details remain
There are still plenty of details to be worked out. Christoff said he is searching for a company to donate several days use of a 10-ton crane, and then there's the question of what do with the engines once the volunteers have them.
The hope, Christoff said, is that "stationary engine" clubs across the country will be interested in taking the engines and using them for their shows. Christoff said he's found seven clubs the closest is in Missouri that have expressed strong interest in an engine.
Backus said there are more people than one might think interested in these engines. His monthly magazine has a circulation of about 20,000, and he said there are many well-attended engine shows throughout the country, including one in a small Iowa town that attracts 100,000 people a year.
Bruce Lurtz, district manager for Williams, was firmly noncommittal about the efforts to save the engines.
"All I know is that we have a real need to get them out of here," Lurtz said. "It's just kind of the nature of the beast. We replaced them and now we're moving on."
Lurtz, though, said he has given Christoff the name of the salvage contractor the company uses and encouraged him to try to work out a deal with him to save some of the engines.
Christoff, though, said preliminary indications are the collectors would have to pay the contractor between $10,000 to $20,000 to disassemble and haul each engine.
Christoff said he has talked to other officials in the Williams company who have offered more hope a deal could be struck giving the collectors time to move the engines.
"I hope we can get it done for a lot of reasons," Christoff said. "I definitely don't want my name on a plaque or anything, but I'd feel good inside knowing that I helped save a piece of history."
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