Restoration Projects

Restoring a Vintage Tractor

Stein Eriksen has a great passion for all things mechanical, and his most recent project has resulted in another victory for the museum! When Stein first spotted the 1952 Allis Chalmers Model IB tractor his interest was piqued. So, the team began the project and got to work. First came the task of where to relocate it so he could work on it. He, David and Karen set off to the auto museum to maneuver other vehicles around and make space. Next came the research to track down the needed parts. After the repairs came inspections, fuel, oil and carburetor checks ups, and she was once again ready to go! ‘the old girl just went by my office purring like a kitten, sounding just like she did in ’52, and a man with a giant boy’s smile!’ said Executive Director Paul Barcellos

Stein Eriksen: ‘It was a good challenge, you think you can assume that the project was put together correctly and you can just focus on compression, fuel and spark…. But this one was a bit more challenging, The ’52 has a magneto system, that charges the coil and is triggered via a set of points. After the points were cleaned and able to get spark back, you would “assume” it would fire correctly… Not in this case, it actually was firing too early… to make a long story short. The Allis should have two timing points on the flywheel, “Center” for top dead center and “Fire” for when it should spark. In this case, there was TWO “Fire” stamps on the flywheel, no “Center”. Once we figured out which one was the correct “Fire” we repositioned the magneto and it started right up. Another mystery solved’.

Advertising Curtain Restoration

Next time you come to the Railway Village Museum, be sure to revisit our Town Hall to see a new (old) addition. Turn of the century town halls, grange halls, and theaters often had large curtains made of muslin, linen, or canvas hanging above their stages. Though often decorative and serving as backdrops for performances, others advertised local businesses. Built in 1847 for $700 by Ephram Pinkham, the Boothbay Town Hall, now located on the museum grounds, is an example of the Greek Revival style popular in Maine from 1830-1860. In the early to mid-1900s, a large advertising curtain was hung in the Town Hall. The curtain was painted on canvas from a recycled sail and advertised local businesses, some of which still exist in Boothbay today! In August of 2022, the advertising curtain was restored by Vermont-based non-profit ‘Curtains Without Borders’. Restoration efforts were led by Curtains Without Borders expert conservator, M.J. Davis with the help of her husband Dan Davis and RVM employees: Karen Aumick, Emma Markowitz, and David Blackman. The Railway Village Museum would like to extend a special thank you to J. Edward Knight Insurance for donating the funds to restore this piece of local history. Stop in and you will see they were one of the original businesses on the curtain! If you would like to know more about Curtains Without Borders, check out their website curtainswithoutborders.org.