COLLECTING THE UNUSUAL A rare Ellis tops a trio of vertical engines
Although many engine collectors enjoy bringing neardead engines back to life, Craig Solomonson isn’t one of them. “I don’t have the equipment, skills or knowledge to do a lot of engine work, so I’ve avoided it by concentrating on engines in near-running or running condition – complete engines without a lot of breaks and welds. And loose. If I had to unfreeze it, I’d be lost,” Craig says.
Craig grew up in the small southwestern Minnesota town of Storden, where both his grandfathers were farmers. “I spent a lot of time on their farms,” Craig says. “One of them had an old steam engine and threshing rig, so that got me interested in old machinery.” But he got into engine collecting by accident. “In 1972, a friend told me about a barn full of old car parts near Bemidji (Minnesota), so I made a trip to check it out.”
He found the car parts all right, but also the keystone to his future gasoline engine hobby in two hit-and-miss engines. “There was an Associated Hired Man and a Galloway. They looked interesting, and the next thing I knew, I had the bug!” Both engines ran, which was good by Craig.
After that, Craig started putting together a small collection of engines. “Engine restoration back then was sandblasting,
