flood damage in australia

Unknown
Unknown
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Spare a thought for Chris Edwards of Phoenix engineering,who is helping me with my rebuild of the 37T motor.We went out to his workshop at lake goldsmith,a fantastic collection of restored stationary engines,irreplaceable early goldfields memorabilia ,a restored 1880s printing press,his Riley,my Terra motor,etc to find it 7 feet under water.This happened two days ago and now the water has receded,but the damage is terrible.Not only has every engine in his substantial and historic collection been totally submerged in silty water,there is a slick of oil from open drums covering everything,all his ephemera collection is destroyed,his wooden floors have buckled,there is 6 inches of oily mud every where.Its a disaster,but Chris is suprisingly upbeat about it,even though 25 years of collecting and restoring has been wiped out.Lucky for me that i had the Terra ute at home,it easily could have been out there,playing submarines.
The cleanup continues today.

Comments

  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    If oil is covering some of the stuff, it may be restorable. When I was in the Coast Guard we lost a 17 foot inboard/outboard sunk at the dock during a hurricane. We hauled it out - the engine was full of salt water. I drained it as best I could, blocked every opening, except one, and filled the engine to the valve covers with a very light oil we had in the boat shed. The skipper of the station was a bit put out about it - but the engineers who came down from Boston said that was the right thing to have done. A month later we had our 17 footer up and running again.


    Hudsonly,
    Alex Burr
    Memphis, TN
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    The engines are definately salvageable,what is lost is a priceless collection of early paper memorabilia,goldfields documents,owners manuals etc.Most of this was in display cabinets that floated then tipped over and sunk.
    On a lighter note,my new pistons and rings,stored in a plastic icecream container,floated off the floor,sailed across the 100 ft workshop,and came to rest safe and dry on top of a workbench!
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    I guess there is a lesson somewhere there...about storing things in airtight plastic containers! Seriously though, as a fellow collector (or anything and everything!) since my youth, I extend my sympathies to your friend. I'm not sure what the possible preventative would have been (short of storing his collection in a boat, Noah's Ark style....or simply building at the top of a hill. Nature can play havoc with our prized possessions.
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