Fifteen steam-powered cars, all built over 100 years ago by the Stanley Motor Carriage Co. in Watertown, visited Palmer on July 1, as part of an annual get-together. All were similar to the Grout, built in Orange, but unfortunately no Grouts made an appearance that day.
Organizer Sarah Moon said she and her husband have three steam-powered cars, and one is a Grout. She had hoped to include a trip to Orange to visit the Grout factory and the Orange Historical Society, but could not make those arrangements in time for the tour.
The Amherst Railway Society provided a stopover point during the outing. Society members were present to assist the drivers with fresh water for their vehicles, and soft drinks and restrooms for the drivers and passengers. The clubhouse was once a church, moved from Enfield before the town was flooded for the Quabbin Reservoir in the 1930s.
Most of the steam-powered cars were from New England, but a few came from Tennessee and Michigan. They are trailered by the owners to these types of events to save time. Steam-powered cars must stop every 20 miles or so to add water and must add fuel about every 50 miles.
Philip Johnson lives in Erving, where he is a member of the Historical Commission. He is also a railroad historian, a published author and a longtime member of the Amherst Railway Society.