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1901Lane Model 11 |
SACA-NorthEast Chapter
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1901Lane Model 11 |
The NorthEast Chapter of the Steam Automobile Club of America was formed in February of 1998 by seven steam car aficionados who wished to have more occasions to meet in the local environment. They had deliberately chosen to limit the membership of the chapter as they have no desire to let bureaucracy get the upper hand and no suitable meeting hall. Meetings are often held in a member's garage on a "if you want to sit, bring a chair" basis.
There are 33 current members, 26 of whom own steam cars, the total number of cars owned being approximately twice the number of members. The ages of the cars range from more than a century old to "not yet finished". The members don't have quite the same range of ages and reside, for the most part, in New England. The membership now includes three generations of one family!
Meetings are held, in no fixed location, six times a year. After the typically tiresome business aspects of the meeting are dealt with, members may present papers on topics of interest. Usually, steam cars or their parts are available for examination and discussion, some times with demonstrations.
Meetings are open only to members and their guests. However some recent meetings have been combined with meetings of other organizations to share a suitable venue. One example was the "Yankee Steam Up" at the New England Museum of Wireless and Steam, East Greenwich, Rhode Island. To these meetings, the public is welcomed although they may not take part in the chapter's business. Notice of such
meetings will be given on this page.The consensus of the chapter is that more should be done to encourage "younger blood". This page is one attempt to serve this purpose. However, as it is also the consensus that no data be posted without being reviewed by a quorum, readers may find coverage of chapter affairs somewhat dated. This should have no significant effect on technical data to be presented here; steam technology has changed very little in the last half century!
The secretary of the chapter has accepted responsibility for writing and maintaining this page. As he is a computor clutz, readers should not expect many bells or whistles. It is his intention to include
minutes of meetings, pictures of members and their cars and copies of papers presented at meetings as they become available. He possesses a significant private library in the fields of engineering and steam technology, particularly as it applies to automobiles. While copyright laws prohibit providing copies of much of the data, the secretary will provide references and answer such questions as he can. Some of the questions and responses may be posted on a Steam Help page, along with other advice to steam car owners. Inquiries should be addressed to the Secretary by E-mail to (nergaard@verizon.net); or c/o David K. Nergaard, 367 King Street, Littleton, Mass., 01460-1248, 'phone 978-486-9695. (Let it ring!)Back to
Top of pageLast update:20 December, 2006
