How do you like your popcorn cooked?

When I discovered the old Cretors popcorn engines a few years back, I really wanted one, but they are very hard to find, and tend to be expensive when one does pop up on ebay.
There are several Cretors engines in a museum about a hour from my house, and so I asked them if I could measure one of those engines, and they say "sure".
So I said "and can I take one apart and measure it", and they said "I don't think so".

It was very frustrating because I wanted to build an accurate replica.

I finally decided to make my own flywheel, and started by carving one spoke, and then casting six if them, turning a wood hub and rim, and making a pattern.
The oversized (I like slightly larger sized workshop engines) flywheel turned out better than I thought it would, and at this point I believe I could make any one of the three Cretors engines in iron to match the originals.

I should have done a search here first, since I found some Cretors stuff I had already posted, located here:

https://forums.thehomefoundry.org/i...-flywheel-cretors-popcorn-engine.48/#post-389

This was the first oversized Cretors flywheel I cast (at the time, I was only casting aluminum).
I found the No.2 Cretors on ebay a few years ago.

 

Well, I guess this thread is now officially totally hijacked.
Sorry about that.

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That's okay, it's a lot more interesting than the original topic anyways. No offense Matt

 

None taken. Just need more small steam engine videos. Then I can start cooking more popcorn.

 

I love seeing the small steam engines and I especially love it when they're doing useful work and not just demonstration pieces.

 

The back story on Cretors popcorn wagons is that the original Cretors wagons were all steam powered, and about 1907, they started making electric models (an electric motor replaced the steam engine and boiler).
Old man Cretors was very much against this move, but times were changing quickly, and he was forced to keep up with technology.

Fast forward to perhaps the 1970's (I forget the exact time frame), there was a guy named Bob Pearson who did auto body work for a living.
He decided to make a replica Cretors popcorn cart and use it to sell popcorn at a local fair or show.
His wagon looked great, and was a big hit, and he got several offers for people who wanted to purchase one.
Bob went into business making popcorn wagon replicas, and he took two of them to the Cretors company (which is still in business to this day), and the Cretors family purchased the wagons on the spot.

The Cretors folks asked Bob if he wanted to visit the original Cretors factory in Chicago, and he said yes.
He toured the building (you can still see it on satellite and street views), and they looked in the old wood cabinets that were all around one of the floors of the building.
The cabinets contained the original Cretors patterns, and much of the tooling that was used to make the Cretors wagons.
Bob said "Can I borrow these patterns?", and the Cretors folks said "sure".

So Bob Pearson in Kansas has the original Cretors engine and other patterns, and he makes and sells engine and other decorative castings that match exactly the original Cretors engines.
I was able to travel to Kansas a few years ago, and met Bob.
We talked literally non-stop from 9:00 A.M. to about 7:00 P.M. without even a bathroom break.
The time flashed by, and it seemed like only about 30 minutes had elapsed.

I have photos of Bob's shop here somewhere; I will look for a link.

Bob built the replica Cretors popcorn wagons and engines that are in Disney and other amusement parks all over the world.

Bob is an extremely talented guy, and he even figured out how to make the flaked glass that goes into the wagons.
It took him years to figure out this process, and there was no documentation anywhere about how it was done.

Bob farms out his castings to various foundries, and he laments that the foundry costs continue to increase, and the quality continues to decline.

Engine castings that have been made from the the original Cretors patterns are still available from Bob Pearson, and from those you can build a Cretors popcorn engine that is identical (or almost) to the original engines.

I believe I could make accurate castings of any of the three Cretors engines, but I don't want to get into some sort of competition with Bob, so what I am doing is making patterns for larger versions of Cretors engines, such as Cretors engines with a 2" bore.
My engines are not similar in appearance to Cretors engines (as many models are), they are enlarged scaled models of Cretors engines.

The original Cretors popcorn wagon story is an interesting one, and Bob Pearson's story is yet another interesting chapter in Cretors history.

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