Echuca Vintage Machinery Club shows historic engines at Elmore Field Days, sparking memories of rural life.
The Echuca Vintage Machinery Club brings history to life with a display of engines, pumps and machinery that once powered life on the land.
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For the club, the Elmore Field Days is about far more than showing off a good restoration.
It’s a chance to pass on knowledge to a younger crowd who may never have seen a kerosene engine splutter to life, or wondered how a farm ran before mains power and mobile phones.
The club believes it’s important to share this knowledge with younger generations, so the skills and stories behind these machines are never lost.
There’s a real sense of nostalgia in watching these old engines running again, and plenty of visitors are sure to recognise a machine or two from their own childhood on the farm.
Visitors to the display will see engines of all shapes, sizes and functions, from compact models that once sat on a bench to hulking pieces of ironwork that drove entire farm operations.
Jack Collins, 14, and Grubby Stevens.
These machines vary in horsepower and run on petrol, kerosene or diesel and were once essential to rural life, from pumping water and powering shearing plants and dairies, to running the household.
The deep chug and hiss of a stationary engine bring back the sounds of a working farm, long before the whir of modern machinery took over.
Behind every engine on show is a great deal of work.
Many are found in a sorry state of disrepair, and getting them running again is no small feat.
When original parts can’t be found, members simply make their own, machining and modifying components to keep these old engines ticking over for generations to come.
The club takes great pride in this, knowing it keeps a piece of rural history alive for people to see.
Formed in 1997, the Echuca Vintage Machinery Club meets on the first Sunday of every month at Rotary Park in Echuca.
Members also travel to vintage engine rallies around Victoria, enjoying the social connection of catching up with fellow enthusiasts from other clubs, and the club is always on the lookout for new members, whether experienced tinkerers or the simply curious.
