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"Steam" Engine Created From Childhood Memories
As a child, Tino Ferro played in nearby rail beds with a close-up view of passing steam engines. As an adult, he decided to make a miniature version of an engine from memory.
  "Everything is recycled," says Ferro, who makes his living as a sculptor. "The boiler was an old barrel, the transmission and steel wheels came off a rototiller, and the idlers are rollers from a cabbage planter. The bell is made out of propane tanks."
  The only new thing is the 6 1/2 hp motor that allows the engine to travel about 8 mph. The unit is 10 ft. long and 8 1/2 ft. tall. It weighs 1 1/2 tons.
  The steam engine fits well with Ferro's eclectic mix of metal sculptures that include horses, chickens, frogs, dragons, tractors and more. He sells those pieces at art shops and does commissioned pieces such as "flying pigs" on a roof, a metal tree with rainbow-colored leaves, and colorful hot air balloons.
  The train engine is more mobile than most of his work. "I think its most interesting feature is that the stack belches white smoke from a fogger machine that looks like steam," Ferro says.
  He invites people to contact him for more information about how he made the engine and to check out his website to view his other creations.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tino Ferro, Frog Pond Farm Folkart Gallery, P.O. Box 109, Little York, N.Y. 13087 (ph 607 749-6056; www.frogpondart.com).


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2011 - Volume #35, Issue #3