From a letter Tom wrote to his friend Rob, Feb 6, 1974

Tom driving King George's Limousine.

A few weeks ago Dad was going to buy a limousine that belonged to King George IV. He didn’t buy it, however, because he couldn’t get documentation to prove it did belong to King George IV — or any other king, for that matterr.

Now Dad’s glad he didn’t buy it because he’s become interested in steam engines. He’s been reading books about steam engines for the past couple of weeks and wants to go into business manufacturing recreation vehicles that run on steam. Before he starts manufacturing them, however, he wants a Stanley Steamer from which to get ideas. He gets this old-car publication called Hemming’s Motor News, and in it yesterday he found an ad that says some guy in New  York state has just what Dad wants: a Stanley Steamer that runs but is presently disassembled — if that’s even possible.

The ad said to telephone after 5 p.m., but Dad couldn’t wait. He telephoned all afternoon, finally reaching the guy’s wife about 4:30 p.m. 

I think we’re going to buy it for about $5,000. Dad, Bill and I will drive up to get it and an old guy from whom we’ll borrow a trailer to carry the Steamer back may go, too.

Dad’s lately been telling a lot of steam-engine stories. He reads them in books and tells them to us. Some of them are funny or interesting but Dad enjoys them more than the rest of us and has been known to tell the same story more than once.

Steam engines are neat, though. We have one, but it doesn’t have a boiler to power it or, for that matter, anything to power. It’s just an engine, which means it’s actually a set of valves and stick-shift valve levers, about 100 pounds worth of tubes and bars, but small enough to slide under you bed. It could easily power an automobile, send you blasting down the highway with no exhaust other than a little excess humidity and making only a polite sp-sp-sp- noise…Now I’m talking like Dad. I must’ve caught steam fever.