Summergrass and the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum part 2
My visits of the Summergrass San Diego Bluegrass Festival continues in this post. If you would prefer to start at the beginning check out Summergrass and the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum part 1. The festival takes place on the grounds of the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum located in the town of Vista, California. The pictures are from three Summergrass festivals, one day in each of 2005, 2019 and 2022.
In 2019 the first band I listened to was Front Porch Music Preservation Society. This Southern California group features both traditional bluegrass music and not so traditional bluegrass music.
Various farm equipment is in or under coverings of the Harvester Barn and other buildings.
The museum has quite an assortment of farm tractors.
Another building contained this brightly painted steam engine.
There is also a hall with autos like this 1929 Ford Model A.
Next up was LeRoy Mack & Gloryland. LeRoy has been involved in bluegrass music for over fifty years. More recently he assembled the group named Gloryland which plays original songs, traditional bluegrass favorites, Gospel music, and more.
There is also the Gas Engine Row which has a collection of large gasoline and diesel engines.
This is the Enterprise DSW-6 which was one of three generators that was used for primary and later standby power at Palomar Observatory from 1938 to 1996. The engine was donated to the museum in 1996 but not started until 2001.
The last band I saw in 2019 was Old Blue Band. They are dedicated to the preservation of the music from the past and so play bluegrass music the old-fashioned way.
There are also other things displayed on the museum grounds like this 1960 Buffalo Springfield ten ton road roller. It features reversible controls to allow the operator to work on either side of the roller.
This is a Tucker 443S Sno-Cat which was a four-track, three-door unit. The early model Tucker Sno-Cats all utilized a unique steel track that revolved around a steel pontoon.
This unique looking vehicle apparently thinks it Wannabee Racing.
The Lindeman Company of Yakima, Washington converted a John Deere model BO, a conventional rubber wheeled row crop tractor, from wheels to tracks specifically for use on the West Coast. In 1946 John Deere purchased the Lindeman Company and came out with the Model MC that was introduced as a replacement to the Lindeman. This was particularly interesting to me because when I was a teen my parents had a tree farm in West Virginia and owned a John Deere MC which I got to drive.
In 2005 the only band I took pictures of was The Brothers Barton and Overdrive. Brothers Paul Barton and Loren Barton formed the The Brothers Barton Band in 1997. For later touring they added others and the name Overdrive.
This Steam Traction Engine was being displayed near the entrance to the museum. Many of these were used to replace the horse for the heaviest work on American farms allowing farmers to work much larger farms.
If you get inspired listening to the music there were guitars for sale at a booth. Summergrass also has music workshops and jam sessions for those interested. There is also a kids camp.
One year they set up a large covering, topped with a flag, to provide shade.
The music at Summergrass is always good and there are still many things I have not yet seen at the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum which sound like good reasons for return visits in the future.
Be sure to also read the Summergrass and the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum part 1 post.
More Information:
Summergrass San Diego Bluegrass Festival website
Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum website
Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum Wikipedia article
The Bands in part 2 post:
Front Porch Music Preservation Society on Facebook
LeRoy Mack and Gloryland on Facebook
The Brothers Barton and Overdrive website
See the part 1 post for the Summergrass location map
