Kunkletown couple displays vintage engines at fair

Rich and Connie Banko found their first vintage stationary engine four years ago.

Not long after acquiring that machine, the Kunkletown couple met a man who was selling a small collection of engines. The Bankos bought those, too.

Their collecting did not stop there. The Bankos, who are both members of the Pocono Old-Tyme Farm Equipment Association, kept a sharp eye out for vintage engines. Rich even hung “wanted” signs for the machines in public markets.

They have found 17 engines to date.

“What’s happening with a lot of these — people are just taking them. They’re not taking care of them,” Connie said. “All they do is scrap them.”

“Then it’s gone,” she continued.

The first engine the Bankos acquired would not turn. The piston was stuck. Rich spent two weeks working it free. They have found machines in varying conditions; some just need a quick wash and rub, others come covered in hardened grease.

“If you saw some of these when we started, you’d say ‘you should have taken it to the scrap yard,’ ” Rich said.

But the Bankos do not take their engines to the dump. They scrape and scrub until the machines — and their history — are preserved.

“This is the start of the industrial revolution in this country,” Connie said.

“This is the beginning,” Rich said.

The Bankos name each one of their engines. Their headless Witte engine from 1918 is called “Ichabob.” Their Monarch machine is named “Archie.” An engine that was once covered in grease was deemed “Slick.”

The Bankos brought those three engines, another engine called G.W. and a generator down to the Carbon County Fair this week. Their exhibit was full with the pops and whirs of running engines and turning wheels.

Retired bus drivers and insulation workers, the Bankos’ mechanical interests go far beyond old engines. They have also built a railway garden in the lawn of their home, which includes 1,000 feet of rail. And they own two classic cars — a 1961 Chevrolet Corvette and a 1967 Chevrolet El Camino — which took a combined seven years to restore.