Here’s the problem… we have this great sugarcane press that came with the cabins from the original site. The press was made around 1905 and has been outside for 105 years. We’re guessing that it has been frozen up for the last 50 years, or more.

No matter how much we tried and no matter how much strength, oil, leverage, harsh words were applied, we could not break the press free. This is a problem because we want this park to be a working example of history. In this light, it would be fantastic to demonstrate how the press worked.

This is where Liquid Wrench came to the rescue. The Radiator Specialty Company, makers of Liquid Wrench, graciously offered to send us enough Liquid Wrench to do the job. It arrived this morning and by the afternoon, the sugarcane press is working great.  We slowly poured about one and one-half gallons of Liquid Wrench into the mechanism and had it broken loose in less than an hour.  We knew it would work, but never expected it would be that quickly!

All we can say is that Liquid Wrench is incredible! Thank you so much for the generous donation.

Here is a video chronicling the move.

More here

The Conroe Courier did a nice piece on our park today.

http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/09/06/conroe_courier/news/partk0905.txt

 

Things are beginning to take shape at the new site. The cabins are almost completely set and the blacksmith shop is being put back together. 

The Hulon house should be the next building we receive. It is the newer of the buildings, but the one that is in the most disrepair.

Anyway... it's looking good and the sign is great to.

The Crane and Jardine cabins have arrived.

It took about 5 hours to move them the short distance from their original home to the City of Montgomery. Starting at 9PM on Thursday night, the moving team, consisting of the house movers, electric company, police department and assorted volunteers, began the slow trip through Montgomery country. Luckily, despite a few minor hiccups, the move went very well and the cabins are in-place and ready to be lowered onto their new foundations. 

This is a big step in the Fernland park project. Now that the cabins have arrived, the long process of restoration and preparation can begin. If you are interested in helping, click on the contact link and drop us an email.

Lastly, thank you to the neighbors at the original site for graciously putting up with the minor inconvenience as the cabins moved through your neighborhood.