Charles Lester III knew from a very early age that his grandfather’s seven-foot wooden model of a steam locomotive was something to be looked at, not played with.
“My father used to pile things up in front of it, so we couldn’t get a good look at it and our imagination wouldn’t run wild,” said Lester, a Niskayuna native and resident whose grandfather moved to Schenectady in 1911 to work for the American Locomotive Co. “I’m sure my father learned from his father that it wasn’t a play thing.”
It’s still not a play thing, but getting a good look at it remains very special for railroad fans and anyone else who appreciates art and craftsmanship. Built over a four-year span (1930-34) nearly a century ago at his Midland Avenue home in Niskayuna, Lester’s model was based on The Hudson, an actual steam locomotive that came off ALCO's production line in Schenectady in 1927.
Lester’s amazing piece of work, part of the ALCO Historical and Technical Society collection that is currently on display at the Walter Elwood Museum in Amsterdam, will return home Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. for the Schenectady County History Faire at Proctors.
Lester was born in 1893 in Charlestown, New Hampshire, the son of a railroad watchmen. He was introduced to trains at an early age and made his first small model of a steam locomotive at the age of 11. At the age of 17 he left his home in central New Hampshire just east of the Vermont border and headed to Schenectady.
“He came across an advertisement in the newspaper about an apprentice program at the locomotive works in Schenectady,” said Lester, whose grandfather died in 1957 five years before he was born. “He left his home and came to Schenectady to enroll in the program in 1910 and earned certification as a ‘competent draftsman’ by 1914.”
Lester said his grandfather went on to become a mechanical engineer and a leading designer of steam locomotives at ALCO, earned three patents, and was possibly involved in part with the design of the Hudson.
“I never knew him, but my father was quite reserved so I think my grandfather probably was, too,” said Lester. “My father told me that he had also started a model that would actually run on steam but he never quite finished it. My grandmother sold it and we have no idea who bought it or where it went.”
Lester also said his grandfather was quite active in the community and served 19 years as a Republican Committeeman in the town of Niskayuna. He was also a member of St. George’s Masonic Lodge, the ALCO 25-Year Club and the Broadway Methodist Church.
Along with the Lester model, the History Faire, now in its second year, will have a number of different items on display, including portable exhibits from miSci and the Empire State Aerosciences Museum.
The Schenectady County Historical Society will also be a part of the Faire, and other exhibitors will include Union College, SUNY-Schenectady, the Duanesburg Historical Society and the Edison Tech Center.
Duanesburg’s Julie Drexel will return with her historic postcard collection, while the History Faire will also include representatives from the SUNY-Schenectady Community Archaeological Program, Schenectada Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Maybee Society, the Bradt Family Society and the Association of Philippe du Trieux (Truax) Descendants.
City Historian Chris Leonard will have an exhibit commemorating the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s visit to Schenectady, and the Dr. Elizabeth Gillette Statue Project committee will be on hand to talk about the city’s first female surgeon and the first woman elected to the state legislature from upstate New York.
Among the local authors signing copies of their books will be Mike Davi, Don Ackerman, Sylvie Briber, Neil Yetwin, John Gearing and Kim Waldin.
