Boston and Maine No. 494 in White River Junction, Vermont, built by the American Locomotive Co. (ALCO), Manchester, NH as No. 1546, in 1892.
Friends, fans, and curiosity seekers, by way of explanation, I submit to you the following text from our descriptive first post:
Colonel and Governor Levi K. Fuller was, in fact, a real man, a larger-than-life personality who lived in the era from which Steampunk draws its greatest inspiration: he embodies the epitome of the genre. We will explore his life’s story and work in this blog-style journal: you will find it difficult to distinguish the real from the imagined and, indeed, the lines of the possible even in those times were blurred and changing rapidly. His consummate skills and extensive knowledge spread over vast areas of expertise; he drew on these abilities to forge a distinguished career, an immense body of creative work, and an unmatched reputation amongst his contemporaries; he left us a fascinating legacy of achievement. The historical record is slim, over one hundred years later, but as we recover pieces of the evidence and recreate what may have been, the possibilities are truly endless.
The result is Fuller S.T.E.A.M. Division (the acronym S.T.E.A.M. represents Speculative Technology, Engineering, And Mechanics), an all-encompassing derivative of Fuller’s many enterprises under which cross-disciplinary research was and is conducted with an eye toward new and useful applications. Its mission, then and now: with a hand-picked staff originally headed by Levi K. Fuller himself, private development and prototyping was performed quietly while business-as-usual was carried on nearby, occasionally collaborating with other enterprises to draw upon their areas of specialization. Fuller Steam Division’s research and innovations brought many fields of inquiry and knowledge together, resulting in devices and technology unheard-of before those stimulating and productive times – much of which has now been forgotten or lost. Until now…
Working with historical references, lost shop drawings, reconstructed prototypes and models, and judicious extrapolation, we aim to further the inventive and creative legacy of Col. and Gov. Levi Knight Fuller. Our unfolding story is integrally woven into his own exploits: we believe you will find it enlightening, entertaining, and erudite, grounded in the actual and projected into the plausible. We welcome your insights and contributions!
Follow the Company Journal (nicely organized for your reading pleasure) to keep up with our exploits and peruse the other pages for further findings of historical fact and fiction. Please.
Fuller Steam Division 