So we arrived at Wilson's mid day Saturday, and were welcomed by Wilson, who is a very good host.
I had brought along a wish-list of parts I needed for my other Glenwoods, so first stop was into his barn to start the parts search. I had to go slowly just to be able to take in all the stoves and parts. And not just stoves. Wilson also collects antique cars. He seems to like 60's Chevy Impalas best.
At one point I was standing there for a good 15 minutes, surrounded by base burners and parts as we were discussing his method of replacing the broken cast iron bottom pans with welded steel pans, when I realized, there was a truck parked in there too ! It's so easy to get lost in looking at all the stoves and parts covering every available surface and hanging from walls and beams, . . that even me, a guy who makes his living restoring antique cars wasn't noticing them !
What is as equally as fascinating as the massive amount of stoves and parts, is Wilson's memory of what stove parts he may have, where to look for them, and what make/model of stove each part fits as he digs through the many buckets, drawers, and boxes of parts. The man has an encyclopedic memory !!!!!
After a couple of hours looking through his outbuildings, then it was time for the real treat for me. We went in to see the many stoves in his house - one of which is my favorite. Each of the many rooms has at least one stove hooked up, ready to go. Many of the rooms have more than one stove and most of the stoves are pre 1900 to as far back as the 1850's. The artistic casting details on them are just amazing.
But, the real highlight for me was getting to see that little 1879 Glenwood Sunny kitchen range he has. It is small - a bit smaller than even my Sunny - but still large enough to do all the cooking and baking one would need. For someone who doesn't have a lot of kitchen space, it's a perfect size. I feel like a giant when I look at the picture the girl friend took of my drooling in front of that range.
And right next to the range, where I expected to see the larger Glenwood C range that I had seen in pictures he posted, was a restored Glenwood #6 base heater instead.
By the time we got in the house, the Sunny had run out of wood fire. But, rather than restart the Sunny, Wilson had the #6 loaded up ready to go. So, with just opening the direct draft damper, the MPD, and the toss of one match, the #6 was quickly running on wood. Within less than a minute of striking the match, he flipped the damper to indirect draft and the very slight whistle of air being pulled through tight fitting doors and dampers was replaced with total silence, only broken by the occasional snap of burning wood.
Then we went back out to another section of the barn to show me a Wings Best base heater. While I was trying not to drool over that, I looked next to it and there was the Holy Grail of Glenwood base heaters. A nice, original number 8. And what a monster it is in person. The width of the nickel plated firepot skirts have to be seen to believe just how big that stove is !!!!!! But, it was already sold.
Of other interest to me because of the Glenwood Modern Oak 118 back pipe project, I got to see Wilson's modified pattern to prevent warping of the baffle plate that is inside the back pipes for a 116 he is restoring. It really is a very simple solution. I can see that it will work much better than trying to make a pattern by building up a warped plate with Bondo. Plus, it can be applied to the 114 and 118 and any other back pipe stove with similar baffles to the Glenwoods.
So after many hours of Wilson graciously giving us a tour through house, outbuildings, it was decision time for me. I had gone there in hopes of finding another stove - preferably another Glenwood, . . . and I did.
Here's a small sampling of pictures of some of the stoves. It would take many hours to post pictures of even just most of the stoves Wilson has. But, the last picture is the stove that followed me home packed up in my station wagon. If it seems "Weir-ed" not to say what it is, it's only because I'm "Taunton" ya's !
And I'd like to thank Wilson again for taking so much time out of his busy day to provide us with a wonderful and fascinating tour.
Paul
When I saw this picture, my first thought was that if there was ever a "Glenwood Cathedral", this is what it would look like up in the bell tower. 
