Historic Putnam County Snow Thrower Restored
Putnam County’s Department of Highway and Facilities announced it completed the restoration of a 1959 FWD snow thrower following an inventory check of snow equipment.
The historic vehicle was originally purchased new by Putnam County on December 15, 1959. All original documentations are on file and remains a “matching numbers” original vehicle. The vehicle was in service for almost 40 years and served faithfully from 1959 to 1998 where it sat dormant since. A copy of a historic newspaper article, believed to be the Putnam Trader was in the file and noted the vehicle’s service during the storm of January 28, 1977 where two Putnam County Highway staff, Albert Hudson and George Anderson, Jr. of Patterson trailered the FWD to Watertown, NY to assist in emergency the operations and “spent eight days. . . clearing away some of the 273.5 inches of snow with drifting as high as 30 feet”.
The 1959 FWD has always been admired for its history with the county, classic style, durability and simplicity. After discussions between Commissioner Pena and Fleet Manger/Chief Mechanic Vitiello the project started in 2017 as a part-time effort to determine IF the classic could come back to life. With that, the vehicle was towed to Lead Diesel Mechanic, Lonny Vlashi
Vlashi meticulously and methodically investigated and restored all the major systems, including both gasoline and diesel motors, the snow thrower, and the entire drivetrain. With Chief Mechanic Vitiello’s help in finding some rare missing parts and supporting the project through all its phases, Vlashi then proceeded to rebuild all major mechanical and brake components, and then painted the classic to a functionally restored and “presentable” condition.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
