Harry Sait

BLS 5th Annual Meet
Charles A. Purinton

The Miniature Locomotive, May-June 1953



These photos of Harry Sait's 3-1/2 inch gauge Boston and Albany Tank were taken at the 5th annual meeting of the Brotherhood of Live Steamers at Marblehead in September 1937. Few people know that this is the original miniature from which a number of others were made to follow. It is a typical "Sait" engine that has always been a pleasure to run. She steams freely, uses little coal and water and hooks up to one notch off center in either direction.

B&A Tanker
John Kurdzionak wrote on Chaski.org, January 2009:


 * Here is Harry Sait's 3/4 inch scale B & A tanker. Harry was an early pioneer in the hobby and was, as far as I know, born in the 1890s. He was actively building in the 1920s and 30s, probably the 40s too, and attended meets right up until about 1970. He died about 1971. Carl Purinton talked about Harry Sait's building skills right up until his (Carl's) death, and Charlie Purinton STILL talks about Harry Sait.


 * Mr. Sait built this engine in the early 1930s, and late in the 1930s Lester Friend developed a copy of it for Yankee Shop.......all the "Yankee" and "Friends" B & A tankers built over the years were based on this design......in fact based on this actual ENGINE. This is the "original" that Lester based the Yankee Shop version on. This engine ran at Marblehead and Danvers MA at the early Brotherhood meets.


 * I don't recall the exact year, but in the early 1930s Carl Purinton did a brief write-up about this engine (with a photograph very similar to this one) in one of his columns in an issue of The Modelmaker. Flip through your old Modelmakers if you have them, and you'll find this engine and Mr. Purinton's comments about it.


 * In some old issue of Live Steam Magazine, probably late 1970s or early 1980s, there is a write-up of a meet at Waushakum Live Steamers and a photo of Charlie Purinton running this engine.



Obituary
From PVSL Green Light, published in Live Steam Magazine, December 1971:


 * Harry Sait, one of the real "old timers" in Live Steam in the United States, passed away the last of June, 1971. Harry was in his eighties.


 * He was well-known to readers of the old Modelmaker magazine for his articles on safety valves, etc. The most-copies of his successful locomotive designs was the 3/4 inch scale Boston & Albany 4-6-6 tank engine.  He had also worked out a design for a twin cylinder steam driven water pump.


 * In his later years, if his health and time would have allowed it, he could easily have become an American LBSC.