Marmaduke

Long-time POWER readers may remember Marmaduke Surfaceblow, a fictional character whose engineering escapades were brilliantly portrayed in hundreds of stories published within POWER magazine’s pages over more than 30 years beginning in 1948. Today, the story continues through Marmy’s granddaughter, Marnie, who is an engineering wiz in her own right.


Marmy’s One-Squirt Celebration
Marmy’s One-Squirt Celebration

“Bilgewater on dedications,” roared Marmaduke Surfaceblow in his foghorn voice. “I’ll tell you armchair engineers about a dedication that almost turned out to be the plant’s requiem.” This blast took…


Marmy’s One-Squirt Celebration
Marmy’s One-Squirt Celebration

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow—a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice—in POWER in 1948, when Marmy raised the wooden mast…


Marmy, a Horse, and Compressors

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow—a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice—in POWER in 1948, when Marmaduke raised the wooden mast…


Marmy’s Deep-Freeze Blackout
Marmy’s Deep-Freeze Blackout

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow — a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice — in POWER in 1948, when he…


Marmaduke straightens a chimney
Marmaduke straightens a chimney

Motorists driving along Interstate Highway 83 usually turned their heads for an instant as they zoomed passed Cloverville, Pennsylvania. Their attention was attracted by the tall, square brick chimney that…


Marmy’s loose rivets
Marmy’s loose rivets

Watching the submarine Nautilus come up the Hudson River from my 26th-floor window put a few mental gears into motion. For one thing, I was suddenly back at sea again.…


Old plant, new mission
Old plant, new mission

Gencos selling into the wholesale market in Texas are no longer primarily responsible for the reliability of supply. In that deregulated market, responsibility for reliability has been largely transferred to…