So, I brought her home and started cleaning her up.
Now, my goal here wasn't actually to sew on this machine, but rather to have a nice looking conversation piece.
I knew very little about these machines and their history, so I started poking around on the intarweb looking for answers.
Amazingly, in this age of cheap bastard corporations, Singer has a database online of their early models, to help you identify them by serial number, and many of the manuals are available as free downloads. Kudos to them for that at least!
I cleaned and polished her, I made sure the grease was fresh and the interior was was lubricated, and then on a whim... I decided to try sewing on her.

I was floored.

From the first time I pushed the pedal down and heard that whirring noise..I was astounded.
This is a machine made entirely of metal. there are no belts, no plastic gears, nothing but iron and steel.
And it purrs.