A little Kitten traction engine



One of the big Reeves plow engines



My dad`s 5/8th scale Wood Brothers being tended by Kim Nickols

Great pictures. Love old tractors.

__________________
<><

They're always fascinating mechanically and historically. Thanks for sharing!

A few more

A Baker engine



25/75 Case



22/70 Wood Brothers



A little Russell engine

Love the old iron!

Can you imagine how hot it must have been running that old equipment on a hot summer day out in the hayfield? They were better men that I.....

As a matter of fact I can. I`ve done it.
But the old timers were smarter than I am. They were doing it to make a living, I was doing it for fun.

If you want to see what is like to ride aboard a K36 DRGW Steam engine, go over to youtube and do a search on pme166.

I posted 25 video's (all short) that I shot when I did the cab ride up from Durango to Silverton. Pretty amazing ride!

__________________
SWCA 1646

35/110 Case & 25/75 under mounted Avery



18/54 Frick Eclipse



20/60 Advance Rumley

Wow...I don't get to see iron like that down here...I see old JD, Ford, Case, but not very much of anything that is steam powered...maybe I'm looking in all the wrong places?

The city of San Antonio recently "discovered" that they still have 2 steam fire engines...one is on loan to the Houston Fire museum, and the other was 'found' walled off in the basement of a public works building that was being renovated. I may lend a hand in getting the newly found one reworked. If I get involved, I will be sure to post photos here.

__________________
On the Oak Savannah

My F-I-L was steam loco engineer on the UP. He loved steam engines.

Here is pic of his 25-85 Nichols & Shepard traction engine. It is the only one I could find without taking apart the storage room.
And a pic of his 2-8-0 standard gauge steam loco he had along with a 10 car train. I have my 1970 roadrunner Superbird nose to nose with it for this pic.

My FIL made movies with his engine and train. First was Cat Ballou and the last was Geronimo in 1993. Sadly we had to sell the train and traction engine to settle his estate. Great times for sure!
It got 140 degrees in the cab of the loco. You drink A LOT or warm water while shoveling coal.

John

Attached Images

	File0005.jpg (53.7 KB, 42 views)
	img164.jpg (60.8 KB, 65 views)
	Picture 187.jpg (53.7 KB, 58 views)

If you come to Pinckneyville, IL in mid August, you can see 1 or 2 110 horse Case engines. One year we had three.

I would love to go to another steam show. It has been a few years for me. I just might have to plan a trip to hit a a few in the midwest sometime.

John

Attached Images

Picture 214.jpg (53.3 KB, 24 views)

John, we even have an operating rideable miniature of your picture.

I assume you are talking about the N&S?

John

Very cool part of history!!!!! Now we know the origins of the "gangsta wheels" that we're seeing today..... LOL....

John, I was referring to the train thumbnail.

Brick, A scale locomotive? Wow that would be cool. Do you know what scale it is? 1/4 or 1/8?

I have often thought about building a 1/4 scale model of our #75 but just don't have the time. ha ha I always have a project going.

That would be fun to see. Gee now your really tempting me to go back east and see a few of the shows!

John

Still have the Superbird???

John, I will have to find out what scale the train is and what it is based on. It is a coal fired steam driven train that runs during the mid August and mid October show every year.

I wish I had the superbird yet. I sold it 21 years ago when I moved up to MT. I used the money to buy the place I live at now. It was a good trade for my family.
It was a 440 with the 6 pack and a 4 speed. 3.54 dana rear end. I had lots of fun with it at Mopar events and club races. My favorite thing to do was load up the family and go get ice cream cones in it. Needless to say I didn't allow the eating of ice cream cones IN the car! ha ha

You have a steam show in Oct too? I am going to have to get one of the steam mags and find all the dates and make a trip to hit several. Once you get out of MT everything else is close together.
My FIL had thousands fo feet of 16mm film with nothing but steam tharashing bees on them from the 50's, 60's and 70's.
Many thousand feet more of steam locomotives. Mostly Rio Grande, U.P., C&S, and CB&Q, Rock Island and a lot of the narrow gauge stuff in the CO rockies from before WWII when some of that was still going. Now all that is left is the Darango-Silverton and the Chama line.

He had 16mm film of the narrow gauge and the standard gauge tracks in the same yards in Colorado with steam locos on both set of tracks. I do not remember where that was though.

John

Minneapolis traction engine



Another Case



New Giant

Cab ride D&S Steam Engine K-36 #481 #25 - YouTube

I thought this was impressive as Mike tried to start the engine after refilling with water. He was very worried about getting us started and went out to look over the track before he got it going. Steam engines at their best!

__________________
SWCA 1646

Cab ride D&S Steam Engine K-36 #481 #1 - YouTube

I was impressed at how much the engine shook when we were under full power and moving along. Steam engines really bounce around!

I did get to drive for a while and Mike the engine says while I got better at the whistle I was too tentative.

If you want to see what riding a steam engine is like go for a cab ride. I learned more about how a steam locomotive worked on that trip then I expected.

__________________
SWCA 1646

When I was newly married my FIL still had friends that were still running U.P. engines. I got to ride the cab of some amtrak diesels. I thought the diesels bounced all over the tracks more than our steam engine. But we had a standard gauge steam loco. That is a lot bigger than the narrow gauge engines. I helped get a narrow gauge engine going here in MT and it jerked around more. Track conditions and the length of the engine have a lot to do with that.

There is more stuff on youtube than I can ever think of! Those are some neat shots. Steamers are not that hard to run, but to make them run correctly takes time and skill.

That Minnie reminds me of the 100 horse Minnie my FIL had part ownership in. This thread brings back so many memories. I enjoy it it a lot. I do wish I was able to to put shots of our engine onto the computer and share them but I don't know how. I will try and talk my son who makes hunting DVD's into helping me when he comes home for Christmas.

John

Sears sawmill with an Advance on the belt

Wow, thanks for posting more pics. There are a few there I never heard of! But I was into the steam loco end of steam, I didn't have a choice! ha ha,

Here are few more of our train: 1. Lee Marvin with my FIL for the movie The Professionals, 2. me 30 years ago in our caboose, 3.#75 in the late 50's at Great Western Sugar Co. where she spent almost 60 years before my FIL bought her. 4. Our private Business Car, former Rio Grande business car #107. Truman and Eisenhower both campaigned in this car while in Rio Grande service.

Attached Images

	img011.jpg (59.7 KB, 23 views)
	img013.jpg (72.5 KB, 25 views)
	Picture 213.jpg (68.6 KB, 24 views)
	Picture 186.jpg (96.9 KB, 23 views)

My paternal grandfather was one of the last, if not THE last, steam locomotive engineers (apparently his engine was fairly well known among the train people, "Big Boy" and his pictures are in some of the railroad engines is what I am told...or was. It's hard to know what was my dad's delusions of grandeur or exaggeration, combined with hazy childhood memories) When my bio dad was a small child, they had built a scale model steam locomotive. we grew up with a scale locomotive in the backyard.

I didn't think it was THAT cool then, and I still don't...but I often wonder where that steam engine ended up.
Steam engines have to be registered in some agency database. My brother had access to it, and said the locomotive registration still shows our father's name. No one has updated since 1984 or 1985 when my mother sold it after he died. I often hope it made its way to a park to be restored and enjoyed young and old alike...but we all know better than that, don't we?

I do, however, kinda like the OP's steam tractors.

__________________
Soli Deo Gloria

captorquewrench,

Who was your grandfather? My FIL knew then all as he ran the Big Boys too! The Challengers and 800's too. Where did he live?

If you do not want to post his name send me a message or email me I might have him in one of my RR books if what your father said is correct.

John

Samuel A. Helm. I think maybe for a while lived in Wyoming, then Missouri? Later...much later...in Texas as he ran an amusement train ride in Landa Park in New Braunfels. I've seen pictures of him in the train stuff...but all that memorabilia, what there was of it, disappeard after my dad died.

__________________
Soli Deo Gloria

John (jspick), I finally got the information on the little train. It is a "Little Toot" made by Crown Metal in Pennsylvania. It is a 15" gauge, 440 with Stevenson Reverse Mechanism. It is not a replica of any particular engine. It runs on a 1/2 mile of track. If you want info on the shows, go to American Thresherman Association. Hope this helps.

captorquewrench,

I looked through my books and I didn't find your grandfathers name so I guess I don't have those books. Looking was fun though.

Brick,

Thanks for the info I will check it out. Our loco had stephenson reverse too. It is a very simple design. I have heard of that name before. 15" is approx 1/4 scale. By far the funnest size to have.

Thanks again, John

Huber traction engine



Harrison traction engine

13/40 Case



A couple of Port Huron engines





25/75 Case



Gar Scott



35/110 Case

Cool pics.
I grew up around Case steam engines, my grandad had quite a collection.
6hp stationary and 50-65-80-110hp traction engines.
Back when I was a little kid in the 70's he had a threshing bee every labor day and all kinds of old engineers would show up.
Great times.
My 15year old son has become quite the enthusiast. He and his grandad spend some great times together down at the shed steaming up one of the engines.

18-56 Wodd Brothers



Pair of Nichols & Shepard 25-75s







27-80 Case



17-50 Case