Sunday, August 13, 2006

steam power



The Taylor Marshall farm in nearby Sycamore once again hosted the Steam Power Show & Threshing Bee. This was the 50th annual year of the event, and it was bigger than ever!

There are acres and acres of cars parked in a field, and the steam and smoke created by the leviathans can be seen from miles away.

What a fantastic piece of history brought alive by the collectors and preservationists involved with keeping these machines in working order.

Here we see a field being plowed by a steam driven tractor. Certainly the steam engine can beat the one-man and oxen team which could plow an acre a day by hand.

There were some suprises at this year's show, so watch all this week for photos!

5 comments:

sugarcreekfarm said...

Guess where I was today? Our steam engine show! I remember last year we were both "reporting" on them at the same time. Can't wait to see your pics!

Deb said...

My husband and stepson took my then-2 year old son to an antique tractor show while I was in the hospital with my newborn daughter who turned 7 today. They took some great video, including some steam tractors. Amazing, I mean, who would have figured out how to build such a thing! Looking forward to more photos.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! This show was a staple of my childhood. When we got tired of waiting for Mom & Dad to go work in the Grange food tent, we would just walk the couple of miles to the show. I can remember being around 5 yeasrs old waiting for Mom to get the house chores done to go. Dad and big brother were already there. I was sitting on the porch steps when the steam whistles sounded at noon wishing for her to HURRY! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos. Gosh, it is good to see a slice of home that I miss so much!

Tim Rice said...

You bring back memories of a steam power and threshing show that I use to go to once in a while out towards Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Ava said...

Great picture of the steam engine tractor! I'll be posting some of my own in September when I get back from the Thresher's show.