Steam power
 

At the end of August, I plan to attend the annual NorthCentral Wisconsin Steam Show in Edgar. This will be my first time attending and it will be a trip back to my grandfather's time. I distinctly recall several enormous, galvanized threshing machines in a line along his tree shelter belt back in South Dakota--I now think of them as dinosaurs that once roamed the plains.

Anyone here into steam powered machines?

Big time. I would love to own a 7.5 gauge live steam locomotive someday. But they are pretty spendy.

If you ever find yourself in Detroit, its worth a trip to the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn. Great collection of static machines, and a running 4-4-0 in the Village.

I'm sure you'll have fun. South Dakota was the region of the huge Bonanza farms of the 19th century. That is where the need for steam power and the men able to provide it found common ground. They had the most powerful traction engines and widest separator cylinders outside of California.
I am a little young to have experienced the heyday of farm steam power, but I go to a lot of steam shows. Steam engineers were regarded as superior beings 120 years ago. Only a few knew the inner workings of a steam traction engine, and those who did were greatly revered
. It is still part magic and part science.
It was hard work to keep a head of steam up for a big separator (called "threshing machine" by city folk). A 36 x 60 separator would challenge the best steam traction engine. I worked as the fireman on one for a setting (one farm). When the firebox is open it is sucking air so you need to keep it closed as much as possible, but you have to open it to add coal. When you open it and throw in your shovel of coal you scan the bed of coals for dark areas. Next time you open the door you know right where to throw the next shovel full on the dark area, but you are hardly looking at it land because you looking for the next dark spots in the coal bed to toss the next shovel full in. It gets old after about 8 hours, but it's history and I love reliving it.
A good operator can make a threshing rig sing like a giant sewing machine , but a bad one can turn it into a disaser.

Probably the nicest steam railroad on the planet. I have been to quite a few.

There was a time when machines were elegant.

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I have a couple of castings kits that I hope to machine someday. Darn customers getting in the way of doing cool stuff ;)

cool vid explaining the corliss valving


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I have great memories of the old steam engines used in the railways back in the 50's. You would have to be old enough to remember that namely you would have to be in your 60's + now.

Distinctly remember the smell of the exhaust in the train station when a steam engine was leaving the station. A wonderful smell. This was in the UK. Have taken this thread a bit sideways. US steam trains I would think would be phased out starting in the 1950"s?

Guy

The Stanley steamer Car was supposed to be ready to go after fire up in just minutes.

US steam locomotives started getting phased out by diesel electrics on passenger trains in the 30's and it was more or less complete by the end of the 50's. The last real holdout was the D&RGW narrow gauge in Colorado and New Mexico which lasted until 1968.

Used to love watching the giant "Mallards"/"Mallets"? (I believe that's what they were called) with the cabs in the front chug through pulling strings of freight cars in the early to mid '50s. I still have a mild fascination with steam engines & steam driven equipment. I also remember being in my grandfather's field on his farm in Illinois as a really small kid when they were using a giant steam machine to power a hay bailer with a long leather (seemed like) belt. Harvesting and similar events were community things at that time.

http://the-wanderling.com/cab_forward.jpg

Here is an OK video of some steam traction engines powering threshing machines as mentioned in the OP. Skip ahead to about the 4 minute mark. There is a good look at a big 45 hp Minneapolis singe tandem compound engine working.

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Blowing off steam of a Stanley Steamer, not my car.
One gallon of water a mile the early cars used, luckily the were horse water troughs at least every 20 miles in the old days.
Steam is fun, I sure want a steam car!

I was surprised that diesel electric trains started so early as the 30's in the US. Perhaps the phase out of steam/coalfired was later in the UK as there is so much coal there. Thanks for that.

Fyi....
 

Not far from where I was borne in Northern England. Came across it on Wainwright's Coast to Coast in Yorkshire when I was hiking. If you look up www. nymr.co.uk there is an 18 mile track for a steam powered passenger train.

I have a bunch or the old miniatures. mamods, wiilesco's Jensens...Fun for all ages..

I'm fascinated by steam powered vehicles. Can't afford a Stanley so I started building a 3 cylinder bicycle a while back but it got swallowed up by other projects and stored away. Need to get back to that one!

- Auburn Heights

You can get a ride in a Stanley here. They also have a few other neat cars in the museum.

The first Motorcycle was powered by steam and made in your home town.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copeland_steam_bicycle

My Grand father worked for Henry Ford I in the Rouge from 1916 to 1959 as a Specialty Mould Maker. One of the tasks that he was given was to make the Moulds used to restore Henry's collection in the Ford Museum.

Henry loved to collect things mechanical, his collection of obsolete 19TH century farm machinery is probably second to none. One of the things that he especially liked to collect were steam engines. The museum has one dating from about 1715, which was used in England to pump water out of coal mines. Then there is one of the two Turbines that produced power for the Rouge, it is two stories high and about 100 feet long.

I get one of these style pumps in my machine shop 4 or 5 times a year, steam powered recip pump.
Some of em are way older than i am, but we patch em back together.
Working on them is quickly becoming a lost art.
Same basic operating design as a locomotive.

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