This is a 110 hp Case. This particular engine was owned by Kenneth Kelly of Pawnee, Oklahoma at the time the photo was taken; it is now owned by Ron Holland of Forrest City, Iowa. The 110 is the largest Case steam traction engine still in operation. It's not the largest Case traction engine ever built. That distinction belongs to the 150 hp Case. There are no operating 150s. I did see the boiler for a 150. My dad drove me, it seems, half way across the state of Illinois to see that boiler. Needless to say, I was not impressed; it was just a boiler.

The engines are always more impressive when they are doing what they were designed to do--that is work. Here is the 110 hp Case operating the Prony brake (dynamometer of sorts) at the show in Pawnee. I love to just sit there and listen to them chug and belch smoke for hours. Actually, when the engine is really working hard the plume is much cleaner than in the photo (but that doesn't make such a good picture). And I love the smell of steam and oil.

This is an Avery. The Avery's are impressive. The cylinders are underneath the boiler instead of over it. This makes the boiler really high and that's probably why the Avery's look so huge. The cylinders were placed underneath the boiler and close to the ground to make it easier to mount the belts for operating implements and more convenient for repairs. This apparently was a mixed blessing. Being close to the ground the moving parts were exposed to more dirt and this may have contributed to wear. Unlike most engines the Avery has two cylinders and this gives it a distinctive, "smoother" sound. This Avery is owned by Chady Atteberry of Blackwell, Oklahoma.

I saw a half scale Avery once. It was cute. It is also the only half scale traction engine I ever saw doing useful work. It was operating a sawmill and having no trouble doing so.

Something else they do at steam shows to work the engines is threshing. This is a Keck-Gonnerman 20 h.p. double cylinder engine running an all wood Keck-Gonnerman separator. The engine is owned by Steve Dunn of Oklahoma.

I was wondering why they always put such a great distance between the engine and the implement. A shorter distance would require a shorter belt. And why do they always put a half twist in the belt? It's not to reverse the direction of rotation, because the engine will run either way. A couple helpful readers sent some explanation. The door to the firebox is usually positioned upwind to improve the draft to the fire. This puts the thresher downwind which increases the possibility of creating a fire in the straw from sparks from the engine flue. Putting a lot of distance, and hence a long belt, between the engine and the thresher mitigates this problem. Additionally, the increased weight of a longer belt reduces slippage. The long belt can also smooth out transients in the engine speed so they don't get to the implement, however, steam engines run quite smoothly and this is more important for later gas powered tractors like the two cylinder John Deere. The twist just helps keep the belt on the pulleys.

Here is an odd engine. This is a C. Aultman Canton Monitor and has a vertical boiler. According to the owner of this engine there are only two in existence and his is the only one that operates. A vertical boiler engine is well suited to uneven terrain because there is no danger of exposing the crown plate. I thought it interesting that the operator (driver) and the one tending the boiler are positioned on opposite sides of the machine. How do they talk to each other? This engine was owned by the late Lyman Knapp.

This is a Nichols and Shepard owned by the Marten family of Fairview, Oklahoma. I like this particular engine; it's nearly as impressive as the 110 Case and it's prettier. I suppose that real steam aficionados don't use that adjective. All right, it's asthetically more pleasing.

My dad was troubled once because he thought I wasn't taking enough pictures. "Why don't you take a picture of that?" he asked. "Because it's not very pretty." I replied. I secretly aspire to be the Randy Leffingwell of steam.

This is a 1914 20 HP Reeves. This engine belongs to Butch Eaton.

A Russell. This photo was taken at the Will County show in Illinois in 1993. At the time the photo was taken this engine was owned by Jim Haley; it is now owned by Jim Russell of Oblong, Illinois.

I rode on a full size steam traction engine for the first and only time ever at this show.

And another Case. This is an older Case engine. This photo was also taken at the Will County show. This 1893 Case engine is owned by Konnie Kuiper of Highland, Indiana.

A Huber. The Huber has a return flue design. This 1915 Huber is owed by Tom Foreman.

This is my favorite picture. This is a 1917 28 HP Minneapolis operating the prony brake at Pawnee. On most engines the safety valve vents upward. On this particular engine the safety valve vent was underneath the engine. When it would go off, the engine would become almost completely enveloped in steam. It was a little cold that day and that made the condensing cloud of steam even more impressive. This engine is owned by Floyd Kelly.