After talking to a friend’s dad about the Old Engine Show (he had been there earlier that day), I got a hankering to go check it out. I’ve heard before that it’s a lot of fun.
Al and I had a blast! And I forgot my camera (of course). Al’s been really into railroads after reading Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.” and we had a blast. It was mostly tractors because it’s easier to get a bunch of steam powered tractors somewhere, but they also had a fully functioning steam engine w/2 passenger cars. I think they said the track was a mile long. It was pretty neat.
The first thing that struck us was how well organized it was. I’ve never seen such an organized event that size in my life. Kudos to those guys & gals!
We drove in (LOTS of signs directing us to the field), lots of parking staff and as soon as we got out of the car there was a tractor shuttle to take us into the event. They collected the money before you got on the shuttle and wrote your “street number” on your hand. The parking lot was filled with old road signs that said 10 Mile Rd, 9 Mile Rd, etc. So your stamp that you paid was your street number 🙂 The campground had old Avenue signs, again, numbered. It was very well thought out, coordinated, and staffed; It reminded me of disney that way :).
There was the train/train station, a print shop, leather shop, wood shop, and a blacksmith shop where the shuttle dropped you off. They sold things and you got to watch them making things; it was kind of like going back in history about 100 years; like a rendezvous but more in the future. There was also a large place where they mold metal (a forge?); I can’t remember what it’s called, but I watched them pour liquid iron into a mold. Way cool!
They also have tractors and other engines all over the place, on display or doing things like shucking grain (I’m not a farmer, I don’t know if that’s the proper term or not), bailing hay, pumping water from a stream, cutting wood, etc.
It also had a HUGE flea market & a ton of food vendors. I snagged some world history books written in the 30’s–before they started to re-write history. I can’t wait to read them 🙂 I also got the best ice cream I ever had, churned by steam engines :). Very tasty and much softer than store bought ice cream (unless it was just because it was warm out).
Overall, it was a very cool show if you’re in the area while it’s going it’s definately worth the $5.00 entrance fee. If we’re still here, I definately plan on going next year.