Nowthen Threshing Show, August 2021

[propforward]

Hello!

yesterday I went to a local threshing show, in the small town of Nowthen, Minnesota. It continues to give me a great deal of pleasure that there is a town called "Nowthen". Anyway, here are some pictures and also a short video with clips of some of the engines from the show. For what is a very small town, it's honestly a really good event. You're able to get up close to the traction engines and chat with the owners - a really good time.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsU7SFLWLqs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsU7SFLWLqs</a>

Lots of Case engines:







The Minneapolis:







Couple of smaller engines:

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Also some models:





























A few machine tools:







A blacksmith shop:

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Engines of all types, large, small, working, and some in need of TLC:

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There was a working saw mill and planer powered by two traction engines:

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This Fairbanks Morse diesel was amazing. I was there to watch it start up and run, and I expected it to be a noisy beast, but it was amazingly quiet and smooth.





A few more engines:







It being a threshing show, there was a tractor parade, which gives something to watch while queuing for your deep fried cheese curds and BBQ sandwich, home made ice cream and alka seltzer:



Not everything in the parade is a tractor:







And there we are. A grand day out, as Wallace might say to Gromit. Good times - I will go again next year since it's local.

In a couple of weeks is Rollag, which is an enormous show.

[crueby]

What a grand show!  Thanks for all the pictures!

[Admiral_dk]

Thank you for sharing your pictures 

How did you manage to take so many with no people in them - before opening hours ?

Per

[steamer]

Thats cool Prop!   I really like that rat rod!


Did you get a date on that Southbend?

Dave

[Dave Otto]

Thanks for the photos, looks like it was a good show!

Dave

[gbritnell]

Looks like a great show! Thanks for the pictures.

[RReid]

Looks like a fun day! So, just down the road from Nowthen does one come to Whatnow?

[Larry]

Great pictures - Thanks !

[Jo]

Thanks Stuart 

Now I am pining after going to a full sized steam Rally again, and the Great Dorset Steam Fair (which was due to start on Thursday) has been cancelled 

Jo

[Zephyrin]

Wow, that was really a great show !
from tiny models to large traction engines so many engines to see...

thanks to share these nice pictures.

[Steamer5]

What an absolutely great way to waste a day away from the shop!
Fantastic display!

Can see Chris getting excited over a couple of those to add to Elfin Garage!

Cheers Kerrin

[tangler]

Thanks 

[MJM460]

Hi Stewart, that’s a really great show with good numbers of both models and full size.  Thanks for posting the pictures.

The thing about smaller communities is not the size of the community, but the size of the surrounding area that it serves.  My limited experience in attending such shows is that they are very friendly and pleasant events and tap into a lot of treasures that have been restored, or awaiting restoration on properties all around.  And Nowthen is no exception. 

Looking forward to more great pictures next year.

MJM460

[propforward]

Glad you all like the pics!

I'm no photographer that's for sure, but you get the general idea. I think I got lucky in terms of not having people in shot. I didn't get in before the gates opened, but I did do the rounds early in the day. It is also possible that attendance is still down a little from pandemic concerns, but even so there seemed to be plenty of people.

I'm afraid I didn't think to look and see the model year on the Southbend. It was actually kind of shoved into a corner, and wasn't even really displayed properly.

Overall, a really pleasant event. I had a long chat with the owner of one of the steam tractors. As a designer of pressure vessels as well as model engineering enthusiast I was curious about what he hoops he had to jump through in terms of inspection and certification, so he told me all about that, plus I was poking my nose in on cost of ownership, which you can imagine is very high, so he was telling me about his long term step by step plans for restoration and maintenance of the traction engine. Fascinating stuff. Owning a piece of equipment like that is very much a labour of love and very much an all consuming passtime - you don't get to have any other side hobbies if you want to make progress.

[propforward]

Looks like a fun day! So, just down the road from Nowthen does one come to Whatnow?

 

By the time the pioneers got to this region they were definitely running out of names, especially on lakes, with such inventive names as "Big Lake", "Long Lake", "Mud Lake", "Swamp Lake" and so on.

[internal_fire]

Did you get a date on that Southbend?

Dave

I had an SB lathe for many years that looked identical to the one in the photo. It was a low-end 9-inch known as the workshop version. It did not have quick change gears or any power feeds. I have never seen another that had that type of motor mount until this photo.

Mine was a model 405-Y dating from 1934. (No, I was not the original owner.)

Gene

[Flyboy Jim]

Excellent pictures and write-up of a really interesting show, Stuart. It reminds me of a show called the "Brooks Steam Up" here in Oregon.

Jim