When Kory Anderson searches for a way to describe the enormity of the famed 150hp Case Road Locomotive built more than a century ago by J.I. Case Threshing Machine Co., Racine, Wisconsin, he compares the Case to the Titanic — but not because the biggest ship of its time turned out to be a disaster.
“The 150hp Case steam engine was built as the largest steam traction engine of its time, but all we have left are the stories and a few pictures,” he says. “Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve been fascinated by it.”
Because just nine of the behemoths were built, and none are known to survive, it appears that no one in modern times has seen a 150 Case. That all changed in September 2018. At the James Valley Threshing Show, Andover, South Dakota, Kory unveiled the project that has dominated and shaped every facet of his life for the past 20 years: a hand-built, full-size replica of the 150hp Case.
Over the course of seven years, it took $1.5 million, some 50 people and at least 15,000 hours (including about 3,500 hours of engineering) to reconstruct the 150 Case. Once used to haul heavy freight and plow in vast farm fields at speeds of up to 5mph, the Case 150’s usefulness waned in the early 1900s as the nation’s rail system expanded and took on the job of transporting heavy loads.