1515 Longfellow Waterloo, Iowa 50703
Well, as sad as it may seem, the 1985 steam season is rapidly
coming to an end. I hope everyone got to visit their favorite shows
and renew the old acquaintances, in addition to making many new
ones.
The Antique Acres show was held the 22, 23, 24, and 25th of
August. This year marked the 21st year the old time power show has
been held in Cedar Falls. Yet the show seems to improve each year
with new ideas, exhibits, and exhibitors.
The show traditionally starts on Thursday, but thanks to some
heavy rains in the morning the first day was all but rained out!
Like many other shows Thursday is regarded as a setup day so not
much was lost. If nothing else, it gave the engineers a chance to
‘chew the fat.’
A distinct advantage we have at the Acres is sandy soil. So,
when Friday rolled around the grounds were in good shape. All the
engines were fired up and ready to go and I decided to put my
dad’s 1919 20 HP Advance Rumely on the saw mill. We had so many
logs this year that we sawed from morning until 7:00 in the
evening. I’m happy to say the old Rumely didn’t mind the
long days and performed real well! The Fischels used their 18 HP
Wood Brothers to power their Wood Brothers ‘Hummingbird’
separator. Both of these machines were built in Des Moines making
this a complete Iowa rig. This is a very fine running engine. Also
threshing was Dave Fuls’ 16 HP Reeves. Dave is an excellent
machinist and this has to be the smoothest, quietest running engine
I have ever seen. Dave also has a Wood Bros, threshing machine. It
looks real nice seeing the two machines going at once.
After lunch each afternoon everyone headed out towards the
stubble fields for the plowing demonstration. The Smolik
Brothers’ 40-140 Reeves and 110 Case took turns breaking earth
with the 12 x 12′ plows. The Reeves handles the plow like it
wasn’t even there. Randy Schwerin, Ray Smolik, and Graham
Sellers do a fine job of showing off the power of this huge engine.
The Case also handles the plow very well. Jack Fritcher and Floyd
Scholtes seem to have a lot of fun with the old girl. But, it seems
as though old Floyd likes playing with the locomotive whistle more
than anything! Can’t say as I blame him as it puts out a lovely
sound.
Rich Stavely again came up with a couple new horse drawn items
this year. He had just purchased a World War I ammunition cast he
pulled with two of his big Belgian horses. Then out to the field
with nine horses hitched to a four bottom plow. This provided the
horses with a pretty good workout.
Saturday morning as we were firing up we were greeted by a
busload of steam friends: John Schrock, Harry Wood mansee, Ron
Pieper, Mike Althoff, and Jim Hast came to take in our show. I sure
did enjoy listening to these fellows tell their many stories. They
were very interesting and many were very funny. I hope they decide
to make it an annual trip to Cedar Falls.
Just after breakfast Charles Robinson put the Smolik’s 1921,
22 HP Advance Rumely on the old Crabb mill. It is nice to listen to
this engine put out such a pretty sound. I believe a Rumely under a
load puts out the best sound in the world!
The Schweren’s 22 HP Wood Brothers took its turn on the mill
after lunch and performed real good.
Randy, Sharon, and Ed Schweren did a great job of restoring this
engine. This was the first year for this engine at our show and
everyone enjoyed it immensely. Bob Buck did a fine job of
engineering this engine through some pretty large logs.
The Fischels again threshed a few loads of bundles on Saturday
and Sunday. Dean Bellinger used his Rumely to thresh a couple loads
also, on Saturday.
At 3:30 each afternoon a large parade took place. Don Gibbons
directed the parade again this year like he has done for so many.
Don is one of the charter members of our club and a real joy to be
around. The parade started each day with the horse drawn items,
followed by the Pittman’s scale model of a 65 Case with
matching thresher. Then follows the rest of the engines. The crowd
always enjoys when Ed Smolik brings his Phoenix log hauler through
the parade. When Ed opens the throttle up this engine will throw
smoke 50 feet into the air and reach a speed of 12 m.p.h.
Stuart Fenton usually came puffing along after the steamers with
his many oil pulls. Stuart is always tinkering with his beloved
Rumelys, his favorite being his Model E 30-60. Stuart also is a
charter member of the club and owner of the saw mill.
Next came the tractors, which were too many to try to name. A
great many of them were owned by Derwood Heine (Farmall), Harold
Pries (Minneapolis-Moline), and Dean Brandt (John Deere). These men
also put a lot of effort into organizing the antique tractor pulls
held on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Ferman Rautinghaus and
William Bellows continue their practice of seeing how many times
they can get through the parade in one day.
Saturday night the members and exhibitors had a cookout and
steamed sweet corn with the Bellinger’s Rumely. Afterwards Dean
Bellinger, Graham Sellers, and David Headley put on a spark show.
The two Rumelys were belted to the Baker fans and really put on a
show. Inside the museum we were treated to some well played old
time music. Everyone had a real good time. If only I knew how to
polka!
Sunday came and it was another beautiful day. The grounds seemed
to be buzzing with activity. Roland Braussy was sawing shingles,
using an old Case as power. John Ruth had his 100 plus gas engines
popping away, and judging by the parking lot, there was another
bumper crop of spectators.
Down in the northeast corner of the grounds was the feature
tractor display. This was a first at the Acres and it was very
successful. This year’s feature tractor was the John Deere.
There were many rare and nicely restored tractors shown. The rarest
was probably the Overtime tractor. This tractor is really a
Waterloo Boy with the different name and painted a darker green.
The company didn’t think the name Waterloo Boy would sell
overseas, so they made the changes before shipping their tractors
to other countries.
The museum always seemed to be filled with people. There are
many toys, household items, and other antiques permanently housed
in the museum. There also are two large Corliss engines that are
run by Rick Witt. These engines were donated to the club and run
every day of the show. The front of the museum was decorated with
two cast iron Case eagles owned by the Smoliks. Pete Fritcher and
Sharon Schweren did an excellent job of restoring these for Ray and
Ed.
On Sunday before the parade it is traditional that we honor the
members that parted our company the previous year. This year we
remembered Cliff Johnston, Mrs. Dean Vaupel, Minnie Sundermeyer,
and Mrs. Percy Lowe. These four members were great attributes to
our show and will be greatly missed.
Well, that about closes my report. I would like to thank
everyone who helped make the show a success. Next year should be
even better we’ll have a couple more steam engines and the
feature tractor will be the Farmall. So we hope to see you the
28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st of August in 1986.
