Weekend With 110 Case

common interest our love of work in connection with the restoration
and maintenance of Case steam traction engines and related
equipment. I have certainly made some real friends and met many
nice people in this steam engine business.

Joe invited my wife, Jean, and I to be his week-end guests last
July. Upon our arrival at Orofino, Joe had his 110 Case steamed up
and ready to go. He invited me to be guest engineer. What a thrill!
This was one of the nicest week ends that I have ever enjoyed. The
only other 110 Case I had ever seen was the partial remains of one
in the storage yard at the Saskatoon show several years ago. I had
practically given up of ever seeing a 110 Case in operating
condition, let alone the privilege of being able to run one for two
days. The week-end weather was perfect in the beautiful Clearwater
River Valley where Joe’s Riverside Lumber Co. is located near
Orofino, Idaho. The really beautiful 110 Case had recently been
completely rebuilt and restored at considerable cost. It was a real
treat to be able to operate- such a large engine. One of the days,
Joe pulled his equally well-restored Case 80 from its building and
had it under steam also. Talk about feeding the threshing crews in
the old days, you can hardly imagine the wonderful noon basket
lunch Mrs. Richardson, Helen, fixed and brought to the hungry
engineers. And in the evening Helen prepared a delicious steak
dinner that was out of this world. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Richardson were
certainly wonderful hosts under ideal circumstances.

Joe Richardson and his son, Dale, have five completely restored
and rebuilt Case steamers. Other than the 1909 Case 6 HP portable,
all of their steamers are late models with butt-strap boilers. This
is a list of their Case traction engines: 110 No. 28661, 80 No.
34387, 65 No. 33379 and 50 No. 35108. They have a 32′ Case
separator and some sawmills, etc. Joe also has a 2′ scale model
1915 Case 65 traction engine from Tiny Power built by Charles
Arnold which is a real 145 lb. working jewel. The 110 Case is from
Canada. Joe also has almost enough parts to build two more 110 Case
engines including two good high pressure butt-strap traction engine
boilers.

The Richardson’s work shops are completely equipped with the
best of tools and equipment. It’s hard to imagine the perfect
workmanship that has been done in rebuilding their Case engines.
Some of the engine boilers were sent to a boiler works in Spokane,
Washington for rebuilding. No original detail is overlooked. It is
doubtful if the engines were as mechanically perfect when they left
the Case factory. Even the new contractors’ bunkers are hand
riveted just like the originals.

Joe is a real steam buff. He has a fine reference library
stocked with books, catalogs, magazines, etc. Wish it were possible
to spend a month in his library.

Joe and Dale Richardson put on their own steam engine show each
year which is a wonderful story in itself. Their last threshing bee
was held Sunday, September 5, 1971. My wife and I certainly enjoyed
it. The activities included threshing, making whole wheat flour and
bread, sawing lumber with both small and large outfits, an
operating scale model steam railroad, old automobiles, a scale
model wagon exhibit by Dan Nichols that was excellent, model
steamers and threshers of various sizes, etc., etc., staged in a
beautiful area on the Clearwater River near Orofino, Idaho.
Saturday evening, September 4, 1971, the Richardsons hosted a
lovely dinner dance party at the luxurious Konkolville Steakhouse
and Lounge. Music for the evening was provided by the Latah County
Old Time Fiddlers with 21 musicians from Moscow, Idaho. Everyone
had a wonderful time. Joe Richardson paid the entire bill for his
172 Saturday evening guests and hosted another dinner at his
expense Sunday evening at the same place for his guests.