Old Fashioned Harvest Days In The Town Of Madrid - Part 2

There was an old fashioned, steam powered sawmill in operation:

More antique cars:

And this tractor driving around the grounds, pulling a wagon loaded with kids, their little brown dog and grandpa:

This 100 horsepower diesel engine once ran a cheese box factory in Heulvelton, New York. It was running and making lots of noise:

Old time power equipment wherever one looked. This fully operational miniature tractor was a big hit with this boy. His mom told him to get out of the way so I could take a picture, but I said I'd love it if he'd get back on it again. He refused, however, saying instead that he had to "make some repairs." He got in front to check the engine. I think he's going to be a mechanic some day:

Folks (and a few dogs) walked around, examining the old tractors:

And other old time farm equipment. There were several big barns filled with more tractors and equipment, but I never even went inside to see them this time:

This unique little dozer/loader was a wonder to me. I thought it might be for moving snow until I saw the teeth on the bottom of the bucket. That made me think it might have been for picking up stones in a field:

A 1932 Worthington golf course tractor. The Worthington Mower Company produced such equipment from the early 1920s until 1959:

There was a small Civil War encampment:

A 1922 steam engine, used by the St. Lawrence County Highway Department for many years:

This amazing vehicle was running up and down the dirt lanes with very few riders. The man in the white shirt flagged down the driver and asked to get on. He did, and I hobbled up behind, catching up to the wagon, and joined him. We had a nice ride and tour of the grounds until we reached the site of the miniature horse pulls. But I'll post about that tomorrow:

Old Fashioned Harvest Days In The Town Of Madrid - Part 1

The St. Lawrence Power And Equipment Museum was hosting the autumn open house, called "Old Fashioned Harvest Days," and I attended. I parked my car and entered the grounds. Power equipment of varying degrees of antiquity (but mostly quite old) was everywhere:

The last time I was here, the school house had been moved into place and work days were scheduled to get it restored. They'd dedicated it that very morning and I was anxious to see the improvement:

They'd done a marvelous job and filled it with old style desks, the original chalkboard and a school marm in period costume. There was children's graffiti on the front wall from 1944, but it didn't photograph well. Still, it was nice to see that they'd allowed such historic touches to remain:

Outside of the school house were antique tractors:

And more antique tractors and other farm equipment:

And a small barn, sand pile and toy equipment for kids to play with:

I walked from there to the old, restored shoe shop:

It was authentically restored, both inside and out:

Antique cars and trucks were everywhere, parked casually as if their drivers were just off visiting the museum's displays - and perhaps they were:

Then I went to see the old, restored Texaco station:

It too was authentically restored, both inside and out:

And reminded me of gas stations from my childhood. Heck, it reminded me a little bit of the mechanic's garage where I take my car now:

There were harvesting demonstrations:

And steam engines of all sizes and descriptions running. This small one was powering an old time log splitter. But there was lots more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

St. Lawrence Power And Equipment Museum - Part 2

My next stop was the rebuilt sugar house. There was an antique boiler inside and a concession stand for maple flavored products, including cotton candy:

They had disassembled, moved and rebuilt an antique grain barn and a corn crib:

Pony pulling contests had commenced and I arrived just in time to watch several teams compete:

A couple of teams pulled the concrete weights the full distance and a couple of teams could get only a foot or two:

This fellow was having difficulty hooking the ponies to the weights, being cautious not to lose his hand in the process. The ponies made several false starts before they finally got to make their pull:

There was a flat bed completely filled with perfectly reproduced, miniature farm equipment - two rows of it. I never did find out what it was for, though:

And a rubber wheeled train which surely must have transported tourists at some former attraction. It was being used here only as a stationary exhibit, however:

This 40 horsepower, portable steam engine was built in 1922 and owned by the St. Lawrence County Highway Department until 1983, when it was sold to the museum for one dollar:

This was called a railroad speeder or crew car, and used by track inspectors to move quickly to and from work sites:

This diesel, 100 horsepower engine was part of the operations of a cheese box factory in nearby Heuvelton, New York. A sign noted that it weighed 30,000 pounds:

More of the mystery machines which I've been seeing all over the county. I have been told that they are old wheat threshers, and were used, before combines, to separate grain from the straw:

It was no surprise to find antique tractors, but the quantity of them was nothing short of amazing. This beauty was an International Harvester, 1948 Farmall. And yet there was still much to see at the Power and Equipment Museum, so I'll post Part 3 tomorrow: