By Aaron Isaacs, TRRM editor
With photos by the author, Jim Vaitkunas and Dave French
Our trip to the Dakotas was timed to hit two big Labor Day threshing shows. If you haven’t been to one, it’s big toys for big boys to the umpteenth power. You’ve never seen so many antique tractors in one place, including steamers and ancient internal combustion with big flywheels. As the name implies, there is threshing using antique equipment. There are buildings full of operating stationary engines of every description. There are working sawmills, machine shops powered by overhead belts, and all sorts of miscellaneous and unexpected mechanical contraptions. Of course we visited because both places have working railroads that run steam.
Prairie Village, Madison, South Dakota
The first thing you notice is the sheer size of these gatherings. It starts with the large field transformed into a parking lot. Prairie Village actually includes a main street of historic buildings transported to the site, plus a very large flea market tent city.
Starting from the former Wentworth, SD union depot, shared by the Milwaukee Road and Great Northern, the 2-mile railroad circles the grounds. There were three options for train riders, the full sized train, a small home made 4-wheel motor car, and a Fairmont track speeder.
This was the third and final day of the big event and we were disappointed to learn they weren’t running steam. Seems that the small qualified crew was tired after two days and went home. Oh well.
The steamer is ex-Army 0-6-0 #29 (Lima 1944), which operated into the 1960s on the Duluth & Northeastern at Cloquet, Minnesota.
Prairie Village constructed a 3-stall roundhouse. The Omaha Road turntable is from Altoona, Wisconsin.
An Air Force 80-ton center cab diesel was powering the short consist.
Also on the grounds is the Milwaukee Road depot from Junius, two towns west of Madison. Next to it is the Baptist Home Mission Society chapel car Emmanuel (Barney & Smith 1893). It remained in service until 1942, when it was moved to the Swan Lake Baptist camp near Viborg, SD. In the early 1950s the car body was sold to Brandt Engineering in Sioux Falls and used for storage. The company’s owner donated the car to Prairie Village in 1972.
Restoration required the construction and installation of new pews from the original blueprints, acquisition of a replacement pump organ, new ceiling and windows, and refinishing the oak interior.
After it was retired, the car lost its center sill. Although set on a non-original pair of trucks, the center of the car is on cribbing to prevent collapse.
A couple of days after we visited, 0-4-0T #11 (Alco 1924) arrived back from a rebuild at Wasatch Railcar, where it had been since December 2015.
To view test operation, click on
Testing day for Prairie Village No. 11.
Posted by Wasatch Railroad Contractors on Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Western Minnesota Steam Threshers, Rollag, Minnesota
This annual event near Fargo is even bigger than the one at Prairie Village, and the collection of vintage machinery is even more impressive. Here also there is a 2-mile railroad circling the grounds, which include a lake.
The star of the railroad show is former Soo Line 0-6-0 #353 (Alco 1920). Along with sister #346, it was the last steam to run in the Twin Cities at Koppers Coke. It was owned briefly by the Minnesota Transportation Museum, which donated it to Western Steam Threshers.
It pulls a rather unusual looking train of ex-Northern Pacific modified stock cars. Their right side walls have been removed and passengers sit on stepped-up bleachers that face out the right side of the car. Each car has a set of steps attached to the right side and the steps stay with the train at it circles the grounds. Although it looks odd, the arrangement makes it easy to handle the thousands of passengers.
The trip is slow, but the engine does some pulling on the upgrade on the far side of the grounds, before stopping at the line’s second station.
A few years ago the modern 5-stall roundhouse was constructed. Inside is Dresser Trap Rock 0-4-0T #3, a Plymouth critter and a wood Soo Line caboose.
Three depots have been preserved at Rollag: Milwaukee Road from Hickson, North Dakota, Northern Pacific from Hitterdal, Minnesota and Great Northern from Baker, Minnesota.
An extra treat for rail fans is a home-built replica horsecar that runs on a short piece of street trackage on the east side of the grounds. Unfortunately, the brake locked up and operations never got started.