THE OLD AND THE NEW

A few more words about the 24 hp. 'Minnie'. Number 8673. It was the last new one to come into Vernon County. Levi Allen was a Minneapolis dealer. On July 30th, 1927 he took delivery of this engine for his own use. Steam power was a long way down the road to the land of memories; so, the price was cut by Minneapolis Threshing Machine Co. It was a hard working engine in its' younger years. Sawing lumber, threshing, shredding corn, and steaming tobacco beds kept it hot most of the time. He run his machinery at top speed, and worked his engines and his men hard. After a few years of such work, Levi Allen was killed in one of his saw mills powered by another 24 hp. Minneapolis. Number 8673 was sold to one of his men and did nothing but steam tobacco beds until 1955. I have it restored mechanically but not in appearance. It runs quietly, has good power and is a very easy steamer. I have used it some for steaming tobacco beds and threshing, but the 20 hp. Advance and 40 Case will do most of that. They are a great team. The old engine does its share of work and makes our share more interesting. The new fork lift does most of the lifting and carrying.

When you get steam and sawdust both in your blood, you at least know what you are going to be doing part of next year. It's the little details that keep it interesting. No two days are alike. The six o'clock whistle doesn't mean-quit for today. It means- Time to start getting ready for tomorrow.