Cedar Valley MEMORIES OSAGE, IOWA
May/June 2000
Larry G. Creed
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1878 12 HP Blumentritt traction engine at Cedar Valley Memories. Only 22 engines were manufactured.
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R.R. 13, Box 209 Brazil, Indiana 47834
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Occasionally you visit a steam show and see a rare steam engine.
At the Cedar Valley Memories show you have the opportunity to see
three rare steam engines all in operating condition. Many of you
are aware of the 40 HP cross compound Reeves steam engine owned by
the Smolik brothers; their collection also includes an 1878
Blumentritt steam traction engine and a Phoenix log hauler.
Joseph Blumentritt was a twenty-year-old German immigrant who
lived in Winona County, Minnesota, when he built a 6 HP portable
steam engine. This first engine was built in a La Crosse,
Wisconsin, brewery in complete secrecy so he had time to patent his
ideas. When Blumentritt built his second steam engine he made
improvements to the engine, made a steering device and added
traction gearing. This was the first traction engine built west of
the Mississippi River. Blumentritt saw that he had built a
successful traction engine and a market for them existed. He built
an engine shop on his farm and, by damming a creek and building a
water turbine, he could operate two home-built turning lathes one
for wood and the other for turning metal. He then built his own
drill press, band saw, trip hammer, power jack saw and a large
forge.
Blumentritt purchased the boilers for his engines in LaCrosse,
Wisconsin; he made his own patterns and machined the parts in his
shop. Joseph built a total of twenty-two engines in 6, 12 and 24 HP
sizes. All of his engines were double cylinder, had no clutch, and
were straight geared. To move the engines a pinion gear would be
slid over on the crankshaft and a square key inserted.
The Smoliks' Blumentritt engine is a 12 HP and is the only
surviving Blumentritt engine. The engine is quite peculiar in that
no provision was made to fire the engine while it was moving. The
operator stood on a side platform guiding the engine with a forward
facing steering wheel. No platform is on the firebox end of the
engine, nor can the operator reach the injectors while moving, as
they are located on the opposite side of the boiler from the
steering platform. The engine is remarkably smooth running and was
last restored in the 1950s.
Blumentritt used a return flue boiler with the stack mounted on
the front of the engine. To steer the engine you use a forward
facing steering wheel.
Smoliks' 110 HP Case #29237 plowing. This engine came from
Canada and was used on a sawmill. The mill cut over nine million
board feet at one settlement.
The Smolik collection also includes a 1910 Phoenix log hauler
which was manufactured in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Scott Wiley of
Marion, Iowa, spent 250 hours constructing a new cab for the
Phoenix after tracking down the original drawings. Steering of the
Phoenix is done on the front end and the engine controls are
operated in cab. A bell signal communicates the steersman's
intentions to the fireman.