Finally, A Train Ride

We love to ride trains, but we haven't been able to find one since we left on this trip in April. Until, that is, we arrived in Custer, SD, and learned about the 1880 Train that runs through the Black Hills between Hill City and Keystone. The trip is one hour each direction.



It wasn't just any old train, it was a steam train! The engine that pulled our train was an oil burner with a saddle tank.  We had lots of opportunity to take pictures of the train engine on the curves.



They also have a wood burning engine. It is even prettier.



We rode in an open car.



The countryside is beautiful and interesting and we had and sunny, dry day for the trip.







There is a lot of uphill grades along the line and, at one point, the engineer had to clean the boiler by blowing out steam.



When we got to Keystone, the was a big crowd waiting to board for the ride back to Hill City. One whole car was reserved for a group waiting to board.



The engine had to disconnect from the front of the train, change tracks, and back by us so it could attach to the other end of the train for the trip back to Hill City.





Apparently, train engines are just as powerful backing up as going forward. This isn't the first time we have ridden on a train with the engine going backwards.

Old Time Farming

Saturday there was a demonstration of old time farming methods in Shipshewana, so we went to see what they had.



Wait. Is it a steam train engine?



No, it's a thresher.



So is this.





The steam engine runs these belts, which in turn operate other machines. Like a saw mill.







In 2008 we volunteered at Oregon's White River Wildlife Refuge, where we had the opportunity to see the Dufur Threshing Days. You can read about threshing here.

Some of the old tractors in Shipshewana were very interesting.





Can you imagine how long it would take to build something if you first had to make the nails, one at a time?





How about pounding out a small coal shovel this way?



Here is an old washing machine powered by a gas engine. I'll bet there are people near Shipshewana who use a motor like this to run their clothes washer today.