This farm is very lovely and the coneflowers across the street were an added bonus!
A Place to Relax
Monthly Archives: August 2026
A Stiff Breeze to the Rescue!
Pardon my delay in posting things from last month but here is the small town of Lititz, Pa getting all decked out for the 4th of July. The day I decided to take a few shots the wind was fairly strong and even better it was consistent.
R.F.D. Mail Sleigh
This building at Rough and Tumble houses several old Vintage pieces. The one in the foreground is an old mail Postal delivery sleigh! I believe the R.F.D stood for Rural Free Delivery
Treadmill is One Horsepower!
This set of three photos are from the Swiss Pioneers farm days in Lancaster County and they are demonstrating using a horse on a treadmill to power machines processing hay. They also had four horses walking in a large circle that was a variant of this idea. These horses have been part of this event for several years and they seem well taken care of and they seem more powerful in their musculature.
The Crusher
This is another image from the Rough and Tumble Thresherman’s reunion held recently. It appears as if the small Steamroller in the middle is ready to take on the Big Boy to the right. All these old Steam Machines have such nice design elements making them not only hard working but pleasing to the eye as well!
Simpler Times
An Amish family sits to enjoy the tractor parade at the Swiss Preservation society’s annual farm days.
Youth Embrace Vintage Tractors
The three boys operating this half scale steam tractor seemed to have everything under control as they maneuvered around at Big Springs farm days. The youngest of the three had it easy riding in the wagon behind the tractor. The upper photo shows the big boy tractors in the background.
Big Spring Farm Days
Each year a property owned by the Swiss Pioneer Preservation association holds a two day event at the big spring farm, a property that was given to the Swiss pioneers when the gentleman that owned it passed away with no remaining family. This photo shows a group of mennonite young ladies piled into this old pickup truck as they lead off the ever popular tractor parade.
A Fine Example
This Steam Tractor caught my eye because it seemed someone took very good care of it. I heard one man explain it is rated for 25 horsepower which seems like very little till he said it was able to pull as much as 25 work horses which is rather impressive.
The Cooper Engine
This huge engine is located at the Rough and Tumble site and was removed from a natural gas supply station and completely brought back to working order by the men at Rough and Tumble. I think I heard them say it will run for 6 minutes on a twenty pound tank of propane.
As The Sun Sets
A family rides their steam tractor as the sun sets behind them.
Waiting to Compete
Tractor games are part of Rough and Tumble’s Threshermen’s Reunion. These two are in line to compete on the main show track.
Forged in Fire
These two power house steam tractors were a small sample of the machines on display at Rough and Tumble’s Threshermen’s Reunion.
Steam Power on Full Display
Here in Lancaster County we have the Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association which holds events for the general public several times a year. This past week they held their 78th annual Threshermen’s reunion over a four day period and the place was packed with massive Iron Machines from the past. At the close of the evening Friday night they do what is referred to as the sparks show! Let me tell you it is impressive but a nightmare to photograph. If they started this an hour earlier, the results would be amazing but they wait till its completely dark and then shut the lights off and fire them up. Picture a total nightmare of contrast and this is what I dealt with. The tractors are all black or close to it, add light out, and then shoot bright red hot sparks into the sky and you get the idea. The only way I was able to get detail with tractors is to shoot from a tripod and get a couple exposures before the sparks started.
The top image was near the time the sparks started and they left off a lot of steam which looked kind of cool at 3 and 4 second exposures. Being from Lancaster County you grow up seeing young kids at work on farms which teaches work ethic etc but at this event you can see how dangerous some of this equipment has the potential to be and it sort of amazes me no accidents ever happen at least that I know of. If you look at the tractor, you see a large belt that goes to a large steel cylinder with blades on it behind me on the left that you cant see. I was like 6 feet away when it started up and it had no cage around it so at the velocity this thing was spinning at would have completely shredded me to nothing if I fell into it. Another thing that struck me after it got dark, these massive steel wheeled behemoths would drive the dirt paths and you literally could not see anything in front of them in the dark but most know to give them a wide berth.
One last little tidbit from the evening, I grabbed a burger and fries and sat under a dining tent, across from me was an Amish gentleman and his 8 yr old daughter. We chit chatted a bit and the daughter wanted to go but dad says not before he takes your picture? He asks her can he take your picture, she says I don’t care? No matter how long I live here I still am surprised at the changes I see over 40 plus years taking pictures.
Donald Reese Photography 