This is great coverage and the only downside to these Greg Rourke photos is the fact that we’ve gotten to the end of the line. As you have likely been able to tell by Greg’s contributions over the years, he’s like me. Does he love horsepower and cool stuff that goes fast? You bet he does! Does he love lumbering massive vehicles that were not made to set performance records but rather to better the end product and the conditions that they wee being worked under? Yes indeed! These photos from the Northern Illinois Steam and Power show prove it.
I have always found the owners of these early tractors to be very friendly and informative. They’ll talk your ear off about their stuff if you let them and that’s the best thing. At events like the one you are about to check the photos form below, guys who “know stuff? are teaming the property. Enjoy these last images from the show and next year make plans to be there.
This parade is kind of like one of those evolution drawings – see tractors evolve from steam powered things that looked like locomotives that had jumped off the rails, to gasoline and kerosene powered contraptions that looked very similar, to modern tractors! Not to mention with some very odd evolutionary dead ends thrown in, some interesting ideas that may have had potential and some seriously weird…