WMSTR
Encyclopedia
WMSTR, or the Western Minnesota
Steam
Threshers
Reunion, is an annual, non-profit "steam meet" held in the small town of Rollag, Minnesota
. It takes place over the weekend of the US Labor Day
holiday (first Monday in September), and draws around 80,000 visitors during the four days of the event.
Beginning in 1954, the reunion has grown from a few farmers threshing grain, as their fathers had, to one of the largest steam venues in the nation. Antique and steam tractor
s and automobiles are featured heavily.
One of the most popular, visible, and amazing attractions is the SOO LINE 0-6-0 class switch engine #353 which pulls a 500 passenger train around the show grounds. Also present is a miniature train, two full-size steam-operated sawmills, the larger called the Briden-Roen Sawmill after its builders and the smaller mill called Earl's Mill. Other main attractions include the steam hammer, the giant Snow Engine, which has an approximately 24 foot flywheel, and an area very popular with children, Miniatureland, which holds several hand-built miniature steam tractors and its own miniature sawmill that saws walking sticks for all the visitors who would like one. On the WMSTR grounds, there are several areas devoted to different types of machinery. There are gas engine buildings, a horsepower area, a construction area, and an expo ground. Several hundred tractors are put on display by the workers. In about the last decade, the Main Street area has grown as an attraction for many of those more interested in the everyday aspects of the past. Main Street has many buildings and demonstrations showing what daily life was like in times past.
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
Steam
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
Threshers
Threshing machine
The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine , was a machine first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was invented for the separation of grain from stalks and husks. For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails,...
Reunion, is an annual, non-profit "steam meet" held in the small town of Rollag, Minnesota
Rollag, Minnesota
Rollag is an unincorporated community in Clay County, Minnesota, United States.The community is located northeast of Barnesville and south of Hawley on Minnesota State Highway 32....
. It takes place over the weekend of the US Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
holiday (first Monday in September), and draws around 80,000 visitors during the four days of the event.
Beginning in 1954, the reunion has grown from a few farmers threshing grain, as their fathers had, to one of the largest steam venues in the nation. Antique and steam tractor
Steam tractor
A steam tractor is a vehicle powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling.In North America, the term steam tractor usually refers to a type of agricultural tractor powered by a steam engine, used extensively in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.In Great Britain, the term steam tractor...
s and automobiles are featured heavily.
Attractions
WMSTR is a living museum and as such, all exhibits are expected to be operable.One of the most popular, visible, and amazing attractions is the SOO LINE 0-6-0 class switch engine #353 which pulls a 500 passenger train around the show grounds. Also present is a miniature train, two full-size steam-operated sawmills, the larger called the Briden-Roen Sawmill after its builders and the smaller mill called Earl's Mill. Other main attractions include the steam hammer, the giant Snow Engine, which has an approximately 24 foot flywheel, and an area very popular with children, Miniatureland, which holds several hand-built miniature steam tractors and its own miniature sawmill that saws walking sticks for all the visitors who would like one. On the WMSTR grounds, there are several areas devoted to different types of machinery. There are gas engine buildings, a horsepower area, a construction area, and an expo ground. Several hundred tractors are put on display by the workers. In about the last decade, the Main Street area has grown as an attraction for many of those more interested in the everyday aspects of the past. Main Street has many buildings and demonstrations showing what daily life was like in times past.