Take in the sights of the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion in Rollag, from the steam-powered carousel to the 1914 600hp Snow engine.
The unique smell of unburnt hydrocarbons, the sound of huff, chuff, huff, chuff, POP, huff, chuff, huff, chuff, POP. These sensory stimulants exert a magnetic pull demanding observation and contemplation … and then the engine reaches tactile and radiant warmth. As a hand reaches out to feel the heat of internal combustion, a quest down the rabbit hole of history and legacy begins. Time becomes irrelevant. Immediate sensory perception captures the imagination and the intellect, and stimulates fascination. Hunger pangs cannot even penetrate this siren’s call.
It is entirely possible to enter a space without time or place — to go down the rabbit hole — while running engines in your backyard, at an engine show, or at the county fair. However, a visit to the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion (WMSTR) in Rollag, Minnesota, will provide this level of experience to anyone who attends.
What is the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion?
In 2022, the 68th annual gathering of the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion was held in Rollag, Minnesota. This community, with a population of less than 5,000, springs into action to volunteer at the event. And every one of the volunteers pays the entrance fee to host a Labor Day weekend that is the easiest trip down an internal combustion rabbit hole you will ever find.

More than 50,000 people come from across the country to join the journey. The scope and scale of Rollag predetermine that the weekend will not be long enough, and yet, time will cease to exist.
With more than 80 buildings and permanent displays on 210 acres on a hill with a lake, visitors have the opportunity to see antique machinery in action at what has been billed as one of the largest antique equipment shows in the United States.

There are tractors, miniature and model engines, and gas engines on display and running throughout the grounds. Volunteers present a variety of skills on antique equipment including a permanent sawmill, black smith forge, foundry, and “the sandbox” where antique construction equipment operators can play.
There is plowing, fieldwork, an old-time main street, a horse-powered farmstead, and a pioneer village. There is live music and a wide variety of food options. And don’t forget the steam-powered carousel, tractor pull, and daily parades. Just follow the well-worn dirt paths down the rabbit hole. They don’t need yellow brick roads at Rollag.
Otto Engines at Rollag
There are more experiences than any visitor could ever complete in a weekend at Rollag, but what about avid engine collectors and historians, the old heads, those who have already steeped themselves in the engine show culture for decades? For a start, they can delve into the mysteries of internal combustion history in the Jim Withers Otto Building where they will discover how much they have yet to learn.

The Otto Building contains some of the Withers family engines, perhaps those they liked best, but it is only a small representation of their amazing collection at Rollag. A collection that includes a 125hp De La Vergne, a 60hp Buffalo tandem gas engine built by Alberger Gas Engine Co., and a 1910 20hp Klein Model 7 – all of which can be seen at Rollag.

The Jim Withers Otto Building houses an 1894 13-1/2hp Otto engine. “Otto used double ratings on the engines — indicated and actual horsepower … As an example, a 10 horsepower engine might have a rating of 10.9 horsepower stamped on the nameplate, thus indicating to the buyer how his engine performed during initial testing,” explains C.H. Wendel in American Gasoline Engines Since 1872. Kevin Withers has described this engine as “quite unique to most of the other Otto engines with an auxiliary exhaust and different governor and features not found on most Otto engines.”
Space for Legacy at Rollag
The 210-acre show grounds give WMSTR the ability to provide space for a collection like the Withers’ Otto collection. By hosting engine enthusiasts who have taken a permanent trip down the internal combustion rabbit hole, WMSTR evolves from representing history to enabling the legacy of historic machinery to be felt in individual lives.


In 2007, Jim Withers moved a 100hp 1934 Western gas engine from Baker, California, to the Rollag showgrounds. Angela Schlieper of Moorhead, Minnesota, started running the engine at the show when she was 17 years old, and has done so ever since. She owns the engine with her father, Ludean Cin, and they are joined by a cousin, Daniel Graf, from Maryland for the exhibition the weekend of the show.

Family connections play an important role in the legacy of internal combustion. Few engines are more impressive or desirable than those that have been passed down through generations of the same family who originally purchased it. Rollag also houses a 1900 Davis pump jack built in Waterloo, Iowa, that was purchased new by Jacob Fisch for use in Gaza, Iowa, until it was replaced in 1940 with an electric pump. The current owner, L.H. Fisch, is the great-grandson of the original owner.


Providing space to preserve legacies spans generations and breaks down the boundaries of time. Hosting an annual event eliminates the boundaries of distance. Generations meld as everyone works together to get, and keep, engines running.
Passing the Torch at Rollag
Is space enough to maintain continuity in a timeless place? How is history maintained and preserved over generations? How does the torch of skills, knowledge, effort, and hard work get passed on to the next generation?
Running the 600hp Snow Engine
The 600hp Snow engine at WMSTR provides a specific example of how a legacy continues. Built in 1914 and installed in Roystone Station, Pennsylvania, this engine was used to compress natural gas.
The engine is a two-cylinder double-acting tandem with an attached compressor. It uses dual ignition with eight ignitors and currently runs on propane. It has a 24-inch bore, a 48-inch stroke, a flywheel with a diameter of 18 feet, and weighs 24 tons. The mainframe weighs 36 tons, the crankshaft weighs 12 tons, and the total engine weight is 140 tons.
The Snow was donated to WMSTR in 1992 by National Fuels and was assembled over three years using thousands of volunteer labor hours. Although a basement full of spare parts existed at the Roystone Station where the Snow was originally installed, those who rescued this engine were only given a limited amount of time to move 140 tons before the demolition of the building in which it was housed.

The Snow has rings on the piston rod that work in compression rather than expansion. Normally, a ring is sprung 1/4-inch too big and compression is used for installation. The piston rod seals on the Snow go on a solid iron rod from the outside and squeeze. The Snow is a double-acting engine, it fires on both sides of the piston, so it needs a compression seal around the rod.
Although the Snow has two pistons, only one is maintained at Rollag because authentic piston rod seals were not claimed from the parts basement and have not yet been acquired. Plastic parts are being used in the interim while discussions with world-class machinists are on-going to reproduce accurate seals.


The plastic seals must be changed every year. This three-day process starts with removing the huge castings with a crane, and the gasket material must then be scraped off. New seals are installed in the upper and lower castings. A new set of gaskets is made every year, the pieces are seated perfectly, and the whole mess is tightened down.
Passing the torch can be a challenge in this type of dangerous, difficult, and time-consuming volunteer work. Volunteers have to really want to be involved. Accidents, even if only minor (like a cut or a burn), happen every engine show and sometimes an accident will dissuade volunteers from returning. After 30 years of preparing and running the Snow, Jim Keats is ready to pass the torch to the next generation.

Although a trip down the rabbit hole is easily accessible to any spectator at Rollag, exhibitors have a different path to follow. Running these engines requires intelligence, ingenuity, and perseverance on top of a whole lot of hard and dangerous work. A volunteer exhibitor has to covet the experience, or they won’t come back.
When Jim Keats met several individuals who kept coming back and continued to help with the three days’ work, they garnered his respect because he knows the determination it takes to return. He has found the next generation of Snow legacy preservers.
Why is the Rabbit Hole Accessible at Rollag?
It may be the place, or it may be the incredible number of skilled and knowledgeable volunteers that makes Rollag special. Volunteers work in the heat of the summer; they work hard, they are knowledgeable and skilled, and they continue learning.

The quest for knowledge about this machinery is a rabbit hole in and of itself. To create a legacy like that preserved at Rollag demands the patience of a student of history and the realization that time is important, but in the long run, irrelevant.

The WMSTR show is held every year for four days on Labor Day weekend. Ninety-five percent of the equipment on display is privately owned and operated by volunteers. Several large items, like the Snow, have been donated and are owned by WMSTR. Join the organization if interested in participating as an exhibitor or volunteer. Weekend schools are offered each summer to train individuals in the operation of steam engines, gas engines, and tractor driving.
Take a trip down the rabbit hole of WMSTR, a journey through time and space. You will find history, legacy and camaraderie. You will find the open sharing of skills and knowledge. You won’t find a rabbit, follow a yellow brick road, or … well … you might actually see a Loch Ness monster.
Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion
The next Rollag Reunion is schedule for Sept. 1-4, 2023. Find the reunion on Facebook by searching WMSTR.
DC Johnson can be emailed at dcjohnsonwriter@gmail.com.
Originally published as “Journey Through Space & Time” in the August/September 2023 issue of Gas Engine.