Hesston Steam Museum is very close to the Indiana Toll Road. They are blessed to have a number of folks that are very knowledgeable about all things steam powered. The most important part to me is the way these volunteers work with younger people to get them knowledgeable and doing useful tasks to keep this outstanding Museum going for future generations.
It's right off I-94, between Detroit and Chicago, too. Really easy to get to. That's a huge part of any museum is making sure the kids are engaged. It's not always an easy thing. I know I've done some tours where you're guiding hard-core historians AND 6-year old kids, and have to keep both interested and excited to be there. Not an easy task, sometimes.
You should have been there Labor day weekend. I went down for the first time, after wanting to go for a long time, and became a member. I was interested to see some of the rolling stock they have that came from the Cedar Point and Lake Erie railroad (of which I was a fireman/engineer on for the last 4 years). The sawmill and all the traction engines were in operation, of which I helped out on both. The large stationary engine and generator setup was getting prepared for service, but some leaky tubes during the hydro test sadly put it out of commission temporarily. I hope to be back for next year's show with our half scale Case engine, if not sooner for other events.
I've been watching your videos for a while. I'm from NW Indiana and now live near Plainwell, MI. I've visited this museum a few times; the sawmill is never going when I'm there... too bad. I do see they have a newer version of one of the most dangerous tools known to the DIYer (the DeWalt radial arm saw). I'm sure it once served a great purpose in sawmills. Maybe that's where it should have stayed. Not to be a "do nothing, suggest everything," but have you noticed how amazing the water channel system is of the Kankakee even from South Bend to Momence? I look at it often, wondering how it was all so extensively engineered, to the point of many portions being filled in and changed long after the fact, even from the time I was a boy living south of Kouts in the 1970s. Viewing it all from Google Earth is like looking at a complex circuit board. When one adds in all the railroad--many decommissioned within a century of surveying, building, and utilizing, it seems like northern Indiana was once even more (far more) vibrant and important a place than today. I appreciate these videos more than most content available on You Tube. Thank you!
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate it. If you're in the area this weekend, I think they're running the sawmill and the Tom Thumb and the power plant, among other things. I don't know about the Kankakee stuff. Looking at a map, it looks like either irrigation or drainage channels. I know NW Ohio has a lot of channels that look like that from draining the Great Black Swamp.
@@Industrial_Revolution I caught you saying the mill would be open this weekend. It’d be great if I had the time! The Kankakee has been on my mind lately: reading a book on its history, and not being able to get much for accurate details on how they accomplished so much. It’s even said that most was done via local landowners. Just strange, as it looks entirely engineered by pros, as well as much of the grid radiating from it.
Check out google maps between Toledo and Cedar Pointe in Ohio. I've only looked superficially, but it looks pretty similar, and I know the Ohio ones were dug for drainage. The way that was drained might give you enough additional details to fill in the holes it sounds like you're hitting in Indiana. It's actually a surprisingly common problem. When these things were being done, everyone knew about them, so no one bothered documented them, then those people died off and now it's a bit of a mystery. That happens all the time, unfortunately.
@@Industrial_Revolution I will, thanks! It's that lack of records, along with what I see in the earth, that creates the mystery. For instance, there seems to be a man who proposed a canal system--including the Kankakee--to the US Congress, to go from Lake Erie to Lake Michigan. It is said it never materialized (i.e. gained Federal funding), yet the story runs cold after his Congressional appeal, and there are remnants of what looks like a filled-in channel extending from the northeast end of the Kankakee furthest northeast point (approximately - N 41, 39'20.16" x W 86 18'10.08") to just shy of the St. Joseph river's dam at (approximately N 41 40'37.92" x W 86 14'42.72), thus bringing the water level up to feed the channel. All this said as a speculation that someone may have attempted (or succeeded in) connecting the two in that approximate area. Just an observation. The Kankakee isn't a main focus of mine, but there are more historical mysteries than historical facts, so everything always has a tint of "I wonder" about it. Such as how it is said that pieces of the Administration Building's roof from the Chicago Columbia Exposition were used to create bridges on the Kankakee. I'm not 100% how that worked, and would like to see it, but I don't think those exist anymore either. I learn excellent things here, so thanks again! This is a very valuable educational resource.
Have you tried contacting the Canal Society of Indiana? indcanal.org/ The mystery definitely draws you in, doesn't it? That's what happened with my Tinkers Creek Gorge video. All you really need is just one or two facts to get you started down the right path, then the whole story might open up right in front of you. Most World's Fair buildings were, and are, designed as temporary, so I can see the roof trusses having been reused. If they designed them to be reused as bridge trusses later, I could see how that would work well.
Hesston Steam Museum is very close to the Indiana Toll Road. They are blessed to have a number of folks that are very knowledgeable about all things steam powered. The most important part to me is the way these volunteers work with younger people to get them knowledgeable and doing useful tasks to keep this outstanding Museum going for future generations.
It's right off I-94, between Detroit and Chicago, too. Really easy to get to.
That's a huge part of any museum is making sure the kids are engaged. It's not always an easy thing. I know I've done some tours where you're guiding hard-core historians AND 6-year old kids, and have to keep both interested and excited to be there. Not an easy task, sometimes.
I love the Shay!!! Cass W.V. is my favorite place on earth !!! Riding the Shay to the top of the mountain...
I haven't been there yet, but need to.
Steam!!! As an early power source, it was COOL!!!
They've got some of just about everything steam-powered there.
Fabulous video. They have such cool toys there.
They do. Should have more running next weekend, too. Now you have a place to stop next time you're driving through.
You should have been there Labor day weekend. I went down for the first time, after wanting to go for a long time, and became a member. I was interested to see some of the rolling stock they have that came from the Cedar Point and Lake Erie railroad (of which I was a fireman/engineer on for the last 4 years). The sawmill and all the traction engines were in operation, of which I helped out on both. The large stationary engine and generator setup was getting prepared for service, but some leaky tubes during the hydro test sadly put it out of commission temporarily. I hope to be back for next year's show with our half scale Case engine, if not sooner for other events.
I did end up shuffling around other things and was there Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. They had the Tom Thumb running, too.
I've been watching your videos for a while. I'm from NW Indiana and now live near Plainwell, MI. I've visited this museum a few times; the sawmill is never going when I'm there... too bad. I do see they have a newer version of one of the most dangerous tools known to the DIYer (the DeWalt radial arm saw). I'm sure it once served a great purpose in sawmills. Maybe that's where it should have stayed. Not to be a "do nothing, suggest everything," but have you noticed how amazing the water channel system is of the Kankakee even from South Bend to Momence? I look at it often, wondering how it was all so extensively engineered, to the point of many portions being filled in and changed long after the fact, even from the time I was a boy living south of Kouts in the 1970s. Viewing it all from Google Earth is like looking at a complex circuit board. When one adds in all the railroad--many decommissioned within a century of surveying, building, and utilizing, it seems like northern Indiana was once even more (far more) vibrant and important a place than today. I appreciate these videos more than most content available on You Tube. Thank you!
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate it. If you're in the area this weekend, I think they're running the sawmill and the Tom Thumb and the power plant, among other things.
I don't know about the Kankakee stuff. Looking at a map, it looks like either irrigation or drainage channels. I know NW Ohio has a lot of channels that look like that from draining the Great Black Swamp.
@@Industrial_Revolution I caught you saying the mill would be open this weekend. It’d be great if I had the time! The Kankakee has been on my mind lately: reading a book on its history, and not being able to get much for accurate details on how they accomplished so much. It’s even said that most was done via local landowners. Just strange, as it looks entirely engineered by pros, as well as much of the grid radiating from it.
Check out google maps between Toledo and Cedar Pointe in Ohio. I've only looked superficially, but it looks pretty similar, and I know the Ohio ones were dug for drainage. The way that was drained might give you enough additional details to fill in the holes it sounds like you're hitting in Indiana.
It's actually a surprisingly common problem. When these things were being done, everyone knew about them, so no one bothered documented them, then those people died off and now it's a bit of a mystery. That happens all the time, unfortunately.
@@Industrial_Revolution I will, thanks! It's that lack of records, along with what I see in the earth, that creates the mystery. For instance, there seems to be a man who proposed a canal system--including the Kankakee--to the US Congress, to go from Lake Erie to Lake Michigan. It is said it never materialized (i.e. gained Federal funding), yet the story runs cold after his Congressional appeal, and there are remnants of what looks like a filled-in channel extending from the northeast end of the Kankakee furthest northeast point (approximately - N 41, 39'20.16" x W 86 18'10.08") to just shy of the St. Joseph river's dam at (approximately N 41 40'37.92" x W 86 14'42.72), thus bringing the water level up to feed the channel. All this said as a speculation that someone may have attempted (or succeeded in) connecting the two in that approximate area. Just an observation. The Kankakee isn't a main focus of mine, but there are more historical mysteries than historical facts, so everything always has a tint of "I wonder" about it. Such as how it is said that pieces of the Administration Building's roof from the Chicago Columbia Exposition were used to create bridges on the Kankakee. I'm not 100% how that worked, and would like to see it, but I don't think those exist anymore either.
I learn excellent things here, so thanks again! This is a very valuable educational resource.
Have you tried contacting the Canal Society of Indiana? indcanal.org/
The mystery definitely draws you in, doesn't it? That's what happened with my Tinkers Creek Gorge video. All you really need is just one or two facts to get you started down the right path, then the whole story might open up right in front of you.
Most World's Fair buildings were, and are, designed as temporary, so I can see the roof trusses having been reused. If they designed them to be reused as bridge trusses later, I could see how that would work well.