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| Double-decker Hong Kong streetcar. |
Antique Powerland is a place in Brooks, OR that is a haven for bygone technology. The Western Steam Fiends, fans of all things steam powered, are the visionaries that are the charter group at Antique Powerland. There are many individual museums on the grounds, including the Pacific Northwest Truck Museum, the Northwest Vintage Car and Motorcycle Museum, the Oregon Electric Railway Museum (which offers street car rides around the grounds), the Pacific Northwest Logging Museum, the Brooks Historical Society, and the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Museum. The Northwest Blacksmith Association operates a blacksmith shop there, and Willow Creek Railroad operates model train rides. The Willamette Valley Model Railroad Museum, the Oregon Two Cylinder Club, and the Oregon Fire Service Education and Heritage Center are all in the process of locating museums here as well. Every summer, Antique Powerland hosts The Great Oregon Steam-Up, which is not to be missed. Of course all the regular museums are in full swing, and people who restore and collect old engine-powered machinery of all sorts come to show it off. There is a grand parade, and the lawn is filled with stationery engines making strange noises while smoke rings rise gracefully towards the sky. The sawmill is puffing away, the Blacksmith Association is hard at work, old time music fills the air, and the food vendors keep everyone well supplied with hotdogs and giant bowls of shaved ice. There is more history here than you can shake a stick at!
This year, Jasper's most favorite things were watching the blacksmiths and riding on the Willow Creek Railroad. My husband loved the Caterpillar museum and the antique stationery engines. And I loved riding the streetcar and seeing their amazing collection of old streetcars from around the world.
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| The MSY Express ("Mom Said Yes") on the Willow Creek Railroad. |
Antique Powerland is a place in Brooks, OR that is a haven for bygone technology. The Western Steam Fiends, fans of all things steam powered, are the visionaries that are the charter group at Antique Powerland. There are many individual museums on the grounds, including the Pacific Northwest Truck Museum, the Northwest Vintage Car and Motorcycle Museum, the Oregon Electric Railway Museum (which offers street car rides around the grounds), the Pacific Northwest Logging Museum, the Brooks Historical Society, and the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Museum. The Northwest Blacksmith Association operates a blacksmith shop there, and Willow Creek Railroad operates model train rides. The Willamette Valley Model Railroad Museum, the Oregon Two Cylinder Club, and the Oregon Fire Service Education and Heritage Center are all in the process of locating museums here as well. Every summer, Antique Powerland hosts The Great Oregon Steam-Up, which is not to be missed. Of course all the regular museums are in full swing, and people who restore and collect old engine-powered machinery of all sorts come to show it off. There is a grand parade, and the lawn is filled with stationery engines making strange noises while smoke rings rise gracefully towards the sky. The sawmill is puffing away, the Blacksmith Association is hard at work, old time music fills the air, and the food vendors keep everyone well supplied with hotdogs and giant bowls of shaved ice. There is more history here than you can shake a stick at! 
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