Powerland Heritage Park, formerly known as Antique Powerland, is a collection of

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

s and a self-described heritage site for power equipment, such as farm machinery, commercial trucks, trains, construction equipment, and the engines which power them. It is located in

Brooks Brooks may refer to: Places ;Antarctica *Cape Brooks ;Canada *Brooks, Alberta ;United States * Brooks, Alabama * Brooks, Arkansas *Brooks, California *Brooks, Georgia * Brooks, Iowa * Brooks, Kentucky * Brooks, Maine * Brooks Township, Michigan ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States (near

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

), and is operated by the

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Antique Powerland Museum Association. It was initially established by a group of enthusiasts "dedicated to the preservation, restoration and demonstration of steam powered equipment, antique farm machinery and implements." The museum is located on a parcel of land just off

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...

in Brooks, and has been in operation (in various forms) since the 1970s. Originally, the site was primarily used for "threshing bees", a forerunner to the modern

tractor pull Truck and tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a form of a motorsport competition in which antique or modified tractors pull a heavy drag or sled along an , track, with the winner being the tractor that pulls the drag the farthe ...

, and the remainder of the site committed to farming. With the addition of a truck museum and a railroad museum, the entire grounds were dedicated to exhibits; the current structure of Antique Powerland has been in operation since 1996. Each summer, Antique Powerland presents the Great Oregon Steam-Up, wherein many of the exhibits are fired up and displayed in an operational state. Despite the name, many different types of power equipment are displayed, including steam-powered equipment,

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

-powered equipment,

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

-powered equipment, and

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

-powered equipment. Antique Powerland was renamed Powerland Heritage Park in spring 2017.

Exhibits and member museums

Antique Powerland is structured as a collection of museums, some indoor and some outdoor, each operating together on the Antique Powerland site. The various museums focus on different types of equipment, and have different exhibits on display. Many of the exhibits are interactive; there are several operating

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

s on the property which visitors can ride. Member museums, along with the equipment exhibited, include: * Western Steam Friends Association. A

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

heritage group, which exhibits and operates various types of steam-powered equipment, including tractors, a rail-mounted steam crane, and an operating wood-fired, steam-powered

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

, which is used to mill lumber for exhibit construction. * Branch 15 - Early Day Gas Engines & Tractors Association. An organization which exhibits small engines, tractors, and related farm implements. Operates a museum housing machinery from the Wolf Iron Warks dragsaw factory. * Antique Implement Society. Displays large operating oil and

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

engines. * Willow Creek Railroad. Operates a large-scale model railroad on the site, with over of trackage, which visitors can ride (two riders per train car). Includes both gasoline and steam-powered engines. * Oregon Two Cylinder Club. An association of

John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

enthusiasts; exhibits

John Deere Tractor Deere & Company, the firm founded by John Deere, began to expand its range of John Deere equipment to include the tractor business in 1876. The Deere company briefly experimented with building its own tractor models, the most successful of which ...

s and implements, and operates a wheat field on the premises. * Northwest Blacksmith Association. Operates Powerland's machine shop and blacksmith shop. * Brooks Historical Society. Maintains and operates the historic

railroad depot, now relocated to the grounds of Powerland. * * Pacific Northwest Truck Museum. An organization which preserves trucking history and vintage trucks, emphasizing trucking in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. Operates a indoor museum, with 75 restored trucks on display, divided into two buildings—one containing small trucks such as pickups and delivery vans, the other containing

semi-trailer A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. In the United States, the term is also used to refer to the combination of a truck and a semi-trailer; a tractor-trailer. A large proportion of a semi-trailer's weight is supported by a tracto ...

s and tractors. Sydney 1187 at Oregon ERM

Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society The Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society (OERHS) is a non-profit organization in the U.S. state of Oregon, founded in 1957. It owns and operates a railroad museum for electric railroad and streetcar enthusiasts, and also operates a separate ...

. A society dedicated to preserving the regional heritage of electric rail transportation. The society operates the

Oregon Electric Railway Museum The Oregon Electric Railway Museum is the largest streetcar/trolley museum in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is owned and operated by the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society and is located in Brooks, Oregon, on the groun ...

at Powerland, and operates a vintage electric trolley which circles the perimeter of the site. * Oregon Fire Service Museum, Memorial, and Learning Center. Established in 1993 to preserve the heritage of

firefighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...

in Oregon. Maintains a collection of antique

fire engines The Fire Engines were a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland. The Fire Engines were an influence on many bands that followed, including Franz Ferdinand and The Rapture, with Meat Whiplash and The Candyskins both taking their names from Fire ...

of various vintage. * Oregon Tractor Pullers, Inc. Operates tractor pulls involving vintage tractors at the site. * Antique Caterpillar Machinery Museum. Exhibits equipment manufactured by

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...

* Willamette Valley Model Railroad Museum. A museum dedicated to

model railroading Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

. * Northwest Vintage Car & Motorcycle Museum. A museum dedicated to the heritage of the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

and

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

. Among the exhibits is a replica of a 1930s

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Indepe ...

service station. Northwest Vintage Car & Motorcycle Museum

Great Oregon Steam-Up

The signature event at Antique Powerland is the Great Oregon Steam-Up, an event held each year during mid-summer when many of the exhibits, normally displayed in a non-operational state, are fired up and shown running. The Steam-Up includes events such as a

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

of vintage power equipment, sawmill demonstrations, demonstrations of using vintage equipment to harvest wheat, and numerous other exhibits. The year 2010 marked the Steam-Up's 40th anniversary.

References

External links

Powerland Heritage Park
– official site
Branch 15
- Website of Branch 15 {{authority control Automobile museums in Oregon Museums in Marion County, Oregon Agriculture museums in the United States Open-air museums in Oregon Railroad museums in Oregon Industry museums in Oregon 1970 establishments in Oregon