The Midwest Old Threshers Reunion is an annual event that takes place in

Mt. Pleasant, Iowa Mount Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Iowa, Henry County in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 9,274 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an increase from 8,668 in the 2010 United States census, 2010 c ...

, United States, and runs for five days, ending on the

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

weekend. It was first held in 1950, and has taken place every year except 2020, when it was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. When it first started, it focused on steam engines and antique agricultural equipment, but has developed into an entertainment event with a wider remit. The city of less than 10,000 inhabitants receives thousands of visitors from around the world. Old Threshers Reunion, as an event, attracts visitors from around the world, attracted by both the permanent exhibits on the reunion grounds and by the collections of antique and steam powered equipment brought to the show by other visitors.

Permanent exhibits

The Heritage Museum is open year-round, featuring a variety of exhibits that celebrate the rural heritage of the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. The

Stationary steam engine Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam car ...

exhibit features three large Corliss engines as well as a number of smaller engines. The Midwest Electric Railway operates a trolley line around the reunion campground. A number of well restored Iowa trolleys operate on this line, including Waterloo Car 381, the last trolley to operate in public service in Iowa and Car 9 from the Albia Interurban Line. MERA also operates Car 320, a beautiful wooden interurban from the Chicago Aurora and Elgin line in IL. Additional favorite cars come from as far away as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Milan, Italy.
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The Midwest Central Railroad operates a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railway around the reunion exhibit area. This railroad features a Class C

Shay locomotive The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a ''geared st ...

from the

West Side Lumber Company railway The West Side Lumber Company railway was the last of the narrow-gauge logging railroads operating in the American west. History West Side Flume & Lumber Company The West Side Flume & Lumber Company was founded in May 1898 to log of land ...

. Other engines include two 2-6-0

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

engines (one having a recently updated boiler and the other undergoing extensive rework) that formerly served logging railroads in the eastern United States and a German 0-4-0 built by

Henschel & Son Henschel & Son () was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons. Georg Ch ...

. For routine operations, there are two

Plymouth Locomotive Works Plymouth Locomotive Works was a US builder of small railroad locomotives. All Plymouth locomotives were built in a plant in Plymouth, Ohio until 1997 when the company was purchased by Ohio Locomotive Crane and production moved to Bucyrus, Ohio in ...

diesel switch engines, one of them run if there's something wrong with one of the two trains that run each day, and a

Vulcan Iron Works Vulcan Iron Works was the name of several Ironworks, iron foundries in both England and the United States during the Industrial Revolution and, in one case, lasting until the mid-20th century. Vulcan (mythology), Vulcan, the Roman god of fir ...

gasoline switch engine. In addition to operating during the reunion, the Midwest Central Railroad has public events connected to

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

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and

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. The Hazel Grace Pierson Carousel Pavilion houses a beautiful fully restored antique

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

. "The Smile Machine" is powered by a Herschell-Spillman steam engine that dates back over a century. The carousel includes a Military Band Organ, as well as the usual rocking horses.

Reunion venues

During the show, the village and train station at Snipe Run on the north side of the reunion grounds is an active place, as is the log village at the south end of the trolley line. Major exhibit areas are reserved for different antique engines, including small steam engines, steam traction engines, and gas engines. Other major exhibits include antique cars and trucks, applications and uses of antique engines, masonry, textile and handmade arts, and food stands. At noon every day of the reunion, there is a parade of power, where all the operating steam and gas traction engines parade by the grandstand. There are two main events every night of the reunion week. In the early evening, the Schaffner Players perform an old "Toby and Susie" Toby Tolliver play in the Theatre Museum, after which there is a concert in the pavilion. The Reunion has succeeded in attracting acts including

Minnie Pearl Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996), known professionally as her stage character Minnie Pearl, was an American comedian and country singer who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years (1940–1991) ...

Leroy Van Dyke Leroy Frank Van Dyke (born October 4, 1929) is an American country music and honky-tonk singer and guitarist, best known for his hits " The Auctioneer" (1956) and " Walk on By" (1961). Biography Van Dyke was born in Mora, Missouri and graduat ...

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

June Carter June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of summe ...

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

Terri Clark Terri Lynn Sauson, known professionally as Terri Clark (born August 5, 1968) is a Canadian country music singer who has had success in both Canada and the United States. Signed to Mercury Records in 1995, she released her self-titled debut that ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

and

LeAnn Rimes Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at the age of 13 and has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Christian, and o ...

, who have all performed on the pavilion stage.

Map of the grounds

*
An alternative map

References

External links

{{Portal, Trains, Iowa
Old Threshers Homepage
(identical t

Festivals in Iowa Tourist attractions in Henry County, Iowa Museums in Henry County, Iowa Open-air museums in Iowa Steam museums in the United States History museums in Iowa Agriculture museums in the United States