Community & Business
4 September, 2025
The wonders of steam
Hundreds of steam engines were on display at the Steaming Under the Southern Cross Festival last week.
Interstate exhibitors had gone to great lengths to transport their pride-and-joys to Kingsthorpe Park for the festival, which concluded on Sunday.
A 23-tonne engine from South Australia took three days to travel up via low loader.
By Wednesday, 40 per cent of the steam engines had returned home, but there was still much to see and do at the Farmfest precinct.
One particularly special exhibit came from the Isaac Shire Council, which had given permission for a Demott Bros traction engine which had helped relocate the entire town of Clermont following the Great Flood of 1916, to be released for display during the week.
Local John Reis of Lilyvale, who has hosted regular old machinery open days on his property, was given the chance to show his pride and joy - a magnificently restored 125-years-old Pink Marshall threshing machine - to a much larger audience.
Exhibits weren’t limited to steam engines - a Western Australian man brought over his personal collection of typewriters and calculators spanning decades.
“In the 1970s, an electric calculator would cost you $500, equivalent to ten weeks of wages for the average person at that time,” the man said.
Classic car lovers also had their moment in the sun.
Oakey couple Ken and Lyn Schultz of the Toowoomba and District Old Machinery Society had their two century-old Dodge cars out for the week.
It was a great week, too, for the Oakey Girl Guides who made the most of the opportunity to host a refreshments stall, raising thousands of dollars through food and drink sales.
