Steam power showcased at fair

COEUR d’ALENE — The heritage of American forestry has always been important to Marc Brinkmeyer.

So much, in fact, that the Idaho Forest Group chairman sought out a century-old steam-powered sawmill and helped revamp it.

The Frick sawmill — with parts dating back to 1912 — was on display at the North Idaho State Fair at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, where it ran live Thursday afternoon.

Fair onlookers toured the relic, which featured a 24,000-pound, 75-horsepower Case steam tractor that spent the majority of its existence plowing fields in Montana.

When Brinkmeyer learned the tractor was available for purchase in Roseburg, Ore., he bought the sizable machine, had it shipped to Billings, Mont., and got it repaired to its original condition.

Every nook and cranny is nearly 100 years old. The mill, taken down to its base and restored from the ground up, was in full operation.

"Our goal is to bring back the heritage of this industry," Brinkmeyer said. "We want people to realize what it was like to lumber way back when."

The woodfire-fueled tractor even sounded its classic steam whistle to the delight of the curious fair-goers.

"This does what it did 100 years ago," Brinkmeyer said.

Due to the rigid safety standards for pressure vessels — it's typically under 125 pounds of pressure, Brinkmeyer said — about 15 employees took training and classes to prepare them to run the machines.