At the annual thresher show at Andover, SD pop. 91 on Sept. 7th thru 9th a full size replica of Case's largest traction engine will be on display. Of the nine built, only part of the boiler of the first one still exists. Rated at 150 hp, the Model RL 40 x 150 sports 8' diameter driving wheels, 30" wide, and two speed gearing. The front wheels appear to be about 5' in diameter. The engine is square, 14" bore and stroke. Designed to pull 40 to 50 ton wagon loads where there were no railroads, the gearing was the machine's biggest drawback. Metallurgy of the day wasn't able to come up with gears that would stand up to the stresses put on the drive train. The fully functional replica's builder believes today's better steel will cure the design flaw. Search "Case 150 hp tractor" on the Internet for past history and the new build.

Alex Huff

To help you get started. . .and this machine is not small:

http://anderson-industries.com/150-case ... the-dream/

What a great project! You don't need a railroad to run it. Here is another great traction engine replica: https://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45891

Here’s another steam tractor rebuild, a 6 hp Advance.
https://youtu.be/Q4fSArO7pOY
New build boilers for existing steam tractors are built rather regularly. Our Peerless at the Museum of Eastern Shore Life received a new boiler from Strasburg in 2007, I believe. They have also built several other steam tractor boilers.

I have seen the rear wheels close up including a riveting demonstration on one of them. The builder gave a presentation, and said that computer modeling shows that the metal in modern castings are strong enough. He went through and modeled the whole machine not just the gears. Believe it or not he said he went to collage and started his business just to be able to built that machine. And yes if you want a railway locomotive I think he could do that too.

Some other material on the project.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/05/0 ... -to-debut/

https://www.sidneyherald.com/national/n ... b2e5a.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nojQi9Dvdl0

I know some people here aren't into Facebook, but there's a page for this firm, with photos of the tractor.

https://www.facebook.com/Anderson-Indus ... 931876302/

For those who are allergic to Facebook, here are a few of the photographs.

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5C372441

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5BFFF1B4

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5C2F1C2D

Just a sampling of the videos.

https://www.facebook.com/11544893187630 ... 298973091/

https://www.facebook.com/11544893187630 ... 960214883/

https://www.facebook.com/11544893187630 ... 537734492/

https://www.facebook.com/11544893187630 ... 730420607/