Ed and Ray Smolik found this 1913 Case Model 110 near Hudson Bay Junction, Canada where it had been used to operate a sawmill. The engine had sunk into the frozen ground when the Smolik Brothers arrived to bring it home that January. Fires were built to thaw out the frozen ground so that the engine could be lifted out and begin its journey to Iowa.

The 1913 Case Model 110 has power steering and was designed to plow, haul huge loads and power the threshing machine all day long. They were well suited for heavy belt work and breaking virgin prairie of the United States and Canada. A sawmill, powered by the Case 110, could cut as much as nine million feet of lumber at one settlement.

Case, one of the largest manufacturers of steam traction engines, built about 36,000 engines before production ceased in 1926. Two thirds of those engines were produced after 1900.

A 1913 Case Model 110 engine could cost over $3,000 so groups of farmers formed "threshing rings" in order to pay for it. Typically, only larger farms could afford to purchase them. A little known fact is that the 110hp steam traction engines won more gold medals at the Winnipeg contests than any other.

The steam traction engine market faded away as the new gas tractors became available. A few steam engines worked on the farms until the World War II scrap drives when many were lost.

The Smolik Brothers moved the 1913 Case Model 110 to Antique Acres near Cedar Falls, IA where it was exhibited for many years. Ed, Evelyn and Ray Smolik donated this unique engine to the Mitchell County Historical Society. The Case 110 was moved to its home in the "Smolik Exhibit " building at Cedar Valley Memories, Osage, IA in 1992. The Annual Power Show is when fans can experience the Case, in its glory, as it pulls the 1910 John Deere 14-bottom lever lift plow and turns the rich Iowa soil.

Our 1913 Case Model 110 was absent from Cedar Valley Memories from 2008 until 2015. The old girl needed quite a makeover with a new boiler, restored gears, new supports for her cab and of course new paint. It is part of the Historical Society mission to preserve the past and help make it come to life for future generations.

The 1913 Case Model 110 engine was featured as the 4th, in a series of 8, limited special event postal cancelation at the 8th Annual Cedar Valley Memories Power Show in 2003.