"I like the steam engines and all the noise. They have to be noisy. And they have to have candy," Waltz said.
Jordan called the parade "cool." His favorite part was "probably the steam engine. Because it was loud."
Along with steam engines, dozens of gas-powered tractors rolled down Smithsburg's streets, including Minneapolis-Moline, John Deere, Oliver, Ford, Allis-Chalmers, Case, Ferguson and McCormick models.
After the parade the tractors went to the grounds of the Smithsburg Fire Hall. There, clad in an engineer's cap, was Eugene Lawson, 76, of Greencastle, Pa. He was standing at the back of his 1921 Peerless steam engine, which he proudly proclaimed was made near his hometown in Waynesboro, Pa.
"I was born and raised on this stuff," Lawson said.
When he bought the engine in 1976, it was in excellent condition, though Lawson opted to repaint it since he wasn't fond of its green color.
"I've been riding one of these since I was 8 years old," Lawson said.
In its heyday, the engine would have been used for tasks such as threshing wheat and cutting wood at sawmills. Farmers in the west used such engines for plowing, he said.
Lawson, who also owns eight tractors, said restoring such machinery is his hobby now that he's retired.
Another steam engine in the parade, a 1916 Frick model also made in Waynesboro, is owned by the Grease, Steam and Rust Association. Sitting on a thresher the engine was hauling was Grease, Steam and Rust member David Frantz.
During a conversation the engine started relieving itself - quite possibly the source of the phrase "letting off steam." It shot bursts of steam skyward.
"It's a lost art. Steam engines are getting to be a lost art," Frantz said. "A lot of people don't realize what it took in the old days to do what we do today."
