FREEPORT, Ill. — Scorching sunlight, 90-degree-plus temperatures, a violent afternoon rainstorm and a 40-cent overnight jump in gas prices in the Midwest no doubt contributed to the low spectator/exhibitor turnout at the 2012 Freeport Steam Show Aug. 4.

Nevertheless, those who came were treated to live demonstrations of how oats were threshed by steam engine and tractor in bygone years, how logs were sawed into planks via an old-fashioned but efficient steam-driven sawmill and how water was pumped from underground sources with small vintage gas-powered stationary engines known as “one-lung” or “hit-and-miss” machines.

The yearly event is sponsored by the Stephenson County Antique Engine Club. Like its predecessors, the 43rd annual show featured vintage agricultural and industrial equipment, including farm tractors and steam traction engines and the horse-powered machines and stationary engines that helped America grow.

To Neal Drummer of LaMoille, Ill., his 1920 Port Huron steam engine is part of the family. A friend spotted the behemoth in a magazine ad in 1971, said Drummer, then headed to Missouri and brought the engine home with him.

“I knew what I wanted, and so did he,” he said of the steam engine, the only one he owns. “Another friend owned two steam engines and had trouble with both of them at the same time. He said having two steam engines is like having more than one wife. It was good for a laugh.”

When new, the 1920 black metal monster was sold in Lincoln, Neb. “It was the last one they sold. They’d had it as a demonstrator, and it went to Eli, Nebraska, on a threshing run. The previous owner said the engine provided the heat to heat asphalt in a railroad car when they were laying the first blacktop road in the state of Nebraska.”

For collectors, these events represent a hobby and a piece of history. For the public, it’s their opportunity to see what life was like years ago. Because a steam engine is almost like a living thing, it gave rise to the expression “iron horse” in the era of steam locomotives.

“Each steam engine has its own personality,” Drummer said. “No two have exactly the same characteristics. They wake up when you fire them up, and they go to sleep when you shut them down, just like a horse.

“They’re almost like a thing alive. They breathe, and there’s a fascination about that. Of course, they’re an inanimate object.”

Some steam engine aficionados go so far as to own a shed full of the huffing, chuffing monsters. “They collect them, but my resources won’t allow me to do that,” Drummer said. “I’m not inclined to do that, anyhow.”

Although the Freeport show always features four different steam engines, only the Port Huron participated this year. Illinois law requires all steam engines to undergo a biennial inspection, ultrasound check and hydrostatic (water) test.

Noting the other three engines were not inspected in time to qualify for the show, Drummer recalled five people killed when a Case 110 steam engine exploded in Medina, Ohio, in 2001. The blast sprayed hot water and iron shrapnel for 100 yards.

Most steam engine explosions are caused by operator error and low water levels in the machine. “You don’t let the water get out of sight in the glass on the back end,” he said. “Otherwise, it may drop and expose the top of the firebox to the red heat of the fire. When the water comes back over it, up goes the engine. That’s what happened in Ohio.”

Nick Ingram of Cedarville, Ill., exhibited a four-horse stationary Foos gas engine made in about 1910 in Springfield, Ohio, and used in Egg Harbor, N.J., to produce parts for butcher shops. Stationary gas engines supplied rotary power before the days of electricity. Every family had one to pump water. They were a great labor-saving device, and everyone always made sure they were properly maintained.

One-lunger engines only had one cylinder, while some other machines were known as hit-and-miss because that’s exactly what they did, Ingram said. “They’d fire one time, then coast until they needed more power, and fire again.

“Young people see these engines and ask, ‘What is this?’ You tell them, and they say, “What did you need one of these for?’ You explain why and they say, ‘What do you mean, we didn’t have electricity?’”