Smoke billows from the stack of the steam-powered tractor as it chugs along, sounding like a train locomotive. At a top speed of just under 6 mph, the 150 Case Road Locomotive moves methodically but is mighty in strength as it’s able to pull 50 plows, carving a large swath in the brown field.  

The 150 Case steam engine was originally built in 1905 by the Case Company. Only nine of the massive engines were made, and none survived. But Kory Anderson, along with a team of volunteers, set out to build a replica of the iconic tractor.  

Inspired by seeing the only remaining boiler for the tractor as a child, Anderson relied on blueprints of the original while spending 16 months recreating the tractor before debuting it in 2018 to fellow steam engine hobbyists.  

The following year, Ali Anderson just happened to be at the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion in Rollag, Minnesota. After watching a demonstration of the tractor, Ali introduced herself to the person behind the machine and found herself meeting the man who would become her husband. 

“It was the engine that brought us together,” Anderson said. “I was taking a photo in front of it and wondered who this guy was passing by. I asked who owned it, expecting it to be like a 70-year-old man, and he said it was actually him who built it. Now we’re married with two beautiful girls.”  

Eventually, Ali Anderson joined her husband in running the family businesses, which include a welding, fabrication and machining company and the foundry in South Dakota where the parts were cast for the steam engine project, along with a recently acquired aluminum foundry in Indiana.  

“I was a corporate junkie,” Anderson said, of the time before she met her husband. “We had no entrepreneurs in my family at all, and Kory pointed out that I could do all the things I was doing for big businesses, but on a smaller landscape. So, I ended up leaving my corporate job in 2021, and we teamed up. Our whole mission is all about preserving American skill trades.” 

And that set her on the path of writing a children’s book based on her husband’s journey with the 150 Case. Released in November, “Billy the Lost Boiler” follows Kory, called the Iron Warrior in the book, as he overcomes challenges while following his faith in God to fulfill his dream of fixing Billy so he can once again find his purpose as the world’s biggest steam engine.  

When Anderson set out to write the book, she hoped to inspire the next generation of skilled workers before turning 18 and have already found a career path.   

“I thought, well, why don't we launch a children's book and we can try and get the skill trades into children's hands a little bit sooner,” she said. “So that they can really understand the beauty in making things with your hands, and that this is a great, fulfilling career path for them.” 

The book benefits the Andersons’ nonprofit Iron Warrior Academy, which is dedicated to training the next generation of workers in welding, metal fabrication and foundry work. The mentorship programs operate in Webster, South Dakota, and Lakeside.  The program began to address what the Andersons saw as a shortage of skilled labor in the trades.  

“We realize that in order to make it in America, you have to have people that want to make the products, right? We have a huge deficit in skill trades employees,” she said. “ And so we started this Iron Warrior Academy to teach and educate students.” 

The story of “Billy the Lost Boiler” was crafted on a snowy day and then Anderson worked with illustrator Brian Castleforte to create the vivid images in the book, which also has an accompanying workbook including devotionals where young readers can explore the Bible verses included in the story. The back of the book includes photos of the 150 Case and tells the story that inspired the book. 

“I knew a lot of kids really struggled with finding their purpose,” Anderson said. “And so I wanted to really anchor it around Billy the Boiler, finding his purpose as the heart of the world's biggest steam engine.” 

Anderson has several future storylines planned and hopes to continue publishing books with Billy’s story.  

Both had childhoods spent attending threshing shows, and now the Andersons are taking their two daughters to shows as they continue to showcase the 150 Case in Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota. At 25 feet long and 14 feet wide, it holds the Guinness World Record for being the largest steam-powered tractor in the world.  

“What's so wild is that Kory and I have gone to the Steam Threshers Reunion every year of our lives and never ran into each other until that perfect moment of him debuting this engine there,” Anderson said. “Just the timing of it all was so incredible. Because had he not had his individual journey and I have mine, we wouldn't have been ready for what we were about to create. So, it was all such a blessing.” 

Anderson will hold a book signing at Barnes & Noble in Kalispell on Jan. 24 from 1-3 p.m. The book is available on Amazon. For more information, visit billytheboiler.com. 

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 406-758-4421 or [email protected].