Great picture, we used to go to the steam engine festival in Downer, MN(Thresherman Days), I only lived a few miles away. They had some really large running steam engines set up permanently there.
When I had my draft horse I helped a neighbor skid the logs for his cabin out of the woods and then hauled them to an old sawmill, the old guy ran it off a stationary case tractor with a long flat leather belt. We did all work loading and unloading the mill, the guy was a master with the mill cutting 20' oak 8x8's out of the logs.
My grandfather was a woodworker and his shop in the basement ran all his tools off a lineshaft on the ceiling.
When I was in Taiwan the little sewing factories would run all of their sewing machines off overhead line shafts. It gave me the idea to convert a fairly modern commercial sewing machine to treadle when I was living in the tent.
I still use it.