Illinois Live Steamers Visit
Tim M., Bill W., Corey A. and I made a day trip north to the Illinois Live Steamers private track, outside of Chicago, IL.
It is a very nice track with equally nice people which made me feel welcome. The track, being privately owned, has been in that location since 1966, and the maturity of the layout, buildings and support structures is evident. They have a double-tracked 7.5” gauge mainline with a tunnel and several trestles, and equally large 4-3/4” gauge track and a 3.5” highline loop. A large bi-level storage barn (it has 12 garage door openings), a covered steaming bay area, additional steaming bays, a shop barn, a clubhouse building and a barn for tractors and lawnmowers. The track is signaled with electric switches on the mainline. It is nicely appointed with trackside structures and a covered passenger station area.
We went up there because Tim was going to meet one of the vendors there to complete a transaction; he also was selling some items. Corey brought his engine along and I rode around the track for a while. The video is a bit of what I saw from the riding car.
At the meet there was a flea market of sorts, items for sale to help the club treasury out. I bought a Parker 10” machinist vice to upgrade the mechanics vise on my bench. They also offered lunch with the highlight of freshly steamed corn on the cob – the steam was provided by a big Case traction engine -- and a big pitcher of butter to dunk the corn in. Yummy! It was a long day with a very early morning start (4am), but worth the drive!
More pictures here.
It is a very nice track with equally nice people which made me feel welcome. The track, being privately owned, has been in that location since 1966, and the maturity of the layout, buildings and support structures is evident. They have a double-tracked 7.5” gauge mainline with a tunnel and several trestles, and equally large 4-3/4” gauge track and a 3.5” highline loop. A large bi-level storage barn (it has 12 garage door openings), a covered steaming bay area, additional steaming bays, a shop barn, a clubhouse building and a barn for tractors and lawnmowers. The track is signaled with electric switches on the mainline. It is nicely appointed with trackside structures and a covered passenger station area.
We went up there because Tim was going to meet one of the vendors there to complete a transaction; he also was selling some items. Corey brought his engine along and I rode around the track for a while. The video is a bit of what I saw from the riding car.
At the meet there was a flea market of sorts, items for sale to help the club treasury out. I bought a Parker 10” machinist vice to upgrade the mechanics vise on my bench. They also offered lunch with the highlight of freshly steamed corn on the cob – the steam was provided by a big Case traction engine -- and a big pitcher of butter to dunk the corn in. Yummy! It was a long day with a very early morning start (4am), but worth the drive!
More pictures here.
posted by Denis at
10:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<$I18N$LinksToThisPost>:
Create a Link
<< Home