# Trainfest 09: Sunday



## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

An early morning start into the facilities gave us an excellence opportunity to watch the prep and initial yard run out on to the main line by the Berkshire.










The prep session when from coal loading to the run out and connection to the train:










Finally, a few more ties and the engine and train will be one:











MSSLS was the main agenda for the day. Despite some early morning showers and a few passing throughout the day it was great weather. The efforts by MSSLS to participate deserves not only a big THANK YOU but recognition for getting small scale live steam in the forefront of the public at this big event (about 30,000 people). The location was excellent with all the traffic from both the Berkshire and GS4 as the backdrop for the steam up.










The picture above is of Tom Myers running. But that is just a preview of his true skills of engineering live steam:










Joining Tom in this opportunity was MLS member Al Ankus:










Speaking of the need to have steam in one's life. One can easily see the "addiction" of steam clearly marked on HQA:










Yet, this "addiction" seems to make one happy and willing to engage the public:










Notice the placement of Harry's forearms relative the prior "track marks of steam addiction" photo!


Of course the opportunity to socialize is among the things to do during downtime as one waits for their schedule time:











This must of been high of the list for these three. Getting a photo of John, Royce and Fred with a steam engine on the track was difficult or just not timely for me.

Yet, Bruce seemed to have the knack having gotten the front page of the local newspaper and almost every photo I took. He is one who would be more that glad to spread the word of live steam, given up his track time and when all others are "dead steam" he can keep the track busy.











One "Legend" is running in the foreground of another modern legend- 440 meets 4449










Thanks to "Whistle" Bob another legend was a very popular engine on the rails:










As the day shorten one more opportunity to see a masterpiece: Standard gauge 4-4-0










So, with great appreciate our track marshall closed out the event. Fritz keep all things in good perspective and a fine sense of humor:










But, just a minute...up in the sky is it a steam nut, a steam plane or nothing but a cinder in my eye. Could it be that we are missing our fellow steamers having gotten aboard another mode of transportation?




Yet to be a news item but then who knows...another steam nut(s) on the front page?


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

The _*Yankee Air Force*_ sure did have us covered...


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## aankus (Jan 5, 2008)

A BIG HEARTY thank you !!!! 
To Bob and the 'Crew' of the Michigan Live Steamers who helped to make a most memorable event possible !!! 
We throughly enjoyed our stay with the good people of Central Michigan, and hope to come back someday ! 
Al


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the photos guys! Looks like a helluva lot of fun! Needless to say, 4449 and the Berk are awesome!


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Charles, thanks for the coverage. both on the ground and above. 

Larry


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## chooch (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Charles on 26 Jul 2009 08:44 PM 











This must of been high of the list for these three. Getting a photo of John, Royce and Fred with a steam engine on the track was difficult or just not timely for me.

Yet, Bruce seemed to have the knack having gotten the front page of the local newspaper and almost every photo I took. He is one who would be more that glad to spread the word of live steam, given up his track time and when all others are "dead steam" he can keep the track busy.













Charles,
Just trying to be good hosts. I did bring and run a couple of engines on Saturday, and ran on the small track all day Sunday. We had many out of state visitors and wanted them to enjoy the track and event as much as possible. Therefore some of us didn't sign up for track time until there was going to be open time on the track. Still always fun to talk to old friends. Socializing is of course as much fun as running in my opinion. Just wouldn't be fun without a good group of friends to enjoy the day with. Glad you all had a good time and hope you can make it back some day for another event.


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Big Steam, a B-17 and a B-25 Mitchell. Does it get much better than that?


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## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By CapeCodSteam on 27 Jul 2009 11:08 AM 
Big Steam, a B-17 and a B-25 Mitchell. Does it get much better than that? 
It does.







Pics to follow in the next couple days...


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By CapeCodSteam on 27 Jul 2009 11:08 AM 
Big Steam, a B-17 and a B-25 Mitchell. Does it get much better than that? 

Yes it did for us. The finale was a trifecta.... trains, planes and autos.











Cars...










and Trainsoldest continuous operating locomotive in America)











Many have been there before us. The Henry Ford Museum is a great place to spend the day. Especially on a week day without the weekend crowd or the large groups there.

The Roundhouse, working crew and equipment along with the machine shop is very impressive:










In the building is a 440 with ongoing rebuild and a beautiful Atlantic:










The museum's railroad other operational engine at this point is the 4-4-0










Atlantic is from Michigan Central:










Then there were the static engines:

H8










A huge Consolidation:










Quite a few other steam related items such as steam cars, tractors and stationary engines:





























All of this and much more regards the history of transportation and its impact on our society and lifestyle by one commercial offering: Ford automobile:










Mobile along with life in the fast lane....the car was "home away from home:"




















I thought the best story was the father and son team that drove from South America in 1992 (if I recall correctly) a trip that took 2 years with only $5 in their pocket to visit this location of the Henry Ford museum:











I just love the front hub cover.....what a powerful impact this mode of transportation to move a father and son to live out their dream on a hope, prayer and $5.00


After 6 hours we did not soak it all in. Henry was quite a collector and business man allowing us to enjoy the history of transportation from bicycles, trains, planes, trucks, cars along with the village of craftsman and "home town" America.

Speaking of making a trip, would do it again...so to the MSSLS we look forward to the next venture.


For now, down the highway with a big smile from great memories!!


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## Steve S. (Jan 2, 2008)

All of this is just incredible. Wish I could have been there.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Charles for all the great pics. I sure missed out on this one. Later RJD


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## Jim Overland (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks for the pictures. 
4449 behind the steaming tracks. What to look at?! 
jim


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## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By rwjenkins on 27 Jul 2009 05:07 PM 
Posted By CapeCodSteam on 27 Jul 2009 11:08 AM 
Big Steam, a B-17 and a B-25 Mitchell. Does it get much better than that? 
It does.







Pics to follow in the next couple days...




As promised, here they are... 

Pere Marquete 1225, the gracious host that didn't get any track time at her own steamup... 





















Southern Pacific 4449 on the return leg of Friday's excursion...



















Nickel Plate 765 with Saturday's excursion...




















Of course, unlike our 45mm gauge stuff, you can't mix standard gauge and narrow gauge here, so if you're looking for an Accucraft to go with those Asters, a little side-trip is necessary...



















The little guys put on quite a show at Trainfest too... 



















Interestingly, the newest engine there was the one that looked the oldest, as the brand new Leviathan replica made her public debut...










Taking a peek under a lady's skirt... 










(A grand old lady of the rails, that is!)

Reflected Daylight...











More to come...


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Richard
Good friend of the small scale live steam community, how did we miss you? You presence is very hard not to notice.... That return trip of the 4449 was our ride. Yes, too bad about 1225 having a failure that did not allow her to participate but I guess it give more meaning to purpose of the event. 


Glad that you among us and your trip was a safe one.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By rwjenkins on 31 Jul 2009 04:59 PM 
Posted By rwjenkins on 27 Jul 2009 05:07 PM 
Pere Marquete 1225, the gracious host that didn't get any track time at her own steamup... 
























Nickel Plate 765 with Saturday's excursion...
































Those Berks are sure "Purty Engines"!!!!


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Some excellent photos are available at:
http://www.railpictures.net 



To find many views just click on a recent photo and then once open find the link for either Steam Institute or Owosso under the photo. The newest one is a great photo of the Berk in the engine house.


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## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

Lisa and I flew from Boston to Milwaukee, rented a car there, and road-tripped out to Owosso via Chicago. We arrived in Owosso late Thursday afternoon, and I guess we must have been following behind the front that brought all the rain that day because we had lovely weather for our drive, and were surprised to find the ground so saturated when we got there, just in time to see Little River 110 coming back from one of her hourly trips, followed by 4449 returning from the day's excursion. We spent Friday morning at the Huckleberry Railroad and went back to Owosso for the afternoon, but didn't get to spend long at the festival grounds before dashing off to Carland to get into position to catch 4449 on the trestle and then chase her back into Owosso. Unfortunately that meant not a lot of time to spend with the models when there was so much to see in 12-inch-to-the-foot-scale. I did stop by the layout briefly to see if there was anybody I recognized, but I didn't see any familiar faces or nametags when I was there. On Saturday we chased 765 out to Alna, then had to start making our way back to Milwaukee to catch our flight on Sunday.


Why Milwaukee? Well, that brings us back to Kent's question of "does it get any better than that?"...

You see, for some it was the vintage aircraft. For others it was the vintage automobiles and all that other cool stuff at the Henry Ford Museum. For me, the real bonus of the trip was more big steam, from the Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk Western, and the Chesapeake & Ohio...













S.S. Keewatin was built in Scotland in 1907 for the Canadian Pacific Railway's Great Lakes steamship service. From 1907 to 1965 she carried passengers and cargo between the CPR terminal at Port McNicoll (later moved to Owen Sound) on Georgian Bay, and Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) on Lake Superior. When it started in the early 1880's, the steamship service was an integral part of CP's transcontinental route while the railroad was still under construction through the rugged and remote territory north of Lake Superior, and it remained popular even after the new rail line was completed. Now a museum in Douglas, Michigan, Keewatin is the oldest large passenger ship in near-original condition surviving anywhere in the world, built at the same time and just a couple miles up the same river as the ill-fated Lusitania, and a full five years before the Titanic.











Ornate woodwork in her passenger dining room... 











A coal-burner to the end, Keewatin had four boilers with three furnaces each, all hand-fired. 











Keewatin's massive quadruple-expansion steam engine...




















Next up was the 1931-vintage Grand Trunk (later Ann Arbor) railroad carferry City of Milwaukee, now a museum in Manistee, Michigan...










Twin 1400-horsepower triple-expansion steam engines drove City of Milwaukee across Lake Michigan until she was retired in 1981...



















And finally, the reason for choosing to fly to and from Milwaukee, on the opposite side of Lake Michigan: The excuse to take one more ride under steam...











Former C&O carferries Badger and Spartan in Ludington, Michigan. Spartan has been out of service for many years, but the 1953-vintage Badger still serves as an auto and truck ferry across the lake for Lake Michigan Carferry, Inc.

Oh yes, and she's still a coal-burner...











Twin steeple-compound Skinner Unaflow steam engines...











Yours truly posing between the engines. There are two engine room telegraphs for each engine, one from the main pilothouse forward, and one from the aft pilothouse used for docking...











Badger's railroad heritage shows up in the strangest places, like this Westinghouse pump in her boiler room...











Out of sight of land on a coal-fired steamship... In the middle of the continent!











Sailing off into a Lake Michigan sunset. Now does it _really_ get any better than that?


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Richard
At the bridge.....Ryan, Harry, ChiliCharlie and I saw you (though we did not know it at the time) and comment on what a great location. A second location that you got the Berk on the curve was were we photo/chased the GS4 in the rain before you got back. No wonder we did not see you because we were out getting footage Thursday afternoon on the return then Friday was our GS4 ride day.

Really enjoyed the cover on the boats. If only we had the time would have been another "feather in the cap" for a great trip!


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks, Guys, one and all, for some wondrous photos of some wondrous machinery, on tracks and on water. They will fill up my scrapbook even more.

The sunset shot over the lake is a wall-hanger, that's certain!

Best to all

tac
www.ovgrs.org


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