In General
Live Steam and Diesel RR's I Have A Page For
Links and Additional Info
Suppliers

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In General



Playing with trains is fun, playing with bigger and bigger trains gets increasingly more fun.  Take the hobby of Live Steam and Live Diesels.  It doesn't get much better unless you own a real railroad! :-)  The majority of Live Steam sized railroads in the United States are 1/8 scale, being either 7.5" or 7.25" gauge.  The 7.25" gauge will be found mostly in the North East, north of Pennsylvania. 

There are a number of quarter scale railroads in the United States, but we lost one of them back in 2018 - Junction Valley RR, north of Detroit MI.  They are even more fun, because they are much easier to ride, and in some cases, you can even fit inside the locomotives and cars.

If you're looking for info on "Park and Zoo" sized railroads, you can find what I have on them here and here.

There are other "size" trains out there that are not of the "standard" small railroad gauges.  The only one I have personally seen is the "Little Sykes" train located in Sykesville MD, and has a gauge of something like 9 inches.  It came out of a mall somewhere up in Pennsylvania I believe.  The train gets a brief mention on my Sykesville page.

One of the best -personal- examples of the hobby is Russ Eldridge's White Creek Railroad just north of Grand Rapids Michigan, where he has approximately seven miles of track.  What makes Russ' track interesting is that he has track going all over the place, and it's not just a big loop, thereby providing engineers with multiple opportunities to maximize their fun..... Just watch out for those crossovers!..... :-)  The picture at the top of the page was taken there in 2009, on the trestle coming back from Three Mile Island.

One other railroad that stands out from the others is Train Mountain in Oregon.  They hold the record for the largest "model" railroad in the Guinness Book of Records, with 70,000 feet of mainline (13-1/4 miles / 21.3km), and a total trackage of 133,250 feet (25-1/4 miles / 40.6km).

Below are some of the places I have had a chance to visit.  I've also been to the Los Angeles Live Steamers and the live steam group in Roanoke, many, many years ago before they moved, someday I will scan the slides.


Live Steam and Diesel Railroads I Have A Page For
Unless noted with an asterisk, they are 1/8 scale railroads



CALS - Chesapeake & Allegheny Live Steamers / Baltimore MD
CALS Homepage (now on Facebook)

White Creek RR / Grand Rapids MI
White Creek's Homepage

* The Sykesville Train / Sykesville MD

The Mid-Michigan Railroad Club / Marshall MI
Mid-Michigan Homepage

* Junction Valley RR / Bridgeport MI
Was A Quarter Scale Railroad, Closed in 2018

* the Traverse Steam Train / formerly in Traverse City MI

Signal Aspects for Train Mountain in Oregon
Train Mountain Homepage

Los Angeles Live Steamers Homepage
Los Angeles Live Steamers on Facebook

Building a 1/8 scale New York City R-33 Subway Car

Note: The pages for Junction Valley and the Traverse Steam Train are part of my railfan guide series.  While the Junction Valley/Bridgeport page is 100% JV, the Traverse Steam Train part of that page is just a small part of the guide to the area.


Links and Additional Information



The Live Steam hobby is a great hobby, regardless of the scale you decide to involve yourself in.  Here are a few additional links of places you can go for more information and inspiration:

I don't know why, but it seems to me that guys in the UK have more "iron" or something in their blood, cause they sure do have some great railroading over there, and the Live Steam scene is no exception.  For a good place to start, check out Peter's website: http://www.miniaturerailwayworld.co.uk/

A page of links by the Friends of Train Mountain: http://www.friendstm.org/Clubs/AllClubsUSA.shtml

Good all around source of info, and great sales page: http://www.discoverlivesteam.com/


Suppliers



Here are just a few of them, as there are many:

http://mountaincar.intuitwebsites.com/  is now: http://titantrains.net/
One of the premier gas/hydraulic locomotive manufacturers of 1/8 scale stuff, located in Salem VA
The MCC site will redirect you to the Titan Trains website.

https://www.rmirailworks.com/ Supplier of locomotive and trolleys using either electric or gas/hydraulic drives, they also do signals and rolling stock

http://ridetrains.net/p1.htm  An inexpensive way to start in the hobby!

https://www.plumcovestudio.com/  Another easy way to break into the 1/8 scale hobby.

http://thetrainworks.com/  1/8 scale locos available in either gas/hydraulic or electric.

https://www.herringadvancemachine.com/  Custom designed equipment, used to be -herringengineer.com-.

http://www.precisionsteelcar.com/  Cast detail parts.

http://www.railroadsupply.com/  Morris RR supply, famous for their 1/8 scale gas powered SW-1500's, is now Railroad Supply Company.

Want to roll your own hydraulic system, here are some formulas to help you:
http://www.surpluscenter.com/Tech-Help/Hydraulics/Calculators/Motor-Speed-Torque-HP/
http://www.surpluscenter.com/Tech-Help/Hydraulics/Calculators/Pump-Disp-HP-GPM-RPM/

-- current as of mid 2024 --


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New format 10/26/23: Please check out my disclaimer page for my standard dribble and contact info here

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Last Modified:  27-Jul-2024