Lake Shore Live Steamers.com

Located at

Penitentiary Glen
8668 Kirtland-Chardon Rd
Kirtland, Ohio 44094

Our club runs a program in conjunction with the Park system to explain steam engines, diesels, the many cars, their purpose for the railroad and this is a view of the attendees for the 10 a.m. session. Skip Frank gives the talk on the engines aided by his grandson Josh Frank.

The attendees for each session, of which there are three a day, 10 AM, 1 PM and 3 PM, is usually a group of about 40 people. Skip goes over the engine in detail explaining the sand dome, steam dome, cylinders, etc. and here he is warning the kids that the whistle is loud.

Judson Elliott, with his back to the camera, gives the talk on the different type of railroad cars and the different loads that they carry that the railroads uses them for. For the railroad cars that we don't have to display, Judson brought his G scale cars and explains their function.

I think this youngster is just wondering when he is going to get the train ride after the train presentation. Judson Elliott is the engineer of the GP38 as the train departs the station with the first load of passengers with Steve Zaken as conductor.

Judson just having emerged from the Covered Bridge with his second load of passengers as he heads for Zip Junction which is about the halfway point of the ride. Arriving back at the station it's time for pictures and the riders are given plenty of time for that.

With all the smiles I guess they enjoyed the program and for us that says it all. Judson coming back into Shriver Station from his third run with his passengers which will conclude the activities for the 10 o'clock program.

Since today is also a work session Perry Taylor was kind enough to bring his lawn more as we are having problems with ours and he mowed the lawn behind the station. The 1 o'clock group came down from the tent in the background and Skip started his program of explaining the engine functions.

Once again Judson started explaining the railroad cars aided by his granddaughter Molly Greene at far right, about to the loads that the cars carry to the youngsters and their guardians. The youngsters watched with rapt attention as Judson described the cars and their loads.

The cattle car that has cows in it attracted the youngsters as they reached in and touched them. Ron Malinowski got his electric powered switcher out and was testing it and running the attendees for their trip around the track as he had just replaced the speed control and everything worked great.

I caught Judson with his passengers across from the water tower near the beginning of his run as he heads down the mainline. Judson again with his passengers as they pass over the Patty's Rock Bridge on this severely overcast day.

Next to come down the long grade from Hilton is Ron with his passengers after passing through Gulch as he heads for Hilde Hill and Fern. Judson with his passengers heads towards Hilton with Ken Brooks as his conductor.

In the yard Dick Clark was checking out his booster car the boxcar behind his control car which is electric powered and he can control it from his car when the extra power is needed as an hill climbing. Judson having passed through Zip Junction with another load of passengers as he heads for for Horrendous.

Dick passing by the same location with his "load"and that being Paul Emch, Ron Trenhaile and Bob Pakeltis testing out the electric power assist. The 3 o'clock group were brought down and assembled by the end of the steaming bays

The park tries to set up the programs so the kids are in a similar age group and the talk is adjusted accordingly so were not talking over the heads of the kids and that they will leave understanding some of it. Here Skip is describing the different type of exhaust stacks and why they had them.

Here the youngsters are looking over the steam engine at the end of the steam bay. Skip knows how to hold the kids attention and make it entertainingly informative.

Skip had his engine blocked up so he could run the engine on air and they could see the valve gear and linkage moving and then he went on to describe the diesel engine. With his part of the program concluded the youngsters move over to where the railroad cars are.

Judson described the uses of the cars and took time to answer any questions that the youngsters posed. Here Judson explains the center sill depressed flatcar and its use for hauling tall loads.

His explanation of the different type of cars continued and he held the interest of the kids. As he continues to explain the different type of cars the railroads use, you can see his G scale collection behind him on the steaming bay that he used for this presentation.

With presentation over it's time for the ride and here Ron passes by with his passengers for the first run. Judson having passed through Horrendous, headed for Zip Junction and now for Cider Bridge with his full load of passengers.

The last load of passengers are waiting to board the train as Judson runs the engine up to the loading area for Greg Guy to load passengers. As his train loads, Judson checks out the loading and answers a question posed by a rider.