Lake Shore Live Steamers.com

Located at

Penitentiary Glen
8668 Kirtland-Chardon Rd
Kirtland, Ohio 44094

Bonnie Zaken prepared food at home and brought it in for our lunch after she warms it up. Dick Clark checking the throw on a switch that leads out to Branch Line from the mainline by the Willis Car Barn.

Steve Zaken readies his train to test it out as Wayne Boron, Hal Seiler, Dave Hird and Bonnie Zaken watch. Wayne waits as Rick Nagy pulls into High Creek on the Branch Line as Dave looks over the switch that's placed on the rail that will soon be installed in that position.

A view of the switch on the Branch Line track as Rick, Dick and Dave ponder the location. With the measurements taken and transferred to the existing rail, Dick starts cutting the existing aluminum rail with a battery powered saw.

Rick and Hal worked to remove the rail joiner clips between the steel rail on the crossing to the aluminum rail on the Branch Line. With the track cut and the existing rail joiners removed the track panel was lifted out of the ballast.

Time for lunch as the members of the work crews gather at the station to enjoy the food prepared by Bonnie who is seated at the left and talking to Edith Hacker. After lunch the Park engine was up on the lift again and here we see Ted Nyland working to put the chain back on one set of the sprockets.

Paul Zorko was assisting in the task at hand and it looks like they got the chain on this set of sprockets, now on to the back set. Paul and Ted work on trying to get the master link in place to join the chain.

When I got back to the Branch Line the crew had the ballast scraped out where the existing track panel used to be. With a little bit more digging we recessed an area wide enough for the new switch panel to be put in place.

Rick taps the rail joiner to join the switch panel to the rail crossing on one side. With Hal pressing down the rail to align it with the rail for the crossing rail, Dick taps the steel rail joiner into place.

With both ends of the switch panel joined to the existing rails Dick starts dumping ballast on top of the track before we try to level and tamp it in place. The ballasting continues and Rick starts to kneel down to clear the switch points of ballast.

The newly installed switch is complete with leveling and ballast and the points are screwed down so they inadvertently aren't thrown so a train heads off to Neverland. Back at the station Ken Brooks and Jerry Bell work on the steaming bays scissor lift pushbutton controller which has been malfunctioning.

Jerry opens up the plug in to check the electrical contacts for corrosion. After Ken opened up the pushbutton controller box he found there was moisture that had corroded some of the terminals which they cleaned up.