Lake Shore Live Steamers.com

Located at

Penitentiary Glen
8668 Kirtland-Chardon Rd
Kirtland, Ohio 44094

Steve Zaken out in front of the station cutting the grass which grows abundantly with all the rain we have been getting. Today we are going to start digging away the ballast and dirt in front of the storage barn for our new car lift we are building.

Rick Nagy and Bill Deptowicz started digging between the track until the track panels can be removed. Rick taking away the first train load of dirt and ballast as we got a early start.

When the rest of the crew shows up with the tools we will have to remove the five sets of tracks going into the storage barn.Dick Clark is dis-assembling the track panels as Steve Zaken, Edith Hacker and Frank Foti dig with Dave Foster and Wally Pausch on the right.

With the track panels removed things are going much faster with the excavating of the dirt. Paul Emch digging with the pick to loosen up the dirt for removal.

Paul and Frank are using the picks to dig up for two trenches that will be where our cassion foundations for the support of the lift will be. Dave and Frank are using a post hole digger as George Metts watches.

John Koontz is dumping the dirt farther out in the yard as Dick and Rick are using the removed track panels for the stub siding yard behind the storage shed. It's a quick way to extend the yard storage track when you just pulled out twenty feet on each of five tracks.

Rick and Dick are bolting in the track panels to the switches at the far end of the yard. View from the other end shows the track just lying in place ready to be bolted together.

Wally digging out the wet dirt from the post hole digger that Dave is holding as George and Frank watch. Over on another siding Judson Elliott and Joe Banzer try to find a leak in the air lines on the club engine.

Meanwhile the work of coring the holes with the post hole digger continues with the wood stakes showing the location of the other holes in this row. Mike Harkleroad showed up so I pressed him into service of running the train to the dumping area for the stone and dirt we removed.

We were dumping the stone to widen the right-a way at Gillette for a possible switch to be located here later on. One hole cored down below frost line with three more to go in this row and only four more in the next row for a total of eight.

Back at the station Lew Fowler was helping Karl Losely dig out the rest of the dirt and stone that was beyond the pavers. As Karl and Lew filled the buckets the work train would come and haul them off ot be dumped.

Dick and Rick were making progress in joining the track panels together. Wally and Ken work on the last hole in that row as Dave adjusts the sight rod to check the top of the Sonotube forms we were using.

The start of hole number five (out of eight required)is in progress. Back at the station Jerry Bell is screeding the fines level for placing the pavers between the leveling forms of two by fours as Dick Mackey levels more of the dirt.