Second Sunday

(Spoiler Alert; this is a semi repeat blog post)

It was is the second Sunday of the month and here in Baltimore, that means the trains were running in Leakin Park.

Every city has it's little known gems and here in Baltimore,the trains of Leakin Park are one of them. Most people in Baltimore know Leakin Park as the place bodies are dumped by the drug gangs and mobsters. The place where the city folks try and grow weed every summer with little success. Run by the Chesapeake& Allegheny Live Steamers, the trains are free to the public. The club rents this portion of the park for $1 a year and the second Sundays arraignment. We try and go often. We always slide a nice donation into the box to show our gratitude for what the boys(mostly) and their trains give us.

This is locomotive is built on a 1 1/2" scale. So 1 1/2" of train= 1 foot of the real thing.

Every single detail is correct right down to the light on this steam locomotive.

I spoke with it's owner and he said it took him 13 years to put the 9,000 hours into building it. He also dropped $65,000 between the kit and tooling to put it together.

Today there was only one steam locomotive running. Usually there are a few.

This one runs on gasoline even though it is an electric locomotive.

A few diesel electrics were running the 3 1/2 mile loop too. They run on diesel and convert it to electric just like the real thing. I don't know why I said that, they are the real thing built to scale.

I am sure glad these boys(mostly) share their serious toys with us all. Next run is July 13. Anyone want to make a picnic of it with us?