One never knows which gems are lingering just around the corner until it is almost too late. This wisdom proved to be true for the Deerfield & Roundabout Railway, a 7 1/2 inch life steam railway located in Lake Forest, north of Chicago. During the last couple of months I found several references to this railroad on the internet as well as noticed it being mentioned in an episode of TrainMasters.TV (@12:58). There is also a website with a lot of information for the serious life steam buff. I reached out to the DRRY via email and got a nice response from Jeffrey G Hook, the president of the group, inviting me to one of their operation days. So I broke with my usual Saturday routine and headed North on I94 instead of grocery shopping after having breakfast at the Third Coast Spice Cafe…

The DRRY is maintained and operated by the LAKE FOREST LIVE STEAMERS RAILWAY MUSEUM headed by Jeffrey. The group preserves the legacy of Edward „Bud“Buker who built a life steam garden railway at his property including rolling stock and facilities. After Bud’s death, the LFLSRM was established in order to continue operating at the very location as an educational demonstration steam powreed railway in an 1/8 scale.

Working on the Railroad

Unfortunately this Saturday was not meant to be an outdoor railroading day due to some rain showers coming through. But Jeffrey and the rest of the crew utilized the time to do track work and take care of the engines in the shop. I had the chance to accompany Jeffrey and Brandon to correct some curve realignment out on the line during dry phase in the morning. Brandon, a civil engineer working for BNSF deployed prototypical methodology in order to determine the amount of correction needed at certain points of the curve.
It was great to see these two folks in action, putting the science as well as old-fashioned tools to work. I seen pictures of track gangs but actually never experienced the process done manually in real life.

Working on an outdoor railway is a little bit different than tinkering on a model train layout in a cozy basement. Here you are dealing with the elements. But not only rain, sun and freezing temperatures challenge the crews- there are bugs out there as well! Talking about elects, the main reason the group was not operating that day was because the wet rail would have made the locomotive wheels slip. No sand is available on the engines for enhancing traction. They usually even operate in winter as long as there is no snow covering the track.

Right at lunch time it started to rain again and we headed back to the shop for a bite to eat and coffee. Dring the break Jeffrey and Brandon gave a quick presentation of the realignment project and the math behind it. I was quite impressed how much STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) goes into many fields of life steaming. After lunch we tried to continue our track work but had the retreat due to pouring rain. At least I got the chance to ride engine #81 to the car barn and back. It is powered by golf cart batteries, hence a diesel-electric engine missing the diesel but featureing a rather impressive sound generator instead.

Back in the shop the team introduced me to actual projects and I learned about the many different aspects of the DRRY infrastructure. Karl Kobel, the man behind the engine that was featured on TMTV, showed me the automated signaling system the group is working on.  Again, the nature of the layout demanded wireless communication paired with Modbus interfaces to PLC devices. Meanwhile a 3D printer was busy that afternoon creating boxes for signal electronics. And of course there are the steam engines that need constant attention by the shop force. several engines have been worked on by the team and it was inserting to see different stages of completion throughout the well equipped shop.

Operating the DRRY with TT&TO

When running trains the DRRY uses Time Table and Train Order operating scheme to conduct traffic in a safe way. Jeffry explained that at the beginning the railroad is basically a big loop and was operated in one direction only at the beginning, which is not that unusual in the life steam scene as it leads to a relatively safe operation, especially when a lot of engines are out on the road. But the group wanted a more prototypical approach and developed a clever point to point pattern of operation. As the members goals is to run a steam engine rather than to be a dispatcher they came up with a time table that does not need a dispatcher at all. This is pretty amazing to me as till now I was under the impression that TT&TO requires a dispatcher position to work. Basically the scheduled trains run from Deerfield to Roundabout and back. Every time the trains turn at the end points of the line they get a new train number which is the next return train on the time table. To make things even more interesting, extra trains can be run in addition to the scheduled trains. All the extras are run in one direction in the morning and in the opposite direction after lunch. This reminds me of the UP running „herds of trains“ over Sherman Pass in order to get more trains over the route. At the DRRY it is more about keeping things simple as no extra trains will meet. Again this safes the dispatcher! Jeffrey put together a great document describing TT&TO operation on the DRRY. This is recommended reading for anyone interested in the topic!

What a great day!

Although the weather did not play along, I had an awesome time hanging out with the folks of the Lake Forest Life Steamers. While getting introduced to the many aspects of life-steam railroading I enjoyed the kindness and camaraderie of the group. Thanks to all of them and especially to Jeffrey as my host! I hope I can make it back to the DRRY for an operation session in fall.