#630 Consolidation (2-8-0)
This is a Gene Allen Consolidation (2-8-0). The casting kit were purchased from a former NGLS member who never got to build it. It was purchased in August of 2020 and completed in June of 2021. It burns diesel fuel and operates on 120 lbs. of steam pressure. The tender was extended to make room for two riders. The locomotive now belongs to another NGLS club member who splits his time between North Georgia Live Steamers and his other home club in Florida.
This is a Gene Allen Consolidation (2-8-0). The casting kit were purchased from a former NGLS member who never got to build it. It was purchased in August of 2020 and completed in June of 2021. It burns diesel fuel and operates on 120 lbs. of steam pressure. The tender was extended to make room for two riders. The locomotive now belongs to another NGLS club member who splits his time between North Georgia Live Steamers and his other home club Northeast Florida Live Steamers.
As of October 23, 2021, now operates out of Florida at Northeast Florida Live Steamers and North Georgia Live Steamers.
Northeast Florida Live Steamers
North Georgia Live Steamers
Box Cab Locomotive
Box cab locomotive. This locomotive has been rehomed to another railroad in the fall of 2023. We look forward to seeing this locomotive around the country.
Box cab locomotive. This locomotive has been rehomed to another railroad in the fall of 2023. We look forward to seeing this locomotive around the country.
936 Great Northern
Great Northern #936 is an Allen Models 10 Wheeler. It is unknown when it was built but is believed to have been built sometime in the 1980’s. The locomotive spent most of its life in Washington State before moving with its owner to Atlanta around 2014. In 2018 it was sold to its current owner.
Great Northern #936 is an Allen Models 10 Wheeler. It is unknown when it was built but is believed to have been built sometime in the 1980’s. The locomotive spent most of its life in Washington State before moving with its owner to Atlanta around 2014. In 2018 it was sold to a member here at North Georgia Live Steamers where he spent the next several years updating several items and then in 2021 sold again to an individual in Alabama.
Manifold updated and cab lights added 2020
Pictures from the October 2022 Fall Meet
At Mid-South Live Steamers Fall 2019
As of October 25, 2021 operates out of Alabama
1947 B&O Chessie System
This GP-40 was built by Gene L. for his wife Joan. This locomotive took about 9 months to build and was modeled after an HO scale GP-40 and scaled up to 1/8 scale. Gene had a sheet metal shop form the body panels and then he welded it all together. He also built the trucks which are powered by a 16 HP Briggs and Straton twin V engine turning a hydro static pump transferring power to the hydraulic motors on each truck.
2791 C&O Chessie System Switcher
2791 C&O Chessie System Switcher was built by Titan Trains in 2015/2016.
Photos of C&O 2791 in action around the railroad
6263 & 6264 Southern Railways
6263 is a GP9 and was built by Titan Trains (formerly Mountain Car Company) in 2014. In 2020 the owner added a powered slug numbered 6264.
Mid-South Live Steamers Fall 2020
4032 A.T & S.F
Santa Fe 2-8-2 Mikado #4032 (1 1/2-inch scale)
built by Bob Cummings
This is my second engine built from Railroad Supply parts. I began the project in 1995 and completed the locomotive in 2004 and the tender in 2005. The tender is scratch built. I ordered the cylinders, frame, and drivers machined. These parts needed to be perfect, and I knew that I did not have the skill or the machinery large enough to have a good outcome. Railroad Supply sells their kits fully machined or as rough castings or in any stage in between. They also sell them in logical sections allowing the builder to make a gradual investment into the project. My first engine, a 2-6-0, I bought over five years, fully machined but without the drilling and tapping done. Doing so gave me some hands-on work/experience and opened the door to learning to machine simple parts. I was more hands on with the Mikado and had a mill and lathe by then.
The engine is oil fired, burning an atomized diesel flame. The prototype was also oil fired and as was typical, burned “bunker C” oil. (Bunker C is not very clean and just light enough to flow through pipes. It usually needs to be pumped and in cold weather needs to be heated.) I learned to fire live steam engines on an oil fired Northern, club engine at Riverside Live Steamers, California.
Under steam water is supplied to the boiler by an injector and a compound steam pump. The steam pump has a syncopated rhythm which I enjoy as it exhausts through the stack.
The tender is completely scratch built. The skin is attached to an underlying frame and held in place by 1500(+) rivets. The outside frames for the six-wheel trucks were cast by a friend at RLS. I had them welded to a support frame. I made the journal boxes from aluminum bar stock. The axles were turned from steel bar stock and the wheels turned from rough castings. Suspension is by coil springs. There is a large stainless steel water tank and a stainless-steel fuel tank. Additionally, there is a battery operated compressor for train brakes and a battery for the head light, number board lights and cab light. There is room for my feet inside which eases the stress on my back.
Prototype information came from; “Car and Locomotive Plans for Model Railroaders” Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway System, 1953. “Iron Horses of the Santa Fe Trail” by Worley. “Steam Locomotives of the Santa Fe, a Former Shopman’s Scrapbook” by Frank Ellington. And photos from the Baldwin Locomotive Builders collection and others.
Video
2002 North Georgia Live Steamers (SW1500)
2002 North Georgia Live Steamers (SW1500)
Video from April 29, 2023 public run day
757 Nickel Plate Road (Berkshire 2-8-4)
The 757 Nickel Plate locomotive also known as a Berkshire (2-8-4) locomotive was built by Gene L. over the course of about 6 years working between 8 and 12 hours every day to complete the construction of this locomotive. The locomotive is fired using diesel fuel with an operating pressure of 125lbs. The locomotive weighs in at 1,140 lbs. without water in the boiler. The tender weighs in at 440 lbs. empty of water and fuel. Gene completed this locomotive in 2013 and is a joy to operate. The design drawings and some of the castings were made by Jim Kreider who helped Gene along in its construction. The casting kits can still be purchased by those who want a challenge.
Videos from October 2022 Fall Meet
Video from Saturday, April 29, 2023 public run day
Here is 757 during an annual boiler inspection which was on Saturday, September 14, 2024. The day also introduced 688 to the rails as it underwent a boiler inspection and an initial run on the railroad.
In Action
1328 Southern
The club steam engine has a long history with NGLS and in the area. While the exact details are not known thanks to many people in the club this locomotive lives again for the next generation to enjoy.
Circa 2008
Circa 2006
Date Unknown
14 Maysville & Southern
14 Maysville & Southern was built from Allen Model 10 Wheeler plans. The builder spent about 15 years machining and building the locomotive.
Pictures from October 2022 Fall Meet
Videos from Saturday, April 29, 2023 public run day
Ravenna Railroad Festival in Irvine, Kentucky
2023
