Live Steam Trains

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(Photo) Jim Dietel's Live Steam Train at the St. Croix Railroad Club.

"The term live steam usually refers to a model steam locomotive, or any other steam-operated
model that is powered by steam produced by boiling water.
Ridable, large-scale live steam railroading on a backyard railroad is a popular aspect of the live steam hobby, but it is time-consuming
to build a locomotive from scratch and it can be costly to purchase one already built. Garden railways, in smaller scales
(that cannot pull a "live" person nor be ridden on), offer the benefits of real steam engines (and at lower cost and in less space),
but do not provide the same experience as operating one's own locomotive in the larger scales and riding
on (or behind) it, while doing so.

One of the most famous live steam railroads was Walt Disney's Carolwood Pacific Railroad around his California home; it later
inspired Mr. Disney to surround his planned Disneyland amusement park with a working, narrow gauge railroad.

The live steam hobby is especially popular in the UK, USA, and Australia. All over the world, there are hundreds of clubs and
associations as well as many thousands of private backyard railroads. The world's largest live steam layout, with over 25 miles
(40 km)
of 7-1/2" trackage is Train Mountain in Chiloquin, Oregon, USA. Another notable layout is the one operated
by Los Angeles Live Steamers or the Riverside Live Steamers.

Scale


A live steam locomotive is often an exact, hand-crafted scale model. Live steam railroad scales are generally referred to by the number
of inches of scale per foot. For example, a 1:8 scale locomotive will often be referred to as a 1-1/2 scale locomotive. Common
modelling scales are 1/2"(1:24), 3/4"(1:16), 1" (1:12), 1-1/2" (1:8), 2-1/2" (~1:5) and 3" (1:4).

Gauge


Railroad gauge refers to the distance between the rails. The ridable track gauges range from 2-1/2" to 15", the most
popular being in the 4-3/4" to 7-1/2" range. Gauges from 10" (254 mm) and up are called "Miniature
Railways" (in the USA these are known as "Grand Scale Railroads"), and are used mostly in amusement park
rides and commercial settings.

Often the gauge has little to do with the scale of a locomotive since larger equipment can be built in a narrow gauge railway
configuration."


This information found:

Wikipedia Encylopedia

Find more Live Steam Trains Here:

Live Steam Trains