Photo charter by Pete Lerro Productions
Sometimes you just have to stop and admire the job you do.
It's a cool evening on August 28, 1949 at BRC's Clearing yard in Chicago, Illinois. One of the Nickel Plate's ubiquitous 700-series Berkshires sits on the turntable while the hostlers discuss thei... (more)
The line up from the Thursday night photo shoot. This was worth the price of the ticket.
NKP 765 backs into position next to sister locomotive Pere Marquette 1225 at the start of the Saturday night photo session. Like the previously posted picture of 765 moving onto the turntable, the... (more)
PM 1225 sits under steam, just 12 hours before the largest gathering of steam locomotives in years opens to the public, but unfortunatly just 24 hours from problems that would quiet her the rest o... (more)
765 rolls onto the turntable during one of the night photo shoots at Train Festival 2009.
After returning from the final all-day excursion and dumping her ashes, Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 765 eases onto the turntable so some of the other engines could be put away. Her own duties done for... (more)
The NKP Berkshire and the SP GS-4 face off in a staring contest.
Table operator and hostler wait for the word to move 765.
Twilight and the start of the Friday Night photo shoot.
Fireworks light up the night sky in Owosso. Night photo session made possible by Steve Barry, Lerro Productions and the Mountain State Railroad and Logging Historical Association
Under steam and on the turntable during the Saturday night photo shoot.
Model Layout Nickel Plate 765 takes a spin on the turntable while preparations for the nights, night photo session begin.
The NKP 765 gets ready to back off the turntable and into position for the night photo session.
Jeff Rayner and Mark St. Aubin take a break between SP 4449 and PM 1225 to discuss the night's yard movements.
This pleasant summer night finds NKP 765 simmering gently, awaiting the call for duty in the morning. Fresh from overhaul, she is bright, shiny and ready to go. She is a beautiful sight.
The operator is outside unlocking the turntable. Shortly he will be in to twist the handle and line up 1225. He will have to use his lantern to signal the crew this dark night. (Actually just anot... (more)
Pere Marquette 1225 and Nickel Plate Road 765 sit in a sea of foam. Can you find you and/or your friends?
Lima black in a sea of EMD blue. Here we see NKP 765 get ready to depart on a 1988 NRHS Convention excursion from Bound Brook NJ to Temple PA. There the conventioneers will be able to ride behind ... (more)
Pere Marquette 1225 gets a bath. In a few days the SRI will be giving her a fresh coat of paint. You can bet that she will look fantastic for trainfest!
A volunteer at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum helps spot the 765 for coal loading. Similar scenes will play out this Father's Day weekend in North Judson during the town's annual Mint Festival... (more)
Loco crews taking a break are flanked by 15F and 24 locomotives.
A Class 24 locomotive stands on the yard ashpit, as a fireman cleans out the ash.
A Class 24 locomotive storms through the yards and past the water tower, at the end of cold winters day.
NKP 765 is ready for the high green for her next excursion career.
The afternoon hostler sits in the cab of PM 1225, after rolling it out of the shop building and on to the turntable in a snow storm, so she can start her last weekend of North Pole Express trips,... (more)
It's time to go to work. No. 765 meets her first passenger train in sixteen years. Tickets for her inaugural excursions in Northwest Indiana are on sale now at www.765.org
This is winter railroading! PM 1225 waits on crew members to clean a switch, that grants entry to the GLC Railroad, and allows the final trips of the North Pole Express, after three days of snow t... (more)
What I like about this picture are the three guys on the caboose platform. They just look like the quintessential switchmen that I worked with 50 years ago. Speaking of 50 years ago, can anyone ... (more)
The alemite and the almighty.
A look out the caboose as 1225 thunders by. 1225 was part of a photo charter sponsored by The Steam Railroading Institute and Historic Transport Preservation.
A fleeting moment of sunshine illuminates a pair of H3 BNSF motors as they cross the recently flooded Ohio River valley south of Evansville.
A 2-8-4, trailing a caboose, leaves the lower yard at Capital Park.
Famed Berkshire 759 slumbers as a fireman enters the Steamtown roundhouse.
The 765 cuts an imposing figure east of downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, after completing its first run in thirteen years.
1225 poses long enough to get a quick shot before backing up to the train
The crew keeps a watchful eye on Pere Marquette 1225 as she is spun on the turntable during one of the many unique setups during the first night photo session on Steam Specials and Pete lerro's ch... (more)
Local firefighters keep an eye on Pere Marquette's ash mess during a layover in Grayling.
Pere Marquette #1225 sits poised on SRI's recently installed turntable prior to excursion duties the next day.
April SRI photo charter. Shot by Jason LeBrasseur, SRI Volunteer
C&O 2716 basks in the winter sun on display at the Kentucky Railway Museum. She was still operable when placed out of service due to expired flue time. Anyone got a spare half a mill or two to get... (more)
Pere Marquette 1225 simmers at the Steam Railroading Institute’s yard in Owosso. For the past 10 months she has gone for extensive repairs, today she is ready for the inspection for the FRA man ... (more)
Moving through the yard at Capital Park, at the start of a days shunting
The Nickel Plate Road 765 passes through downtown Harrisburg along side an opposite direction autorack train. The head end of the auto rack is at CP Capitol and is stretched out passed the Amtrak ... (more)
SR (nee C&O) 2716 passes by the now-gone C&O engine terminal in Charlottesville. Note variety of power and turntable in background!
NKP 765 takes a ride on the turntable at Hinton, being turned for the westward half of the annual New River Train.
Man and Machine being put through their paces as Ft. Wayne Railroad Historical Society holds "Throttle Time"
Turning at Yacolt. Engineer Luke Johnson brings Crossett Western Co. #10 around the south leg of the Yacolt Wye, as he turns his short freight for an evening photo session with Lerro Produ... (more)
Rods and Gears. In a display of mountain muscle, Hammond Lumber #17 and Rayonier Lumber #2 double-head a short freight into the yards at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad Shops.
Historica... (more)
The "ghost train" leaves Mineral. After switching onto the main line at Mineral, Hammond Lumber #17 begins plodding slowly south into the murk, with a short freight bound for Mort... (more)
Fall in the Cascades. A few splashes of color in the lush forest signal the onset of fall in Washington's Cascade Region, as Hammond Lumber #17 shuttles a short work train south from Elbe, ... (more)
The morning sun begins to break through the stubborn fog and mist as a short work train, headed by Hammond Lumber Company #17, chugs slowly toward the shops at Mineral. A 1929 product of t... (more)
Misty Mineral Morning. In a pea-soup fog so typical of the Pacific Northwest, Hammond Lumber Company #17, a beefy Mikado Saddle Tanker, switches onto the main line at the shops in Mineral, ... (more)
Sunrise in McEwen. Sumpter Valley Railway's two steamers are ready for a new day of service on the line: Eccles Lumber Heisler #3, a wood-burning 2-trucker built in 1915, and Sumpter Valley Mikado... (more)
East Broad Top 16 waits in the Rockhill yard for orders to proceed into the station.
East Broad Top 16 returns to Rockhill with the final passenger train of the day as the sun begins to set.
Stepping back in time at Railtown 1897 State Park in California. Built by Baldwin in 1925, 2-8-2, No, 34 resides in the Roundhouse at Jamestown Ca. Don't know what condition the locomotive is in a... (more)
Train 463 to Silverton is 10 miles into their 45-mile journey to Silverton as they pass the decommissioned wooden DRGW water tank at Hermosa. It was general practice to space these tanks every 10 ... (more)
One of the most successful stories in modern rail preservation is that of the East Broad Top in Rockhill Furnace, PA. The coal and common carrier railroad was saved from scrap in 1956 by Nick Kova... (more)
Early morning at the EBT Yard as the morning freight gets ready for its run to Colgate Grove with a hint of Autumn color in the hills.
Resting in the Roundhouse. Canadian National Railway 2-8-2 Mikado no. 3254 is seen resting inside the roundhouse at Steamtown NHS in Scranton, PA. The locomotive was built by the Canadi... (more)
A tired old horse. In 2023, there is now just one East Broad Top locomotive which has never operated since the line closed down as a common carrier back in 1956. This is EBT Mikado #18, t... (more)
Northbound for Mt. Union. An East Broad Top coal drag rumbles slowly through the yard in Rockhill Furnace, PA, beginning its northbound journey to Mt. Union and interchange with the mighty ... (more)
Coal tipple rebuild. Here's a view of East Broad Top Locomotive #16 pulling alongside the company's coal tipple in the South Yard at Rockhill Furnace, PA in April of 2023. This coal tipple... (more)
Bed time at Rockhill Furnace. Completing a full day of operations, the crew of East Broad Top Mikado #16 takes their engine past the "stone house" in the yard at Rockhill Furnace,... (more)
Rainy East Broad Top. With her fire freshly cleaned, the East Broad Top Railroad's Baldwin Mikado #16 backs off the ash pit onto the turntable, for a quick turn to face her stall in the rou... (more)
The center of attention in Rockhill Furnace. In the tiny borough of Rockhill Furnace, PA, there's not much to do on a lazy afternoon except wander down to the East Broad Top depot and watch... (more)
Steamscape: The East Broad Top Sand Tower. East Broad Top Locomotive #16 pulls up to the sand tower in the yard at Rockhill Furnace, PA, to fill its sand dome as part of morning service. ... (more)
Cumbres & Toltec K-36 No. 488 poses for a night photo shoot
Photographed during the Night Photo Session of the 2023 Winter Spectacular. East Broad Top 2-8-2 #16 exhales into the cool evening air as two men look on. The Mikado was just reborn after a nearly... (more)
One of my goals for the weekend was to try to get photos that looked "authentic". If there were no people in them, that would be a bonus. This one managed to accomplish both. This shot w... (more)
In between the 12:00 and 2:00 inter Spectacular excursions, the crew of recently restored EBT Mikado #16 gives the engine a quick look over. The crew is checking the bearing temps the old fashion ... (more)
Photographed during the Night Photo Session of the 2023 Winter Spectacular. East Broad Top 2-8-2 #16 sits on the turntable by the roundhouse and a crew observes the locomotive as it steams into th... (more)
East Broad Top 16 takes its train around the Wye at Orbisonia, passing a former SEPTA "Brill Bullet" owned by the Rockhill Trolley Museum.
16 putting the morning's photo freight away.
Newly restored East Broad Top 16 rests her wheels between sisters 17 and 18 after the first day of the 2023 Winter Spectacular. Two generations worth of younger railfans were present that weekend ... (more)
With many railfans around admiring 16 in the Rockhill Yard, the fireman checks one of several points within the yard.
A Tear to My Eye I'll admit to choking up a bit as 16 came up through the yard. This was a scene that I last saw in 2010. My only images of the first tourist era are a crappy cel... (more)
Locomotives galore gather around the turntable of the Durango roundhouse. The last coal burner, 481, simmers outside next to a 70s deco 476. 482 and 480 flank both sides of the frame as they under... (more)
As the stars rise in the newfound darkness of yet another chilly night, the roundhouse crew of the Durango & Silverton create some warmth as they drop the ashes of the last coal-burning steam loco... (more)
Durango & Silverton Class K-28 473 simmers away in the roundhouse, awaiting to be assigned to train 261 the next day.
Pennsylvania Narrow Gauge Reborn. When rail enthusiasts hear the words "Narrow Gauge", they usually think of Colorado, not Pennsylvania. Visions of roundhouses full of K-28s and K-36s come... (more)
Breaking in a new horse. Wednesday, February 1st of 2023 was a monumental day in the re-birth of the East Broad Top Railroad in Rockhill Furnace, PA. On this day, the first steam locomoti... (more)
