1-1/2 scale in the Chicago area

Hey guys,
I was talking to a young guy at NAMES (he was with the CDCO Machinery fellow), and he was really thrilled at the big loco that arrived late Saturday afternoon and was near the back of the hall at the loading dock doors. I said I would try to find out where in his local home area he might go to see some engines in steam in action. Zip code for him is 60056, but I think he would travel a bit to see a regularly scheduled "Sunday rides" track site.
Anybody help out here, or give me an email address to write to??
Take care.
Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario.
"cross-posted" to modeleng-list

There is a 7.5" gauge track At the Riverside & Great Northern park in the Dells, WI. Search for the Dells Live Steamers. Also the Illinois Live Steamers have a great mile long layout of 7.5" gauge track just south of Chicago. Most live steam clubs keep their locations fairly quiet to discourage vandalism and theft. It is hard to keep 7 or 8 acres of valuable track secure 24 hours a day with volunteers.

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I think there's also a club of some sort of live steam in or near Sycamore, IL - about 50 miles west of Chicago. Seems to me that I've seen club lists on the net somewhere, too.
Mike

You might want to check with the model train hobby shops in your area. I'll note that when you find one person that is doing live steam, you'll soon find them all along with the politics of each club in the area. Unless you find a club that is live steam only, you'll find that most of them are running lawn mowers rather than steam.
-- Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?

Being a reformed steamer I can tell you that the local hobbyshops will be a dead end. Steamers are an odd bunch and even more reclusive than hobby machinists. If they ever enter a hobby shop they just grab a few pieces of brass and grumble. When they do come out with their toys they attract a lot of attention. I still take my 1:24 scale Thames River tug powered by a double 10 down to the city pond every spring just to put the electric speedboaters in their place. :-)

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Not sure about 1-1/2 scale but... I would start here:
<http://www.irm.org/
If nothing else I would think that one of the volunteers would know of a place.
Now a very soft lead. On route 31 around McHenry or north of McHenry there is a business on the east side of the road that has a "model train" and a "Lionel" sign out in front. There are tracks laid in the field next to the business that look to be 1-1/2 scale. Sorry I can't remember the name of the place or even if it's in McHenry. I'm fairly certain it's north, maybe as far north as Richmond. If that's the case it could be on rt.12. as 31 north will turn into 12 north around Richmond.
Might be worth a Sunday drive anyway. It's not too far from 60056.

If he wants to ride down to East Central Illinois, the Monticello Railroad Museum has some nice pieces and live steam engines. It's about 20 minutes south of Champaign where the University of Illinois is located.
Brian Lawson wrote:
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