Coverage of the Kenny Davis 2005 train meet and pot luck Dinner
by Lee Wright “Club Reporter”
Decatur, Illinois

click on images for larger view

It was over cast but what a beautiful day for a train meet and picnic. This was an exceptional meet in many ways. I guess there has never been a formal history of the Live Steam hobby written but if it were, it would certainly have Kenny Davis some where near the top of the list. Kenny retired from the Norfolk and Southern Railroad a few years ago. Kenny is a Steam man through and through with years of experience in the hobby.

Also in attendance and on that list right up there with Kenny were Ted Young and his wife Katie. Ted has built everything from Steam Locomotives, Tractors, Draglines, to boats. Ted is in very poor health. We are hoping that his contribution to the live steam hobby is not forgotten.

Another outstand individual that was in attendance was Bill Koster and his wife. Bill I consider to be the Father of the modern day 1-½ scale Electric diesel locomotive. Now in his early 70's, Bill is still just as enthused about the hobby as he was 40 years ago.

Another mainstay couple in attendance were Axel and Marie Cramer from the St Louis Live Steamers. This couple have not only built several steam locomotives but have spent countless hours working on the club track. If any of you know the history of the St Louis live steamers you will know that it has sure taken a lot of perseverance to stay the course in that deal. Good luck to them on the new proposed St Louis Live Steam track.

Ross Sowers, shown in photo below at the controls of his GP-40 Rock Island, was one of my mentors. Ross introduced me to the hobby somewhere around 1980. We built his GP-40 and my SD-40 using very limited means at the time. Both locomotives are still running and Ross has logged hundreds of passenger miles over the years.

I am sure that there are a lot of young kids that will grow up remembering that first train ride behind the big blue locomotive. Hopefully some of them will continue the hobby.

This year there were more people and little kids than I have ever seen except for the Mid South Spring meet. I think the word is out as you can see from the people lined up at his depot.

I am sure that you have noticed that every third or forth car you meet at an intersection there is some gal talking on the cell phone. I had to take a picture of Fred’s wife. You can put a lady on a steam locomotive but it’s no go with out the cell phone. To her credit, I am sure she is just talking to the dispatcher.

Steve Dill is shown on his new SD-40 electric locomotive. It turned in an excellent performance. Great workmanship.

Steve also built the Norfolk Southern EMD switcher and had a hand in the building of the Trucks for the Fairbanks-Morse model H-24-66 Train Master below. This locomotive was built by Jim Roach from Decatur, IL. He's also spent a lot of time helping Kenny out since he retired from the NS carshops - Again, Excellent workmanship.

Personally I think it is great to see individuals building their own locomotive and spending the time and money to build something they can be proud of . I hope that I have had a hand in this advancement of attention to detail and keeping people interested in a great hobby.

Lee