Went to the 60th Annual Old Threshers Reunion in Mt Pleasant Iowa this morning. Mind you, fascinating as the huge steam (and gas etc) powered farm implements are, I went for a different reason.On the grounds of the Old Threshers complex is the Midwest Central Railroad ... it is a small operation with a loop of track that is probably a mile or so. The attraction for me is that the Midwest Central has three operational steam locomotives (one was in the shop for routine repairs). Not often you can find operating steam locomotives around here, so it made the trip worthwhile. Special attraction was Westside Lumber Shay #9 ... to say that I enjoyed just listening to this locomotive would be an understatement ... a geared steam engine has a sound like no other ...Below are a few from the day, enjoy ...Regards,Burlington John
THE site for American Freedom Train fans http://www.freedomtrain.org
Very interesting, one day, I'll make it to this place for the Festival and see their stable of steam power..
Never have been able to make to Mt Pleasant when the trains were running..
Thanks for sharing your visit.
The railroad has its own website... http://www.mcrr.org/ . a lot of info on this nice operation. I was down there last year.
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