Local nonprofit offers rides on scale railroad

For those who may have forgotten how vital railroads were to the desert southwest's development, the Yuma Territory Live Steamers is calling "all aboard" to area residents for a ride on an authentic scale train.

The Live Steamers, a nonprofit started nearly two years ago has a mission to educate the public of Yuma's railroad heritage, says Chuck Finnila, their vice president. When not administering the nonprofit he works as a project manager for DPE Construction. For the first weekend of the next three months they will lay down temporary track at Riverside Park providing rides on 1/8 size scale trains for everybody.

"We have rides for children of all ages," Kent Corcoran, Live Steamers secretary, said. "More guys our age ride the trains than the kids."

The temporary tracks at Riverside is a way to put the trains into operation and get the public ready for permanent track planned for next year, Corcoran added. Away from Live Steamers, he runs Electronic Consultants, where the Live Steamers meets bimonthly.

Riverside is a state park under city jurisdiction and Live Steamers anticipates approval for permanent track by January. Riverside Park is just off the Giss Parkway below the Territorial Prison.

The launch date is set for this Saturday with trains running 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For November and December, a Friday date has been added with runs from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the same schedule as October for the remainder of the weekend. Although rides are free, a donation of $1 per ride is requested for those able to pay in order to support the nonprofit.

From the inception of the railroad, trains were used to move the nation's commerce and for all practical purposes it was the only rapid mass transit system available, Corcoran said. And by educating youth about the rail system they get a better understanding of how the U.S. became the supreme industrial power it is today. And trains can move more freight at far less fuel expense than other conveyances, he noted.

"All the other countries still use their rail while we walked away but now the U.S. is returning to rail for commercial and passenger travel."

Another reason for rail's rising popularity is to relieve the growing traffic gridlock, he said. Phoenix recently installed light rail service and is already contemplating adding more service, especially considering the state of the global economy, he pointed out.

Live Steamers already has 2,000 feet of track and Riverside can accommodate up to 3,500 feet, Finnila said. But they are also aiming to expand to the river side of the levee providing track down to Avenue 2E which will make for a four mile round trip outside the park, pending approval from the Bureau of Reclamation that could come by January 2011.

Finnila stressed the need for saving the historical perspective of the railroads for generations to come and added, "to be honest they are a heck of a lot of fun."

"I can tell you, the first time I road scale models I road them from 10 in the morning to 10 at night. I've been hooked on them ever since."