This year, the IPP&W had some live steam operation as well. 

Tom Bowler from upstate New York was there.  It helps to have radio control.

Fred claims he doesn’t really care about the garden aspect of outdoor railroading, but to the right you can see that he has done some nice work on the appearance of the layout.

It’s not all railroad operations.  There’s food and lots of socialization.

We made our first trip to Canada in 2004 for a regular weekly operations session.  We enjoyed ourselves immensely so decided to return, this time for the “American Invasion”.

This even started about five or six years ago with a visit by Ken Brunt from Pennsylvania.   Since that time it has grown every year, and attracts a number of Americans.

Here’s Ric Golding from Carlyle, Illinois. He and his wife Jan have made the trip a number of times.  Ric also hosts an event twice a year at his own home.

Every year, the crew adds some sort of improvement to the layout.  To the left, my Shay and hopper pass the new facilities at Craig Leah.

We also got a chance to run out to Dave McCurdy’s layout where he is recreating the D&RGW in his backyard.  Lots of big rocks!

On our way home, we stop by Doug Matheson’s place for a look at his progress.