LVCC 126 **Rare Mileage** Kalkaska Trout Festival Excursions

On the last weekend of April, the city of Kalkaska, Michigan holds their annual Trout Festival to celebrate the local fishing heritage and the impact fishing today has on the area. Besides the usual attractions and a parade, their was a new addition to the festivities this year and a historic one at that. The Steam Railroading Institute and Gramling Locomotive Works made history when for the first time steam powered passenger trains were brought back to Kalkaska as part of the festival. Lehigh Valley Coal #126, an 0-6-0 saddletank steam locomotive was on the point leading hourly excursions north out of Kalkaska to just south of Leetsville. This marked the first time that steam had operated on the former PRR/GR&I (now Great Lakes Central) trackage in and around Kalkaska since the end of steam in 1957, and despite the overcast conditions the steam team put on a good show exposing the next generation to the sights and sounds of steam.