Donors are our Heros!

The most exciting learning experience in the area.

While each of our members is an important cog, but one member – the late ELLIOTT DONNELLEY – must be singled out as a strong spoke in our Society's wheel of development. Until his death in December 1975, he served as chairman of the Board of the Society from 1968 (when the Society was reorganized and reincorporated after absorbing the predecessor group, the La Porte County Threshermen which was incorporated in 1957). During his association with it, including while he served as president of the organization, his generosity to the Society knew few bounds. Additional land and buildings were purchased, buildings erected, the present length of dual gauge track was established, and locomotives and equipment were given to the Society by him with the knowledge that they would be faithfully maintained by members of the Society.  Even after his death, the Society continued to benefit by the establishment of a Memorial Trust Fund provided for the Society by his will and by the donation from his wife Ann (with the blessings of their four sons) of his 14" gauge trains which had run at his home in Lake Forest, IL., often for the benefit of charitable and civic organizations.

Mission

Educating future generations about the role steam machinery played in the United States and how it improved the quality of life globally.

Accomplishing this by the unique means of a living history museum of steam powered equipment, including railroad locomotives operated in a safe and professional manner.