It's July 26th, 1987 at the former Norfolk Street site of the Waushakum Live Steamers in Holliston MA, and all is well with the world. 10-year-old Dave Kurdzionak operates his brother John's 3/4" scale Friends Models 4-6-6 Boston and Albany tanker, with John (age 15) seated behind him. This was real live steaming, at its best. It was a simpler time, when live steamers were "big enough to pull you, and small enough to manage". And this track was a very special place. Today, nothing at this location remains. Richard Symmes photo.
Our Future: 2010 and Beyond.....
Live Steam's FINEST ERA, for me, is in the future; not the past. The old pictures on this website that were taken between 20 and 70 years ago at places thatfor the most part no longer exist, give me something to look forward to; not something to regret is gone. In fact it is NOT gone....the wonderful era of "Yesteryear" is here, today, right now, waiting only for you and others to want its return as much as I do.
When I was a young man in the live steam hobby during the 1980s and 1990s, I was told that these small-scale designs would "never be available again", could "not be produced", or had been lost or destroyed and "could not be replaced". At the time, those seemed to be valid and credible claims. But they're no longer valid or credible.
Today, and in the future....these designs exist, they're safe, and they're ready to be produced. They await only you.
Will you join me?
Friends Yankee Shop Models will:
1.) Upgrade (or replace) the existing antique and/or obsolete foundry patterns to the modern type.
2.) Replace foundry patterns that have been lost or destroyed in recent decades.
3.) Redraw blueprint "masters" that have been lost or destroyed in recent decades.
4.) Ensure the PERMANENT availability of TOP QUALITY, American-made sand castings in iron, bronze, and aluminum for the classic, small-scale, "ride on" live steam designs of Yesteryear.
5.) Providefriendly and reliable Service in the tradition of the BEST live steam suppliers, past and present.
6.) Provide excellent Product Support. If you "mess up" or mismachine a casting, Friends will quickly supply you with a replacement, from stock, so that you can quickly get back to work on the casting. No long waits, no hassles, no nonsense.
Here is Gene Allen of Allen Models, Goleta CA, and John Kurdzionak (me). The date is November 2008.
Please sign up for e-mail updates.....
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current activities, plus: product updates, announcements of special
sales, and other items of interest. It is a great way to stay abreast
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John Kurdzionak (me) on my Friends Models Boston and Albany 4-6-6 tanker in 3-1/2" gauge. Taken in 1987 at the home track of Brotherhood of Live Steamers founder Charles A. "Carl" Purinton. Robert Hornsby photo; used with permission.
Charlie Purinton, son of Brotherhood of Live Steamers founder Carl Purinton, in his home shop in October, 2008. In the 1980s, I learned to "run and fire" 3/4" scale steam engines on Charlie's home track with Charlie as my teacher. I was the last visitor to Charlie's home, and the last person to photograph him at home. He suffered a heart attack and went into "Senior Housing" shortly after these photos were taken.
Charlie Purinton in his home shop in Massachusetts, shows one of his locomotives to John Kurdzionak (me) in October 2008.
Here is Charlie Purinton when he was 16 years old in 1938. The locomotive is a 2-1/2" gauge Boston and Maine 2-8-4 Berkshire. Friends can produce the design, if you'd like it available again. Friends has Charlie's father's (Carl Purinton) MASTER drawings, done in ink on vellum in 1931 with assistance from pioneer live steamer Harry Sait.
