Down By the Station

A few weeks ago Lori and I were driving to a flea market and we drove over railroad tracks.  Baylor really got excited about seeing a train but there was none coming. Being two and being a boy he was very upset about it.  I told him we would call Grandma and Grandpa to see if they could find him a train to ride. This bought me some time as did stopping at the Middletown Hummelstown Railroad to look at their trains.   When we got home we called them and he asked them to find a train for him to ride.  I talked to Mom and told her about it and asked her if she could look up or call Strasburg Railroad to see when they open for the season.  I did not wait for her a looked up their website and found out they opened the following weekend.  We made plans to go on opening day. 

Saturday Baylor and I were on the road to their house at 7:20.  He did not know we were going for sure but I know he had a good idea what was going to happen that day.  We headed out to the station and it was pretty crowded already.  It was very obvious that this was heaven for little boys as they were every where.

This is the coach car we choose as it was close and looked empty.

The coal stove kept the car toasty warm.

The cars are beautifully restored and it is traveling though time sitting on the velvet seats with the beautiful lamps and windows. 

The cars started out empty but was packed by the time we pulled out at 12:00.  Baylor and I shared a seat and Grandma and Grandpa sat on the other side of the aisle.  Baylor was enthralled by the whole experience.  He did not move from my lap until we headed back to the station. 

Our friendly conductor collecting tickets. 

Engine 475 pulling in to hook up the the train.  It runs backwards for the trip out and when it switches at the end of the tracks it is facing forward to pull into the station properly.  They have this all figured out!

  We did see a red fox in one of the fields. It was an uneventful trip to Paradise, the town where the tracks end and the engine switches ends of the trains and pulled us back into the station. When the engine was switching Baylor ran over to sit with my Dad to see it go by the train.  He stayed there for the rest of the trip.  I had to move the back of my seat so I was facing forward for the ride back to the station. When we got off the car, we ran up to the other end of the train to see the engine re-hook up to the front.  It is amazing how large the engines are. They shovel a half a ton of coal just for the short ride to keep the train moving.

We stayed at the station until the trained pulled out at 1:00 on the dot.  We noticed the cars were only partly filled so I know for next year to go at the second run!  I think we will take him again this spring because he enjoyed it so much. 

I have been off line for over a week because a storm knocked out the router and Verizon in it's infinate wisdom kept sending the tech to the wrong address.  They fixed the internet and all is well again.  I know there was life before the internet but I did miss it.  Mark, I am fine and not sad, just not connected!