Hello, ALL.

Posting this because BIR there are one or more here who have interest in
old railroad stuff.

Born in '43, I well remember the days when a lot of the railroad traffic
was pulled by steam engines.  When I was growing up, my Lionel train set
had a steam engine (BIR, a 4-8-4).  In '51, we moved to a semi-rural
area about 10 miles south of Jacksonville, FL.  A few miles away, the
Florida East Coast railroad had a switching yard (Bowden yard) - when
the atmospherics were right, I could hear late at night while going to
sleep, that they were still using steam-powered switchers over there.
That was before the days of widespread home AC, so when warm we slept
with screened windows open and electric fan turned on when it was really
hot.

Now, our grandkids have an interest in trains, esp the 2 yr old
grandson. (Our SIL, who I suspect was the original officianado, now
as an HO gage train running around the wall of his bedroom, up near
the ceiling) . Both grandkids like the series about "Thomas the Tank
Engine", which plays here on Sunday AM's on pbs channel.  The kids tape
it for them when they go to church, and the grandkids watch it
regularly.

Anyway, they have this "replica" of Thomas making a tour now, and it was
at a little Railroad museum about 20 miles south of here over the
weekend, and they were selling rides.  All of us had a fun afternoon,
and after the Thomas ride, the little ones got to climb up on the old
caboose, steam engines and etc. in the "yard", pull the rope and ring
the bell, and etc.  (I think the loco there was an old 4-8-0 from
1920's).

I'll tell more later, if this post generates any interest.  Meanwhile,
here is one related URL:

www.nrm.org.uk
"Britain's National Rail Museum:  Arguably the finest train museum in
the world, with more than 100 beautifully restored engines, including
Queen Victoria's royal coach."

ttyl - - -  JimH.

... "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." - - Proverbs
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