Trains & Boys

wheels

pistons

bells

horns

lights

Those are a few things you'll find at a train museum

along with
rivets

metal

grim

dust

and numerous circles.

Oh, and the textures, they

almost overloaded my mind!

This past weekend
you would have also found my favorite five guys at the museum.

Isaac

Jake

Josh

Aaron
Drew
(starting on the top row, going left to right in photo below)

The lighting in this old building, which was originally a train repair shop, was horrible. The ceilings are very high and the lighting was dim. To complicate things there are windows all around the top that sunlight flooded through. The bottom of the building was dark and the upper part was super bright which totally confused my poor little point and shoot camera!   Since I was climbing up in those trains with the boys, carrying the big camera wasn't feasible. Perfect pictures were not important; family fun together was!

The boys liked the diesels, but me, I liked the steam engines. My favorite was the St. Louis Southwestern No. 819. It was the last locomotive built in Arkansas. The locomotive built in 1943 was retired in 1955 when the newer diesel engines made their arrival. The 819 is called the queen of steam, weighs 368 tons, measures 100 feet, takes 150 gallons of water and 15 gallons of oil just to run one mile of track. I actually got to see this engine run at a festival in 1988. It was an amazing sight to see and to hear!

There was so much to see and do. The boys could climb around and play on most of the engines and train cars. There were a few train races going on as they sat in the windows of the cabs and yelled back and forth. When asked who won the race, Aaron said, "It was hard to tell who won the race since we really weren't going anywhere!!" But, it sure was fun to pretend.

Part of this area is still a working railroad. In one of the shops the train wheels were being refinished and repaired. When the wheels were finished they were rolled down a ramp where they bumped into another set. The boys waited for a good while to see the wheels roll down and bump. The sound they made was similar to a giant bell. BONG!

We had such a fun day.
I love these guys
and cherish every moment I spend with them!!