Memorial Day, 2019...A Memorial Day to Remember

Steve visited with us on the Memorial Day weekend.  The morning and afternoon of Memorial Day Monday were beautiful but a trifle humid.

In the morning, Steve and I went to Herrlinger Park, a little park in Troy where he celebrated several birthdays when he was younger.  A railroad track runs beside the park and everyone who knows Steve knows he loves to railfan.

This year he has a short-wave scanner so he can hear the railroad dispatchers and engineers talking as the trains pass various points along their routes.  The scanner was a birthday gift from his dad.

Listening to his scanner made railfanning much more interesting to me.

After lunch he was picked up and headed home. The afternoon was a quiet one for Tom and me.  And so was the early part of the evening.  Tom was already in bed when our evening became more scary than our evenings usually are.  Our cell phones blasted out warnings.  Tornado warning.  I turned on the local TV channel.  A tornado had touched down north of us.  Later in the week the National Weather Bureau listed it as a EF-3

The meteorologist could barely keep up with what she was seeing on her weather displays.  Tornado after tornado.  Tornado to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south.  All this happened Monday evening.  It took until Thursday for the newspaper to report what the National Weather Bureau had decided had occurred.

Below is an enlargement of the diagram of where the tornadoes hit and their strengths.

Since this newspaper was published one tornado has been upgraded to an EF-4.  The number of tornadoes has been increased to at least 14 after more checking by the National Weather Bureau.

We haven't had a severe tornado since 1974 when one destroyed a portion of Xenia, a nearby town.

Unfortunately our granddaughter's house was one of those severely damaged.  She and her pets are temporarily staying with friends.  She thought one of her cats was lost but it showed up on Saturday.  It was hiding among the debris in her damaged attached garage.  Friends have been helping her clean up the trees and utility poles and the rest of the mess.  She called today.  She says there is a lot of cleanup still to do but a lot has been cleaned up and a lot taken to the disposal site.  She says she is alternating between feeling lucky she still has a house and feeling overwhelmed by the entire experience.

And despite severe weather  in all directions, Tom and I never lost electricity  and no branches fell from any of our trees.

Dayton Train Show, November 4, 2018

The day was overcast and windy but it wasn't raining.  Hooray!  Our van was parked way out.  Steve spotted the Ford from the 50s immediately and took a photo with his cell phone.  Parked next to it was a very nice  Porsche but he liked the Ford better.

Tom and Steve headed toward the entrance to the show.  I tagged along behind.

Inside, Tom paid our entrance fees and we put on our wrist bands.  My first thought was if this is the train show, it has really shrunk in size.  And then the money taker told us this was only one of four sections to the show.  There was another tent the size of this one and two permanent cement block buildings as well.

The buildings are the first ones that have been put up at the new Montgomery County Fair Grounds.  I am impressed.  The chosen site is beautiful, and large.  The old Montgomery Fair Grounds was close to the heart of Dayton and crowded.

Steve had two goals in mind.  I don't know was highest on his list but I think it was seeing Sam Swanson.  The other goal was just being at the Dayton Train show.

Steve is well known at the show.  His dad, Ray, was active in setting it up for many years.  Vendors know him...

And Exhibitors know him...These two asked me to remind Ray, Steve's dad, that Ray had been the one who got them into working this show.

I followed Steve from place to place until my legs wore out.

Here is an overview of part of one of the buildings.  When Steve saw closest train, he ran to the layout.  "It's The Spirit.  It's The Spirit.  I saw the real one with my dad."  

The Spirit is first in line, a locomotive painted to honor the U.S. Armed Forces.  Here is a closer look for you. It was traveling at a good clip so the photo is not quite in focus.  I didn't think about switching to video mod. 

While Steve and I were roaming about, Tom found a treasure, an advertisement with a map of the Nickel Plate Railroad which ran along the back property line of his childhood home.  He gave it to Steve to hang in his bedroom.

By the time I saw Tom, I was worn out from keeping up with Steve. Tom took over keeping up with Steve. I found a chair and sat down.

Shortly afterward, Terry came and sat down beside me.

I told him Steve was searching was searching for Sam.  Terry said, " I know he is here.  Maybe he stepped out to get something to eat." 

What was even nicer was that Terry started calling Sam on his cell phone.  Sam's phone was busy.  Terry kept trying every five or ten minutes and eventually reached Sam.  By this time I was back to following after Steve.  We were at a train layout talking to a vendor when along came Sam.

There were trains in every imaginable gauge.  Steve seemed most drawn to the HO and N gauges.  

Above is a rail yard in an N gauge layout.

This man's hand adding a car shows the tiny size of N gauge.

This is the town on  the N gauge layout.

Here is FRED...The arrow points to him...Flashing Rear End Device.  Like always, Steve said, "Hello, FRED.  Goodbye, FRED."

Closer view of FRED...

And here is Sam.  Thanks, Terry and everyone else who alerted Sam that Steve was looking for him.

Mission accomplished.  Steve and Sam had a good reunion.  Later Tom and Sam had a good talk, too.                                  

Visit to Bill's HO model train Open House on Saturday, October 6

Steve's dad told us that Bill was having an Open House.  His dad is working overseas for the next three years so he couldn't take Steve to see it.  Since Steve was with us for the weekend , I drove him over to see it.

I didn't tell Steve where we were going but he recognized Bill's street when we turned down it.

It made me happy to see how happy Bill and Steve were to see one another.

Steve noticed immediately that Bill had changed the layout.

This is part of the long train that circled the layout.  Bill said it had been circling the layout for hours without a problem.  Each circle was equal to a mile in HO scale.

Here is Bill's Control Center.

Bill has some little story scenes set up.

This is one.  Bill and some friends are on the railroad property watching the trains.  It is illegal to go onto railroad property but in this case it is all right because the owner, Bill, is one of the watchers.

Down the road, law enforcement is keeping a close eye on Bill and his friends.

Steve enjoyed talking about railroads with Bill and other railroad fans who stopped in to see the layout.

Bill has railroad posters and other memorabilia hung on the wall near the entrance.

Here is a closeup of a drawing by Bill which is displayed on the wall.

On the table in front of the wall is a paper and pen so visitors can sign in.  Bill has had over a hundred visitors this weekend.

There was also a model on the table that Steve recognized.  "My dad made that!"   Steve was talking about the space ship/engine.

"Yes", said Bill.  "Your dad gave it to me the day I went over and helped him take down his train layout  That was a sad day."

The layout was packed away in crates and is now in storage until Steve's dad has a place to set up a layout again.

Locomotive 765, A Trip to Fort Wayne,Indiana

Steve thought we were going to the New York Central Museum in Fort Wayne.  I don't know where he got the idea.    But as we drove into the entrance of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society site at New Haven, Indiana he forgot everything except ..." The 765!  The 765!"

Eventually he calmed down and Tom took his photo in front of the locomotive.

The 765, a Berkshire-type locomotive, was built in Lima, Ohio.  The Nickel Plate Road became an effective, high-speed freight line with the addition of 80 Berkshires to its system.  These locomotives were used in the 1940s and 1950s.

The 765 on the left, the Jedda Coal Company Locomotive on the right.  The 765 backed up, then moved forward at regular intervals.  To experience a train ride, visitors rode in the cabooses attached to the Jedda.

The Jedda locomotive was a small one.  It pulled two cabooses, one of the original style with a cupola above the center section and one of the later style which had extended side sections so the train employees riding in it could check out the track on both sides of the track and alert the engineer of any problems.

Here Steve is boarding the original style caboose.  My arm is barely visible as I lead the way.

The ladder in front of Steve's face goes up to the cupola.  It was already full of passengers.  But that was OK.  Steve was sitting directly across from our guide for the trip.  Behind the guide was a window.  Every time Steve saw something interesting, he asked about it.  I remember that he saw some passenger cars acquired by the group.

The guide told Steve that when the Locomotive went to other venues, it pulled extra tenders filled with coal for running it.  It also pulled cars filled with water.

Tom couldn't ride the train because he was in his power chair but there was plenty to see so he was happy.  It was fascinating just to watch the Berkshire 765 and see the steam rolling out as it traveled its length backing down the track and then moving forward.  There were train enthusiasts to talk to...visitors and volunteers.  There was the next locomotive the group is planning to restore.

There was an HO model railroad layout.

The 765 Berkshire's schedule was posted inside the building.

It was going to Joliet, Illinois soon.

Toward the end of September, the locomotive is pulling four Zephyr railcars to Cleveland and will deliver them to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  The 765 will take people on excursions weekends of September 21 and September 28.   They will be riding through the park.

Amtrak is pulling the cars from California to the midwest where the 765 will take over.  Two of the cars are sleek stainless-steel passenger railcars that offer scenic 360-degree views from a dome.  One is the Silver Lariat and the other is the Silver Solarium.  The other cars are a sleeper car and a baggage car.  The volunteers at the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society are excited that their locomotive is part of this historical event.

Steve wearing his 765 cap.