Once again, I drug the little women off to ride yet another train, not too far from Mt. Rainier, in the little town of Elbe, WA. For a confirmed, hopelessly afflicted train enthusiast, it doesn't get much better than the last 2 days. We drove about an hour, mostly east on Hwy 12, then north on Hwy 7, to the little community of Elbe, WA. The Mt. Rainer Scenic Railroad
www.mrsr.com operates on a portion of standard gauge track, that was primarily built and used for logging. The round trip was about 2 hours, through the woods, along side some creeks, with a couple of river crossings on old wooden trestles. At Mineral Lake, the turn around is done via a circular track, so no matter which way the engine is pulling (frontwards or backwards), it goes up and back the same way. At the station in Elbe, the engine does a run-a-round from the back to the front of the train, so every other trip, the engine pulls backwards as it did for our trip.
The steam engine pictured above, was built in 1930 by the Heisler Locomotive Company, and is rated at just under 100 tons. Unlike a standard steam engine, the Heisler is a geared locomotive, with the pistons on each side of the boiler. The pistons are connected to a driveshaft, that is attached to all 8 wheels. These geared steam engines had tremendous pulling power, and could pull heavier, and longer trains, than a conventional rod locomotive. They also worked a lot better on quickly constructed, light rail, as was the case with most logging railroad operations.
The photo above, shows Patty at the station, as the train is returning from it's first trip of the day. The 2 shots below, show the engineer on the left, and the fireman on the right side of the engine, as we headed back down the hill from Mineral Lake. It was a beautiful, sunny day, with temps in the mid 70's, and there were a couple of nice views of Mt Rainier, when the train passed through openings in the trees.
We have this unspoken rule in the Chance house, that is faithfully adhered to by both parties. For fear of mayhem, extreme violence, and even worse, the exclusion of Animal Planet from the TV, we both live by this simple rule. If there is a train to ride, neither party is allowed to whine or snivel. If there is a thrift shop to browse, neither party is allowed to whine or snivel. As a result of this rule, harmony is achieved in the Chance house. The only problem is that there's a helluva lot more junk stores than there are tourist railroads, and I find myself looking at a disproportionate amount of used, smelly clothes and shoes, than I do steam engines and trains!
Once again, I drug the little women off to ride yet another train, not too far from Mt. Rainier, in the little town of Elbe, WA. For a confirmed, hopelessly afflicted train enthusiast, it doesn't get much better than the last 2 days. We drove about an hour, mostly east on Hwy 12, then north on Hwy 7, to the little community of Elbe, WA. The Mt. Rainer Scenic Railroad www.mrsr.com operates on a portion of standard gauge track, that was primarily built and used for logging. The round trip was about 2 hours, through the woods, along side some creeks, with a couple of river crossings on old wooden trestles. At Mineral Lake, the turn around is done via a circular track, so no matter which way the engine is pulling (frontwards or backwards), it goes up and back the same way. At the station in Elbe, the engine does a run-a-round from the back to the front of the train, so every other trip, the engine pulls backwards as it did for our trip.
The steam engine pictured above, was built in 1930 by the Heisler Locomotive Company, and is rated at just under 100 tons. Unlike a standard steam engine, the Heisler is a geared locomotive, with the pistons on each side of the boiler. The pistons are connected to a driveshaft, that is attached to all 8 wheels. These geared steam engines had tremendous pulling power, and could pull heavier, and longer trains, than a conventional rod locomotive. They also worked a lot better on quickly constructed, light rail, as was the case with most logging railroad operations.
The photo above, shows Patty at the station, as the train is returning from it's first trip of the day. The 2 shots below, show the engineer on the left, and the fireman on the right side of the engine, as we headed back down the hill from Mineral Lake. It was a beautiful, sunny day, with temps in the mid 70's, and there were a couple of nice views of Mt Rainier, when the train passed through openings in the trees.
We have this unspoken rule in the Chance house, that is faithfully adhered to by both parties. For fear of mayhem, extreme violence, and even worse, the exclusion of Animal Planet from the TV, we both live by this simple rule. If there is a train to ride, neither party is allowed to whine or snivel. If there is a thrift shop to browse, neither party is allowed to whine or snivel. As a result of this rule, harmony is achieved in the Chance house. The only problem is that there's a helluva lot more junk stores than there are tourist railroads, and I find myself looking at a disproportionate amount of used, smelly clothes and shoes, than I do steam engines and trains!
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