When Carol was in the elementary they took all the little kids on a train ride to a town about 10 miles away. She always wanted a cross country train ride, and she finally got one. It was like a dream come true for her! She and I both went on a very slow train ride that your daughters would have loved! It went from Ione, Washington to Medaline Falls, Washington, right on the Canadian/USA border north of Spokane, Washington. It was sponsored by the Lion's Club that does a lot of wonderful things and especially for children. We got there too late to go in the cattle cars, but we were in the passenger section, and we could walk from one car to another for about 4 cars. We couldn't see much most of the way as there were trees blocking our view. It was a lot of fun anyway! It seems like that train Carol rode cross country went up to 120 mile per hour, but when it got really hot they had to slow to 60 miles per hour, because at high speed the rails would heat up, causing them to bend, and that would cause the train to derail! I took one unintentional train ride once! At the time it was my job to load wood chips on the railroad cars. I was on top of a car putting a net over the chips so that they would not blow out going down the tracks at high speeds. The people operating the train did not realize I was up there, so out of town we went, and I wondered where they were going to stop. They did stop less than a mile out of town, and I crawled down, and walked back to where my job was! That was my first train ride! I'm not sure what would have happened had they not stopped within walking distance. I suppose eventually someone would have realized that no one was loading chips!
Chas, you would enjoy this train ride sponsored by the Lion's Club because the old cars are antiques, not sure the year, but old, and they have some history. This train travels very slowly, never getting up to a speed more than maybe 25 mph; I'm guessing as I didn't see a speedometer. When we were on there was this lady and these kids who acted out a train hold up and robbery. It was quite nice, and a lot of fun! It definately had an old nostalgic feel to it. It was quite reasonable; don't remember the exact cost, but it was definately worth it! We went with Carol's favorite cousin and his wife, and that made it more fun. Then we stopped on the way back to their home in Spokane, and we ate more than anyone should have eaten! It was fun!
"Weep not! Behold! the Lion of the tribe of Judah is victorious... and His kingdom will never end." (rev.5; luke 1:30-33;isaiah 9:6-7,11:1-10)
