Finally getting to redeem our Christmas present...

On our way home from visiting Doug, Danika, Quinn and Heath (and "Flower"), we took a side trip to the Akron-Cleveland area to take a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway train that they bought for us as a Christmas present last year.  We had planned to take this trip several times but things kept jumping up and causing us to reschedule.

This time, however, it was a "go" and we were looking forward to traveling through the scenic Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  The official description of the train is as follows:  The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating diesel-electric and steam-powered excursion trips through Peninsula, Ohio in the Cuyahoga Valley, primarily through the scenic Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  But if that is all you were expecting, then you would greatly undersell your experience.

This is the Rockside train station from which you depart.

While we were waiting for the train to arrive,  we talked to the conductor who told us about not only the ride we were about to take, but also some of the other ones that would be coming up.  It seems that they have a very popular winter season capped off by some of the evening trips when it is snowing out.  He said these are some of the more unique trips they make because it is dark, you can see lights off a ways in the houses, and snow falling.  He suggested the observation car (we were ticketed for that one for this trip) because it really gets you up higher and gives you a better view.  Maybe it's just me and because we just came from visiting our grandsons, but does this guy look like one of the conductors for "Thomas the Train" or what?  He's just one of the many, many volunteers who donate countless hours to running this train and keeping it alive for train enthusiasts -- young and old.

 

So finally the train is "...coming around the mountain when she comes"... well there is not really a mountain, but it is finally coming.  And right on time too.  This is a shot of the top of the car in which were going to ride.

The train car was obtained from a line in Texas called the Silver Bullet.  I think I once heard about this and recall it was a pretty famous train in those days.  It has been restored and refurbished and offers a very nice ride through the Park. 

 I ran into this pretty lady on the train platform waiting for the same train.  Coincidence?  She said she was just in from New York!!

Pam looks pretty good here next to the train cars -- kinda like being from a movie of some sort. 



This is a sample of some of the more picturesque buildings we saw along the route.  Lots of little stations -- kind of like going through some little New England countryside.

One nice thing about sitting in the observation dome car was how we could see longer views down the line, how the cars wound down the tracks and the scenery played out as we went through the Park.

I think I saw just enough of this to want to come back again, especially for the winter nighttime ride.  I also think I will invite my brother and his wife, my sister and her husband and my Pam's brother and his wife.  I know they would all enjoy it too. 

It's only a 26 mile ride each way.  The train has two engines on one end and one on the other.  The two are needed because the ride out (toward Akron) is slightly uphill and ends up with a climb up a decent hill into the Akron station.  The weight of the train dictates that it must have two engines to make the climb.  There is only one engine on the other end as it is downhill on the way back to the Rockside station.  The conductor said the train's engines consume 48 gallons of gasoline per mile!  He also said the weight of the train we were on (12 cars and 3 engines) was 250,000,000 pounds.  We were not entirely full, but that is still a whole bunch of iron.  The weekend before we rode, their peak leaf watching trip, had them at 3,500 passengers for the weekend.  And remember, this is run by all volunteers (with the exception of the guys who drive the trains).  This is one pretty cool experience.

We also got to sit next to some pretty nice people.  One couple was a WWII veteran and his wife and another was his son (an Army Vet) and his wife.  We really enjoyed the afternoon with them, conversing about this and that.  I think it was the train and the swaying of the car on the rails that brought the friendliness of those in the dome car.

I used to use this poem when I taught English Literature in Troy and Anna.  I talked a good story, but never really knew what the author meant until I actually got to ride a train.

“My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing,
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,
No matter where it's going.”  (Edna St. Vincent Millay, The Selected Poetry)

Hooah