D&R At The Lake

Dick and Rina are visiting this week. The first evening, of course, we had to show off our new boat, so we went out fishing. Everyone caught something, and we landed several species: northern, crappie, sunfish, and bass. Kathie continues to like the new boat, as you can tell by the smile on her face. Dick got a northern to strike a surface lure, which is always fun, and Kathie caught a decent-sized smallmouth bass.

On Sunday, I had made arrangements for us to go to Duluth and ride a train to Two Harbors along the North Shore of Lake Superior. They have a nice railroad museum there, and they operate a variety of train rides to different locations throughout the spring to fall season. 

Before the ride, we spent a little time looking at their collection of old engines and cars. One is a Yellowstone Mallet, a truly magnificent old steam engine. I think I've posted references to them before, but you can click here if you want to learn more. Here is Dick in the cab of number 227. Turns out that I own a model of number 227 as a part of my electric train collection. Fun to see the real one!

I had been led to believe by the museum's advertising that we would be riding in one of several passenger cars pulled by a diesel engine. They apparently sometimes also use an old steam engine. However, on the day I picked for us to go, they had only enough passengers for one car, and that meant they would use a Budd Car, which is essentially self-propelled by two small diesel engines of its own. Click here for more information. While I enjoyed (maybe more than the others) learning about another type of railroad equipment, the ride didn't have quite the thrill of an engine and cars.

At one point, I went up to the front of the car and rode with the engineer for awhile. Talking with him about the car and his volunteer work with the museum was interesting for me. Actually, the car can be operated from either end, since it has an identical set of controls both front and back. It could also be part of a lash-up and connected to other passenger cars with its own engines not being used.

In Two Harbors, I got to see this second Yellowstone Mallet on display there. We had a nice lunch and enjoyed a couple hours of free time before returning. Unfortunately, the ride back was quite uncomfortable, since it was a warm day, the air conditioner on the car failed, and there were several screaming children/babies for the duration of the ride. So, we were all a little weary at the end of the day, though I think we appreciated the experience overall.