A steam engine came through Circleville. It was doing a special tour around our area. Have you ever seen one? I hadn't.
As many of you know, I am an avid reader and I especially like historical fiction. They often talk about train travel and such in these books. I always thought how cool that would be. Well......
I still think it would be cool but experiencing it first hand made my version of what it would be like much different.
For one thing, it was LOUD! Not just normal train loud but LOUD, LOUD! Also, it smelled like coal burning. Duh, Andrea. It is a steam engine. Which means it burns coal to produce steam. But I never really considered how much it would smell. See all the smoke in the clip? It smelled and the smell stayed for a while. Now, think of how many trains probably went through Circleville in a day. Think of how you would smell from riding on the train for hours. And dusty.
Like I said, still cool but just a different and more realistic kind of cool.
You really need to feel (the heat and the vibration), see (the people, the smoke and the engine), smell (the steam and coal), and hear (the horn and the chugga, chugga) to get the whole experience.
Jason took this with his iphone and he tilted it two different ways while taking it. Of course, I have no idea how to fix that so ... this is what you get.
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The kids weren't really that excited about seeing it or rather waiting to see it. The train stopped at the town before ours to fill up with water and maybe coal. So, we had to wait at our spot for around 30 to 45 minutes.
But thankfully Mama had been thinking when she choose the spot to see the train! We were right beside my favorite little coffee shop in Circleville. So, the kids and I all tromped in and got coffees (for Jason and I, not the kids!) and snacks. They have awesome cupcakes!
Then...... still more waiting. So, I was out on the sidewalk playing Simon Says with the kids doing all sorts of crazy dance moves and stuff! I am sure plenty of people driving by got a kick out of that!
Finally, the train came. We could hear it from a long way away. I told you, it was LOUD! Once the kids saw it, they were so excited! They were yelling that we should go somewhere so we could see it again.
So..... being the crazy sort of parents we are, that is what we did. We drove down to Kingston and parked in the township lot. The kids stood on their rock/gravel piles (shhhhhh, don't tell) and we could see the train tracks right above the corn. It was kind of cool.
When we saw the train in Circleville, it was going slower and blowing its horn because it was in town and going over all the streets. In Kingston, the engine was really moving. Then, the kids wanted to go to Chillicothe to see it again. Nope, bedtime said mean Mama.
But, my dad saw it in Chillicothe. I had called and told him about it. He watches train shows on TV a lot. Mom says that all those shows show is trains going round and round through the countryside. So, she was very excited that I got him on the train kick again. ;-)
If you have a steam engine going through your town, it is definitely a must see.
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Sorry no pictures, I forgot the camera. Which really makes me mad because we could have had some neat pictures.
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