Full steam ahead

Today the local paper published some photos of the train tour group that we went with the other night. Fortunately neither of us showed up in the pictures, so we can't be blamed for anything later.


Anyway, this shows Engineer Bernie Hotszel explaining the operation of the narrow gauge train when we stopped at the turnaround point of the trip. Almost everyone involved in the maintenance and operation of the train is a volunteer, and the engineers put in a twelve-hour day during the season when trains are running. It is the sort of thing that you could never pay people enough to do. Only volunteers will work that hard.


This is Dave Simerson, the General Manager of the Great Northern Railway Society and also a member of the Stewards. The train runs alongside the river, so he is interested in that as well. Talking about volunteers -- Dave actually moved up here to get this thing going and to keep it running. When they do the Santa Train in December, guess who plays Santa Claus?

If you ever come to the Dells to visit, you have to ride this train. As you can see from the pictures, it can be a challenge to get in and out. Tom is tall and wasn't sure he could fold up enough, but he managed. Others were more concerned about squeezing in from side to side. Don't worry. When you visit, we'll pack some baby oil to make it easier to slip through.