Tracks in the snow

The weather reports have been wildly inconsistent for today -- from just a trace to an out-there doomsayer who told us we would get up to ten inches.

Well, nothing was on the ground when I woke up, but just about the time I got the store ready and opened, the white stuff starting coming down. We ran three trains -- maybe a total of twelve passengers, most at no charge. The kids came in and saw Santa, a few parents bought some gifts, I had several conversations with Dads about how to get a Thomas the Tank Engine train table without going bankrupt. The snow kept coming, and by 1:00 it was all over really.

Tom took off for home to try to catch Helen and Jay when they stopped to pick up Buddy the Dog on the way back to St. Paul. (He missed them by about ten minutes, judging from a note Helen left behind.) The Dauphins and Taylors took off through the snow for their homes in Illinois, and Santa ordered pizza for those of us left behind -- Santa, me and the engineer and conductor (Jim and Steve) who were still holding the snow-covered fort. By the time the pizzas arrived at 1:45, (the pizza dude had erroneously delivered them to Dave's house instead of the railway) we had two inches of snow on the ground. I realize in East Texas this would shut the world down, but up here it is not impressive. On the other hand, with people heading home after the holiday weekend, the heavy traffic was made worse by the weather. At 2:30 we closed up shop and all went home.

Next weekend will be the last for the railroad this year, and the predictions are not promising for weather. At this point they are saying next Sunday may bring us a high of 20. I'm figuring even Wisconsin parents won't drag their kids out in that weather for a half-hour ride in a train that is not fully enclosed. But who knows? Some of them showed up with toddlers today with snow falling fairly heavily at times.

And some folks may still come out for their last chance to pick up that train-themed Christmas gift.

Anybody need an engineer's cap?