Wednesday 4-11 Train Ride

Train Ride

We woke up to 37 degrees. Before I went to bed last night I turned our Wave 3 heater on low so it was comfortable. When Larry got up he put it on high for more heat. When I got up I turned on the big furnace to get the rest of the chill out of the Minnie.

Last night when we went to bed we weren't sure what we were going to do today. Larry thought about going to the art museum but it doesn't open until noon on Wednesdays so he decided to go to the train museum where you could go on a train ride.

The train ride takes place at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, it leaves twice a day, either at 10:40 or 12:00. We arrived at the museum about an hour early for the 10:40 ride so it gave us plenty of time to walk around and look at the old locomotives in the yard. The train ride uses either a steam engine or a diesel. Today they used the diesel engine. The tour is about an hour long. The conductor and our tour guide were dressed according to the era. As we rode the train the tour guide talked about the history of the railroad in the area. We started out by turning the train around via a three point turn, the engineer goes forward, then goes in reverse onto another track and then changes tracks again and moves forward back onto the original track. We went over four bridges and through a tunnel, very cool. When we got to the end of the track they unhooked the engine and drove it onto a turntable to turn it around. The person in the booth of the turntable makes sure that the train is lined up. As the train turns on the turntable the booth goes with it. This was so neat to watch. Afterwards we went to the mechanic shop where they work on the trains. The tour guide explains how they worked on the trains. We had to be careful walking around considering it was still a working yard. Larry talked to one of the workers and he explained how they loaded the coal in the steam engines and how it works. They still have working steam engines in the yard. After the engine was loaded back to the rest of the cars we headed back to the museum area. The tour guide did an excellent job. We had a super time.

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Depot and Museum

Getting on board the train

The turntable

Our tour guide explaining how the turntable works

Larry in the train car

Turning the engine around

After the tour we had lunch in the Minnie and went to our next destination. Larry had found a state forest area that had campsites and hiking trails. When we got there the main area was closed for hunting. It was free camping because they didn't have any electricity, bathrooms or water. That was ok considering we have our own. Larry walked around and found a couple of  sites we could fit in but the camping was off a dirt road so it would be pretty dusty. We decided not to camp there.

We decided to stay at a Walmart for the night. For dinner we walked over to Walmart and bought a salad.

After dinner I walked around for about an hour to get my steps in. After I finished I relaxed for a little while. Then we went back to Walmart and bought dessert. We bought some Nutty Buddies, they are like a drum stick except it is a dairy product and less calories than ice cream. Tasted good to me.