<- Yep, 2 steam trains at a full 1/4 scale! Too Cool! And all within a mile of my house! I love this place!
So after the hike and long drive back, my husband thought it was his turn for some time out and about. Tired but in a good mood, I agreed, and we both decided to check out the Heavenly Hilltop Railroad. They put a sign on the lawn every weekend there is nice weather. It is a cool yellow sign with a steam train on it, and our neighbors told us about the mini-trains.
It was a long winding drive seeming to nowhere, and when we got there, we passed by the workshop. Amazed, we looked in to see three engines being put together. They build them right there! Real steam power with firebox, valves, gauges and all! They were very cool!
<-If you can make out this pic, you will see an engine that represents one of the very first steam powered engines with the kettle boiler and all. Attached is one of the cars.
On the other side of the shop (not in the pic) was the front end of a late model steam train with a cow-catcher grill, and another one in the works.
As you can see from the first pic, you can actually ride on these small trains. The owner of the property has a very large expanse of land set up with tracks with switcher gates, a trestle, a tunnel and everything! Next time we go will be with the nice digital camera for some better pics!
<-You can see the firebox and guages in this pic and all the little valves the engineer actually uses while driving the train.
We went for a ride, but I forgot my cell takes pics until we stopped back at the station, so didn't get any pictures of the track. It was still a gorgeous day and the area was way up on top of the mountain with awe inspiring views of the valleys surrounding it.
Stopping back by the workshop to marvel at the works in progress, we then got back in the truck and headed down to Lexington for some shopping.
We ate at an I-Ching, not too bad, but I've had better, then we went by Best Buys and picked up Eight Below and Nightmare Before Christmas (we only had this on tape) on Blu Ray. After that, we went by PetSmart and picked up some doggie diapers for Yukon and Demon because we knew it was going to get really hot on Sunday and we wanted to bring them indoors to keep them from getting overheated. We also picked up a storage bin for the dog biscuits and a bag of dental treats.
We got home around seven thirty, and Jim put in the movie Eight Below. It was a great movie, but being a dog person it was hard to watch. For those who haven't seen it, be prepared to cry. I spent a couple hours with the dogs after that more to comfort me than them, I think. But it was a peaceful end to a fun and eventful day, and I slept like a rock when I went to bed.
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