This could be you, enjoying a ride on the Happy Holidays Railway with your children or grandchildren, receiving hot chocolate, cookies, coffee mugs, or bells, and having a great time. But only if you get there tomorrow, because that's our last day.
On the other hand, this could be you, helping out with all the many tasks that have to be done to make this festivity a success, maybe even playing Santa Claus. Who could ask for anything more?
Here are the regular crewmen today. It was too busy for us all to get together in one spot for long.
Thomas Slater:
Nick Espevik:
Jeron Glander, Zach Ehlers, and Paul Cronin:
Except for Paul and myself, all of these guys are young, 30 or less. We always need new people to insure the long-term future of the Museum.
Besides the public operation, there were many other things being worked on, as usual. The rebuilt truck has been placed under the Sand Springs 68, and today I got to take a ride. There are a few minor issues to be addressed, but the car seems to work reliably and we hope to put it into regular operation next year. I can't wait!
The rebuilt truck:
Joel and Richard and the others have put a lot of work into making this possible.
The Milwaukee Electric engine L4 has a bad motor armature bearing, so it had to be switched out and wyed. We're planning to remove the motor and do as much of the repair work as we can ourselves. This is a major project, so stay tuned.
Now if all this doesn't put you into a holiday mood, I give up. We'll just have to try again next year.