Train Adventure

I guess most boys at some point have a love for trains. Big, powerful engines, wheels turning, horns blowing, smoke rising, bright lights, (seemingly) endless line of cars in tow. Everything and everyone stops to give way as they pass by (or at least they should, if they know what's good for them). This past Wed. night, as we were visiting some friends, Nathan had been out in their back yard and heard a train in the distance. He asked if we could go find it. "Not tonight, son." "Daddy! Can we go find the train tomorrow?" I paused to consider the request. "I don't have school tomorrow, Dad - we can go look for that train!" Why not? "Ok, buddy," I replied, "here's the plan: Tomorrow, after breakfast, you have to remind me to find the map with the train tracks on it so we can see where we should go to find them. Then, we'll go on a train-hunting mission to see if we can spot some!" I love how the simplest little adventures get him SO excited. It's amazing he even got to sleep, with all the train talk between the ride home and getting to bed.

The next morning, he woke up with trains on the brain. I reminded him we were going to eat breakfast before the mission and, surprisingly, he actually ate a good breakfast as we discussed our plans for the day. We got a city map out and I showed him where our house was, some landmarks... "Where's my school on the map, Daddy? Where's the mall where mommy works? Where's The Vineyard ? Where's the TRAINS?!" We located the train tracks and decided on the best place to spot some. Unfortunately, the weather was not good early, so we had to wait until after naptime - I'll spare you the drama of that episode!

After nap-time, we finally set off for the trains, and there were several engines and cars lined up at the switch-yard. We found a spot where we could get close - right up next to three engines connected together. We talked about how big they were, identified the horns and lights, discussed why there were three engines for one train, etc. The boys were in awe of the massiveness of the trains, which were much larger than their Geo Trax toys. We started to leave and Nathan requested, "Let's go find some more trains, Daddy!" Now, I knew where more tracks were, along with the Amtrak station, but I also knew Amtrak's "Sunset Limited" didn't run through Lafayette on Thursdays. I decided to show him the tracks and station, along with an underpass for cars to go under the train downtown. I was not expecting to see a train. We checked out all that stuff, then parked right near the tracks about a block from the train station. I was going to get the boys out and let them get up close to the tracks. Just then, I noticed a bright light in the distance! It was a train, alright, but I couldn't tell at first if it was moving. It was. I pointed it out to the boys and rolled down the windows as the nearby railroad crossing lights lit up and the arms came down to stop the traffic. I explained what that was about as the train began to blow it's horn. "WOW! That's a cool horn!" I said, as I looked back at the boys. NOT COOL! The looks of shock and awe on their faces had me wondering if I had a change of clothes in the car for each of them! "ROLL UP THE WINDOW, DADDY!! ROLL IT UP!!" Nathan yelled. I did, and we waved at the engineer as the train rolled by while I comforted the two overwhelmed little guys behind me. We then observed and discussed the chemical cars, box cars, flat cars, and even saw some auto transport cars with big trucks inside. All in all, it was a great adventure.


In the words of Hannibal from "The A-Team", "I love it when a plan comes together!"

(By the way, "I pitty da fool" who doesn't know what "The A-Team" is!)