train yard

After we got done at the aquarium my dad wanted to go check out the railway museum of greater Cincinnati. It's in a very bad part of town, and it was freezing outside. But, I do like trains. So we got there and it turns out it's only open two days a week, and one of the days happened to be yesterday.

We paid our admission even though the yard was deserted. I went through the locomotive and the caboose, which were the only cars open. My dad was talking to my brother on his blackberry, and I was bored, so I decided to climb on top of a milk car. At the top of the milk car I announced that I really, really wanted to go into one of the Pullman cars that were also in the yard.

As if by magic, a guy showed up. He said he was working as a restorer of the trains. He offered to let us go into a Pullman car. My dad looked at me incredulously. Yeah, all I have to do is wish for something and poof it appears (this pic was from the top of the milk car, notice my right sleeve of my jacket is still soaking wet).

We went into the first Pullman car, called the Jovita. Our guide couldn't remember the combo for the lock to get on the porch thing so we had to climb over some stuff to get up there. The car, built in the 19 teens, was used in the movie 8 Men Out, and the train scene was even filmed in the yard of the train museum. Before the Pullman was retired and donated it was used to haul circus performers around.

Then we went into another Pullman car, called the Overdale, which was even fancier than the Jovita. It had beautiful wood work and light fixtures. It was built in the 1940s. I felt like I was in the movie North by Northwest, except that when I watch that movie I'm at home on my sofa with a blanket, rather than being in a train yard in a bad neighborhood with a wet jacket freezing my ass off (this pic taken inside the Overdale).

Our final stop on the tour was to a locomotive. Our guide pulled all the panels off so I could see the pistons, the fuel tank, the cranks, and the brakes. We were about 12 feet off the air standing on this pretty narrow platform so my dad was getting a little nervous that I was going to fall. And we looked at the wheels and the rails.

I think the guy wanted to take us through an Amtrak train they had just gotten but my dad walked out the gated area and was like "thanks for the tour!" So the guy went back to what ever he was doing and I followed my dad to the car and cranked the heat up to 80 degrees.

If you are curious, it costs about $70,000 to move a train car. Most train cars weigh about 6 to 7 tons. If you have a train to donate, Amtrak will take it, but you have to meet all their safety and quality requirements.