Sunday the 4th was the 23rd Annual Vintage Transport Extravaganza, and by all accounts it seemed to be a rousing success. The weather could not have been more perfect - mostly sunny and with highs in the mid-70s. I have no idea how many old cars there were but the property was blanketed with them, and as for modern cars, the parking lot was full out to the road plus a fair number of people parked in the overflow lot on the old Olson homestead property. It was wonderful to see the museum so crowded. Even the Zephyr was full!
I was running the 308 and 309 with Al Reinschmidt as my conductor, though unfortunately I neglected to get a crew photo. We made six trips and for most of the day we were turning people away. Mainline operations ran like clockwork, with a train every fifteen minutes; we even managed running meets at Johnson Siding virtually every trip. The 308 was facing the "wrong way;" typically we've run from the #1 ends of our cars but the 308 had ended up with the #2 end facing out, so that was a bit different. That motorman's cab has an unusual variant of M15B brake valve that is touchier than on the other cars, but the trombone whistle at that end of the 308 didn't screech once so that was nice.
There were five mainline trains running plus two streetcars on the car line, including West Towns 141, shown here at Electric Park with a gaggle of those newfangled horseless carriages in the foreground. We kept busy enough that I didn't get a chance to walk around and look at the cars, but it was certainly quite a show. If you missed it, make sure to mark it down for the first Sunday in August on your 2014 calendar!
