AAallll Aboard!

A fine opportunity came to pass last weekend: #2719, a working steam engine, was offering rides on our local North Shore Scenic Railroad. The Hubby and I invited the parents for a ride on this relic from days gone by.

Here's a bit about the engine as printed on this website:

Steam locomotive #2719 has returned to Duluth/Superior, an area she served well during her working career on the Soo Line Railroad. The high stepping Pacific 4-6-2 pulled passenger and freight trains from the Twin Ports to depots and yards throughout the Midwest. Built in 1923, the engine carried troops to WW II and the Korean War and ran until 1959, growing old as the last working steam engine in Wisconsin.

It was with some apprehension weather wise we approached last Saturday; the week previous had been a series of deluges, windy and cold. However, the day dawned sunny with a few wispy clouds way up high. We couldn't have asked for better temperatures!

The train left the station at 10:30, and we settled into the 4th passenger car. As it rumbled up the tracks we watched Duluth go by, Lakeside and eventually moved up onto the North Shore. We pulled into Two Harbors right at lunch time and had two hours in which to find some lunch. We quickly walked 7 blocks up to the Vanilla Bean Cafe, had a short wait (was a popular spot for the train-goers) and enjoyed BLT's, homemade Chicken Wild Rice soup, meatball sandwiches and french dips. Everything was very tasty. We stepped next door to the bakery and bought some small delectables (turnovers, scones and a pumpkin cookies) for the ride back.

The train left the station at 2:30...sort of...it had a bit of difficulty navigating the incline to switch tracks and had to back up into the station several times before making a run at it. Soon enough we were on the right track and headed back to Duluth. We sat on the upper level of the passenger car on the way back and observed to the Mother that the ideal view was actually the "land side" of the car, not the "lake side". The "lake side was mostly blocked by trees and offered very little in the way of any "lake view". With the "land side" we were able to observe a great variety of things.

We arrived back at the station at 5:00 and not wishing to let such a beautiful day go, we concluded with some shopping at Figters, a lake walk and pizza at Bulldog Pizza. A delightful day!