The first time I went to the Museum was probably in the 1950’s. My dad had some massive books on locomotive maintenance that he wanted to donate to the museum. The museum was in the same location it is today on Barrett Station Road. Most of the trains were "housed" in a railroad tunnel on the property, but some were out in the open in various stages of rust and repair. There was one building on the property and I believe the "library" was actually some storage in a cave. Click here for more information on the history of the museum.
My great-grandfather Henry Maupin had been the foreman of the roundhouse for the Missouri Pacific Railroad in DeSoto, MO. My grandfather Roy Long had been a boilermaker for the railroad in DeSoto and St. Louis. The books had originally belonged to them---we’d only use them to dry flowers. They have a building called the library, now---I should see if the books are still there.
Rebecca and I went to the museum today so Roman could “ride the train”.
The engineer told us the rains from Ike had flooded the area so repairs were still being made on the track.
Note the fence and flood debris above beside the track.
We had a beautiful day, hardly any one was there---they said the Fall is the best time to come. Roman had a great day---we went around the loop twice. A "bonus" was when we heard a real train go by---we were in the train shed, so couldn't see it, but Roman's eyes brightened hearing that chug-a-chug. That sound still makes my heart beat rapidly, too!
2 comments:
wish we could have come, soon enough we'll go for a visit...
what a darling smile on romeo!
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