2012
Laplata, Missouri Area Week and Let’s Talk Trains Tri-Host Show
Saturday night March 31st,
Mrs. Shuttletrain and I got the pleasure of riding the Columbia Star Dinner
train in just north of Columbia, Missouri with the senior host of the Let's
Talk Trains, Chris Guenzler. Chris brought along two of his fellow railfans from California, Winston
and Christy Walker. I asked my best man from our wedding and Columbia resident
Michael Strong to join us as well. I was a great, summer evening as we waited
at the Columbia transload yard where the train boards
from.
Here are
pictures of Chris and Mrs. Shuttletrain and Christy behind Mrs. Shuttletrain
and Michael’s arm and shoulder.
The food
and company were great. It was worth every penny. It took a bit over two and
half hours to make the roundtrip.
After
arriving back at the transload area, we said goodbye
to everyone and headed back to Washington as I had a previous engagement on Sunday.
Then on Friday after work, Mrs. Shuttletrain, Traindog AJ and I headed back to
Laplata to check in at the Depot Inn and Suites. We arrived about 9:00 pm.
After settling in, we watched the live streaming video of the Chris Guenzler
Million Mile Lookout (CGMMLO) on the televisions in the room. Traindog AJ
sniffed every inch of the room, then he to settle down on the extra bed. We
decided to go to sleep around 11:00 pm, since we would be getting up at 8:00 to
wander west of town.
The next
morning Chris and another LTT host KCNathan, went east and we went west. Mrs. Shuttletrain thought it
would be a good idea to stay on the state maintained roads since it was suppose
to rain that morning. We did get a shower or two, but, it a great day to watch
trains. The first picture was of a yield sign. Every yield sign I have ever
seen has been yellow, this one
Then crossed the tracks and waited. Here
are some of the highlights….
When the very hard rain started we
headed back to the Depot Inn, and took a look at the railroadiana
they have on display…
Then it was time to
head out to the CGMMLO and meet up with Chris and KCNathan and start the Let’s
Talk Trains Show. Even Traindog AJ liked the shiow, he spent most of it laying
at Chris’s feet.
After the show, we all headed back to
the Depot Inn to take a nap or in Chris’s case, worked on his TrainWeb webpage. We met Chris for dinner at the Red
Rooster, and then took Chris to the AMTRAK station to catch his Southwest Chief
back to South California. We spent night again at the Depot Inn. On Sunday, we
headed back along the old Wabash Mexico line to Washington for another fun
filled wandering. See everyone, next time.
