I'm a firm believer in waiting until the month of December begins before putting up Christmas decorations. While malls, grocery stores, and the like usually start rolling out the Christmas stuff sometime between Labor Day and Halloween, the Carr family's collection of festive decorations always remains stashed away in the same place where it has been since the beginning of January: in the closet under our stairs.

Even when December begins, it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit on those days here in north Texas when the skies are clear, the grass is green, and the temperatures reach into the 70s!

December 15, 2002 was just such a day. The kids joined me for a short drive over to the Ft. Worth & Western's crossing of the Trinity River south of the Fort Worth Stockyards. Pictured above, Fort Worth & Western 4-6-0 # 2248 (now owned by the Grapevine Vintage Railroad) displays a Christmas wreath on its smokebox as it leads the southbound Trinity River Run across the river.

I wish everyone who visiting the Southwest Railfan site a safe and happy Holiday Season. And here's hoping that you discover the Holiday Spirit, just as I eventually do each December (admittedly though, sometimes not until the 23rd or 24th...)

Cheers!