Trains

The first time I recall riding a real train other than at Disneyland was in Australia.  We took the morning milk run train from Gympie to Brisbane.  Gympie (home of the huge pineapple at that time) is north of Brisbane by about 2 hours and it is near the Mary River.

 We were heading back to the states and my father decided we should go by train.

I don't remember much about the train ride because it was a long time ago and we had to be there at 3 am to catch it.  Dad said it was called the milk run because it stopped at every little town along the way, so it took a while. 

Every time  I visit the United Kingdom, <grins>  I ride the train so I can enjoy the  scenery rather than driving and missing neat things.  Once, I saw a canal lined with small house boats. I love buying a rail pass and just go where the mood takes me.
Alaska has a nice railroad service from Anchorage to Fairbanks but I've never ridden it because the cost during peak season rivals a plane ticket to California.  Its less during the off season but I'm usually not around to take advantage of it.

In the meantime, I make due riding a steam engine that runs in Fairbanks a few times a year.  Its not a long ride but the engine is special.  It used to run way back at the turn of the 1900's when Fairbanks was first established.  The engine ran out to some of the outlying gold camps.

The train group in town, found it in need of repair, so they bought it, repaired it and now they run it on the tracks around in Fairbanks.  I know one of the guys in the group so when I hear it is going to run, I put on one of my steampunk outfits,  proper Victorian shoes, grab a walking stick and then go ride on the train in style.

I should tell you that I usually change once I hit the parking lot because it is kind of hard managing a clutch and a stick shift in long petticoats and skirts and various other things while driving a pick up. so I change in the parking lot, go have fun and then strip when I get back to the parking lot.  No, I don't show anything as I usually have a tank-top and shorts on so I'm not giving anyone a show......LOL.