Ever since she was a little girl, my mother has loved trains. When she was really little, they lived behind a store in Java Center that her father ran. It was very close to the A & A (Attica and Arcade Railroad) and she would play at the Depot. She still has a soft spot for that train, which amazingly still runs. So when she heard that the Fort Wayne Historical Society's Nickel Plate Road Steam Engine 765 was headed our way to run two excursions from Buffalo, she was very excited to go. She got us tickets for Sunday August 2, then all we had to do was wait.
We got up bright and early to be at the Buffalo rail yard by 7:15. We mistakenly went to the Amtrak station, where they kindly pointed us in the right direction. After a little initial confusion, a kind conductor found us four seats together in the beautifully restored St. Augustine car. With a puff of smoke and a blowing horn we were off!
The amazing part, at least to us, was steaming past all the familiar sites, from a vantage point rarely seen. We even went past our house! The most exciting part was going over the 100 year old iron train trestle in Letchworth State Park. It's being replaced, so this was the only chance to go over it. It was really beautiful. So many people came out to see the train, every where we went there were people! Mobs of people - at intersections, in fields, and all along the roads. There were even "train chasers" w/o followed us all the way to Corning!.
In Corning, there were buses to take people to the glass museum if you wanted to go. Or you could stay on the train as it went to load up on coal and water for the trip home.
It was a gorgeous ride on a gorgeous train, and I'm thrilled we got to be a part of history
Going over the trestle
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