Dec 2002 - Lionel Collectors Club of America

EXTENDING YOURCONVENTION VACATIONP A R T T W Oby Bob CarterRM 6620Editor’s note: BobCarter’s vacation beganby attending ourannual convention inPittsburgh, but it didn’tend there. Bob found away to continue hisenjoyment of trainrelated activities and haswritten a three-partarticle detailing them. Aspecial thanks to Bob forsharing with ourmembers some of theinteresting, train relatedactivities that extendedhis vacation. I’m suremany of our memberswill find it interestingand perhaps will plan atrip to some of theinteresting places Boband his wife visited ontheir way home fromPittsburgh.In part one, wetraveled from Pittsburgh,PA, to Cass, WestVirginia to see and ridethe Cass ScenicRailroad. When we leftCass, our next stop wasRoanoke, Virginia, tosee the VirginiaTransportation Museum.Roanoke’s historicfreight station has beenremodeled and is nowthe home to the famousN&W, 4-8-4, #611. Thismagnificent engine wasfully restored tooperational power and isnow on display in themuseum’s railyard.Being able to climb upand see where the26engineer and firemanworked this giant,provided me with anoverall awe of what ittook to make thesemonsters operate.Again, this is a “handson” outdoor exhibit,which by the time youread this will have all theprime pieces ofequipment under cover.In addition to the611, there are over 50pieces of rolling stock ondisplay. There aresteam, electric and diesellocos, with several opento the public. One of thecars open for viewing isan old Norfolk andWestern RPO car. Thedocent, a retired N&Wengineer, described howthe workers, carryingpistols, picked up, sortedand dispatched the mailwhile traveling 60 milesper hour. There is evena well car with a loadand a Pennsy GG1 No.4919, a couple of itemsthat didn’t usually showup on the rails down herein Texas.OK, but what doesthis have to do withmodel trains, or Lionelspecifically? Inside thebuilding is a four-tierlayout running Lioneltrains. One tier is “kidfriendly”, being eyelevel to the 3-7 year olds.The rest of the tiers areright up there for usolder kids to look at andenjoy. It is fullyThe Lion Roars December, 2002