Wabash, Frisco, & Pacific Railroad

The Wabash, Frisco, & Pacific Railroad (WF&P) is a miniature (12 inch gauge) steam railroad is located in Glencoe, MO & operated by volunteer members of the WF&P Association which is a non-profit, educational organization. The WF&P was originally formed in 1939 when a group of railroad enthusiasts obtained a 12 inch gauge steam locomotive. The railroad was was originally located at the corner of Brown Road & Natural Bridge, (close to St Louis Lambert International Airport) on a 30 acre plot of land. In 1961 the WF&P moved to its current location in Glencoe which is close to Wildwood & Eureka. The railroad was continually improved to the point that when it relocated, there was a mile of track, four steam locomotives, a telegraph/telephone communications system between stations, & an electropneumatic signal system.

When we were living in the UK, we were fairly close to the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch (RHD) miniature railway. To give you an idea of scale, with the RHD you are able to sit in miniature carriages whereas with the WF&P you sit on small 'carriages' (that are really more just like wooden benches on wheels). The railroad runs through a park & travels (for part of the journey) parallel to & above the Meramec River at the base of the adjacent river bluffs (cliffs). The majority of the line is within woodland, although there are a few locations where the railroad travels through the park & crosses some of the cyclepaths/walkways. There are also a couple of bridges where the tracks cross over creeks (although in the summer these are just dry beds). We were pulled by a diesel locomotive for the 30 minute journey, however the WF&P has a variety of engines (the locomotive pulling the train before us was steam) which are housed at the terminus. The current site now exceeds the length of track form the original location (but is still being increased) & the WF&P has built a number of buildings (including the car barn & roundhouse) & a turntable for the engines. While we were waiting for our train we were chatting to one of the volunteers & were apparently quite lucky to be riding the railroad since the floods from earlier on in the year had completely inundated the station & most of the track. The engines were moved off-site but silt from the river covered the site completely. Apparently, even the signal control boxes were full of silt, but after a hosing the electrics down with a jet-washer (crazy!) the signals were all OK!

Columbia Car Show

The City of Columbia, is just across the Mississippi River in Illinois. Since it is south of St Louis, (& where we live) we can use the southern most metropolitan river crossing (Jefferson Barracks Bridge) form where it is only about a 10 minute drive. The car show is an annual event, but rather than being held in a car park or other purpose designed venue, the city closes the town centre for the day so that pedestrians can safely walk on the main street where the show vehicles are on display. The show was really good, partly due to the sunny, hot, weather (possibly too hot), the relaxed atmosphere, & the variety of cars & trucks on display. The local humane society was also in attendance which meant that Cheryl & Beth could have a good look at the homeless animals (mostly dogs) available for adoption whilst I looked at the cars. On our way back to our car, we stopped at the Columbia Sno Cone 'shack' so that we could cool off. So far, the snow cones that we have had in the US were made with crushed ice (with flavoured syrup) which were generally quite nice at first, but you end up drinking the syrup so that all you are left with is hard ice. However, at Columbia the snow cones were made with shaved ice. The ice is very finely shaved so it has a texture more like ice cream & it melts the instant you eat it (so you don't get any ice left over). Also, as the ice is so fine, the syrup almost becomes absorbed by the ice which means that the flavour remains throughout the entire cone. Very cool & very refreshing!

JAG Swing-around Fun Town

Swing-around Fun Town is an entertainment complex about 5 minutes from our house which has both indoor & outdoor amusements/activities. We briefly visited it once before, but the seemingly high prices for individual items put us off buying any tickets. However, the JAG social group arranged for an excellent wristband offer which meant that all the outdoor activities were included & unlimited for a 2-hour period.

Despite choosing the early morning session, the weather was hot & sunny so our first stop was the bumper boats. Unfortunately (for me) Cheryl snagged one with a lower pointing water cannon so she was able to drench me from both far away & close up, whereas I (& everyone else) could only soak other people from a distance. Needless to say I would have probably been drier had I just jumped in the lake (& it would have been less embarrassing)! Beth then went on a few of the spinny type rides before we all played a game of crazy golf. This was followed by some time in the batting cages, successfully returning the slow, medium, & fast softball pitches, but only being able to return the odd fast baseball pitch. Cheryl & Beth then finished our time off with a few races in the dual engine go-carts. Since there were two-seater carts available, both of them could race together in the same cart.

Walters Family Dining, Belle, MO

On the way back from Branson, we took a detour via Jerry' Nephew's restaurant. This is in a town called Belle, which is really out in the country (approximately 2 hours from St Louis). The scenery surrounding Belle reminded us of that typical to the south of England, namely green fields divided by hedgerows, rolling hills, & lots of trees. The restaurant wasn't the typical sort of place that we get to eat at since we mostly have 'chain' restaurants close to us, so it was a real pleasure to have the opportunity to try a real 'mom & pop' type eatery. The food was excellent (I had steak with gravy) & great value for money (although Jerry kindly paid for us). Jerry's Nephew (the owner) is obviously a great cook but he likes to try different things, so for desert we tried his latest - chocolate truffles & ice cream. This may sound pretty normal, but he deep fries them so the outside of the truffle becomes crispy & the inside melts - yummy!

We're still here!

It is easily understood if you thought that we were no longer here due to the total lack of activity over the past few months, but you would be wrong! We are still here & I will be updating this blog anytime now (really!). However, seeing as it was a New Year's resolution of mine to keep on top of blog updates, & it has taken nearly four weeks to write this short post, I'm guessing that it will be a while before anything else new is posted!