Good Times in Chama

Chama New Mexico is the home of the Cumbres and Toltec Narrow Gauge Railroad. This a National Historical District and one of just a handful of operating narrow gauge railroads.

On Saturday morning I was checking the blog that covers discussions about all things narrow gauge
(Narrow gauge discussion group) and saw pictures of not one, but two Rio Grande Southern Geese as well as engine 315. A little checking showed this was part of a promotion named "Narrow Gauge Rendezvous" and was a multi-day event being held in Chama, NM. With Chama not being all that far away from us we decided to drive down and check things out.

It was dark by the time we arrived, but we were able to get a good nights sleep and chase trains in the morning.

Our drive to Chama took us over a number of beautiful  mountain passes

We stopped for snacks along the way

At twilight we found Engine 315 on Cumbres Pass venting steam, staying warm for the next days activities

It was dark by the time we made it to the rail yard, but I did get a few night time pictures

A check of the rail yard found two sleeping Geese

Morning found all the equipment being serviced for the trip up to Cumbres Pass

This creation is known as a "Galloping Goose". This and six others were created in the Rio Grande Southern Railroad shops to carry mail, passengers and cargo. They were created from old touring automobiles with cargo boxes affixed to the rear. They were much cheaper to operate than a steam engine and train and helped keep the Rio Grande Southern in business years beyond it's eventual financial collapse. All seven 'Geese' still exist. Numbers 5 and 7 were running on this trip.

 

 We enjoy watching a weekly show on YouTube called "Toyman Television". The creator of the series travels about the country finding examples of people having fun by 'just screwing around'. To our surprise (not really if you think about it) we found him and his wife riding Goose #5. We later introduced ourselves. He is always riding in a Ford Mustang in the show so we decided to see where it was parked - it was easy to find.

  Check out his show at ToyMan Television.

Julie enjoying the day

Everything ready to go.

Number 7 departing Chama

Number 5 departing Chama

All of this historic railroad equipment made it to the top of Cumbres Pass and gathered on the turnaround wye. 315 was set up with the restored pile driver providing steam for operation.

The geese were turned and poised for the return trip downhill

The passenger train arrived and prepared to back into the wye

Julie is in front of a line of restored equipment. These cars are used to create period correct train consists which are the highlight of folks wanting to photograph trains as they used to be.

Much of this equipment is restored by volunteers who are members of "The Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec". The Friends organize work sessions throughout the summer season and keep the equipment and buildings in repair and operating. More info  can be found at Friends of the Cumbres and Toltec

Science City at KC Union Station

Union Station in downtown Kansas City is the location of Science City. This is a collection of various kinds of exhibits that explain a variety of scientific principals in fun and easy to learn ways. It is an ideal way to introduce children to the sciences.

I went in thinking we'd be there for a few hours and we ended up staying for  six hours and still didn't make it to about a third of the exhibits.

Ready to go!

Watching the coins race to the bottom in a huge spiral 

This was great fun  and a way to watch your image be projected onto a screen while in motion in front of it.

How to experience high 'tornado like' winds in an enclosed area 

Spaceship slides

Beautiful wood work made for tunnels with interesting shapes

Floor lighting that changes color with pressure

One portion of the exhibit

Building blocks were a lot of fun

We spent an hour or so making towers from wooden pieces

This was a bit of a challenge as the table wobbles and is not a solid building platform

Emery building away

Bennett kept going up and up with his creation

Most proud of his accomplishment

KAPLA is the brand of blocks they provided. Great packaging!

The principal of compressed air having power was realized by the use of a pump used to create pressure to shoot soda bottles

                                            

We had a lot of fun with reflecting mirrors

You could ride bicycles on a high wire if you were taller than 54"

We got in 'tug of war' battles with other museum goers using ropes mounted to a lever. The take off point on the lever differed on each side giving one team a decided advantage.

A rotating wheel let the user generate power by walking around the inside. If you stopped, the wheel would continue and give you quite the ride.

Another exhibit let you generate power by pedaling and see the difference in lighting LED's vs incandescent bulbs

This was fun to see how rotating magnets generate power to activate various devices

The haunted house exhibit included this novel reflection of  tiny floor tiles into a highly polished post

Sky Bike in action

This water works exhibit was good for hours of fun 

Bennett loved learning about water flow and plugging holes in tubes of water

This was the highlight for our grandsons. The users position various slats of colored plastic to alter the flow of water thru the slight downward tilt and understand the effects of water dynamics. 

This was a very popular exhibit

Multiple exposure technology made for a fun image

Pulleys and chairs showed the concept of mechanical leverage

Then off to Fritz's to have diner type food delivered by toy trains 

Train engines travel around the top of the restaurant and deposit food on a tray at your table which then lowers to deliver the food.

Bennett discovered cherry milk shakes to his liking.

So did Emery