A Trip on The "Real" Polar Express. . .

I completely understand the excitement felt by train spotters and vintage rail enthusiasts.  I got a big lump in my throat watching this beast let out clouds of steam, plumes of coal smoke, and sounding its whistle before we boarded one of a dozen or so vintage passenger cars for the trip.  It was an amazing experience.

A rare family selfie, taken just before we boarded The Polar Express in Ashley, Michigan to come home from the annual Christmas Village last Saturday evening.  The Young Master got to stay up way beyond his bedtime, and did remarkably well given how many other children of various ages fell to pieces during the train journey home.  And yes, it was as cold as it looks here.  About 19 F. by 8:15pm just before we found our car and climbed aboard.

Saturday afternoon, The Young Master, The Grand Duchess, and yours truly, aka Ogre Dad according to my son, drove up to Owosso, Michigan where we boarded the REAL Polar Express (Engine #1225 of the former Pere Marquette Railway), for a trip further north to the annual Christmas Village held in the small farming village of Ashley, Michigan.  While festive and fun, the highlight of the trip was the train ride up and back, pulled by #1225, one of the few remaining steam locomotives this large in the United States that is still operational.  Engine #1225 was also the inspiration behind the train featured in the children's Christmas film Polar Express.  You can read more about this particular engine by clicking here.  

In a word, it was an awesome rail experience.  We tend to forget just how HUGE these locomotives were.  As I remarked to the Grand Duchess during the trip home, just imagine what it must have been like to be in a passenger rail station with eight or ten steam trains coming, going, or sitting idle be the platform as passengers embarked or debarked.

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In other news, after examining a number of old SYW-era heavy cavalry illustrations by Knoetel and others, I began work affixing the previously neglected cavalry carbines to the almost finished second squadron of horse grenadiers last night.  The job was finished in 30 minutes or less, and, miraculously, I don't seem to have destroyed any of the brushwork or left behind any super gel induced fingerprints.  A dot or two did the trick, and carbines are position in a mix of barrel down and barrel up since the sources I examined showed various similar positions.  

The metal clip that secured the carbine to the large white shoulder belt worn by cavalry troopers appears to have been similar in design to the modern snaffle at the end of dog leashes and on some livestock leads.  In any case, the figures don't look too bad, and I can get on with finishing up the carbine barrels, locks, and brass fixtures before moving onto the various tiny metal bits on the bridles and martingales of the horses.  The squadron standards will be the final touch before both squadrons and regimental staff get a coat or two of acrylic gloss varnish.

-- Stokes

So, here is where things stand today -- after carbines were glued into place --  for the current squadron of cavalry on the painting table.