The
photos below are what we saw.
It took
several days of travel to get from CT to Strasburg, PA but we
arrived without incident. Kathleen loves steam trains, so
since we were in the area, a visit to Strasburg was a
must. We checked the tour schedules and arrived as the
train was approaching the station. Due to other schedule
constraints, we elected to not take the tour but rather just eat
lunch and take a few photos. Above, the train approaches
the station from the east.
The
water tower is still functional and is used multiple times a day
to fill the reservoir on the locomotive's tender car.
Despite being a weekday, there were plenty of tourists lined up
to purchase tickets for the tour.
This
locomotive is in great shape as can be seen by the glossy paint
on the boiler. This engine is a 4-8-0 model.
These engines are a marvel of mechanical engineering and were the pinnacle of technology when they were built. In retrospect, it was surprising that they worked at all given the complexity and size.
Most of
the linkages are used for the steam valve timing control to get
the maximum efficiency out of the expanding steam.
As the
engine rolled past, I got a brief view into the control
compartment to see the mass of valves and dials that are needed
to operate this beast.
The area
around Strasburg is Amish and their farms are neat and
tidy. From Strasburg we traveled west to Chambersburg to
visit one of Kathleen's ex-work buddies.
Our
travel path took us onto a freeway where we encountered a large
accident site in the oncoming lane. There was plenty of
equipment at the scene and traffic was backed up for miles.
When we
got alongside the scene, we could see that the cargo of the
truck had caught fire. The contents had spilled out onto
the freeway and the debris was fully blocking the travel
lanes. While we never got the official cause of the fire,
I am guessing that one of the trailer wheel bearings overheated
and ignited the cargo. Alternately, a lithium battery in
the cargo caught fire. Whatever the cause, the disruption
to traffic flow was absolute. The traffic backup continued
for many, many miles.
After a
significant journey we arrived in Romney, WVa at the home of
Kathleen's aunt Darleen. Above, you can see the lovely
view from the driveway to the house.
We were
lucky enough to be able to park Thor in the driveway, making our
visit easy for both us and our hostess. Plus, Thor makes
an outstanding driveway ornament.
We
departed Romney and headed southwest and spent the night in a
Forest Service campground. During our normal setup
routine, I discovered evidence of malicious tampering with our
tire mount. Someone had pulled the safety pins on the
pivot pins and when I discovered it, the pin was more than half
way out. With some prying and hammering I was able to get
the pin back in the track and secured with some tie wire.
In addition to the pivot pin safety being pulled, the "lock
lock" pin was also disconnected and partially out. If the
pivot pin had fallen out, it would have been catastrophic and
likely resulted in damage to both the tire mount and the
truck. Those mounted tires are huge and weigh on the order
of 300 pounds. Now, I check the status of all the pins
after every stop where the truck is left unmanned.
We
finally arrived at Bob and Kitty's farm outside of Greenback, TN
and parked Thor near his shop. Bob has plenty of toys
including this Unimog 406-based crane that was recently used to
remove an engine from a friend's vehicle.
An
addition to "normal" farm equipment, Bob has a number of LMTV
trucks that are similar to Thor. Purchased via government
auctions, these are reasonably sound vehicles, but almost all
have some significant issue (otherwise they would not be for
sale). Bob purchased four of these trucks, called M-1078s,
and this one was used as a parts donor.
This
LMTV is the daily driver and is used for farm chores. The
trucks axles have been modified to bypass the reduction gears in
the hub thus giving the vehicle a much higher road speed at the
cost of low speed pulling ability.
This
LMTV retained its reduction gears in the hubs and was outfitted
with his Alaskan camper. This camper was previously
installed on his Unimog 1300L.
Bob's
daughter Colleen also has an LMTV, this one has a radio box.
These
LMTVs are solid vehicles and when fully repaired can provide a
good platform for back-country camping.
We went
to the Greenback diner for breakfast and Colleen got a
pancake. One of these will do ya!
We left
Greenback and headed west on the interstate and passed this
setup at a freeway rest stop. Oddly, the driver of the tow
vehicle was interested in Thor and we were interested in his
boat. This boat is used for racing and has 6-450
horsepower outboard engines and carries 1500 gallons of fuel!
A side
view of this very expensive, special purpose boat. I had
to chuckle at the thought of the speakers over the operator's
compartment. There is NO CHANCE that music could be heard
over the sound of those 6 engines when running.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2023 all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.