CCR

We visited Dave Goodson’s Colorado Consolidated Railway in April 2008. It’s close to Seattle, so naturally it rained. But only for the eight or so hours of operations. It was cold, but we had so much fun.




I almost drove by his house, until I looked in and saw this old truck. I just knew it was Dave's place. (Well, that and the big 'Goodsons sign hanging by the house.)




		Dave and Paul were busy running some very long trains for the initial set out, in spite of the light rain. Being my usual helpful self, I set out to explore the layout, and it was quite impressive.

As always, pictures don't do a layout justice. It was also impressive because the trackwork is faultless.

Jean, my favorite engineer, had the trottle and did well, as usual. That's John Lily in the background. I met a lot of the regular crew and even remembered some of their names. What I didn't forget was how nice they all were. A truly great bunch of folks. I just wish I had more pictures of them as well, as they helped make it a great day.




Jean and I took out one of Dave's converted 10 wheelers - it's got a BBT 2-8-0 drive in it. While we had a challenge to learn the layout and the operating routine, we were helped not only by Dave but by other members of the crew.

Running in the rain gave me a deeper appreciation for what Dave and his crew have to put up with - and how well they have done it. Everything ran flawlessly. I was impressed, and I have some new inspiration for my own operating sessions back home. 7-1/2 hours of running, mosting in the pouring rain with temperatures in the low 40s; the 3-hour time difference caught up with me, and we left about 8 PM - having had a wonderful day! I'd been looking forward to this for a long time, and it fully exceeded all my expectations. Thanks Dave and crew!




		Dave’s trains all live in the shop, which also has a terminal. You start in here and then head out into the rain.