Memorial Day Operations

The weather on Memorial Day cooperated, so we ran the 308 all day in shuttle service from the 50th Avenue station to Jefferson St. in Union. A round trip takes only about ten minutes, and can be completed in between regular main line trains without delaying them.

One of the main advantages from our standpoint is that loading and unloading are much easier from the 50th Ave. platform, which Dave Diamond and his crew recently rebuilt. The steps on the 308 and 309 are especially steep, and many visitors have problems. The elevated platform is much more convenient.

This operation went well and provides, we think, an interesting variation on the usual main line and car line trips. Several people mentioned to me that it was a good ride; nobody complained that the ride was too short. Phil Stepek also took a large number of pictures - his album is located here.

I should mention that this only worked for us because Frank was willing to hop the pole over the gap each way on each trip. Currently, there's no frog in the wire between the west leg of the wye and the station tracks; we're hoping this can be fixed so more use can be made of the 50th Avenue station.

During the day, the West End jazz band was playing just across the track under the Central Avenue Pavilion, which was great. At 3pm, IRM observed a minute of silence in honor of Memorial Day, and one of the musicians played "Taps".

While I was operating, I couldn't help but notice that a meadowlark had decided to place her nest with two nice big eggs in the middle of the south main near the Schroeder store, right between the rails. Why, I don't know. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." As the car approached she would rise up and spread her wings trying to scare me off! But it didn't take long to realize this wasn't going to work, so she would fly away just in time. And this happened on every trip back and forth! I can only hope the young birds survive and aren't too traumatized by their upbringing, not on the wrong side of the tracks, but right in the middle.