As forecast, it started to rain overnight and continued throughout the morning with occasional thunder and lightning thrown in for good measure.
After breakfast we headed out towards Baldwin City about 40 miles north west for train trip. Unfortunately it won’t be a steam train, they are getting harder and harder to find.
Just after we started out the rain began to ease, but according to radar that was just the eye of the storm, there was more precipitation to come. As I have mentioned before many of the fields around here have oil wells in them, the local ones seem to be miniature versions of ones we have seen previously, standing only about 6 ft high.
As you can see there are crops planted all around the well. In some fields of mature corn you can just see the arm moving above the crops.
We reached the station about 30 minutes before the scheduled departure, there weren’t too many people around. The train pulled into the station, and we could see why, one engine, one carriage, one open air carriage and a caboose!
In total there were 16 passengers, probably not a money making trip, especially as there was a free ice-cream for each passenger to celebrate July 4th!
The coach was built in 1923
Although it was still raining out, it didn’t affect the trip too much, as this one was definitely a trip for riding on a train rather than looking at the scenery. A lot of the trip was through wooded areas, the rest was open fields.
Corn as far as the eye can see!
The window was a little damp, but as you can just make out we passed through Ottawa!
At the far end of the trip the engine disconnected, and went to the other end of the train to drag us back.
Overall, not the best trip we’ve been on, but there was little else to do on a day like today. Back at the station, the heavens opened up to great us as we stepped off the train.
After lunch we headed back to Paola to do our last weekly shop, then it was back to the trailer for the rest of the afternoon.