If a Tree Falls in the Forest ...

When a large tree uprooted itself and fell through the mainline, it looked to be that the end of an era had come to pass. For some time it had become increasingly clear that my days of maintaining the railway  might be ending as well and I thought that maybe the tree falling might be a message that that time had come.  Obviously, if the train could no longer run, the trestle  structure would have to be removed and this would be a serious undertaking.

My daughter, Linda, took it upon herself to contact friends and neighbors  and organize a clean-up party. Then, out of the blue, a couple of people on the street offered up an alternative. They would repair the damage and continue the operation! Well, who would have thought that. I fell to my knees and said a little prayer.  So now, instead of taking everything apart, we would use the work party to put things right again. A dozen or so people spent a Fall afternoon working, and in the end we were able to run the train in celebration. The railway has taken on a new life under new leadership and may last for another 30 years. It's still not known if anyone heard that tree come down.