Having A Birthday Dinner Picnic By The Trains
Our son wanted to spend his birthday dinner at our favorite picnic place, by the Ashland Visitors Center watching the trains. We got lucky today, no garbage train! This time we were graced by Amtrak and one of my favorite trains, the AutoTrain!
And what’s a birthday train watch without a souvenir? We had two train smashed pennies in the car and decided to have them flattened again. The problem was, we couldn’t find one of them after Engine 73 went by. Wonder how much money gets lost on train tracks across the U.S.?
Amtrak 73 Southbound
We laid our final penny on the track again and waited for the next train. This time it was another Amtrak. And once again we lost our penny. We stared at it, watched it bounce and fly onto the track. But between the three of us, we could not find it! You’d think a shiny flat penny would be easy to see! Nope. One of the other visitors to the track this afternoon also helped us look for our lost penny. He couldn’t find it either. The AutoTrain really did a number on it. Flattened it so well it must have evaporated!
Amtrak 835 The AutoTrain! Headed Southbound
Ah well, it’s not the first coin we’ve lost at the track and it probably won’t be the last either. We heard that familiar train horn blow in the distance and we knew another engine was coming our way. This time from the south heading north to DC and other points north.
Amtrak 87 – Northbound
Our last train of the day before it was time to head home for birthday cake. This was one of the commuter trains from DC and Northern Virginia, so it stops here in Ashland. It’s nice to see some of the spouses come to the train stop to pick up the one they love from work. There’s something sort of sad seeing a commuter exit the train and simply head to their car and go home alone. Kind of takes the romanticism out of the nostalgia of train riding.
Amtrak 146 – Southbound
That wraps up our latest adventure to the old Ashland Train Station. A fun party celebration of my special little man.
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