Choo Choo, Monday, 6/2/14 and Tuesday, 6/3/14

Monday, June 2, 2014

We saw a bald eagle on the way to work today, and he posed majestically for us.  Cindy worked at the Virginia City depot and Chuck worked again at the Gypsy Arcade.  We were so excited when the train arrived with clinging bells and blowing whistles at about 2:45 p.m.--it is finally fixed and back in service.  Jaimi and Daniel both had the day off and were fishing for rainbow trout in the stream behind the train station.  They hailed the train to stop for them and came riding up to the depot with their fishing rods in hand.  Connor was the conductor and had practiced his informative narrative on this maiden journey. 

There weren’t too many people in town, but some of them heard the train and came running to buy their tickets for the 3:00 p.m. trip back to Nevada City.  (The train runs every half hour on the two mile trip between Virginia City and Nevada City.)  Chuck closed up the Gypsy Arcade and made the round trip run on the train to turn in his deposit. 

Last night all the kids drove about an hour to Dillon and went to Dairy Queen and grocery shopping.  They said they had to swerve to avoid hitting a deer on the way home and Connor said he saved their lives with his defensive driving skills.  Since they were well supplied, they cooked supper for everyone tonight.  We had spaghetti with Italian sausage in the sauce and a salad.  Duel and Lucinda came over and we taught them to play Shanghai.  (Since there were so many of us, we played in the rehearsal hall two doors down from the Bonanza Inn. The upstairs part of the hall is used as a town meeting room and we have been given a key to the hall as there is internet available there.)  Unfortunately, the tables are really too big for cards and we had to stand on tiptoe to reach the draw pile and to see what other cards were played down the table. 

 

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Today was the first day Cindy got to work in the Gypsy Arcade, and Chuck was the train conductor.  Unfortunately, the train broke down again at the Virginia City depot after only three trips.  Chuck inspected the train and discovered that a belt was missing, so he walked the tracks looking for the belt.  He found it about a quarter mile down the tracks, but it was broken so they called for the repairman to come from Dillon.  Libby was the engineer today, so she ran to the Montana Heritage Commission office and got the Suburban that belongs to the state.  She then transported the stranded train passengers back to Nevada City to get their cars.                                                    

Cindy had a busy day in the Gypsy Arcade as there were five busloads of school kids walking the streets of Virginia City.   The kids favorite pastimes were checking their strength on a grip machine and letting Cupid’s Arrow answer their questions of love.  They also liked watching movies on the old photoscopes.  Cindy enjoyed being in the heart of town as she got to do a lot of people watching.  The stage coach parks right outside the arcade, so she got to see it depart several times. 

The train was fixed again by 2:00 p.m., but on the way back to Nevada City it broke down again about half way there.  There were no paying customers on the train this time, but the repairman’s wife and son were riding.  Chuck, Libby, Brian (a returning older employee that refuses to do anything but drive the train) and two mechanics pushed the train all the way back to Nevada City.  Chuck departed work at 4:00 p.m., and there is no estimate on when the train will be running again.   

After work, all the inn mates, plus Duel, walked to one of the local restaurants for a free steak dinner provided by our employer.  At 7:00 p.m., Chuck and Cindy went to the Opera House theater to watch an early 1900’s play called the “Cat and the Canary.”  It was about five relatives gathered in an old haunted house to hear the reading of a will.  After intermission, the cast came back and entertained us for another hour with vaudeville type singing and skits.  It was somewhat amusing, but as in the Brewery Follies, we were glad it was free.