1880 Train

Choo! Choo!

Pouring water into the steam engine.

The third stop of the day was 1880 train.  By this time I was ready to sit.  The hike from the badlands had proved to me just how really out of shape I am.  The muscles attached to my knee joints were screaming and I was walking like I was Methuselah.  Still am come to think of it.  (Insert your best old age joke here!)

Mom has always wanted to take a train tour.  I thought this might be fun!  It's a steam locomotive that runs from Keystone to Hill City.  We were actually able to see the engineers pour the water into it's tank and on the ride they explained how it worked briefly. 

This is Ed.  He teaches 4th grade.

We met Ed, the railroad worker who took tickets and yelled, " All Aboooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd!"   I might have missed a few o's, a's and r's but you get the idea. 







It's the first attraction we went too that we weren't crazy about.  The ride to Hill City took an hour and much of it was spent narrated.  There was some interesting information,  things to look at and finding random wildlife.

Can you believe that telegraph poles complete with wire still stand along the rail?

A Gopher, deer, turkeys held our attention.  Once we got to Hill City we only had enough time to grab a bite to eat from the snack bar and load on up again!  In hindsight getting an earlier ticket might have been the better choice, we'd have time to look around before taking a return trip to Keystone. 

View from inside train going around the corner

Mom and I living large like the 1880er's did!

On the return trip we saw wildlife as well including a family of turkeys and possible a mountain lion, although the jury is still out on that. However, we just wanted off the train.  It wasn't near the adventure any of us had anticipated.  This is not to say that others won't enjoy it or that had it been a different day that we wouldn't.





After taking the trip, we did get to thinking about how dusty one would be after traveling and how uncomfortable a trip across the U.S. would be.  We went 10 miles in an hour and were ready to be off after the first trip.  I can't imagine how pioneers sat still enough to take those long trips!

If you have a thing for trains don't let my not liking it deter you.  The staff were great, the ride was beautiful and informative. The price really wasn't bad.  Just wasn't my cup of tea.