Midsouth Meet - May, 2002
This year we decided to leave a day earlier than usual so we arrived on Wednesday May 1, 2002. The weather prognosticators did not have a lot of kind words to say for the time we planned to stay. But we kept our fingers crossed. Here is what happened:
Wednesday
We got a good start from Atlanta but, due to the rain, traffic was a frightful
mess at 8am. It took us just under an hour to travel the first 23 miles (that's
right folks...23 miles!). We finally cleared the crash site and began to make
better progress. We drove in the rain and mist off and on until well after
Chattanooga, TN when the weather finally improved a bit. We arrived in Columbia
just after lunch and began to unload the loco and cars. Once that was completed
and a few hellos said, we fired up Lady Barbara and hit the mainline. Wayne did
most of the engineering and I rode on the riding car. I had replaced the
suspension springs on the riding car with hard rubber blocks to see if it would
improve the stability and ride. It did very well indeed so the change is now
permanent. We ran until supper time, went and got something to eat, came back,
and ran until around 10pm or so before returning to the hotel for the night. It
seems that once it got dark, we experienced a few "gremlins" with some
derailments in areas that had never been a problem before and a minor problem
with the pilot truck wanted to go on the ground up at the station. It was not
cause for great concern but it was unusual to say the least.
Thursday
The weatherman was promising rain today and, for a change, he was right. We ran
a little in the morning but by mid-afternoon the rain had come to stay (along
with other severe weather in the area). We shutdown and covered up for the night
with the slim hope that the rain might break after supper but it didn't. As a
result, we called it a day early in the evening and went back to the hotel with
the intention of getting a good start in the morning. There was some concern
that the others that were coming up to Columbia on Friday might decide not to
make the trip since the weather forecasts were so bad. It was left up to them to
make the decision and take the chance of the weather.
Friday
We got a good start on the day but by noon the steady (hard at times) rain had
set in. Wayne said I could run in the rain if I wanted to and left to run some
other errands in town. I fired her up, got my umbrella, and hit the mainline. I
made 23 laps around the mainline before it was all said and done. It was
actually quite nice running in the rain once I figured out how to make my rather
large umbrella fit through the tunnel. There was virtually no one else running
all afternoon except for a couple of other die-hard steamers like me, so I
pretty much had the track to my self. It was great fun even though the weather
was cold and rainy. I barely got wet and never was cold. Lady Barbara ran very
well in the rain although there were a couple minor derailments during the run.
Late in the afternoon, the rest of our group showed up from Atlanta (my wife and
another family). The outlook for Saturday was hopeful so we shutdown for the
day, covered everything up, and went back to the hotel to pray for good weather.
We had a nice steak supper and called it an evening.
Saturday
The weather was supposed to be better today and there was some improvement.
Wayne has been thinking about our problems with the pilot truck going on the
ground so much and had decided that the cause must be the cylinder covers. The
leading wheels on the pilot truck always rub on the cylinder covers due to a
Little Engines design flaw. Wayne correctly theorized that the cylinder covers
were blocking the truck from being able to make the sharper radius turns and
causing the derailments. We removed the covers and did not experience any
further derailments during the remainder of our stay. We ran virtually all day
and into the evening. We had been having intermittent problems keeping water in
the boiler and were having to use the injector occasionally. Just after dark as
the time to run got better, Wayne noticed that the hand pump didn't seem to have
any back pressure on it. We looked around a bit and found water pouring out
under the tender when the pump was operated and it was dripping steady all the
time. Apparently we broke a fitting under the tender so we were done for the
evening. The breakdown cut our evening a little short but we still had a good
day of running with the best weather of the week.
Sunday
We got over to the track about 9am and started to clean-up the loco and load
everything. Somebody had sprayed my trailer with mud while driving behind it in
the mud so I had to wash it off before we could load anything into it. All the
loading went fine and relatively quickly now that we have stable places for
everything in the truck and trailer. We had only gone about 50 miles up the road
when I realized the we have forgotten to load the spare propane tank. Wayne was
kind enough to make the trip back to Columbia to get the tank while my wife and
I continued homeward to Atlanta.
Summary
It was a very good meet again this year. There were considerably fewer
locomotives at the meet this year as a result of the weather, I'm sure. The
track was in very fine condition again this year and the new steaming bays
worked out great. We are told that even more improvements are on the way at
Midsouth. We got to meet and greet a lot of friends that we only see at this
meet including Tom & Blanche Hill and Bill & Alice Koster. They have become good
friends in only a few visits with them. I always enjoy the stories they have to
tell. I'm already looking forward to next year when I should be able to take my
own Shay to the meet!!!
Here are a few pictures as well. Enjoy them and keep making steam!!
