Hopeful Prediction for Day 2 of Railfest: NO RAIN!

[jordon412]

Reason for this title: Last year, the last day of Railfest was just wet. It rained (or should I say pour) all day. The remains of Tropical Storm Lee passed through the area that day. I remember that day very well. My dad and I was on a special excursion from Chattanooga to Chickamauga, Georgia, where the bloodiest battle in the Civil War occured, before Gettysburg. There were going to be photo run-bys but it was decided not to because of the rain, which meant that the train would return two hours early. Because of this decision, the excursion was supposed to return to Chattanooga early. The train traveled down to Chickamauga without problem. The Chattanooga and Chickmauga locomotive that was on display at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was coupled onto the rear of the train until Chickamauga, where it was dropped off. Southern GP30 #2594 was coupled behind the visiting Southern FP9 (from the North Carolina Transportation Museum) on the lead until Chickamauga, where it was moved onto the rear end, making it the leading locomotive on the return trip to Chattanooga, with the FP9 staying on the front of the train. Everything was fine until we got close to the Tennessee-Georgia state line. That's when Murphy paid us a visit (Murphy as in Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong): he decided to make a tree fall onto the tracks, blocking our way to Chattanooga. He also gave us another surprise: there is normally (notice the word 'normally') a chainsaw on the train for situations like this. Of course, it was not on the train. We had to wait about two hours of waiting for a guy to come from Lafayette, Georgia (south of Chickamauga) to get to where we were and cut up the tree. Once we got back to Chattanooga, we returned at the same time we would of if the photo run-bys occured. Today, on the first day of Railfest, it rained here at home, which is only an half-hour drive from the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. So, because it rained today, I hope that that the only rain that will occur during this year's Railfest. I've got my fingers crossed.