Train Mountain Trienniel 2015 and How my left shoulder was famous for 1.62 seconds

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For those who don’t know Train Mountain holds an international meet every third year – hence “Trienniel.” The meet is held at Train Mountain’s 2,200 acre plot of private forest land near Chiliquin, Oregon. When wife Sarah, I and Molly (120 pounds of bull mastiff) visited for the Trienniel there were 36 REAL miles of 7.5 inch track in place with plans for more. Club member Bill Shepherd has a cottage on his private section of land within Train Mountain with rail access!!!

Bill has been intimately involved in Train Mountain almost since its inception and I was VERY pleased to learn upon arrival that Bill had been made Grand Marshall. What I did not expect was to have a seat on the lead loco in the Parade of Trains – the highlight of the event. My seat was immediately in front of Bill’s Grand Marshall seat.

The Parade of Trains is really quite something and because I was “in it” I couldn’t get the pics I anticipated. Just how impressive is the Parade of Trains? The 2015 event hosted 383 trains (compared with 273 in 2012). The train length went from 9,951 feet in 2012 to 12,262 feet in 2015. For those who can’t do maths in their head 12.262 feet is a breathtaking 2.3410985 miles.

When Bill was in town in Decemeber he said WE were on the cover of Live Steam Magazine. We? …….. here’s the cover:

Cover of Live Staeam

Cover of Live Staeam

I’ve cropped the pic so’s you can see Bill on his Grand Marshall seat:

Grand Marshall Bill Shepherd

Grand Marshall Bill Shepherd

And, and this is where I get my 1.62 seconds of fame …… this is my left shoulder ……

My left shoulder

My left shoulder

I did get a few pics which I hope give you a taste of just how great the Trienniel is.

Many of the trains in the Parade

Many of the trains in the Parade

Two of the 382 trains that came for the Trienniel

Two of the 382 trains that came for the Trienniel

The Grand Marshalls Seat

The Grand Marshall’s Seat

My seat behind the engineer and in front of the Grand Marshall Bill Shepherd

My seat behind the engineer and in front of the Grand Marshall Bill Shepherd

Highballin'

Highballin’

How about this for a parking lot

How about this for a parking lot

I loved this one

I loved this one

AND, AND I”M IN THE MOVIES!!!!!

That’s me behind the engineer and Bill behind me in the first train in this vid:

Maybe I shouldn’t tell you but it was over 100!!!!

Thanks Bill for an unforgettable day.