Kaitlyn and I riding our bicycles on the Towpath Trail in Canal Fulton

Sometime in May, i took the training wheels off Kaitlyn’s bike. Kaitlyn is my four year old daughter. She had been riding a very small bicycle with training wheels all around the first floor of our house, as we have an open floor plan in the house. Secretly, several weeks before I removed the training wheels, I moved them up so that the wheels would not touch until the bicycle was leaned over a good amount. I watched for a couple of weeks as Kaitlyn rode around the kitchen and foyer, the training wheels were almost never touching the ground. She was riding a bicycle and keeping her balance very well, so that is when I took the training wheels off and the bike got moved outdoors.

Kaitlyn’s first experience outdoors on her bicycle without training wheels went very well. Kaitlyn started in the grass with me holding her up and doing the “run and release” start. Kaitlyn told me to let her know when I was going to let go, but she had already been riding 50 feet and didn’t know that I had let go. She rode for hours that night, eventually grasping the concept of turning, but taking many tumbles to get that concept. We made Kaitlyn wear long sleeves, long pants, and her helmet, as we expected far more falls than she actually experienced.

Fast forward several months and several trips to the local baseball field for riding practice. I needed to keep a promise to Kaitlyn. On the first day of riding without training wheels, I told her that I would reward her with ice cream. She immediately said that she wanted to ride her bike somewhere for ice cream, something that we could not do on her first day riding, but I promised her that “one day” we would ride somewhere for ice cream. It was time to make good on that promise, and Kaitlyn had not forgot about it. We loaded the bicycles in the van with the stroller. We headed out to the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail in Canal Fulton, OH. Amy pushed Ashley, our two week old baby, in the stroller and Kaitlyn and I headed north from Lock 4 Park toward the Cherry Street Creamery in scenic Canal Fulton. My speedometer battery was dead on my bicycle, as I had not used it in several years, but I estimated the distance to be about one mile to the ice cream shop. We ordered our ice cream and enjoyed it on a bench in front of the shop, then we headed south again on our bikes. When we reached Lock 4 Park, Kaitlyn was upset that the ride was over, she wanted to continue south. When Amy caught up to us, she agreed to take the van to the next trailhead and pick us up (the next trailhead is about 1.5 miles away). Kaitlyn had just ridden between 3 and 4 miles on her first real bike ride! I was amazed and excited.

Two days later, Kaitlyn wanted to ride her bicycle again, so we went to the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail again at Lock 4 Park in Canal Fulton, OH. We rode into town and had breakfast, then returned so Amy could get the van and meet us at the next trailhead. Kaitlyn was not ready to stop after 3.5 miles, she wanted to keep going. Keep going is what we did. After 8 miles, I had to stop so that I could make it to work on time. Kaitlyn was disappointed that our ride was over “already.” I promised her that I would take her on a longer ride tomorrow and she was happy again. We drove to the local bike shop and bought a bell and a basket for her bike, then went home.

The next day arrived, and we went to Canal Fulton again and rode north into Summit County. We rode the Towpath Trail through Clinton, OH and continued north past Locks 3 and 2. We stopped at 5.5 miles from the van and we headed back. We arrived back at the van after riding 11 miles. This was the first time that Kaitlyn was not upset about not continuing a ride. She was tired and after our ice cream, she fell asleep within minutes of getting in the van. She later talked about how fun it was taking a long ride on her bike. I am sure that I got to hear her new bell for the bike for all 11 miles. She took her teddy bear “Max” with her on the ride (he rode in the basket).

Kaitlyn riding through the ruins of a lock on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail

While researching rides to take with my four year old daughter, I looked at riding the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail north from Akron. During my research, I discovered that the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has a program called “Bike Aboard.” Bike Aboard lets you park your car at a train depot, ride the trail, and pay $2.00 per person and ride the train back to the depot that your car is parked at. Kaitlyn loves trains. She asks me all of the time if we can go ride a train (again). This is the perfect ride for her. I decided to try Bike Aboard out. We parked our car at the Akron Northside Depot and rode north on the Towpath Trail. Kaitlyn marveled at the scenery the whole way. We passed ruins of old locks along the canal, and crossed over new boardwalks and bridges. We got to see the train running south, then it passed us going north again. Kaitlyn was not told that we were going to ride the train, but that there was a “surprise” waiting at the end of the ride. We rode past two depots, and Kaitlyn stated both times that she felt great and wanted to keep riding. I calculated that we could make the Peninsula Depot with about 50 minutes to spare. We pushed on and arrived at the Peninsula Depot with 55 minutes to spare. Kaitlyn actually kept a faster pace toward the end of the ride than she had all day. When we arrived at the Peninsula Depot, we rode to a store to buy snacks and some juice, then rode back to the depot. Kaitlyn had just ridden 15.81 miles!!! We boarded the train where she continued to eat fruit and a Powerbar. After arriving back at the Akron Depot, Kaitlyn asked me if we could go somewhere else and ride our bicycles some more! She never said that her legs were sore.

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad arrives at the Peninsula Depot in Peninsula, OH

Kaitlyn has talked about her bicycle rides to anybody that will listen. I have always loved riding bicycles. My father used to ride with me all of the time when I was in school, and I hope it was half as enjoyable for him as it is for me. It has been great spending extensive amounts of time with oldest daughter. I can’t wait until my youngest daughter, Ashley, is old enough to ride in the bicycle trailer with me!

Pictured here is my BMW R1200 RT in front of the Hune Covered Bridge from an earlier trip down Ohio's Covered Bridge Scenic Byway

Several weeks ago, I had some relatives come to visit from out of state.  We had a motorcycle ride planned that would take us to Maryland for lunch, but due to time constraints, we had to alter our ride plans.  Lately, I have been riding my motorcycle in Southeast Ohio in the Appalachian foothills and I thought I would like to ride Ohio Route 26 again.  I had ridden my motorcycle on this route once before and it was very enjoyable, and this was a route that we could take and still be home in time for the other riders to keep their evening plans.

We rode a route that took us down OH 800 to OH 26.  OH 26 is known as the “Covered Bridge Scenic Byway.”  It also is one of the curvier roads in the area making it a great motorcycle road.  OH 26 takes a course alongside the Little Muskingum River as it winds through the Wayne National Forest.  There are reported to be four covered bridges along OH 26, but I have only seen three on the times that I have ridden the route.  One of the covered bridges that is along OH 26 has been nearly destroyed in 1913, 1938, and again in 2004.  The Rinard Covered Bridge was most recently a victim to the remnants of several hurricanes that washed the bridge downstream in 2004 after dumping 8 feet of rain in the region.  The bridge was painstakingly restored using the original timbers to keep the historic designation.

One of the bridges that still stands is the Hune Covered Bridge.  Motorists can still cross this bridge, which is not common these days.  Most covered bridges that are still standing have been close to automobile traffic for many years, although Ashtabula County has been building new covered bridges, as the former County Engineer said that they were far more cost effective than a steel or concrete bridge that would only last 50 to 75 years.  

In the fall of 2007, Ohio had 141 remaining covered bridges, second only to Pennsylvania which has about 200 remaining covered bridges.  OH 26 is a great motorcycle road and has the added benefit of having the covered bridges.  I will be riding OH 26 again soon, and I plan on riding many of the other area roads while in the area. OH 26 from Woodsfield, OH to Marietta, OH is a very scenic ride that is easily accessible from Interstate 77.  The Covered Bridges Scenic Byway is 44 miles long.  The Marietta end of the route is very curvy and has some nice hills.  

If you decide to ride the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway, stop off in Woodsfield, OH at the Hometown Restaurant and treat yourself to a roast beef sandwich.  I had an excellent sandwich there.  My uncle at a meatloaf sandwich that he said was excellent.  Woodsfield is several hours from my house, but I may make the ride there again for the sandwich, it was that good.  We found this place after my GPS led me to a diner that was no longer in town, having been replaced with a Subway.  I asked a farmer that was outside the hardware where the “best food in town” was.  He pointed us to the Hometown Restaurant.

When you decide to ride OH 26, it is only 44 miles long, but plan on riding for a good part of the day, you will want to allow time to stop and enjoy some of the scenery.  We did not have time to do that this last time, but I will have more time the next time that I ride the Covered Bridges Scenic Byway.

See Also: Preserving Ohio’s Covered Bridges

                Ohio Covered Bridge Locations

This photo was not taken by me, there are no storm clouds in sight.

Two weeks ago, Amy’s charger quit working on her Macbook.  After attaching my charger to her Macbook, her battery charged fine.  Her charger would not work on my Macbook.  This troubleshooting confirmed that the problem was indeed the charger.  I decided to pay the Apple Store in Legacy Village a visit.  

Legacy Village is in Lyndhurst, Ohio, about 70 mile from home.  I left work, riding my BMW R1200 RT in light rain.  I rode about 20 mile to get home, grab the offending Magsafe charger, and head north.  It was raining considerably harder when I left on the motorcycle.  I was planning on taking the motorcycle, rain or shine, and that is what I did.  It had been raining for almost 24 hours and showed no signs of stopping.  This trip was as much to test the “waterproof” claims that Olympia places on their liners in the gear that I wear as it was a chance to see the Apple Store. I had my trusty Frogg Toggs in case my Olympia gear left me wet.

While riding to Legacy Village, the weather and my gear did not let me down.  I kept plenty warm with my Tour Master Synergy heated liners in my Olympia Patton Mesh Tech Field Jacket and Olympia Ranger 2 pants.  I kept as dry as I do wearing my rain suit.  I did not get the least bit wet while riding my motorcycle, even though there were times I had to slow considerably due to poor visibility because of the heavy rain.  When I arrived at my destination, the looks of disbelief were priceless.  People could not believe that some bonehead was riding his BMW motorcycle in the rain.

My experience at the Apple Store Genius Bar was terrific.  The Apple Genius checked my charger, which had somehow started working again prior to arriving at the Apple Store.  The Genius told me that he knew that I did not ride 70 miles in the pouring rain to make up a charger not working.  The magsafe charger was replaced free of charge under warranty.  

My ride home was in the same rain, but the wind was about 25 MPH sustained with 45-50 MPH gusts.  These winds were straight out of the west and I was riding due south.  On my Honda CB900 Custom, these winds would have been terrible to ride in, but on the BMW R1200 RT it was very manageable.    

I have always ridden my motorcycles in the rain or shine, hot or cold.  This was the first time that I tried out the “waterproof” claims of Olympia, and I was VERY pleased.  Before this ride, I always donned my Frogg Toggs rain gear if setting off in the rain.  I have since not worried about taking my Frogg Toggs out of my bike if I need to carry a few more things, as long as I am wearing my liners in my Olympia gear.

We have had lots of snow and ice this winter.  Winter in Northeast Ohio usually comes with cold and snow, but this year, at least according to the local weather guessers on TV, has been quite a bit worse than “normal.”  Even after the snow and ice melted from the streets, we had ice six inches thick in parts of our driveway.  Finally, after a week of almost 60 degree high temperatures, the ice in the driveway melted and I was able to take the BMW R1200 RT to work.  It was 17 degrees when I rode to work, and it was 25 degrees on my way home.  I rode home at 8:00 AM and more snow hit at 10:00 AM.  I had to go to my other job and pick up some items, so I rode there too.  It is amazing how much more I enjoy commuting on the motorcycle than driving the truck.

Hopefully I will have a chance to ride more.  Most of the roads I ride do not have salt on them right now, as we had a few storms last week that washed the roads.  I don’t like the thoughts of salt corroding my R1200 RT, so I try to ride it when the salt is gone.  

 It looks like I may get to ride to Martinsville, VA for the NASCAR race in March, I will post photos and a ride report.  I have a trip to Colorado planned for October.  Amy has plans for me to have camera mounts on my bike before I go, sounds good to me.

I know that it is winter in Northeast Ohio, but we have had some terrible weather for riding a motorcycle.  We have had one “clipper” after another for much of the fall and now the winter too.  A couple of weeks ago, we did get a short two day break from this weather pattern.  I woke up in the morning, got ready to go to work, got my daily weather briefing and found that it was almost 60 degrees at 7:00 AM.  We had had a few days of rain prior to this, so all of the salt was washed from the roads.  I went outside and fired up the BMW R1200 RT and rode it to work.  It ended up being 68 degrees that day.  The next day on my ride home from work, it was 47 degrees, not quite as warm, but a heat wave compared to what we have had for over a month.  I managed to put 300 miles on the motorcycle in two days of riding.  Normally, 300 miles in two days is not worth mentioning, but in the last week of December, it deserves and honorable mention.  I do not care how cold it is, I can ride at 0 degrees with the excellent gear that I now own, but ice and snow and salt on the roads will make me drive my cage.


Since the weather has been pretty bad, I have not had much new material to post on this site.  I promise that I will try to go through some old photos and post a few ride reports of past rides I have done.  I have been updating some other sites, and this one has taken a back seat if you will, due in part to the weather.  A friend of mine “The Beach Bum” introduced me to blogging and I have enjoyed it.  Now that Thanksgiving and Christmas are past, I hope to have a little more time for updating my sites.  I have recently updated my blog for those who have switched to Mac computers from Windows based PCs.  I have also been updating the site for my union Jackson Professional Firefighters.

 I have started a new blog to provide information about the new red light cameras that Canton, Ohio has decided to install.  This blog is brand new and will probably end up with heated comments on both sides of the issue.  I have not made up my mind about these red light cameras yet.  Visit the site if this topic interests you.  I know that I am willing to listen to both sides.  I have seen dirty tricks played when Cleveland installed the red light cameras, will Canton do the same?

I am sorry for the rambling nature of this post.  Hopefully I will get to ride the motorcycle more soon, however January and February are not usually great months to take too many rides around the frozen tundra of Northeast Ohio.  I think I will go read about the beach at my friend’s blog.

I had a meeting with a friend yesterday to help her with a website for her business.  This lady writes grants for nonprofit organizations and for government agencies to fund various projects.  She doesn’t understand much about the internet, other than it is a great way to get information on the grants that she writes.  I agreed to help her out with setting up a Wordpress blog so that she can get information to others about grants that are available to them for their projects.  If you have a project that you want to have funded by grants, contact Didi or Vera of Gatchell Grant Resources, LLC.  Their site is www.ohiograntwriters.com .  

I used the meeting as an excuse to get to ride my motorcycle (as if I needed one).  It was 75 degrees and there was not a cloud to be seen.  This never happens in November in Northeast Ohio.  I left early for my meeting, stopped at McDonald’s and had “hotscakes” and then went to the meeting.  Anybody that ever watched “Green Acres” knows that Lisa Douglas called hotcakes “hotscakes.”  I always order them as “hotscakes” at McDonald’s to see the looks that I get from the employees.  

After eating my breakfast, I went to the meeting.  I think that I learned more than they did (not in a bad way).  I never realized how many different grants are available.  I also didn’t know about all of the application processes, and the administration of grants.  While we were in the meeting, there must have been ten phone calls from clients.  There were some that had just been awarded grants and had questions about what to do next, and some calls from people looking for applications for grants.  It was crazy how busy these two ladies are.  I hope that they are ready for more calls when their website gets discovered. 

After the meeting, I took the long way home.  There was nothing really special about the ride other than the beautiful day.  I haven’t seen as many motorcycles out riding as I did yesterday for weeks now.  I wished that I had more places that I could have taken the bike yesterday, but I wanted to spend time with my family.  

After I got home, Amy and I had to go vote.  Kaitlyn was funny at the polling place.  We told her that the rules were “Like on an airplane.”  She had flown with Amy to Atlanta one time and Amy told her that she had to be quiet or they would be thrown off of the airplane.  Kaitlyn, being a three year old, took “thrown off” literally.  She was a dream child at the polling place, making hand gestures to communicate because she did not want thrown out.

Amy loves taking photos of fall foliage. Atwood Lake is not far from our house.

Last week, Amy suggested that we take a ride, as the leaves were at their peak color here in Northeast Ohio.  Amy wanted to ride her Honda CB650SC Nighthawk.  She has been riding it a lot lately and has not taken the truck to work in months.  She is finally getting comfortable being out on her own motorcycle, thanks in large part to the Motorcycle Ohio Motorcycle Safety Class that she took.  We did not really have any plans made on where to ride, we just started riding. 

We left East Sparta, OH traveling south on OH 800 to I-70 east in Hendrysburg.  We then took I-70 to the Belmont-Morristown exit (exit 208) and went north for about 500 feet to eat at Schlepp’s Family Restaurant.  We found this restaurant when returning from a skiing trip when I was young, and they have always had great food, so we make it a point to ride there a couple of times each year for lunch.  We had a great lunch.  I had their beer battered fish and Amy ate part of a huge chef’s salad.  This was one of the largest salads I have ever seen.  She had more left over than she ate.  I think the salad would have fed three people.  

After leaving Schlepp’s, we went north to US 40 and headed east on 40.  We were this close to West Virginia, and Amy has never ridden out of Ohio before on her motorcycle, se we decided to go 17 more miles to Wheeling.  We crossed the Ohio River into Wheeling, West Virginia and rode through town.  After riding around Wheeling, we turned around and headed home.  

Our route home took us to St. Clairsville, OH then north on OH 9 through New Athens and Cadiz.  We followed OH 9 to OH 151 to Bowerston, OH and OH 212 to Atwood Lake where we stopped and Amy took some photos.  We would have continued the ride, but I could hardly stay awake, as I had worked the night before.  Amy was disappointed that she could not ride more, but this was the longest ride that she had ever done on her own bike.  We left Atwood Lake and rode home, about 15 minutes away.  

We had a great ride, and the weather was PERFECT.  The high temperature was 85 degrees, unheard of for a fall day in Northeast Ohio.  There was not a cloud in the sky.  Amy was thrilled to have had the chance to ride in another state.  The day after this ride, the temperatures fell and have stayed low.  I have been riding to work in sub-freezing weather for over a week now.  There will be some more great riding days, but they will not be like our day last week.

Last week, I rode my motorcycle to work and it was 33 degrees in the morning when I left home. I was warm enough with the gear that I currently have, but I was thinking how nice it would be to have a heated suit. I called a relative that has used several heated suits and asked his opinion of each. I was told that I could not go wrong with the Tour Master Synergy line. My relative has the Tour Master Synergy Heated Jacket Liner  and the Tour Master Synergy Heated Pant Liner .  He loves these heated accessories as they are thin and do not add the bulk of all of the layers that I pile on while riding in the winter.  He says that he seldom has to turn the heated clothing on the high setting.  He did have the controllers burn up when he first bought them, and the company recognized a problem and sent free replacements.  Since he received the replacements, he has not had a problem at all.

I took his advice and set out looking for the Tour Master heated gear.  I looked up several Tour Master dealers from the Tour Master website.  I found many that carry gloves and luggage, but not many that carry the clothing lines around here.  The nearest store was 30 miles away, not too far to ride by any means.  I rode to the first dealer in Cuyahoga Falls, OH and they were not open yet, but a nice lady told me of a diner to eat breakfast, more on that later.  I returned to the dealer after they were open and they had a huge selection of clothing, but nothing heated.  I was looked at like I had a third eye because I wanted something to allow me to ride deeper into the winter months.  

My breakfast was excellent.  I was glad that I went to the Reggie’s, the diner that the motorcycle shop employee pointed me to.  I was sitting there thinking of how good my breakfast of corned beef hash and scrambled eggs was when the guy sitting at the next table stopped the waitress to tell her “This is the best breakfast I have had in 20 years!”  It turns out that the other guy is an truck driver and eats breakfast on the road everyday.  I normally don’t get very excited about breakfast, but this was very good.  I will be going back to Reggie’s to have breakfast another day.

After my trip to Cuyahoga Falls, I rode home to change clothes.  I continued looking for a set of Tour Master Synergy heated liners.  One big problem that I had was that it was a Monday, and many shops are not open.  I had to ride to Cadiz to meet with my in-laws as they were camping with our daughter.  Amy gave me the location of another dealer that carried Tour Master clothing, and again, they did not have any of the Synergy heated liners.  Again, I was looked at like a creature from outer space because I actually wanted to ride in colder weather than what we have been having.  I was referred to a Harley Davidson shop by the employees at the second shop.  I checked the Harley Davidson shop and was basically laughed out of town.  The guy at the Harley shop said “You don’t ride a bike with this much chrome in the winter.”

I have given up on the search for Tour Master Synergy heated liners at local shops, as I have called several and got the same reply.  All of them can order them, and then I have to prepay, go pick them up when the arrive, and none of the dealers are in my back yard.  I am ordering them online. Motorcycle Superstore
has Tour Master Synergy heated liners at great prices and they have a very generous return policy.  A friend of mine has purchased several items from them and had to return some because of ordering the wrong size (you know how some motorcycle stuff can be).  He reports it to be hassle free.

As soon as I get a chance to ride in my Tour Master Synergy heated liners, I will give a product report.  I do not need them yet, but in a few weeks they will be very nice.  I was willing to look at other brands, but I found none in stock anywhere.  I was looking for the Tour Master Synergy line because of the recommendation of my relative.

This really is a photo of Kaitlyn and I. We were covered in a cloud of steam just as this photo was taken as the locomotive pulled forward to dump its ashes.

Here is another photo of Kaitlyn and I in the steam, you can actually see us in this one. Kaitlyn doesn't go many places without "Max" her bear.

Warning:  Today’s post has nothing to do with motorcycles other than us being passed by a BMW R1150RT and a K1200GT.  We also saw a Kawasaki Ninja, Honda Nighthawk S, and a Harley Davidson Heritage Softail.  Today’s post is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.

Yesterday, I had a day off from work, so Amy, Kaitlyn and I all went down to Byesville, OH in Guernsey County to take a ride on the Byesville Scenic Railway.  This weekend was the “Coal Miner’s Festival” and the trains were being pulled by the Ohio Central Railroad’s 1293, a G-5 4-6-2 steam locomotive built in 1948.  According to the Ohio Central Steam website:

 

 

 

 

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OHCR 4-6-2 No. 1293 Specifications
Builder:	Canadian Locomotive Company, Ltd.
Built:	June 1948 Bldr. No. 2450
Wheel Arrrangement:	4-6-2 (Pacific)
Driver Diameter:	70 inches
Boiler Pressure:	250 psi
Tractive Effort:	34,000 lbs.
Engine Weight:	234,000 pounds
Weight on Drivers:	151,000 pounds
CPR Class:	G-5d
Fuel:	Coal
Status:	OPERATIONAL

Built for: Canadian Pacific Railway Company as 1293
Sale: 12/1963 to Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Amusements Corp., Inc. at North Walpole, NH
Transfer of corporate assets: 1964 to F. Nelson Blount
Transfer of corporate assets: April 1965 to Green Mountain Railroad Corporation
Sale: 07/1973 to Steamtown Foundation at Bellows Falls, VT; moved to Scranton, PA in September 1984

Although they were among the last steam locomotives purchased by the Canadian Pacific, the class G-5 bore more than a passing resemblance to other CP 4-6-2’s built as early as 1905. Combining the reliability of an old and proven design with the efficiency of latter day steam technology, the G-5’s were instantly successful, and found favor over virtually all of the CP system.

Six of the G-5’s are still around today. 
No. 1201 is preserved at the National Museum of Canada, in Ottawa.
No. 1246 is on display at the Danbury Railway Museum, in Danbury, CT. 
No.’s 1238 & 1286 are privately owned by Jack Showalter and are stored in Staunton, VA. 
No.’s 1278 & 1293 are at the Ohio Central’s Morgan Run Shops
1278 stored pending future restoration (see 1278) and 1293 stored serviceable.

1293 was run at Steamtown in Bellows Falls, VT in the late 1970’s having been restored for Vermont’s Bicentennial. She ran from Riverside to Rutland and Riverside to Chester, VT for Steamtown operations and last saw service in 1980. At the end of 1979, she pulled a five car train painted in matching black and silver for a month of movie work on the CNR near Montreal filming “Train to Terror” for Astro Films.

This 4-6-2 was moved to Scranton, PA with the rest of the Steamtown collection in September 1984 where she sat dormant until 1996, when the Ohio Central purchased her. She received a 13-month restoration and was returned to service in the fall of 1997.

She debuted at Sugarcreek, OH, on Thursday, September 18, 1997 and after six Sugarcreek to Baltic roundtrip excursions, starred pulling mainline varnish for “SteamFest ‘97″. She has had zero over-the-road failures since.

This photo provides a little perspective as to how large these steam engines are. I am 5'10" and the wheels were as tall as me.

We arrived at 9:40 AM and we could see the black smoke and steam from the boiler being fired over a mile away.  It was great being there early, as the temperature was only about 40 degrees, which made for some impressive photos.  We were able to get our tickets with no wait.  Kaitlyn asked for the next hour, “Can we get on the train yet?”  We walked around taking photos, watching the crew, and even got to climb up in the locomotive.  We got photos of almost everything we did this day, except when Kaitlyn and I climbed up in the locomotive, as some craft vendor kept Amy busy.  Amy never dreamed we would be allowed to go in the locomotive, so she didn’t pay attention to us. 

Here is the diesel locomotive that the Byesville Scenic Railway used to pull the train south. If you know what this locomotive is, leave a comment.

At about 10:45 we boarded the train and were pulled south out of Byesville, OH by one of the diesel locomotives in the BSRW fleet.  I am not sure of the model of this diesel locomotive.  If anybody knows what it is, leave a comment.  We traveled about 4 miles south, then the diesel cut out of the train and we were pulled back to Byesville by the Ohio Central 1293 steam locomotive.  During the whole ride, there were volunteers in each coach telling the history of the area and telling what it was like to be a coal miner.  These volunteers were very entertaining and informative.  Coal was the major industry of the area.  There used to be 12 deep coal mines along the 3.5 miles of the Marietta Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad that we traveled.   There were many swamps and ponds that the guides explained were mines that had filled with water and collapsed.  During the ride back to Byesville, the engineer of the OCRR 1293 was more than generous with the whistle.  A couple of times along the route, coal smoke was thick outside of our windows.  I love the smell of burning coal.

 

The Ohio Central Railroad 1293 steam locomotive approaching the Byesvlle, OH depot.

After we took our ride, we walked a block along Second Street to the Rotary Park.  The Byesville Rotary Club was cooking whole chickens over an open fire.  We saw hundreds of chickens cooking on racks over a huge fire when we arrived in the morning.  This was the best barbeque chicken that I have eaten in years.  We sat at a picnic table, being chased by yellow jackets.  We moved to a table in the shade, away from the trash cans, and the bees were not quite as bad.    

After lunch, we waited for the 1:00 PM ride to depart, and we went to a grade crossing to get some photos and video.  Kaitlyn found a smashed penny and a railroad spike.  She sat for about 45 minutes and played with another small girl.  They explored the rails and played in the dirt.  Amy gave up on trying to keep Kaitlyn clean.  When the train came, Kaitlyn started yelling for everybody to “Get off of the tracks!”  She can be heard on the videos as the steam engine is approaching, after a long blast of the whistle.  Amy and I had as much fun sitting and taking photos as we did actually riding the train.  

Ohio Central 1293 4-6-2 steam locomotive. Amy likes this photo.

We are fortunate to live in the area that we do.  The Ohio Central Railroad has ten steam engines and they use some of them for excursion rides.  They used to have daily service in Sugarcreek, Ohio just south of us.  I miss the days of seeing the steam locomotives all of the time.  It has been said that the insurance costs too much to continue the frequent use of live steam.  Several years ago, there was a steam tractor that exploded in Medina, Ohio killing several people and there has been a steady decline of steam events ever since. 

I am sorry that this post had nothing to do with motorcycles.  I enjoy trains very much, and I know others do too.  This is the first time that I have had the chance to ride a train pulled by a steam locomotive.  I have seen many steam engines in the past, and I am fascinated by them still.  This trip was a great day spent with family and enjoying trains.  Maybe next year Kaitlyn will be big enough to ride with me on the motorcycle to this event.  If the 1293, or any other steam engine is there, I will be there too.

Isn't she pretty? Here is Amy's Honda CB650SC Nighthawk at Atwood Lake.

Today’s update was written by Amy.

My first long solo ride Sep 28, 2008

So my parents decided to take our daughter camping with two of our horses for a few days at Harrison Sate Forest in Cadiz, OH.  It is located just off of State RT 9 between Cadiz and Scio.  I made plans to ride my bike down to go horse back riding for the day.  My day started out at 7 am after caring for the two horses left behind at home and jumping on my bike and heading to the gas station.  The morning was nice and cool, grey sky’s, but so wonderful.  I knew that this ride should take around 45 minutes to an hour on a normal day, BUT in my book there was nothing normal about this day or ride.  

Now for you folks that ride daily you may find my situations as no big deal but to me out by myself they WERE very big deals.  I started off heading down State RT 800 to State RT 212.  There was nothing too crazy on this part except the two traffic lights in a town that is no bigger than a blink of an eye.  Once I turned onto State RT 212 and headed toward Atwood Lake, I noticed that the roads were starting to get a little wet but it was not raining.  I thought, “Well I hope I missed the rain, because I can deal with a little wet road.”  It did this off and on drizzle till I turned onto State RT 151 at Bowerston, OH.  I had more ticked off people behind me because they think they need me to go flying around corners on wet pavement and when I would not do it they decided that maybe if they rode my rear tire I MIGHT go faster.  When I started to slow down more I swear I could hear them calling me everything in the book.  Oh well, they should have left 5 minutes before I did.  

After I turned onto State RT 151, if it could be in the road or happen by or on the road it did.  I counted four fat old ground hogs crossing the road in front of me, one BIG nasty vulture on a dead deer in the ditch right next to the road took flight that I have to say scared the pee out of me.  That was  the ugliest and massive bird I have ever cared to see that close up.  I counted 13 dead things in my lane that had birds snacking on them.  One large tree branch was crossing most of my lane.   As I came into Scio, it started to rain a little harder and to top it all off, I had three deer run out in front of me. I saw the deer before I made it to them, but two of them didn’t like the other side of the street so they ran back in front of me and down the side of the road until they decided they liked the grassy field and finally got off the road.  AHHHHH!  All of this and rain too!  Of course I didn’t stop to put my rain suit on because I thought it isn’t that bad, then I got to my destination and saw just how soaked I really was.  I guess that I was so intoned to what I was doing with the bike that I never paid any mind to how wet I was getting.  I got to enjoy the day with my daughter and my parents and had a wonderful horse ride.  The ride home was the best.  The sun was out and NO rain or weird things in the road.  I stopped by Atwood Lake and took a great picture of my bike and just had a great time.  If everything goes right I will be doing the same ride Monday night and coming home on Tuesday.