Mr. Mitchell:

I envy your experience! Years ago, before the Laona & Northern became a 1 mile tourist operation only, they still had their interchange with the Soo Line at Laona Junction. On the last run of the day, instead of just going out the 1 mile to the "farm", they picked up any interchange cars they had at the mill and took them to the Soo. The day I rode, they added two 50' box cars to the consist of heavyweight coaches and cabooses and headed out for the junction 8 miles away. The track was a typical lumber line; laid up and down the hills, sans cuts and fills. So we did a REAL, I think I can....I think I can....I think I can.........I thought I could.....I thought I could....I thought I could, the little Vulcan 2-6-2 slogging it up the hills and then building speed on the downside. Beautiful stack talk all the way. This is one of those operations that should have been recorded, but I have never heard of anyone doing it. Who would want to record a stupid tourist operation? Yeah who?

Les

Oh yeah. But, to give the Laona & Northern its due, it never had a “slovenly air of decrepitude”; it was a pretty sharp operation, and still is under the foundation set up by the Conner family.

Wait a minute - you mean you didn't scrap that thing the minute you arrived on the property?

And to think I used to like you, Wayne ;)

Seriously - a year or two ago I thought about going over to the yard, but the area has changed a lot since I was last in there (1989) and I settled for a quick look from a distance. How much of the old Cornell-era equipment (converted flats and gons, old freight cars, the Jordan spreader) is still there?

Did you take over directly from the Cornells, or was there an interim GM?

JAC

When I arrived on the scene in the spring of 1998, I was working for the second owner after the Cornell family. When they sold the Gettysburg, they removed almost all of their old equipment, leaving only about half-a-dozen coaches and the double-decker. We did store 76 and 1278 until their sale to the Ohio Central, and we sold a couple of coaches through a broker. As was pointed out by Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Lathrop, the double-decker was always popular and became more so after we overhauled the trucks. I had a similar experience to Sandy's on that car, riding behind no. 38 -- the hot cinders were flying by like tracer bullets! I must still have scars on the back of my neck to prove it.