Unexpected guests paid an impromptu visit to the Virginia Museum of Transportation this afternoon when Ross Rowland, owner of C&O 614 along with his business partner Paul Nichini (center) met Bob Lyndall (left) for a brief visit. Ross & Paul were in town on business & decided to make a quick trip to the museum to see their favorite engines. Paul, a former member of the NS Steam Crew, is quite partial to N&W 1218, while Bob spent most of his enthusiast years with N&W 611. I believe it's safe to say that C&O 614 is Ross Rowland's favorite.

Hey, Ross wears a hat like mine!

I have to say, such hats are quite practical, surprisingly warm in cold weather, and good for keeping the sun away in hot weather, especially if you have a big hole in your hair like I do. The only disadvantage is that the brim acts like a sail in any kind of wind, so you learn to hold the hat down or at least lean it into the wind to keep it on your head.

I've been surprised to find that younger girls like the hat as well. Maybe guys like Humphrey Bogart and Frank Sinatra knew something back in the day. Doggone it, where were those girls 30 or 35 years ago when I was single?

Off topic? Maybe, but those hats were a part of men's wear back in the steam era, so in that respect it belongs here, even if marginally. . .

Mitch likes this thread and as he read it was happy to see Bob (left) out and about.

Should be some great shots coming out of the Museum early April after Pete's photo shoot at the Museum. Maybe we can get Ross to make a cameo, hat and jacket included.

Hopefully we'll get to see one, perhaps two, dare I ever imagine all three run once again?

/Mitch

Check these guys out. Forging an axle in their fedoras...



http://www.trainweb.org/j.dimech/6167/np.html

Thanks to a home computer crash Friday night, I was "electronically incommunicado" over the weekend and missed messages from both Ross and Bob. I would have loved to have compared "Fedoras' with Ross. I bet mine is more battered than his, I've been wearing it on rainy days since sometime around the second "Indiana Jones" movie. When we operate I normally wear some variation of Kromer, unless it's raining. Then I wear something with a brim to keep my ears & neck dry.

Paul Nichini and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the VMT. We were especially impressed with the excellent job done on the informational boards one sees prior to entering the outdoor exhibit of the locomotives.

The boards were very well written and illustrated and gave a comprehensive overview of the whole steam subject in general and these last of the breed representatives in particular. It's easy to forget that many folks are not at all knowledgeable on this subject and these boards certainly give them the baseline understanding of what they're about to see in the flesh.

I recommend the exhibit to all steam lovers and suggest that if you're in the area you schedule a visit prior to 614's scheduled departure on April 30th. for Clifton Forge.

Thanks to Bev Fitzpatrick and all who helped make it a good show and special thanks to Norfolk Southern who made it all possible.

I tip my hat to them all!!

Ross Rowland

Once 614 gets to Clifton Forge, will it be on display? It's probably been discussed already; I just can't find the info at present.

John D., the answer is yes until April 29th.,2011

Please see....www.vmt.org for details.

Ross Rowland