On March 14th, we went south for our 2nd fun run
of 2009. We met up in Eastlake and proceeded out on some great
twisties winding through the southern and southeastern areas of San Diego
county. After a bit of driving we stopped at the Pacific Southwest
Railroad Museum in Campo. This facility has an incredible collection
of old trains. It's also got a nicely restored station and an
operating line on which you can ride. They offer a couple of runs each
day. We had a blast wandering around the grounds looking at the old
equipment. After the museum we proceeded to the Barrett Junction Cafe
for some of their famous fish fry. There were seven cars participating
with 9 people: Bill Hohnhorst, Glen Chancellor, Leon Rower, Mike Becker, Ted
Cobarubia, Bob and Effie Rickards, Marshall Smith and Christine Hall and as
a bonus, Georg Bagdasarian showed up at the launch site to join us for a
couple of donuts and to wish us well. Thanks for coming out George. |
The first leg of our journey took us through some great
relatively empty roads. One stretch included Historic Old Highway 80.
For quite a while, it seemed like we owned the road.
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A plaque at the museum entrance tells the story of the
site.
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The dirt road in, and the dir parking lot was a little bit of a
dissapointment, but all of us love cleaning our cars, so the little dust
bath will ensure we'll have hours of fun cleaning up!
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The volunteers at the museum are super friendly and will gladly entertain
questions and enlighten you regarding the rich history of artifacts at the
facility.
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A look inside this 19th century coach reveals need for a monumental
restoration effort. The volunteers take it one step at a time.
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This vintage mail car was meticulously restored and even
had a huge supply of authentic looking period mail. The mail even had
old stamps and postmarks. The interior of the car was really quite
impressive. Ted, Bill and Leon soak up the atmosphere.
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If you like trains, there is plenty to see here...
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Christine and Effie wait for their train to come in...
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After the museum we proceeded on to Barrett Junction and enjoyed a great
lunch.
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