All aboard! Leaving Huntsville for Memphis and the Mississippi!

One of the cool things about Huntsville, Alabama is its contrasts.

Take for example, transportation - or at least, transportation from a tourist perspective.

During a recent visit there, I had a chance to spend some time at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, featuring displays and history about as modern a form of transportation as you can get (although they still don't have that transporter beam technology perfected, yet...)

Chugging back into the past...

I toured that facility my first day there.

A few days later, I stepped back into the past about 150 years: I spent part of an afternoon enjoying the displays at the Huntsville Railway Depot and Museum.

The depot was built in 1860, and that building - the entire town, for that matter - played a key role during the American Civil War (1861-65).

At the time, the Southern Railway was the only railway line in America that ran all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. So you can easily see why the side that controlled that line had a decided transportation and logistical edge. The other main form of transportation back then would have involved using rivers - and traveling from the Atlantic to the Mississippi by boat could be quite a paddle.

The Union army captured the depot in 1862, without really much of a battle. They immediately converted part of the depot into a prison to hold the Confederate (CSA) army P.O.W.'s there until the end of the war. It was also used as a base for gathering supplies for the western theatre of military operations by the Union.

View of an old train from a new "train" 

while riding around the museum grounds.

While there was little bloodshed at the depot itself, many battles were fought up and down the line in the region for control of the line, which the Union managed to hang on to for the war's duration.

These days, visitors can view some old steam trains from the era, explore the depot - and even see some of the original graffiti written on the walls inside the third floor rooms of the depot by the captive CSA soldiers (authenticated by historians).

While I rode a "train" there,
I didn't get a chance to ride a handcar.

You'll also find a mock-up of an old ticket booth and passenger waiting room, complete with mannequins wearing period outfits.

There are also several exhibits depicting life as it was lived back in the latter half of the 19th century.

Outside sits a caboose, that, in addition to being part of the exhibit, is used these days for children's birthday parties.

Visitors can also hop on board a small train and "ride the rails" around the park grounds past old buildings and trains. (A real lover of train travel, this was my favourite part of the visit!)

Although the facility is a museum now, it was not that long ago - not quite 50 years - that it was still used as an active passenger station, finally winding down that function in 1968. The line, which continued to transport people and goods after the War Between the States ended, saw a sharp rise in passenger traffic during World War II. However, by the early 1960s, as the plane started to become the favoured mode of travel, use of the line by passengers declined steadily and significantly, leading eventually to its closure.

However, these days, when you board the museum train and hear the "engineer" parrot the conductors' call of "All aboard!" from bygone days, you can close your eyes and, maybe, for a moment or two, pretend you're back in the 1860s, riding the rails to another Alabama adventure...

Want to see more photos from the museum? Visit All Aboard! at Facebook. 

WCRA mystery dinners put the 'fun' in fundraising

Inspector Clouseau. William Pinkerton. Sherlock Holmes. Bill Miner.

Two of them are fictional detectives, one from the movies, the other from books. One is a real-life detective. One is a real-life train robber from the Canadian west.

Inspector Clouseau, on the job in April.

So what do they have in common?

Well, if you attend one of the mystery dinner theatres put on by the West Coast Railway Association, you might run into one or more of these characters.

We ran into Mr. Pinkerton (well, an actor playing him) last Saturday during the most recent event hosted by the WCRA at the West Coast Heritage Railway Park in Squamish. And there were rumours that Bill Miner was floating around...but although a look-alike was found on the train, a true sighting never occurred.

This was the second time I'd been to one of these events. The first time was last April, when "Inspector Clouseau" (looking very much like Sherlock Holmes) was running around trying to solve a mystery, on the trail of a mysterious lady who claimed to be looking for her daughter, Isabella.

That play used three volunteer actors; this most recent one, "The Heist," involved five characters: Pinkerton, Constable Fernie of the B.C. Provincial Police, the Diamond Sisters and their friend Leroy.

The format for each event was similar, although there were some minor differences.

In September, two (?) coppers were needed.

Like most mystery dinner theatres, the actors interacted with the audience as much as possible, always staying in character, dropping hints about the crime while entertaining people before, during and after the meal.

The meals both took place in the park's roundhouse, with tables set up in and around restored train engines and cars. There is also a cash bar.

The first time, we had appetizers served while we milled around, prior to the buffet dinner of roast beef, vegetables and salad. While the dinner was similar - and just as tasty - the second time around, there were no appies served.

Dessert was handled differently, too. In April, it was served on the train (that's right - you get to ride an old restored train!) with champagne. Coffee came back in the roundhouse after the mystery was solved and the train returned.

This time, coffee and dessert were served back in the roundhouse after our train ride, and the play continued to unfold, as the saucy Diamond Sisters tried to make off with recovered money - only to be foiled by Pinkerton, Fernie and help from an unexpected source who must have paddled in from somewhere... (I don't want to give it away, in case they want to use the plot again, some day!)

Toot-toot...and it's not the train!

Both evenings were enjoyable, and if you're a train travel buff like I am, you probably will enjoy just seeing the old engines and cars and riding on the train. If you also like mystery dinner theatres, it's almost like a two-for-one deal. There are plenty of shenanigans during the train ride; this time, we were treated to a song and dance routine by the Diamond Sisters. (Like a parrot repeating itself, they could only sing one song - but an enjoyable rendition, it was, and humorously done, too!)

Of course, all the money raised goes toward the park/museum.

Be wary if the Diamond Sisters put the squeeze on you...

One of these days, I'm going to have just visit the facility when nothing is going on, just to see it during daylight.

The site presents a typical railway facility of the mid-20th century.

It provides visitors with the opportunity to tour authentic railway equipment in various stages of restoration. There is a gift shop and cafe on site.

And one of these days, I might even have to look at taking one of their rail tours, which include trips to Haida Gwaii, Barkerville and the Okanagan.

Ready to roll down the tracks.

The details about these trips are on their website.


If you want to hear about their next event so you can be a part of it, check out their website or "like" them on their Facebook page.


Or to make sure you're covered, why not do both? You might even get lucky...

For this most recent event, they ran a contest on Facebook and gave away two free tickets to the evening's event.

Then, it'll just be a matter of saying...All aboard!