Our college friend Gerhard arrived, and he went to church with us as he always does.  We ate lunch at the nearest nice restaurant, which was Japanese.  The place is never crowded, even if the Baptists get out of church before the Lutherans.  I might have expected John to be a bit antsy, since we were taking time to eat before we went to find the steam engine.  I have jested that John worships trains, but I should set the record straight.  Worship involves salvation, but he knows the only thing a steam engine will save him from is boredom.

A man from the Long Island Live Steamers was riding this special excursion train that traveled from Salisbury to Asheville.  I’m sure I heard the reason for this trip, but both John and his friend Jim thought it might be the last time it would happen.

 

We watched the train go by slowly, appreciating the chuffing of the engine.  John figured out where Jim would get off while the switching was going on.  They turned the 21 car train around using a Y near Biltmore Village.  We had plenty of time to visit with Jim before he reboarded.

I took photos of Gerhard and John, finding them more interesting than the train.  John’s whole body was concentrating on that steam engine, while Gerhard was focused on recording the event with his good camera.