In Ohio, it's all about trains ...

We haven't been to Ohio in over two years! Usually, we go every year to the annual Jones family reunion ... but last year, the reunion was exactly when we had grandchildren here in Grand Rapids all the way from Texas, so we didn't go. This year the actual reunion is Sunday afternoon in Columbus, but we decided to drive to Coshocton Friday to visit for the weekend. I love the drive from Grand Rapids to Coshocton ... the endless fields of wildflowers and corn, stately old farm houses, little towns with unusual names, and the rolling hills of eastern Ohio. It was raining when we left Grand Rapids this morning, but we soon drove out of it into the sunshine!

One of my favorite old towns is Marion, a place famous for trainspotting. This is the court house and clock tower in the main square of the town.

We pulled into the Marion Union Depot and barely had time to get our cameras out before this train came by!

I keep trying to get a perfect picture of my almost favorite wildflower, aptly named Queen Anne's lace because of it's lovely lacey look. I had a million photo opportunities all throughout our drive, but Mr. J wasn't too keen on pulling over every 5 minutes so that I could get a good shot. He took this picture of me (below) while I was tresspassing in the train yard ...

There are so many tracks that all converge right here ... a train comes by almost every 20 minutes!

Coshocton is another hour and a half beyond Marion. We were hoping Uncle Rick would be working tonight at his train club. We showed up after dinner only to learn he had to teach a class tonight. We walked around the huge warehouse-kind-of-building over at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds. They have added a lot to the layout during the past two years.

The club is the Associated Model Railroad Engineers of Coschocton (AMREC) and they are modeling the Toledo Walhonding Valley and Ohio railroad. Their layout practically fills the entire building.

I don't know if you can tell how HUGE this place is from these pictures ... but it is really immense. It's a continual work in progress!

Their modeling is so well done, it's hard to tell that it isn't the real thing!

And look who we found hanging out at the clubhouse? I see Thomas the Train!

This is part of the layout is a mining town ...

These two bridges weren't together two years ago when we were last here. I love bridges like this!

And notice the very very cool oil tank ... Jones Oil! We'll have to get the story about this from Uncle Rick when we see him. Tomorrow, we plan to see a bunch of family here in Coshocton. I'm looking forward to a great day!