A Train, Standing Still

A Train Standing Still North of Fairbanks

Converted train cars are now the home of Aurora Express Bed & Breakfast

FAIRBANKS - A line of yellow Alaska Rail Cars sits off a scenic driveway on Chena Ridge above Fairbanks.

The train will always stand still.

Each car is transformed from a mode of transit to a place of rest. Susan Wilson and her husband Mike own the Aurora Express Bed and Breakfast.

She prepared brunch for friends last week in the dining car. The car has ceilings painted to look like the aurora borealis.

Unique Alaskan artifacts decorate the inside. Susan said this Bed and Breakfast, the Aurora Express in, was inspired by a dream 20 years ago.

[snip] The hotel includes restored Pullman cars from the 50s.

There's also a medical car from World War II. Susan says the wall on the medical car started warping and the wall paper peeled off. What she found behind it was a surprise.

A strategic map of World War II in readable condition had been behind the wall the whole time. Now each train car has a theme.

Follow the link to read the whole story. 

I Almost Forgot to Mention It

Regular readers know that my older daughter is an Appleseed instructor.

A big part of the marksmanship events they host around the country is teaching history and heritage, specifically relating to the events leading up to beginning of the Revolutionary War. But it turns out you don't have to be a shooter to get the history.

Your organization can also request an "Info-seed" event, and Appleseed instructors will come and present the historical portion of the training for an evening, a weekend, or a week-long seminar, if you wish.

Why am I telling you this? Two reasons.

Reason #1: a couple of weeks ago, I went with Older Daughter to an evening's Info-seed event hosted by the Anchorage chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The history presented was about the "three strikes of the match" that it took to ignite the fire of revolution in the colonists.

What's that? You don't know what those three strikes are? Then that's Reason #2.

Get thee to such an event, or an Appleseed shoot (weekend event) and let them show you how to improve your marksmanship. Learn about your heritage, and take this to heart (from their website):

Our heritage program vividly portrays the Battles of Lexington and Concord with the kind of care and immediacy that is absent from most formal schooling. Modern listeners are confronted with the danger, the fear, and the heartbreaking separations that arose out of the choices made on April 19th, 1775. They are also reminded of the marksmanship skills and masterful organization that ultimately helped set the colonists on the path to success. Those who attend gain a better understanding of the fundamental choices faced by our ancestors as they began to set the stage for the nation we now enjoy.

I guarantee you that it's worth your time. 

Remembering the Past, Forging Ahead

There's a reason why older folks (not old, just older than they used to be) start to fall into the "remember when..?" trap, which some younger folk tend to dislike after awhile. The past is a familiar place ... and for them (us?), it's just that there's so much of it. Heh.

You whippersnappers don't remember when cars had personality

In the same way, bloggers of a certain age are fond of talking about the way things used to be ... and there's nothing wrong with reminding everyone that while things change, not all change is for the better.

When more people were aware of our heritage, the Constitution, and the rights and responsibilities under that Constitution, government was watched closely ... and held at bay when needed.

Folks were naturally suspicious of elected officials who wanted more power. Self-reliance was the way people lived, for the most part. We thought government-sponsored "welfare" was a bad idea, and could see almost at once how it produced a dependent class.

Folks didn't need classes on "how to do it yourself" at a big-box store, because Dad taught us. Hardware stores sold tools and parts, and working on a car was just something we did, as did our fathers before us.

Change the plugs and timing, points and distributor, the oil, brakes, axle seals, engine components ... no problem. We took pride in a job well done.

We liked doing things for ourselves, and viewed with dislike the increasingly-difficult task of maintaining a vehicle as more and more of the controls became computerized, enclosed, or otherwise inaccessible to the back-yard mechanic.

People took pride in their independence, and didn't back down from governmental bullies. We spoke up when necessary, and insisted that the powers-that-be must listen to us. Too many now, it seems, are either content with the way things are, or feel hopeless and overwhelmed in the face of such rapid and sweeping changes.

We can't allow ourselves to get so caught up in the way things used to be that we lose sight of what lies before us. The Apostle Paul wasn't talking about this topic, but his words in Philippians 3:15 are appropriate: "I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal...".* 

Keeping in mind our heritage, and the lessons of our forefathers, we must press on, fighting the good fight. Society may be in disarray, but there are too many of us who know what can be, to settle for a long, slow slide into 3rd world obscurity.

Time to get to work

We know what to do, so let's keep going!


* J.B. Phillips English New Testament