t’s okay to run late. But never, never run early.

So yes, that’s what I always say. But in preparation for the Deland Show, I popped into the donut shop at 5am sharp for some “crew food”. Even easing down the road in my transition era car, I made it to the fairgrounds at 5:35am. Yeah, a bit early. It was dark and humid and wet, and I was running a good chance of security sniffing around me. With that in mind, I left the property and drove east to New Smyrna Beach where I stopped at the first convenience store I came to and bought a small cup of coffee (drank it out in the parking lot, playing for time, while my wife was getting woken by a credit card threat alert regarding my transaction).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So yes, other than that, the show setup was flawless. We had a good-sized crew that morning (thanks, guys! The club appreciates the support). Everyone slotted into jobs and we got it up and running in fifty-five minutes, a really smooth setup. Kyle and I also had a chance to climb under the benchwork and figure out the issues with the signals. After that, we ran train after train.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really was a dense show for us.I think the entire time the load board (where we line up the tags for the running engineers) was in the yellow if not the red zones. Nobody seemed angry that they couldn’t run. So yes, we ran some long crowd-pleasing trains, some goofy cloud-pleasing trains, and my Tuscarora casting-call string (which didn’t please any of the crowd, or even turn a single head, alas). But kids ran, vendors seemed happy, and I think we picked a new member or two.

In the end, Zach and I met with Jeff for the trailer unload back at the club, a bit delayed by rain and charging times. Still, we found a tarp and did our best to keep the wet off while we unloaded the carts. All in all, we had a great show. Besides what we make from the organizers, we picked up the staggering amount of ONE DOLLAR from the tip jar (cheapskates!). But it was a good Saturday with lots of participation and some good running under working signals. What’s better than that?

Well, getting home later. I was beat.

>>>BOOKS FOR SALE HERE<<<