National Train Day Chugs Along

We  had a lovely day Saturday at Union Station for National Train Day.

Best guess is several thousand people came by -- more than 500 alone rode the free train rides out front, the speeder out back was busy, the blacksmith was a huge hit as he made decorative pieces out of old railroad spikes.

He made one intertwined piece for a couple that got married at the station on Train Day. Mike Murphy in the  Hostlers told me that the couple had gotten caught short when, so he said, their attorney took all their money out of their bank account, $5,000, instead of half of it, which left them with nothing to pay for the wedding.

So they did their wedding with paper plates and so on, and I saw the couple wandering around enjoying the sights, she in her long white dress. Everyone looked happy, and in my experience people very quickly forget about the wedding fest anyway.

I spent 3 hours answering questions and trying to sell pavers out front. The Union Station Foundation's booth right next to the door was more of an information desk than anything else. I was happy to chat, steer people around, and even sold one of the pavers to a guy from West Jordan who wanted to memorialize his dad, a 35-year worker on the railroad in Ogden.

After the model railroad out front picked up their track some dude with a guitar and banjo came by, sat down and started singing railroad songs. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, 25th Street out front buzzed with the familiar hum of traffic and people coming and going.

Just a darn pleasant day and everyone seemed to have fun.