Dear Pilot,
You and Ceres were right; despite the colder weather, the new ice cream parlor has been quite popular. I’m told it’s given Yesterday’s Main Street renewed interest. It looks quite dark in the postcard, but the ice cream parlour is bright and inviting. There was a picture in the newspaper of it that my guide thoughtfully clipped for me to send to you.
When we were new, everyone was so concerned with modernization and leaving the old behind. Give them thirty years though and now they are preserving not just us, but whole rooms and even entire buildings. Maybe since modern life goes at hundred miles per hour, it’s all people want to sit down, have some ice cream, and actually wait for a train.
As for the MSI’s holiday plans, there are too many to recount. All the trees for Christmas Around the World have been put up, of course. We’re also hosting a lot of cultural programs and dinners this month. Most of these are for countries represented by our trees and some nights more than one, but there was also one for Girl Scouts since they came in to decorate the American tree for us. Later this month, there’s going to be a lot of choral performances from local schools too. There’s so much happening indoors all at once that my guide says it’s a bit of a relief to come outside, even if it is cold.
We engines do look magnificent in the snow. In those early years, they used to shovel big piles of it onto our tracks for us to run into at speed. They called it “busting snow” and they would take pictures because they thought they could sell our shovelnoses as being good as snowplows. I’m not sure if we were really much better at it under less staged conditions, haha. We looked good at it though. There’s a really nice photo of one of my brothers with the snow bursting in front of him and flying out off his windows. It’s very dramatic and striking. I wish I knew which one he was; people often mistake that photo for me.
With our yard closed for the season, though, the guests only get to see the broad side of me and my train from the parking lot. Not my best angle and stainless steel can sometimes get lost in all that white, but at least U-505 serves as a backdrop for us to stand against. 999 and 2903 are looking much more picturesque with a nice dusting of powder. Their black liveries contrast so well against snow. They looked like a picture in a storybook together last week.
Snow used to feel very final to me. It marked the end of our working season, when they close off our yard for the year. My last run was on a snowy day too, you know. I wanted to go as fast as I could since I knew it was my last chance to, but also to draw it out as long as possible. My guide says people think of their lives in terms of seasons too and winter is the ending for them as well.
Ever since I’ve started asking about what goes on inside though, the cold weather doesn’t feel like an end at all. Things are still happening at my museum all through the winter and will be at yours when the new year starts too. As busy as it is, it’s nice to think of your winterized steam engines all buttoned up in their shed. Everyone has worked so hard this year, it’s nice to know you’re all getting a moment to sit and wait for spring too.
I’ll try then to appreciate the same in my own yard, but anticipating your next letter does help pass the time.
Your friend,
Pioneer