Trains in Paragould

Today we are in Paragould, Arkansas. Before we left home I did some research and was excited to find out Paragould has several opportunities for train watching - starting with their welcome sign.

We were only inside the city limits a few minutes when we saw our first real train.

On the GPS we found an area on the map where several train tracks come together. We set out to find out what it was. I think I was more excited than Thomas to see that it is a rail car assembly plant, but he did get to see train cars and train parts all around.

Finally, the moment Thomas had been waiting for all day, we made it to the famous caboose in downtown Paragould! Too bad we are a couple weeks early. May 14th is the "Loose Caboose" festival.

The boys each took a turn "driving" the train. I didn't tell them that is actually the brake wheel.

I made them pose for a picture with daddy. The falling down building in the background used to have a giant mural of a train at the station depicting the history of Paragould.

And a picture with mommy.

We played on the tracks for a little while.

Thomas got to climb under the caboose to see how the wheel flanges keep the train on the track.

He also pointed out the railroad spikes holding the tracks on the ties - just like the one we brought home from our last railroad sight-seeing adventure.

The caboose is actually an office for the Chamber of Commerce. As we were posing on the back a nice lady invited us in to look around. She let the boys each pick out a little toy from her goody basket. Thomas chose a train and Jacob a panda bear. I'm not sure what a panda bear has to do with a small town in Arkansas, but it's Jacob's new favorite toy.

After all the touristy train fun, we went back to Granny's house where the boys got to play with their cousins.

In the back yard Thomas and Jacob showed the other kids how to suck the nectar out of honeysuckles.

Then Thomas got his first taste of portable video games.

The little kids hanging out on the deck.

After a long day we headed back to the hotel. As we parked the car and walked towards the hotel Thomas stopped to look at the windows. He counted, "one, two, three, four," then he stopped for a second and said, "hey, that's where our room is - on number four." He remembered from pressing the buttons in the elevator!