The Holiday Express Train.

Happy Tuesday everyone! :)

A couple of weeks ago, my Hubby and I went off to visit The Holiday Express Train. I have always loved Steam Engines and so any time I get the opportunity to go see one, and of course to take photos, I will go :)

If you missed the photos and the story about why I LOVE Steam Engines in my blog post from last year you can take a peek HERE :)

Last Year the weather was a little overcast and so it was wonderful to take a few different shots of the Train in the wintery afternoon Sunshine this year. The Train is run by the "Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation" and with the Engine and coaches spruced up, decked with Holiday lights and plenty of enthusiastic passengers, some good old fashioned Holiday family fun was had by all! :)

So, hop on board and enjoy the ride on the Holiday Express :)

I am sure I snapped a photo last year of the same cyclist racing the Train :)

I LOVE this shot with Downtown P.Town in the backgorund.

There is definitely something Magical about a Steam Engine sparkling with Holiday Lights in the Darkness of a Wintery Night! :)

And a few shots of Holiday lights around Town :)

I hope you had fun seeing the Holiday Express. :)

One more thing I would like to share with you and that is my Blogger Buddy Clare over at Tiger Food Press Blog (and I just love that name :) is hosting a lovely Giveaway. A beautiful 2011 Letterpress printed Wall Art Calendar

I am in awe of print making and Clare's work.
Please go and share some love and check out Clare's lovely Giveaway :)

Well, my friends, it has been a pretty exhausting year! So, I am going to be taking a little break from the computer and enjoying my family who will all be home over the Holidays for a few weeks. I will see you all back here in the New Year some time and I will pop over to visit in the meantime :)

WISHING YOU ALL A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!

THANK YOU FOR BEING SUCH GREAT FRIENDS!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Christmas Steam Train!

Here in Portland we have the "Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation" www.orhf.org For 2 weekends in December they run their 2 Steam locomotives as the Holiday Express. The trains are decked with Christmas lights and a possible Santa sighting. :)

My Hubby and I went out to see the train and take photos and were at the station when the families were disembarking, everyone was just chattering and joyful, the little kids happy, it was such a positive atmosphere of relaxed family time. (oh, how we miss that, but everyone will be home soon :)

It is so rare to see a steam engine, it is awe inspiring. It was a pretty gloomy day and still rather cold but I braved it to accompany my Hubby who is a bit of a steam enthusiast :)

I have to admit I do have a soft spot for Steam Engines, they were still running on a regular bases in England when I was a kid; my friends and I used to go to the local bridge and wait for the London train to go by, we loved being immersed in the warm smoke and hear the loud, thunderous machine roll under us, it was a huge rush, little did we know how dangerous the smoke was for us; I guess if we had known there would have been no fun in it.

Here are a couple of photos I took :)

SP 4449 Article Source: Portland Tribune.

Happy Holiday Travels :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.