What a week it’s been at Caboose Falls! The air is getting crisper, the leaves are putting on their final show, and we’ve been blessed with a flurry of activity that has filled our hearts with gratitude.
A Milestone: The First Window is Out!
Our biggest milestone was the removal of the first old vinyl window from P&LE 518. After so much planning, prying that window out felt like opening a new chapter. It’s the first step in the caboose’s interior renovation plan and the beginning of a line of projects that will carry us through the winter.
Leaks, Lessons, and Paying it Forward
Of course, the work around here is never truly done. This week, we found ourselves returning to a previous project: the frost-free spigot. A failed O-ring led to a small leak but in short order it was a gushing fountain. Aurelius stepped up to manage the repair himself. Armed with the knowledge and skills he gained while working on the spigot with his grandfather, he confidently got everything back in order. It’s such a treat to see mentorship paying off in such a practical way.
And there was no escaping water woes this week! We also managed to eliminate the persistent drip in the supply line to the 518. The culprit was a cracked fitting, and once again, the boys worked alongside their grandfather to replace it. These small projects are amazing lessons in problem-solving and perseverance, and they bring the deep satisfaction of a job well done. These are the kind of lessons that will stay with the boys as they carve their own paths in the world.
Clearing the Land, Connecting with Neighbors
The Penn Power project isn’t going away anytime soon. The company finally came to take down the snags they left after their scorched-earth campaign earlier this year, but that left us with a lot of logs to clear. Christian led the charge this week, and we expect this effort will be part of our weekly routine well into the spring.
Seeing the damage to this beautiful land is truly heartbreaking. Someone recently asked if we had found any blessings in all of this, and the answer is a resounding yes. God so often uses setbacks to do His work. The blessing isn’t in the destruction, but in the aftermath. This situation has allowed us to meet more of our neighbors and discover we aren’t alone in our deep concern for this place we all love. These new connections have even extended to fellow trail users who share our heartbreak. Knowing we are not alone has only strengthened our resolve to seek proper accountability from PennPower and their parent company, First Energy.
Campfire Feasts and Impromptu Forges
But no matter how much work we have, we always make time for a little fun. Between hikes and train watching, we built a campfire and cooked up a feast. Our main course was toasted Reubens on rye, cooked in our pie irons, followed by a delicious dessert of apple and cherry-filled camp-pies.
The real highlight came after lunch. Under their grandfather’s watchful eye, the boys used the campfire and our leaf-blower to form a makeshift forge. They heated an old metal pipe until it glowed red hot, then used one of 518’s rails as an anvil to pound out the metal. It was a wonderful, impromptu lesson in craftsmanship and the transformation that heat and force can bring.
Progress in Many Forms
The events of this week reminded us that progress comes in many forms. It lives in the repairing of broken things, the building of community, and the forging of stronger bonds with each other. We are so thankful to God for every helping hand, every lesson learned, and every moment of joy we find together at Caboose Falls.