French Lick Scenic Railroad - Part 2

Once out of town, the conductor pointed out things of interest and gave us bits of history. Not far from town, the railroad climbs up into the Hoosier National Forest. We knew that there was a tunnel, and the conductor told us this tunnel is the longest railroad tunnel in Indiana. It was nearly a 1/2 mile long. Trevor was especially excited to go through the tunnel, and was very brave when it was pitch black!

A scenic view out the end of coach car -

still some pretty fall colors even though

we have had a drought this year.

just leaving the tunnel!

On our way to the turn around point, they brought a snack cart through the coach cars. We bought a box of popcorn, and enjoyed eating it while watching the scenery go by. Riding the train was very relaxing - it had a very gentle sway to it at times.

This is fun!

Evan loved eating popcorn!

After about an hour, our train reached the turn around point of Cuzco, Indiana. Cuzco is very small - a one intersection town! We were greeted near the edge of town by the mayor and his dogs! At Cuzco, the train stops for about 10 minutes before it is time to head back to French Lick.

Not the greatest family photo -

the boys wanted to run around!

While in Cuzco, Daddy went and bought the boys some suckers to pacify them on the return trip. We found out that it does take about 45 minutes for a toddler to get to the center of a Tootsie-Pop!

Yum!

Some interesting sights we saw along the way included:

Beautiful Marshall Lake -

dug as a holding lake for runoff

from the Hoosier National Forest

160 year old house that has had occupants for

those full 160 years! The oldest and longest

standing residence in Indiana!

We also saw Larry Bird's childhood home. It sits right next to the railroad, still had a basketball goal on the garage, but is currently an empty house. I didn't think to get a picture of it.

Pluto Bottling Company factory (left building)

and French Lick Springs Hotel and Casino (background)

We had a wonderful time, and it was over all too soon! After the ride, we headed over to French Lick Springs Hotel so the boys could run and play at a playground before grabbing lunch and heading home.