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Hey guys, I'm good, tornado missed my house, I was at work in a lift focusing lights when it hit, we went down to the basement until it passed and then went right back to work, didn't realize what had happened till I got home and my wife told me.

I've lived in Branson for 3 years now and I can say that I love almost everything about the town. Working for a theatre or SDC you get into almost any show or attraction for free or extremely cheap, lots of local discounts and "area apprecation" events. It really is just a small town, you know everyone who everyone works for and how their season is doing. There are a few downsides to living in a tourist town though...for one taxes are the highest in the reigon our sales tax is now up to 9.6% also, gas is always higher here than just 10 miles (gas has stayed steady at $3.29 a gallon for 4 months while in springfield it has gone down to $2.98 some times) So cost of living is quite a bit higher here than some places. The other thing is that we mostly have "tourist" resturants...they get old pretty quick. Also, don't go to work for a place that you love and think that it will be like being on vacation everyday...times are changing, those places aren't what they were "back in the day" and more so for employees. Other than those few things, I plan to live here the rest of my life, it's a great town, if you can find a good steady job keep at it and you'll be very happy here.

I almost always wore a civil war keppi when I was robbing, and always wore 1860's leathers

I'm an ACW reenactor as well..but I may only do that 8-9 times a year lol Are you with a local group? I need to find one...

OK, here we go, a short break down on SDC train whistles (though these are based on historical whistle signals they are not standard to railroading mainly because all you would hear all day would be whistles if they were) Too help explain this I'll you the symbols * and - the *= a short whistle and the - a long one

** = Train is moving forward
*** = Train is moving backwards
- - = Train is going through a crossing
- - - - Train is broken down
- - * - Train is at fire in the hole or sweet Mary's tunnel (this is standard railroad signal for all crossings)
******** = Train is at the show
* = Acknowledgement

All train crew and flooded mine staff know the exact order of these whistle so they will be in the right place at the right time.

Hope that cleared it up!

Due to the amount of copywrited songs in the show, i doubt it would happen.

Yup, the back of the train sure gets cold during christmas. The grandpas could go in and get warm, the conductors were so busy that we could never take a break to warm up...you've seen the crowds at the train during OTC...the hottest role is the robbers...i now have quite the hatred of overalls...

I was going to ask as well...are you still at the City?

Nope I am no longer at the city, I now work for Sight and Sound theatres in the lighting operations dept. I had been working both at SDC and S&S part time but I'm not at the theatre full time and no longer employed at the city. The stage is sure a lot better in July and December than the back of a train! lol

Hasn't been a good summer for HFEC anywhere. Hopefully next year will be better. HFEC took over darien lake at the beginning of the year.

(I'tll always be SMS to me too Larson!)

It'll ALWAYS be SMS to me, because I am a grad from Mizzou and refuse to acknowledge that regional state school exists, let alone was allowed to steal one of Mizzou's names.   Yes, the University of Missouri - Columbia was also registered as Missouri State University.  Hence, why Mizzou trademarked "Missouri's great STATE University" shortly after Blunt (Forced Trauma) allowed the move for SMS

Go tigers!

When I worked on the railroad there were a lot of complaints about the height of the cars. I haven't seen it yet but my guess is the rounded design is to give some more head room. There was also a thought to make the cars look more light freight cars and make the train look more mixed to stay close to historical accuracy to what a train would have looked like in this area. There were many changes going on while I was there and though the classic design may be different it should be noted that they will bring about more accuracy. Something that people say is lacking at the city. The new design also will include a new braking system, something the train also needs badly.

As far as I know the smokers at the Rib house provide BBQ all over the park. I usually pick up a BBQ sandwhich at Buckshots's cuz I love the buckshot corn, plus it's really close to the train, so that makes a difference.

Hey guys, good to be back. I've been doing a lot of work all around town, haven't been working on the train as much as I used to (SDC is a fun gig but a guy's gotta eat ya know) anyway, you guys are in for some very nice improvements on the train this year. Lots of improved looks and "sounds" this year on the frisco the engines have a better sound than they ever have...the ground shakes as they go by...totally awesome!

I've got all of ya beat! I live a mile from the park, takes me around 5 minutes...tee-hee. I hear the steam whistles all day long!

We've got a "new" shack now. It still has AC/Heat, TV/DVD, Fridge and Microwave, all the comforts of home...sort of...