Twelve Days Trail Drive!

Howdy Pardners!  Set a spell - this may take some time.

No, I've not gone Quarantine Crazy, I'm channeling my inner cowboy.  One of my earliest memories as a child was playing a card game with my mom called "Trail Drive".  The cards were pictures of cowboys, cattle, chuck wagons, rustlers and sheriffs.  The game was simple - designed for young children - but I remember the vividly colored characters, and getting frustrated losing.  Good times.  

Anyway, it's the concept of the game I'm referring to here.  To get a trail drive started you needed a chuck wagon and two cowboys in your hand.  After that you collected cattle, as many as you could - but watch out - a rustler could stop the drive and you'd be stuck until you were dealt a sheriff.  The concept of needing a few elements to get started before expanding is simple, but crucial to the game.

At the same time I've been reading through Model Railroader back-issues from the '40s.  It seems many model rails would write in describing their pikes and listing off their rolling stock and stable of locomotives.  There was a sense of early beginnings that was palpable in these letters.  Usually there was an indication that the budding magnate had plans to purchase a certain engine or set of passenger equipment, etc. to increase the fun, of course.  There were also mentions of seeking a land grant from the spouse to extend the road, but I want to focus on the equipment.

I view my current situation as a bit of a Trail Drive game.  Most of the trains from my modular club days are packed away because I've narrowed my focus and scope down to a relatively small railroad setting.  Physically I've limited myself to a 4'x6' pike with the 2' aisle space all around (see my post Garage Railroad Plan for more thoughts on this choice).

But the limitation is also applied to locomotives and rolling stock.  I purchased my 2-6-0 and began modifying it in order to have a unique, fine-running locomotive.  Likewise I had purchased long before the mogul a pair of cabeese with parts to customize them as well.  See where this is heading, pardner?  The rolling stock - even if they're not stock cars - are the cattle, so to speak, while the engine and hacks are the chuck wagon and cowboys (you decide which is which - I'll carry the analogy only so far).

Now I've been working on these cabeese and this locomotive for a while.  I started the caboose project back in Washington just over four years ago.  The engine has been running well but recently I decided to deal with the leaning cylinders that have been bothering me, as well as get a coal load in the tender...and tick the boxes on the remaining details like the bell and whistle cords.

Technically the twelve days of Christmas run from the 25th to Epiphany on the 6th of January.  But I'm looking at twelve days UNTIL Christmas and feeling like I might just be able to get a Trail Drive going with my Mogul, the Cabeese, and this here pair of freezers I've been building.  Can I do it?  With parts to add, paint to dry, decals, maybe some weathering...hmmm...as long as no rustlers show up I may just pull it off.