Merry Christmas from Col Campbell's Barracks

I hope that the readers of my little blog have a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year! 

Mrs. "Col Campbell" (on right in blue shirt) and other church ladies stuff hand-made and decorated stockings for the kids who have to be hospitalized on Christmas Day.  This is an annual tradition at our church.



And now a selection of Christmas trees for your enjoyment.

 

The "Campbell" Family tree - this year with lights for our new grand-daughter's first Christmas.

The Chrismon tree of the "Cammpbell" family church.  The decorations are all hand-made by church members over the years and depict the many signs associated with Christ's birth.

The tree at the Colonel's place of work.  This is a year-round tree whose decorations change with the season.  And yes, it is placed in a green metal trash can!

Although not a tree, this is in honor of the 50th anniversary this year of the animated "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" production.  It belongs to one of my co-workers who really enjoys the program.


The top floor contains my contribution on the left - a "Klingon"-type troll who has joined in the festivities!

 



New Additions to Possum Ridge

It has been too long since I posted here.  So in light of the Christmas season, here are some of the new additions to the imaginary town of Possum Ridge, Mississippi, which is an O-scale railroad layout and town constructed every Christmas at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, where I work.

Previous posts about Possum Ridge can be found at "Christmas 2011 at the Barracks" and "Trains on Christmas Day" on this blog.

The biggest addition is a crop dusting airstrip and plane.  Crop dusting was (and still is) used extensively in the Mississippi Delta for insect control.  For many years it was the only way to control the deadly cotton boll weevil which was devastating our cotton crops.

A new piece of motive power for the railroad is this Shay engine.  It provides the sawmill in town with freshly cut timber from the surrounding forests.

And you can't have a railroad without a hobo camp.  This one is located very close to the area's still!  The hobos know where the "good stuff" is.

One of my donations to the collection was a Model T Coca Cola delivery van.  Here he is making a delivery to Osborne's country store.  The van is a Matchbox Model of Yesteryear vehicle and was excess to my needs.  I decided it would be a great addition to Possum Ridge.

And the final addition is another delivery vehicle that I donated, a Carnation milk truck, which has just made a large delivery to Luna's Coffee Shop.

All here at Col Campbell's Barracks wish everyone a

very merry Christmas

and a

happy and prosperous New Year!

Christmas 2011 at the Barracks - Part 2

On this day, all of us at Col Campbell's Barracks wish you and yours

Very Merry Christmas

and

A Happy and Prosperous New Year !!!

Christmas Tree at Col Campbell's Barracks

Christmas 2011 at the Barracks

Two years ago, I brought you some scenes from the Christmas activities at the Mississippi Archives where I work.

Christmas Trees:    Antebellum
                             Victorian
                             Depression Era

Trains at the Archives:    Possum Ridge

This year we added a new tree:

And the trains are still running at Possum Ridge, our fictitious Mississippi town:

The lovely Rachel from our Museum division watches as the chief engineer works on an engine.

A young visitor watches the Illinois Central's City of New Orleans as it passes on its way down to the sea.  The orange and black three unit train immediately behind the Ice House is the Rebel, a Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio fast passenger train.

The monuments in Possum Ridge's town park, including one (left rear) to the town's namesake.  A hobo catches a nap on the park bench.

One of the newer acquisitions to Possum Ridge's economy is a cotton gin on the outskirts of town.

The gin is supplied by one of the many cotton fields prevalent in Mississippi.

Another new "addition" to Possum Ridge's economy is carefully hidden behind a kudzu draped abandoned house located far from prying official eyes.

On the other side of town, members of the local Missionary Baptist Church welcome new members to their flock.

The lovely Rachel tries her hand at steam engine repair under the watchful eye of the chief engineer.

For more information and pictures of the Possum Ridge layout and buildings, please take a visit to our department's blog, A Sense of Place.  If you are interested, you may subscribe to notices of new blog postings.

And for a final look at Christmas at the Archives, the tree that is present year round in the work area where I spend my time.  This tree is appropriately decorated for other times of the year, such as Mardi Gras, Easter, etc.

Yes, it is sitting in a large trash can since the stand that came with it broke several years ago.

And so once again from all of us at Col. Campbell's Barracks, we wish you a

MERRY  CHRISTMAS !!

and a

Very  Happy  and  Prosperous  New  Year !!

Trains on Christmas Day

For as long as I've been working at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, there has been a model railroad set up at Christmas. Until Hurricane Katrina damaged the Old State Capitol in 2005, the trains were set up in the Senate Chamber. Starting in 2005, they have been set up in the main conference room in the Winter Archives Building.

The layout is set in a fictitious Mississippi town called Possum Ridge, in about the 1940s-1950s, and is O scale, standard gauge. It has period buildings that have been built over the years by a number of model railroad enthusiasts. It is run by volunteer engineers.

The front part of the layout depicts Possum Ridge's Main Street while an Illinois Central passenger train (either the City of New Orleans or the Panama Limited) makes it way "through the Mississippi darkness down to the sea" (to paraphrase the words of Steve Goodman, as sung by Arlo Guthrie). The volunteer engineer talks with Lucy Allen (facing, center), the Director of the Museum Division, and a visiting family.

Here is another shot of Main Street.

One of the many scratch built buildings is the Possum Ridge Museum (with "Lulu" Allen as the director), which is a refurbished "Possum Trot" house originally built by the Osborne family in 1824. "Lucky" Osborne is a master craftsman who has had a hand in creating much of the scenary at Possum Ridge. (You can see more of his work on this page.)

This completes my "homage" to Christmas. I hope that everyone who has stopped by has enjoyed the Christmas trees and the Possum Ridge model railroad. As I said in yesterday's post:

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

40 Years Ago

A little remembrance from 40 years ago.

And from today.

Merry Christmas to All!!!