In response to recent concerns made public on the DTR website about my actual existence, borrowing the Palin quote seemed appropriate. I wish to re-affirm my dedication to this great institution and apologize for my blogging silence. This admission of guilt comes from the bottom of my two hearts (Doctor Who will discover in a future episode that he’s not the only Time-Lord in the Universe).
Today I am thrilled to break the silence and share with you a significant moment in Repco Global’s unique and fabled history. Over the winter holiday, the Downtown Repalone Historical Society and the DTR Global Explorations Division joined forces on a super-top-secret mission. Teams directed by a never-to-be-named chief investigator traveled and worked undercover for seven days. During the Winter Holiday Expedition they weathered snow, wind and fireworks.
For the first time I am able to bring you an extraordinary look back at a little known piece of DTR history. It has often been rumored that gentlemen visitors to the Pendleton Estate secretly arrived by private train. Historians in the DTR Historical Society have known for some years that Lady Hampshire was the registered owner of a steam locomotive. Unsubstantiated for many years, researchers have been chasing the mere thread of a rumor concerning the train’s final Pendleton arrival.
According to fragmented historical documents, the train was in operation prior to and during the prohibition years. In an interview recorded in 1949, an unnamed Pendleton Estate sour cream confectionery worker remembers two passenger cars and the locomotive arriving once each week. Although she was nearly 90 at the time of the interview, the employee recalls eight to ten well-dressed gentlemen would alight from the second train car. She also candidly spoke about the butler who personally oversaw the unloading of wooden crates from the first train car. During her interview, the employee coyly comments, “I would certainly never imply that Lady Hampshire had alcohol shipped in by train, right under the noses of the authorities.” This curious statement has remained, for the past 60 years, unsubstantiated.
Another eye-witness interviewed three years ago recounts a day in 1930 when the train pulled into the Pendleton private depot fully aflame. We publish here for your edification, his statement about that day: “Gentlemen, with their suitcases in one hand and hats and canes in the other, were leaping from the last train car like boys skinny dipping in a pond. None of the gentlemen seemed to have any permanent injury, but that week we were remarkably low on whiskey and Russian vodka. I would never have said this while Lady Hampshire was alive, but I do think the train carried fine spirits and somehow caught fire.” According to the witness, it took nearly 4 hours to extinguish the blaze and the fire department was not summoned.
Based on these accounts and existing documents, the Historical Society has worked tirelessly to substantiate the train legend. When it became clear that an expedition into wilderness areas might be necessary, they joined with the Global Explorations Division to undertake this highly classified mission.
Now that you know the historical background, I am thrilled to reveal the first image of the fire-ravaged train car that the expedition team believes to be Train Car #1. Many more months of testing and analysis must be conducted, the first step of which is to bring the wreckage back to the Downtown Repalone Historical Laboratory. Our newly hired Train Reclamation Director tells me she expects this to take place before March, 2009. As additional details become available, we will release the particulars here on the DTR blog.