05/19/2026
"Lord willing and the creek don't rise." 😬
Well. The creek did, in fact, rise. And rise. And rise. And with all the force of that water our recently completed expansion was hit... HARD.
Occurring just days before our opening day the first weekend in May, we were understandably devastated. We'd worked so hard for this to be the highlight of our 2026 season. But, things don't magically fix themselves so after a day or two of wallowing in self pity, we dried our tears, rolled up our sleeves and did what KCNMRR does best ➡️ kept chugging along!
And, as fortune would unfold, there was even a pot of gold✨️ at the end of our rainbow 🌈. Almost instantly the calls and messages came in, "How can we help?" With the incredible support of some amazing people, companies, foundations and volunteers, our community stepped up. From the equipment loaned to the clean up itself, encouraging thoughts and prayers, re-construction of the rails and the funds desperately needed for supplies and materials - our pot of gold 💛 was both literally and figuratively there for us when we needed it the most.
So even though the creek rose, our community rose higher. Repairs and reconstruction that was estimated to take MONTHS only took a couple of WEEKS! And while we were really bummed the expansion wasn't ready for our opening day, it was ready for Truck 'N Train Day just two weeks later. We didn't announce it with fanfare, in fact, we didn’t announce it at all. Safety inspections and approval to open were done on Friday and the next morning we were back on track, ready to share our addition with all of our friends.
Whether you got in the muck or wished us good luck. The re-opening of our expansion is because of you! Thank you!
We had so many pictures we figured we'd just make an album! Here are few images of the before and after. ⤵️
Couldn't tag:
Kelly-Hill Railroad Contractors
Ken & Jeanette Scribner Foundation
Haverty Foundation