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Dan Leclerc has fond childhood memories of catching rides on the old steam locomotives that would chug through his hometown of Manchester, New Hampshire. "The engineer would slow down and let us on," he remembers. "They were just short rides, not more than a few minutes long."
The early 1950s was a time of transition for the railroad companies: diesel engines were on the rise as a more efficient means of delivering cargo and passengers. Steam was slowly being replaced, but it wouldn't be until the early 1960s when the last steam engines were taken off the railroads.
"I used to dream about being an engineer," said Dan last month as he described the inner workings of an old steam locomotive. He was standing by the long table in the second-floor common area at Youville House in Cambridge. This unique space has become a dedicated workstation for the "Youville Puzzlers," of which Dan is a founding member. The group of Youville residents selects and collaborates on complex jigsaw puzzles with special visual significance. Dan enjoys scenes that remind him of the formative 1950s -- scenes of diners, old cars, and most recently, a steam locomotive hurtling through the mountains.
Standing before this recently completed, 1200-piece puzzle, now framed and hanging on the wall, Dan pointed to the long cylindrical tank in front and explained that this was where untold amounts of water were boiled to create steam pressure. The car in back contained the coal, which the engineer shoveled into the boiler as needed. A complex system of pipes and valves conducted the steam to wheel-aligned pistons, whose "chuga-chuga" back and forth drove the wheels and powered the whole, enormous enterprise.
"Each of us has our specialty," he says of his fellow Youville Puzzlers. "In this one, I worked on the wheels and the different train parts. Mary did the edge pieces and the trees. Jeanne is the 'finisher' -- she'll come in after we've done our parts and are stumped, and will tie it all together. It's scary what she can do!"
Each project binds the Puzzlers together in new ways. Assembling a puzzle often feels like a form of group meditation. Puzzlers learn new, sometimes surprising tidbits about one another as memories from earlier life resurface and circulate around the workspace. The experience is at once social, reflective, and constructive. Once a puzzle is completed and framed, they quickly move on to the next project, knowing that the experience they have just shared is captured in the growing collection that adorns the walls around them.
Youville House is a not-for-profit assisted living residence located in the heart of Cambridge and sponsored by Covenant Health. To learn more or to schedule a tour, contact Yanira Burgos, director of marketing and communications, at 617-491-1234, email yaniraburgos@youvillehouse.org, or visit www.youvilleassistedliving.org.