Good morning...... Coffee and a donut to go..... In a hurry.... Be back later.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Tinplate ToddlerNow you can figure yourself what JFK meant in his 1963 address to the people of Berlin, when he said "Ich bin ein Berliner"...
Even funnier when LBJ (?) saaid he was a Frankfurter!
ROARING
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good Afternoon,
Some white stuff falling from the sky at present. Not sure what it could be. Hopefully it will warm up to the forecast high of 3C so I can pump out the pond to get it ready for winter.
Nice to be in B.C. I lived there for a year in 64/65 when I was in grade 12. We were in Coquitlam so I'm sure Brent knows about that location. I also travelled extensively throughout B.C. for my job especially in the '80s and '90s. We had stores in many small towns that got into financial trouble when interest rates went through the roof in that era, not to mention the general retail downturn in all small towns as people shifted shopping to larger centres. It sure is a beautiful part of the world.
Ulrich, sorry to hear about your troubles. I wish I could offer you something but I don't know anything about how supports work in Germany. Feel free to send me an message anytime if you would just like to chat.
Nothing new on the RR front. I did take in 2 N scale locos to sell on consignment at the local shop, a Model Power Pacific and an Intermountain F7.
Dave, any migrant birds left out your way? We still have a few Juncos coming through but not much else. The geese are coming over in large flocks most nights.
See you later,
CN Charlie
Good sunny morning from the West Coast, it is 16c after last nights big blow and torrential rain that kept us awake most of the night. Feeling pretty tired so it is the forum before the bike today and I might not make the bike.
Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, Burlington Northern, and Amtrack are the big operators in B.C. with the last two just dipping their toes into the Province. Amtrack runs from Seattle once or twice a day depending on the time of year and what's going on. Vancouverites like to go to Seahawks games and the folks from Seattle come up for Hockey. Making a long weekend out of the deal and having a comfortable train ride each way makes for an enjoyable time. BNSF runs up to Deltaport at Roberts bank with coal and container trains.
Ports and rail co-exist and neither would be the operations they are without the other. For this reason, today I will talk about the closest North American port to Asia, Prince Rupert. CN runs North through Edmonton, Jasper, Prince George to Prince Rupert. It is an incredibly scenic trip that would never get tired for a rail crew.
Prince Rupert was a town that had forest products and fishing as its big employers in the early years. It is rich as far as our native heritage goes and is still an unspoiled playground for those lucky enough to live there.
The port of Prince Rupert is expanding at a good clip as trade with Asia increases. The port is three days closer than Los Angeles for ships making the trip and that means ships save six days on a round trip. With our nearly instant gratification that comes with online ordering for business and consumers, speed is more important than ever for delivery of the goods. Container trains called "Hot Shots" run from Prince Rupert to central Canada, the U.S. Midwest, New York and down to the Gulf States. The containers can now be delivered to these places in the time where not too many years ago they would have just made port in Los Angeles. This is why CN and CP have been gobbling up U.S. railroads, it is good business to have full control over the whole line.
I have found some short promotional videos on the area and CNs "Yellowhead" route.
If anyone feels stuck in a rut and wants a good paying job, a nice home in a stunningly beautiful place, move to Prince Rupert. B.C./ Canada brings in foreign workers by the planeload from Asia, Australia, and New Zealand to fill the gap, it is amazing how many stay.
If I was young again, I would be taking a hard look at Prince Rupert.
The Yellowhead route is scenic and Via Rail is a nice trip from Edmonton West. Here are a few videos of varying quality.
International trade accounts for 64% of Canada's GDP, I wonder what Canada's founding fathers would be thinking about that when way back when they decided that building a railroad was one of the first orders of business. Tax dollars well spent, I'd say.
Not sure what part of the Province we will end up in tomorrow, stay tuned.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Ulrich, maybe you should have blurred the recent picture too!!! Just kidding! I won't post my picture until I lose 60 lbs.
Ed - I wonder how many people know that the big clock in the tower is steam driven (at least it was, I'm not sure about now)!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
NWP SWPHere's the damages from last nights big blow.
Ouch! Sorry for your loss Steven. Those were pretty big trees. At least they only damaged your fence (new fence I believe) and not the house. You're going to get lots of time on the chainsaw! Do you have a fireplace?
We have a couple of big trees close to the house. So far they have managed to stay upright, but we don't get your Southern US nasty type weather up here very often.
CNCharlieDave, any migrant birds left out your way? We still have a few Juncos coming through but not much else. The geese are coming over in large flocks most nights.
There are still lots of ducks that only seem to get the message to go south when they have ice on their feet. Of course there are several flocks of Canada Geese going over the house every day. Other than that, those birds that are going to go south have done so.
Our feeders are still busy with the birds that stay. We have tons of Goldfinches, lots of Juncos and Chickadees, several Purple Finches, Cardinals, Downey and Hairy Woodpeckers, and both White and Red Breasted Nuthatches that enjoy our hospitality all winter. We go through almost 4 lbs each of nyjer seed and black sunflower seed in about 1 1/2 days. The waste pile under the nyjer feeder is getting huge! The pile under the sunflower seed feeder never gets big at all. Most of the birds that use it carry the seed away and then shell it, and the squirrels and chipmunks take care of any spillage.
I just hired a snow removal company and they agreed to plough a path to the feeders at no additional charge.
Thanks for asking,
Afteroon Diners
Flo, the gang and I will have a please.
Day did not go as planed but still a good day.
1 Wife walked Sparkie this morning so I got to sleep in a little.
2 Wife did not take her cane with her when we left the house!
3 She is all most off the hard core pain meds!
4 Did well in therapy! They did make her moan from pain a little but to me that is sort of a good thing.
5 Worked on the B&O 50' Box Car, hope to have it done to night.
6 She bought my dinner!
Bad Part?
1 She bought me Chinese food. Yes I like it and will enjoy it but the last thing a Dieabtic should eat. Plus I was bad last night! Hit the peanut butter and grape jelly pretty hard.
2 Wanted to go to K-10 Model Trains and Lowes. From K-10 I wanted a magafining visor before I dig into the M1a steam engine. From Lowes I was going to buy a new soldiring iron.
Brent Thanks for being the tour guied!
Trains are running great!
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Some people really rely on train service. The residents of Churchill, Manitoba have been without rail service for 18 months. It has finally been restored.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/churchill-rail-service-returns-november-1.4887333
hon30critterEd - I wonder how many people know that the big clock in the tower is steam driven (at least it was, I'm not sure about now)!
Ingenuity at work!
Jump to 1:05 to hear the whistles play Westminster Quarters...
Thanks for all the great info, Brent!
Regards, Ed
Ed, thanks for posting the video of Vancouver's steam clock!
Brent, is it still working?
Didn't think I'd get on the bike today but I made it. Had my second best time ever as well.
Ulrich- staying at the Empress. That cost some serious coinage. Those old photos of Vancouver sure take me back, it is not the same place anymore. That old steam clock is still going strong, though it had some time off for a major rebuild.
Were you backpacking into the backcountry on your trip? I have done my fair share of that into the wilds. Some multi-day canoe trips as well.
Ed, that video was great, how did you land that job? My Cousins worked the trains out of Winnipeg to pay their way through University they loved it.
Steven, was that tree a little diseased? It looked a little too hollow, just waiting for a big puff of wind to finish it off. A good supply of firewood for sure.
Had a great week with the kid being home. He played hockey three times and that lets me get back to the rink to watch the kids. I get a kick out of them as even the 8 and 9-year-olds are looking mighty dapper when they walk in. Following Don Cherry's instructions, they need to look professional at all times. All in suits and you could tell they weren't cheap ones either.
I couldn't pick just one.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=Don+Cherry&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7vuzjgrfeAhWRGTQIHd3IBYYQ_AUIDygC&biw=1096&bih=506
His Mom dropped him at the airport to go back to Ottawa and he was waiting to board and started barfing his guts out. He messaged me on FB from the washroom and I asked him if he wanted me to come and get him if he was too sick to fly. He said no and got on the plane and was fine after about an hour, barf bag at the ready. He had some sketchy food after hockey the night before, we figured that was the culprit.
The kid got an offer from a movie agency while he was home. It was a biggie (the agency) They ask the talent to join their company (not the other way around) and take on a very limited clientele. It cost the company $325.00 and up to submit the kid for an audition so they must have a lot of interest in him.
He apparently has made really good impressions on a couple of jobs, especially Deadpool2. For never having had a line in a movie or TV show, the whole thing is a little bewildering. He did do a couple of auditions where he had lines and got the parts but had to withdraw when they changed the shooting schedule to when he was back at school in Ottawa. He declined the offer as school is his first priority and they may take him on for the summer which they don't normally do.
He was going to stay in Ottawa this Summer and work, but the movie stuff is such a nice change for him and pays so well, we will see. His friend is a producer with Chorus media and wants him to do contract work for him. Said he can work while on set and on days off. He use to do all his homework and essays on set when he was still in high school, so why not? (I guess) That kid has drive.
He has had two really good job offers while at University after doing projects for the two. Companies are trolling the kids before they even get their degree. He has so many directions he can go it is mind-boggling.
My daughters 17th Birthday today. As soon as they get back from riding their steeds we will likely go out for Sushi. She spent all day working at the soup kitchen today, way longer than she was scheduled to. I am so proud of her.
All the best to all.
Evening folks,
Both trees had damage, one we knew of, it had a old beehive hollow in it, the other we weren't aware of its disease, it also was one of the oldest trees in our land.
I'm working on getting a block for my truck, I'm planning on building a supercharged 387.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Tinplate ToddlerAnd here I am, standing next to the USS Missouri in Bremerton, WA
I was living in Auburn Wa. in 1977 -1979, and have visited the Mighty Mo several time's.
During your visit.... was there an "Unruley" kid on board while you were there ?
He would have had a Scale ruler in his hand, and constantly being told by staff, "Hey ! Get Down From There !" ( I was alway's measuring stuff for modeling purposes.)
If you saw this kid ..... it was me.
Rust...... It's a good thing !
While we are in Canada, we should stop in and visit the Esquimalt& Nanaimo.
They also ran some "Diesel stuff".... but the steam era was soooooo much more fun to look at .
Many great memories @ The Coast 50 years ago!
FYI.Baldwin.The locomotive to the right is a Baldwin. https://i.imgur.com/MeVh4s1.jpg The structure above the second locomotive from the left is a Sand Tower.Thank You.
BATMANWere you backpacking into the backcountry on your trip?
Actually, I did go on a backpacking trip with some frienfs from my high school days, but that was somewhere around Mt. St. Helens, which blew up 18 months after I was there. And, no, I didn´t put a long fuse down to let it go off!
Little Timmy - I remember a few quite unruly kids while visiting the "Missouri", but non of them had a tape measure with him/her.
Looking at today´s skyline of Vancouvr, the change has been rather dramatic! But not to the better, in my humble opinion. From what I have heard, real estate prices in and around Vancouver match or even surpass those of Beverly Hills theses days. This is crazy!
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
The “Wild within BC” video almost made me leap to my feet and burst into “Oh Canada” (there would be a fair bit of humming), sell up and emigrate, but I rather suspect that there already enough grumpy old bears over there!
BATMAN...move to Prince Rupert. B.C./ Canada brings in foreign workers by the planeload from Asia, Australia, and New Zealand to fill the gap
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Thanks, Bear, for the hearty breakfast! There is nothing finer than a stack of pancakes, served with a tsunami of real Canadian maple syrup! It´ll have to wait until tomorrow, though - I just had my regular bowl of Muesli.
It was freezing cold last night, but now it is sunny and bright. The temperatures will not go much above 5°C and I am glad I have changed the tires on our car to the fur-lined ones.
No plans for the day - just surviving, somehow...
I don´t mind to have a few (well, not so few) strips of crisp fried bacon along with my pancakes, but please add a serving of scrambled eggs and two slices of buttered toast. You may hold the baked beans, though!
Tinplate Toddlertsunami of real Canadian maple syrup!
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
Good morning, everybody ...
I see a lot of photos and videos were posted since I briefly stopped here in the Diner yeasterday morning. ..... It will take a while to look at them.
I recall some good breakfast food we had when were were in BC.... A restaurant in Vancouver had some sort of breakfast caserole that was out of this world. Maybe they called it breakfast pie. It was sort of a quiche and was loaded with eggs, cheese, sausage pieces, and vegetables. Artichoke was one ingredient. Very filling.
We stayed in Whistler for a few days and one restaraunt had the best pancakes anywhere. .... Yum. ....
I'll get started catching up on your posts .
Cheers.
NeO6874you haven't had the good stuff out of Ohio or Vermont then. :)
Nope, but just because rhe Canadian stuff is the only maple syrup we get here! Willing to try, though ...
I live in Geauga County, Ohio where our town emblem is a Maple Leaf. The B&O used to run passenger specials to Chardon for the Maple Festival.
B-O_Chardon_FA-809_edited-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
One year they had an EM-1 on display.
B-O_Chardon_FA-809X_edited-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
The weather always seems nasty during Maple Festival time.
BATMANEd, that video was great, how did you land that job? My Cousins worked the trains out of Winnipeg to pay their way through University they loved it.
C&O_3_1973C by Edmund, on Flickr
In later years I was sometimes called for special duty...
P1100033 by Edmund, on Flickr
Through the railroad club my dad and I belonged to, which had quite a few old heavyweight cars they used for excursions, I met a fellow that was an Amtrak manager. In turn, he knew several of the "Private Varnish" owners. Word spread that there was a young fellow willing to work cheap. Oh, my. I lived like a king for a while there.
LION, that sure ain't the C-N Tower in the background
Enjoy the day, Folks! Ed
Mornin' folks!
NeO6874 Tinplate Toddler tsunami of real Canadian maple syrup!
Tinplate Toddler
Actually I have heard that most of the Vermont stuff actually comes from New York State..... I get local Maple syrup from a local Mennonite farm here in the Finger Lakes. Absolutely fabulous! Had some last night. I had exactly that meal that Ulrich posted but without the ham, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and the home fries....... Yep just had pancakes w/ Maple Syrup for super! I fugure there was an egg added to the mix and the pancakes plus way too much syrup were more than enough to get my sugar back up almost to the high range. It did.... Highest reading (141) I have had before bed in six months. It was worth it!
It is currently 41°F with an 18 mph breeze outside here in the Finger Lakes Region of NYS this morning. I have been looking out the window and watching leaves blowing off the trees in the neighborhood. If it ever stops raining, I have several things I need to get done before snow falls here. Carrots are still growing in the garden, need to be brought in. I finally got around to trim my bushes next to the house, which should have been done last spring, and need to rake up the trimmings, put it into bags, so the city can pick it up this fall. Would also like to trim the lower branches on the flowering quince tree. Getting so I can't mow under the tree easily. Again, if I do it now the city will take away the branches for me.
I am waiting for the delivery of a small refrigerator for the basement workshop. I am hoping to start holding operations this winter and want to have a place for refreshments down there. Actually spent a few minutes yesterday in the train room and did a couple of small repairs. I will be glad when I have finished my responsibilities to the NMRA Division and a couple other groups that I have been doing way too much for the last few years and can hopefully find some time to built my layout......
Oh..... I'm all set for this years sn@w when it arrives.....
OK, got to go check the basement and start the siphon to keep the water level down........
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Interesting car, Ray - must be a banged-up Polski Fiat 126, the successor of the famous (original) Fiat 500, which was Mussolini´s answer to Hitler´s Volkswagen - which is, of course historically not quite correct, as the Fiat Cinquecento was first introduced in 1957.
Petra and I spent the better part of thee day counting our nickels and pennies in the "Getaway" kitty. If we sell all our household stuff and the car, we may have enough funds to get us to the US and pay for a few months. We will look at it once I am retired.
At first Petra did not buy into the idea of packing up and go, as she is too attached to our son. But after having received a number of threats from the Antifa for my key role in founding the much hated opposition party, she has opened up to the thought. As things around us start to crumble, it´s high time to push forward on the issue.
Guess I have again to start selling my trains...
Tinplate Toddlernteresting car, Ray - must be a banged-up Polski Fiat 126, the successor of the famous (original) Fiat 500, which was Mussolini´s answer to Hitler´s Volkswagen - which is, of course historically not quite correct, as the Fiat Cinquecento was first introduced in 1957.
I have no idea what it was originally... Just a photo someone sent me or I found online. Actually I use a snowblower powered by Batteries. It's an EGO that is remarkably powerful and can throw snow up to 35 feet. Only drawback is that it is not self propelled so I have to push it. On the other hand the rotating blades do pull the machine into the snow a bit.
Nothing says Welcome To Canada like a ride on the Budd-Streamlined Canadian!
http://canadianrailwayobservations.com/RESTRICTED/2015/March/THE%20CANADIAN%20Vol%201B%20FINAL.pdf
*A fairly large file. Those with dial-up may want to go get a beverage while it loads. But it is worth it!
CP_E-4040 by Edmund, on Flickr