Well I'll tell ya. My dad had this bottle of 20 year old scotch in the basement and well he's been gone for 38 years and nobody knows when he got it in the first place... Let's just say if I ever get an O gauge live steamer that burns pure alcohol I won't have to buy any! His collection is probably rocket fuel by now!
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
To all the Classic guys and gals-- Go back a wee bit on this thread and checkout Wanswheels historic writings and illustrations on the St. Clair Tunnel. Sunday February 18.
Becky, if I were you I'd crack that bottle open and enjoy yourself!
As my grandfather used to say, "It's a mortal sin to waste good whiskey!"
A sad note folks, Lady Firestorm's mother passed away yesterday, not unexpected as she was in very poor health and in hospice, but it still hurts Lady L just the same. After this evening I'll be out of communication for several days unless the hotel has a workable guest computer room, this laptop of mine never leaves the house unless it's for business.
Since Mom wouldn't want to leave everyone in a downcast mood, she was a Newfoundlander after all, let me inject a bit of humor. Mom once said if our marriage ever broke up she wanted ME to move in with her and NOT her daughter! "That man!" she used to say to Lady F, "HOW does he put up with you?" She was one of my biggest fans.
Thanks all. Wayne
Firelock/Wayne--Safe travels. Forget the computer and the Forum for a bit, we will hold down the fort until your return.
My condolences
Best of luck, Wayne.
God rest her soul!
Great to have a mother-in-law like that. The memory of the rightous is a blessing and so may it be for you and your lady.
My condolences Wayne. Sounds like she was a terrific Mother-in-law, and you were lucky to have known her.
Newfoundlanders are a smart and funny people. I hope the service goes well.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
I'm back, and thanks so much to all of you.
Yes, the services went very well, and as Mom would have wished there were no long faces except at the appropriate times.
Mom had a good, good run, until as they say in Newfoundland she "Rounded the point, passed the light, crossed the bar, and dropped anchor in her last harbor." She was a fishing skipper's daughter after all!
Thanks again to you all for your kind words.
Firelock-- " Mom had a good, good run, until as they say in Newfoundland she "Rounded the point, passed the light, crossed the bar, and dropped anchor in her last harbor." She was a fishing skipper's daughter after all! "
I can hear the Bag Pipes and Fiddle Music from here.
Glad your back...nice of you to check in.
Happy to see you back again, this place just isn't the same when you're not around.
Thank You.
Camelbacks in Saskatchewan is a long way from Joisey! We do have anthracite however,
Handsome looking loco's but I would not want to be the fireman in the winter or the engineer with those rods rotating away a few below me.
Yeah, it seemed like at one time or another a lot of 'roads jumped on the Camelback bandwagon, even the Union Pacific tried a few so see if they could burn low-grade western coal in them. It didn't work out though, so those UP Camels didn't hang around too long.
The Pennsy tried four of them I believe, then gave them up because they just didn't like the separation of the engineer and fireman, selling them to the Long Island RR, who didn't like them either.
And you bet, in the winter the fireman froze, and in the summer the engineer roasted! And I've seen some blood-curdling photos of Camels where the main rod came loose and wiped out the engineer's cab. Thank God it was a very rare occurance!
There's still some Camelbacks in existance in museums, but I'd say the likelihood of any being restored to service is slim to none. I can't imagine anyone, even the most die-hard steam freak, wanting to run them in this day and age.
Not to mention cases where the engineer died and the fireman was trapped. I wonder if the potential of a runaway train was why they stopped making them.
Not just that Father, but there was an incident on the New York, Ontario and Western where an engineer who liked to ride on the cab window sill during the summer fell out of the cab, leaving the fireman to wonder just what was going on when the train passed several stops! The fireman made his way to the engineer's cab and stopped the train at the next station and had the station agent send a "Anyone find a lost engineer?" message down the line.
The engineer DID survive the fall.
For a variety of reasons in 1914 the Interstate Commerce Commision put out a suggestion that no more Camelbacks be produced, but didn't pay too much attention to any enforcement of the same since advancing locomotive technology was making them obsolete anyway. Then in 1928 the Lehigh and New England bought some new ones! "OK," said the ICC, "This time it's not a suggestion, it's an order! No more Camelbacks!"
Holy smoke, nothing like putting some people next to a locomotive to give you an idea of the size of it!
When you consider the average man's height in 1912 was 5'8" you can see just what a monster that pusher was!
New York Central favoured 0-10-0's for the hump yard jobs...I suppose they did not fool around when it came to this requirenment.
Look at that monster headlight up front...biggest one I ever saw!
Firelock76...Continuing the Irish thing, do know if Shenley's "OFC" is still being made. Lady Firestorm's dad loved the stuff, but only took it out to share with guests on special occasions like Christmas or New Years. He said "OFC" stood for "Only For Catholics!" Can't find it here in the US anymore, but not for lack of trying....
Some years ago, I became acquainted with an American model railroader (now a very good friend) in an on-line forum like this, only it's mainly concerned with modelling. At the time, he was the general manager of a shortline railroad in Pennsylvania.When I went to visit the first time, I asked about the large curtain wall-type factory which stood between the railroad tracks (ex-Pennsy) and the Kiskiminetas and Allegheny Rivers. "Oh," he said. "that was the distillery, or what remains of it." That town (bit of an exaggeration, perhaps) is Schenley, Pennsylvania, although it's unlikely that they made O.F.C. there, I guess. It was, though, named for the distillery.
It seems to me that O.F.C. is still available here in Ontario, but it's Canadian rye whiskey, not Irish. Myself, I prefer Bushmills, which is Irish....nothing like a glass or two while browsing through The Mohawk That Refused To Abdicate, one of my favourites, too.
Wayne
Bushmills ain't bad, but don't order it at your local Gaelic league as I did. You may get it served in a plastic cup with a hate stare. My former boss and adopted "son" James McCloed said it served me right for ordering a Protestant Whiskey! Anyways, I have learned to like Single Malt Scotch and even have sampled one or two Welsh Single Malts. But let's hear more about those awesome 0-10-0's.
Bushmill's is a Protestant whiskey? That's news to me, so I did some checking and sure enough it's from County Antrim in "The Black North," as my grandfather used to call it.
I'm surprised the local Gaelic league is still doing the De Valera thing, as in "If you're Irish, but not Catholic, you're not really Irish!" As far as I'm concerned good whiskey's non-sectarian and non-denominational.
But next time, play it safe with those hard-heads and order Jamesons, it's from County Cork. It's good stuff too!
Right now my favorite happens to be Virginia Gentleman. Nothing says a Jerseyman like me can't touch it, this was still the United States of America the last time I looked!
I had to bring up whiskey, looks like we've run out of 0-10-0 comments!
Oh, and doctorwayne, next time you're re-reading "The Mohawk That Refused To Abdicate" try it with some VO instead of Bushmills. Seagram's VO was David P. Morgan's favorite.
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