G'day Gents!
Now Arriving on Track Number Two
Electric Trains at Christmastime
#5 - Lionel & American Flyer Catalogs
Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains - 1945-1969
Standard Catalog of Lionel Train Sets - 1945-1969
Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains - 1900-1942
Standard Catalog of American Flyer Trains
Gilbert's Famous American Flyer Trains
American Flyer Classic Toy Trains
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Enjoy!
Tom
Good evening Leon I see that you are still awake. Any chance that I might get a medium rare porterhouse with all the fixings still if so it and a guiness which I will take over here by the fire.Just got in from doing my one midnight madness at the store for this year. I tw as madness.
I see that the winter solstice is upon us,first day of winter and the temps here are going up as I type this supposed to be 50 F and rainy for the next two days, looks like all the snow will be gone,hard to imagine that the foot + of snow we got this time last week will soon be running down my driveway
Tom- I will keep you posted should we head in your general direction,I would love to meet Pete and spend some time with all of you folks in your neck of the woods.
Nice to hear that the bakery is giving us a donut machine.The one we found in Boris's shed seems to be possibly not the most hygenic piece of equipment. It's good that we still have the sausage machine as well, H&H can use it to render the critter parts down for the extra greese Sven sems to want
Loved the ole catalogues and the drumheads. Interesting that you were able to find the Algoma Central one,certainly one of the more obscure drumheads.
Loved the extra pictures of the bus and the Aerotrain,I too find it odd that theer was no way back into the train for the crew from the locomotive. Obviously the Aerotrains ran shorter non overnight type services as ther would be no way to keep more than one crew on board ( no crew sleeping areas )
Lars-Thanks for the wonderfull Christmas greeting for all of the gang. 5x for your kindness and thoughtfullness and all round good "guyness" here at the cyber bar of record.
Eric-Congrats on the retirement, perhaps now you will have more time to travel St Catharines is in Southern ontario about fifteen miles from Niagara Falls. It's my actual home town to boot. The Niagara St Catharines & Toronto ran city streetcars in St Catharines and Niagara Falls and ran interurban cars between Port Colbourne on Lake Erie and Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario serving all the little towns in between. One could catch a cross lake steamer to Toronto from Port Dalhousie as well. I figure ther are many maps of the system as it was a major electric frieght operation as well. In fact the old frieght districts are still mostly in use in thorold St Catharines and Parts of Niagara Falls and Port Colbourne. At least two books have been written on it over the years. One by Andy Panko the other by John Mills, both currently out of print ( and worth a lot of money when they do surface )The NS&T was an interesting little operation and was one of the last big radials to go out of teh passenger business in the late 50's . 1959 was the last passenger runs, the freight routes stayed electrified until 1961 . Basically six decades of electric service from the early 1890's beginnings.
Shane-So you brought up the southern birthdays oh well it was good for a laughHopefully you can be over your plague soon as well, I hate to see Boris hiding and crying in his shed
DL Dan-Thanks for the round I hope you and your family have a most wonderfull and safe holiday as well.
Rob
Hey Leon just me again. I'll have a top up on the guiness. Heres a few pictures for tomorrow okay todaybefore I run off to slumberland.Since Eric was so interested in the NS&T here's a few tidbits.
One of the curve siders from city service St Catharines and Niagara Falls
#83 one of the early interurban cars
One of the last modern interurban cars which also served the NS&T's sister road the Montreal and Southern Counties.
A shot of the NS&T meeting up with the steamships at the Port Dalhousie yard.
enjoy Rob
Good morning Tom and gentlemen....
First of all my sincere and heartfelt apologies for not being around as much as I had hoped for. But these last two weeks has been murder if you pardon my expression. Never been this busy before, and with two bodies short, that doesn't help much either.... We've been doing 2+ hours overtime each night. And when you get back home, you're too worked up to sleep...been more of a zombie during the day, wouldn't have made much sense talking.... So, without any further delays....since I've been absent from any alcohol etc, I've managed to save up quite alot....here's a check barkeep, should keep the lads throats damp to after New Year....all drinks on me chaps!! Hands over a check....and this for the cigar box and Mr Wurlitzer.
Sven 12-10-2007, 5:44 PM: Welcome to family Sven, pleased to meet you! Have a dram on me....
pwolfe 12-10-2007, 11:51 PM: Nice picture of "Dominion Of Africa" is it? Glad you enjoyed the pics mate. Hope to see more from you...which I'll probably do as I work through these posts..
EricX2000 12-11-2007, 4:42 AM: Nice pic of the Amtrak train refueling, are they still doing it this way nowadays?
trolleyboy 12-11-2007, 5:13 AM: Good post about the Alco and MLW... Didn't they used to say that Alco's were honorable steam locomotive for the way they smoked....?
Da Larsman 12-11-2007, 4:26 PM: Nice looking set of Southern E's mate. And covers are always welcome as you know....
coalminer3 12-11-2007, 5:59 PM: Interesting post indeed.....
siberianmo 12-11-2007, 9:09 PM: nice repost of trolleyboy pics.....
trolleyboy 12-12-2007, 5:21 AM: Did Alco's ever look so pretty in D&H colours, one of the best looking paint schemes ever me thinks...
trolleyboy 12-12-2007, 5:39 AM: Enjoyed those pics of the Lancaster, Spitfire's, Hurrricane's, 109 etc. indeed...great stuff!
EricX2000 12-12-2007, 6:47 AM: True, DaLarsman can be a tad bit sensitive about our beloved Ruth....
EricX2000 12-12-2007, 6:47 AM: Pacific Electric....nice!
siberianmo 12-12-2007, 2:06 PM: Those are timeless classics! Hope to see more of them...
Da Larsman 12-12-2007, 3:26 PM: I love those catalog covers....!
pwolfe 12-12-2007, 11:17 PM: Great looking GWR and SOUTHERN steam you have there... As mentioned before GWR Castle and Kings classes....poetry in design! Keep em coming...
DD1 12-13-2007, 1:08 AM: Hope to see some pics of that truck of yours....
Sven 12-13-2007, 3:29 PM: Early mornings with home made Lussekatt, Kaffe, snow and cold is what I miss most from the old country this time of the year.... Used to take the Lucia off from work and get up early to watch it on the TV...with above mentioned sweets...
siberianmo 12-13-2007, 7:53 PM: Somehow today's magazine covers don't have the same attraction as they used to have...Imagine if TRAINS would take a year to celebrate their old covers and reprint them in a book or something. Maybe use covers from 1948 throughout 2008...
trolleyboy 12-13-2007, 8:59 PM: Informative post matey..
pwolfe 12-13-2007, 10:21 PM: GREAT pics.... Those saddletanks engines must be a typical British thing....
EricX2000 12-14-2007, 6:46 AM: Great picture as always.... Wouldn't the Z65 be about the same as the old GE 44-tonner?
Da Larsman 12-14-2007, 2:45 PM: Enjoyed the covers mate. The depots and Union Stations deserves alot more coverage in books etc, then they have got already....
trolleyboy 12-14-2007, 7:58 PM: Another informative post mate...great reading!
siberianmo 12-14-2007, 10:36 PM: Aaah....Hell Gate Bridge....didn't someone make that in model? Was it Lionel or someone? Great pics!
Da Larsman 12-15-2007, 4:55 PM: Nice pics mate! I put a dome observation and a heavyweight observation on my x-mas list to Santa, but I doubt that he'll deliver the goods....
siberianmo 12-15-2007, 8:02 PM: Good choice for encore post, I like the pics...
Da Larsman 12-17-2007, 7:42 PM: Now, our dear Master Of Domes must have been sniffing something, drink or eating that didn't agree with him....buses? As with everything else I like to see or talk about....the older the better. Today's buses....
siberianmo 12-17-2007, 9:05 PM: Enjoyed that post about NSB! They must be running through some of the most impressive sceneries in the world....
trolleyboy 12-18-2007, 3:25 AM: Another informative post to enjoy...good stuff!
Da Larsman 12-18-2007, 3:43 PM: Interesting covers. I'm sure that they'd all be a good read these dark and cold winter day
Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Leon, just a quick breakfast before I go to bed! Coffee and a Cheese Danish!
Finally some time off and time to see Santa again! If he remembers me. I told him about a some books about UP. Very informative books!
Tom – Thanks! I consider myself a retiree from midnight! I didn’t do too much at work today. Got some gifts and had a piece of delicious cake.
When I saw the quiz photo I thought about the AeroTrain right away. Reasons being the low height, the coupler and the rounded profiles of the sides. With traction motors only on the two first axles the AeroTrain must have been slipping easily, especially when starting from stop.That old Twin Coach bus must have been converted to rail use. The openings for the front wheels covered, the added horn on the roof, the removed headlights and the added top headlight all indicate it was used for rail service. I did some research tonight but did not find anything. I’ll try again later.Move to a colder place? No, thank you. It is cold enough here! Today’s train catalogs look great! Good looking drum heads! My favorite is the first one, ATSF – Super Chief! CM3 – Thank you for the toast! Yeah, I made it and it feels very good! Now I have to go and get a nice cane. We had a great time in California with the X2000. I talked quite a bit with SP's vice chairman. He liked the X2000 a lot. Lars – Merry Christmas to you and your family!! I hope your Mrs. is feeling better! And you too. Your Christmas Card is actually a whole bunch of Christmas Cards and at least five of them are Swedish and one Norwegian (or Danish) (bottom right corner)! DL – Thanks for the round! A Merry Christmas to you ‘n Yours!!! Pete – Thanks for the best wishes! It is a nice feeling. All I need now is a cane. Thanks for the round!Rob – Thanks for the congrats! If I had known it was this nice to retire I would have done that a long time ago!Also thanks for the info on NS&T!! Very interesting! I added Andy Panko and John Mills to my book list. The NS&T photos are very interesting! JanOlov – Welcome back, good to see you again! I think today’s railroads need to be big to be able to keep and expand the infrastructure and rolling stock. The AeroTrain is something different. Not a big success, but different. Eric
<"Our" Place Christmas Holiday Train>
This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!
"Our" Place is CLOSED on Sunday and Christmas.
Saturday before Christmas ‘n all thru the bar, not a crittAH was stirring . . . okay, ‘nuf of that! Coffee's ready - pastries are fresh - ‘n the breakfasts are ready for orderin' - lets GO!
Customer Acknowledgments since my last narrative:
Friday - Dec 21st:
CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 9:10 AM: Nice to see "things" a bit normal ‘round here with a morning Post from our Resident WVA Connection!
Super-fine link on "things Pennsy" - especially my favorite locomotive, the GG1.
Nice thing about our model railroading interests is that there's so many options available - so whatever "works," does precisely that!
There have been times when I've wondered about those NH EPs - wondering as you have about "acceptance." Lionel had a decent looking version - but when I was involved with toy trains, not in my area of interest. I think Gilbert put one out too - something I'm not sure of though . . .
I recall those great looking AF Alco locos from "back in the day." While my favorite was <and remains> the Santa Fe <red war bonnet>, I concur that the NP was a fine looking specimen as well.
Many thanx for the dialogue - round ‘n quarters!
Lars (LoveDomes) at 9:20 AM: What a fine gift for the gang - a well thought out ‘n most innovative Christmas Greeting!
Five- Salute to the Manager!
Dan (DL-UK) at 11:11 AM: Two days in a row with a visit from our Resident UK Connection - after a considerable absence! Good to see ya ‘n appreciate the thoughts directed our way!
Round helps too!
Pete (pwolfe) at 12:33 PM: Oh yeah, today is Doc Day for the Wolfman! Hope all turns out just fine!
Round ‘n visit appreciated!
Saturday - Dec 22nd:
Rob (trolleyboy) at 1:07 AM ‘n 1:15 AM: A "two-fer" from our Resident Ontario Connection - Count Robulla, another nocturnal fellow at the bar!
As with where you are, our snow from less than a week ago is nothing but a memory. Temps have been in the 50s (F) ‘n while that sounds good to many, it ain't winter for the likes of Moi! <groan> Supposed to get rain later on ‘n into tomorrow. <barf> Doesn't appear as if we'll get anything close to a white Christmas.
While the summer is oh so far off - planning for a trip begins early. So, keep in mind that if the St. Louis Museum of Transportation <Kirkwood> is in your plans - some days are far better than others. So check with me before you lock anything in, okay I'm sure we'll be kicking this about via Email ‘n over the fone . . . Of course the Can-Am Trainroom is open year ‘round with no "cover charge" for friends from the bar! TrainWreck Saloon
-Well good morning Cindy don't you look wondefull in that Victoria secrets Santa suit
Tom-Yup they gotta milk every last cent , I figure that to asve time we should install a machine at the front door that picks them up and shakes them over a grate thus collecting all the loose change Hopefully the critters are not stiring anything, you know what teh mentor health dept said the last time
Jan=Nice to see you sir thanks for the christmas cheer,I'm on my way to work at the moment so it will only cost you a spiked coffee okay Cindy ( she can sit on my lap any time [swg )Yes they did say that about Alco's I've always thought that when they were idelling they sounded like an old man gurgling phlegm as well
Eric-Hope your sleeping in on your first day of retirment.Just don't be shocke dby teh prices of those two books should you find them.
HI Tom and all.
A pint of Bathams please CINDY.
TOM It was good to read about the Southern Pacific in the Railroads from Yesteryear encore. It seems the railroad was the first to use oil as a fuel for locomotives. It said the SP cab-forwards were the only locos of that type in North America, but I don't know of any other country that had cab forward steamers, so the SP locos could be unique, and talking to someone at the Sacramento museum it is fortunate that the only survivor of that type was saved.
Many thanks for those great Lionel and American Flyer catalogs, loved the 1959 AF one.
I mentioned the movie we saw to the bride and she recognized it straight away and knew the Narrow Margin title, she agreed it is a great movie, I am sure it will be welcomed at the Emporium on its rerun.
Great photos from my visit, two very rare ones of me, with no black bag in sight.
I too thought the photo quiz to Eric would at least make him think a little but no, we will have to make it a lot harder next time.
Drumheads by the Dozen, great. I do hope we can get to Green Bay and see the fine collection of Drumheads they have on display at the NRM.
Doc's visit went OK thanks, but he would not give me a prescription for the Train Wreck. I told him it does me more good than any pills.
ROB I had the same thing in school it was all the imperial system of measurements and then they decided we had better get ready for metrification, also our money changed in the UK, from 240 pennies in the pound (12 pennies= 1 shilling. 20 shillings =1pound) to 100 new pence to the pound. Perhaps they done this to make the mass inflation of the 1970s not seem as bad.
Enjoyed reading the Classic Diesels on the early days of the B&O diesels. I guess they refurbished the locomotives they already had in the 1930s with only a total of 44 new locos in that decade. I guess the diesels had to come in but having seen photos of some of the B&O large steam locos I bet a lot of B&O railfans were sad to see them go.
Many congratulations on your reinstatement it was good to see the dunk tank is still watertight. The CN car was the ‘Mentis' I believe.
It would be really great if you could get down here it would be a real pleasure to meet you in person. Many thanks for the NS&T photos.
SVEN Many thanks for the great links on the Malmbanan line. Really enjoyed looking at the great photos in the links. I can still remember that a British Trains Annual, which was a Christmas present to me in 1962, had an article of the railway at Narvick; it made an impression on a young teen.
Really glad you are enjoying yourself at the bar it is great to have you here.
LARS Really great Christmas Card and really great words BUT I MUST add your name to the list to the people who make Our Place the wonderful place it is. I too will have a quiet thought for BK at this time of year.
Tom and I was trying to imagine you with us at the Train Wreck Saloon, it would have been great. I think the buffalo is in the bar so when
"Our" Place is CLOSED on Sunday and Christmas!
REMINDER: The drinks are on Jan for the remainder of the year! Put your money aside - it's been paid for! Five- Salute to Jan for his continuing generosities!
Most pleased to see our "reborn regular" this Saturday <during daylite at that!> - trolleyMAN Rob - our Resident Ontario Connection!
Hmmmmmm, now that our "other" Canadian Connection has returned to port - guess he's doing other things. Wish he'd swing by - at least for a "nog" 'n to acknowledge the guys who have directed comments his way . . .
Anyway, appreciate your taking the time to "pop" in - BUT I am NOT pleased with ANY comments directed toward MY CINDY! <mine, mine, mine!> <grrrrrrrrrrrrr> If there's any laps to be sat upon, it won't be yours! <double grrrrrrrrrrr> <uh oh>
AND just caught a super-fine inclusive, informative 'n most interesting Post from our friend, Wolfman Pete on this Saturday afternoon! Figured he'd make it in early - given the free drinks 'til the end of 2007! <grin> BUT - he's hardly a penny-pincher, quite contrary. He's a most generous Mate at the bar - more than willing to buy a round 'n then some!
Okay - 'nuf of that . . . today is set aside for reruns 'n fotos . . . so, these are my "no rhyme or reason selections from the archives - all shown over the past years at the bar - check 'em out!
Globe Models A unit
Globe Models B unit
Alco-GE
Fairbanks-Morse
ElectroMotive Division
BESA Class 4-6-0 of India Railways
From the balcony at Mentor Village's Emporium Theatre!
Mentor Village Public Works Dept. at work for YOU!
The MESS at CN yards along the Can-Am Railway!
Outta date - but cute!
Something to thiMk about! <aboot for our friends above the 49th!>
Here are some of my favorite personal fotos - all of which have been displayed at the bar either over on the Original Thread or here or both!
My avatar foto . . . . VIA Rail's observation dome car - Revelstoke Park on the eastbound "Ocean" at Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada . . .
From the Revelstoke Park observation dome in New Brunswick, Canada aboard VIA Rail's eastbound "Ocean"
Eastbound VIA Rail "Ocean" arrives at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - observation dome is Banff Park
Departure preparation at Halifax - westbound "Ocean" F40PH locos 'n baggage car across the platform from the Budd streamlined consist.
The Glacier Park observation dome at the rear of VIA Rail's westbound "Canadian" at Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada . . .
This was taken from the observation dome of the eastbound VIA Rail "Canadian" . . . Mt. Robson is the highest in the Canadian Rockies.
VIA Rail's eastbound "Canadian" at Jasper, Alberta, Canada - <my ill-fated Norwalk Virus trip>
ENCORE! Saturday ‘n Photo Posting Day!
at "Our" Place!
We are CLOSED on SUNDAYs - and - Christmas Day!
. . . December 23rd to 29th: The Polar Express (2004) Starring: Tom Hanks, Leslie Harter Zemeckis, Eddie Deezen & Nona Gaye - and - Scrooge (1970) Starring: Albert Finney, Alec Guinness, Edith Evans & Kenneth More. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Busy Buddies (1944).
The Polar Express (2004)
PLOT SUMMARY: Destined to become a holiday perennial, The Polar Express also heralded a brave new world of all-digital filmmaking. Critics and audiences were divided between those who hailed it as an instant classic that captures the visual splendor and evocative innocence of Chris Van Allsburg's popular children's book, and those who felt that the innovative use of "performance capture"--to accurately translate live performances into all-digital characters--was an eerie and not-quite-lifelike distraction from the story's epic-scale North Pole adventure. In any case it's a benign, kind-hearted celebration of the yuletide spirit, especially for kids who have almost grown out of their need to believe in Santa Claus. Tom Hanks is the nominal "star" who performs five different computer-generated characters, but it's the visuals that steal this show, as director Robert Zemeckis indulges his tireless pursuit of technological innovation. No matter how you respond to the many wonders on display, it's clear that The Polar Express represents a significant milestone in the digital revolution of cinema. If it also fills you with the joy of Christmas (in spite of its Nuremberg-like rally of frantic elves), so much the better. --Jeff Shannon
Destined to become a holiday perennial, The Polar Express also heralded a brave new world of all-digital filmmaking. Critics and audiences were divided between those who hailed it as an instant classic that captures the visual splendor and evocative innocence of Chris Van Allsburg's popular children's book, and those who felt that the innovative use of "performance capture"--to accurately translate live performances into all-digital characters--was an eerie and not-quite-lifelike distraction from the story's epic-scale North Pole adventure. In any case it's a benign, kind-hearted celebration of the yuletide spirit, especially for kids who have almost grown out of their need to believe in Santa Claus. Tom Hanks is the nominal "star" who performs five different computer-generated characters, but it's the visuals that steal this show, as director Robert Zemeckis indulges his tireless pursuit of technological innovation. No matter how you respond to the many wonders on display, it's clear that The Polar Express represents a significant milestone in the digital revolution of cinema. If it also fills you with the joy of Christmas (in spite of its Nuremberg-like rally of frantic elves), so much the better. --Jeff Shannon
Scrooge (1970)
PLOT SUMMARY: Scrooge was a 1970 musical film adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic 1843 story, A Christmas Carol. It was filmed in London, directed by Ronald Neame, and starred Albert Finney in the title role. The film's musical score was composed by Leslie Bricusse and Ian Fraser. With eleven musical arrangements interspersed throughout (all retaining a traditional British air about them), the award-winning motion picture is a <close> musical retelling of the original.Overall, the film was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award in the UK, one Golden Laurel award, four Oscars, and five Golden Globes in the U.S.A., in which Albert Finney won as The Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical/Comedy in 1971. Finney was only 34 years old at the time he was chosen to play both the old miser and the young man Scrooge of fla Happy Railroading! Siberianmo JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, December 22, 2007 4:59 PM Greetings Tom and gentlemen....May I please have something STRONG to get rid this annoying cough that I've been handed...SP Cab Forwards....Cab Forward #4146 with train #14, Pacific Ltd, near Cisco, Cal., August 3, 1935. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4138 with train #621 a 95 car westbound freight train, near Klamath Falls, Ore., July 26, 1938. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4135 with a westbound freight train coming out of a snowshed, at Norden, Cal., August 4, 1935. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4001 with an eastbound freight train, with Mt. Shasta in the background, near Cougar, Cal., July 26, 1938. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4144 at Dunsmuir, Cal., July 25, 1938. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4111 at Norden, Cal., August 4, 1935. Photo by Otto PerryCredit: Photoswest All the best! Jan pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Saturday, December 22, 2007 6:41 PM HI Tom and all.Another Bathams XXX please LEON thanks to JAN's generosity.Back a bit later than expected, as a trip to the grocery store was needed but the upside was I found a six-bottle pack of Winter's Bourbon Ale..TOM I got the photobucket up and I decided I would do a mixed bag of photos, called in at the bar a saw 'great minds think alike'. Really enjoyed your selection. I'm sure Eric will like the Hooters calender, alough March and December look like a couple of mean birds.Not surprised some of your favorite photos are from your train travels in Canada. Marvellous scenery and travel in a dome car, it does not come much better.Great selection of films for Christmas Week. I think the Polar Express deserves to be listed among the all time great Christmas films and it will be great to see the musical Scrooge again. Last night we stayed up later than planned, as the version of 'A Christmas Carol' starring Patrick Stewart was showing on TV, we though it was very good. It sounds like a good one from the Stooges as well.JAN Many thanks for those great photos of the SP cab-forwards.They certainly were impressive locomotives.. Thanks for sharingNow for some photos.0-4-0 Saddle tank 'GUINNESS' in Ireland Engineers seat of a F Unit at ExpoRail Canada.Loco at the Essex Valley Railroad CONN.A class 91 Electric loco in Newcastle on Tyne Central station A dome on a dome.An old Streetcar in San FranciscoA San Francisco Cable CarA diesel from the NetherlandsA switcher at the Sacromento Railroad Museum.As it is Christmas, an easy quiz question for ERIC. What type of locomotive is this.A RDC at ExpoRail.TOM at ExpoRail.These should enlarge.Well LEON another Bathams and the Steakplease, then I will make sure the bar is well stocked.Pete. trolleyboy Member sinceMay 2014 3,727 posts Posted by trolleyboy on Saturday, December 22, 2007 11:13 PM evening Leon I think a Keith's for me and thanks again Jan your one heckava nice fella Tom-Ah some wonderfull memories from train travels past 5x for them sir.Sorry I keep forgetting that Cindy's lap is your lap still that little santa numeber was well extra speacial unlike the elf suits that left nothing to the imagination that H&H were prancing around in.Jan-Some mighty fine shots from you this afternoon as well thank-you Pete-Wow some great shots from you today as well all good ones to be sure. i'm supprised that you were able to get inside the F unit at exporail , alot of museum's are look only no touch certainly no go inside. I still find English money confusing but 240 pennies to a pound that's just wierd sorry !I bet that you have as much fun figuring out the where and the how espeacially now that you are in the US and the old pounds etc are again the measurments of the day. I've just about wrapped my head around the metrification , I don't think I'd survive going back againThere are places that they would send people that talk to Buffalo heads mounted on walls <uh oh >I'm not familiar with that car name , so I look forward to the pictures. Was it painted in Amtrak livery or is it still in CN or IC colours I wonder if it was maybe an IC car and that's why I don't remember or recognize the name. I know that CN got rid of most of the IC exec train when they took them over.Rob EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Sunday, December 23, 2007 1:40 AM Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!Leon, still awake? It is time for my Filet Mignon with mushrooms! The usual side orders and a cold Keith's! A pretty cold Saturday here in the desert! 57° for high! Freeze warning for Sunday morning! Turned on the heat in the dog house. Tom – Maybe it was a record for late/early appearances at the bar for me. But I am retired now and don’t care what time it is! I am concentrating on having fun now!You are right. It isn’t easy to find the right words quickly when you are in the center of things. But the lady to the far left in the photo mentioned our adventures in Mexico several years ago, when we were stopped by the customs and arrested for trying to smuggle a contakt press into Mexico. Everybody wanted to hear more. That might be a story for the Rendezvous (144 days from now!). That Globe Models A unit looks kind of short! Is that your own model? I guess Mentor Village Public Works Dept. is closed for the Holidays since they did not have time to finish that sidewalk. Wrong kind of Hooters! Parking for Drive-Thru makes sense!I love those photos from Canada! Good looking trains in a beautiful part of the country!The Polar Express at the Emporium! Didn’t that happen last year too? Maybe the beginning of a tradition at the Emporium!? Good choice!Rob – No sleeping in this first morning. Too many chores to get done before Christmas. I am sure those books you mentioned are expensive if I find them. Pete – You have to be firm when you talk to your doctor. If you feel you need a prescription for the Train Wreck then you should have it! My heart doctor told me I should only drink decaf coffee after my surgery. I told him that would kill me, I need the regular coffee to stay alive. After some negotiations he agreed to two cups of regular coffee/day. I have now increased that number to five. I am sure Manager Lars is delaying the release of the departure date of the trip until Ru..., oooops, I mean his special guest has decided when she is available. The cake was very delicious! A nice mix of photos from a number of different countries! UK, Canada, USA, and Holland. Another quiz for me!?! Hmmm, it looks like a Shay. I would guess it is Sierra Ry No. 2 Lima 1922 3T Shay at California State Railroad Museum. A photo of Captain Tom arriving to next Rendezvous!JanOlov – Some very nice pictures of SP’s Cab Forward locomotives! You better get rid of that cough.Thanks for the free drinks! Finally some photos. I apologize for a few oversized photos. MARC Cab Car. Swedish Electric Class F. X2000. Amtrak's RTL. Amtrak's F40. Swedish EMU Class X1. Swedish Electric Class Hg. Swedish Electric Class Ma. Eric siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Sunday, December 23, 2007 10:45 AM <"Our" Place Christmas Holiday Train> "Our" Place is CLOSED on SUNDAYs - and - CHRISTMAS! G'day Gents!A rare SUNDAY round of ACKNOWLDGEMENTS from the Proprietor . . . thought I'd get to ‘em while getting the place squared away for the Staff Christmas Eve Party! <Where's all the help when needed the most > Spoke with our Resident Canadian Maritime Mariner - Fergie - yesterday for well over an hour. He's great about maintaining fone comms ‘n it was good to hear from him! Sez all's well, but he's up to his <keester> in trying to catch up on the things he was supposed to do during the time of his last <surprise> deployment. Set him back a month . . . Anyway, passes regards to the crew ‘n hopes to at least "pop" in soon! Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Saturday - Dec 22nd:Rob (trolleyboy) at 9:30 AM: Saturday "quickie," with NO orderin' of anything! <uh oh> Fortunately, for YOU, the <tweeter> is being refitted for a new reed . . . Pete (pwolfe) at 12:25 PM: As you know, I'm not "big" on steam locos, but getting to know far more than I ever thought possible from the info being passed ‘round at the bar. Those cab forwards were something else ‘n perhaps one day we'll get someone to explain ‘em to the gang. Yeah, I understand that one of the reasons was to avoid the smoke from obscuring the view for the Engineer while going through those mountain tunnels <or at least that's what I had read "somewhere." Any amplifying "stuff" out there No sweat on the Rx for the TrainWreck Saloon - Dr. Gundlefinger <staff doc for "Our" Place> will put one in your mail box <next to the time clock>. I think that's a fine idea ‘n wonder why I haven't asked my doc for the same thing! <grin>Anytime a system of measurement is based on <ten> it seems far easier to do the "mental math," donchathink 240 seems rather weird to me for a "base number," but what do I know, eh I mean here we are still using the track gauge based on the width of carriage wheels in the UK . . . And here I thought you WERE speaking with the buffalo . . . <uh oh> Sorry if I ignored you - but then again, I'm only picking up every 3rd word again. Another fine Post from our Bar Chandler ‘n friend, Wolfman Pete! Jan (JanOlov) at 4:59 PM: Back with all kinds of great looking OPP <other people's photos> in the form of majestic ‘n awesome cab-forward steamers! I like the one with Mt. Shasta in the background . . . Hope you soon get over what's ailing ya - perhaps a "fifth" of JD might be a good start to healing! Thanx for the visit ‘n fotos! Pete (pwolfe) at 6:41 PM: Back as promised with a potpourri of fotos from his archives! I think that "dome on dome" is a sure-fire <keeper> and should be eligible for a prize of sorts. What a great shot! A five- fer sure! Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 23, 2007 2:10 PM Hi y'all at Our place. When I heard the drinks were on Jan, I couldn't stay away, so I'll have a Guinness please. I haven't been able to view all the posts, but of the ones I saw, they were outstanding pictures. Christmas presents are all bought, wrapped and under the tree. We celebrate on Christmas eve. Can't wait another day. All the family will be over along with a few friends. We are cooking a big dinner, roast beef, pork loin, stuffed mushrooms and all the trimmings. If there's anything left over, I'll be sure to drop them by on my next visit, if it's not too far off. My son hasn't made much money with his truck yet. It keeps breaking down, so the down time is spent fixing it. He has already replaced the trailers dump ram, the air compressor, generator and a few other smaller items. Eric: Congratulations on joining the ranks of the unemployed. You will find out that retirement is a lot of work. Maybe that's why so many people return to work after a brief spell. I had to buy a new laser printer, as the cost of a replacement drum for my old one was twice the cost of a new printer. Anyway, a Merry Christmas to all. My first toast on Christmas eve will be to all of you at Our place. Edit EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Sunday, December 23, 2007 11:51 PM Sunday night again! Seems like there has been some activities here today even though it is closed. Busy today preparing for Christmas. Almost done, saved some things for tomorrow morning. Tom – The main reasons for SP’s cab forward was to make it possible for the crew to breath (reason #1) and to see forward (reason #2) when the locomotive was running through the snowsheds and tunnels.Read and understood your opinion about coffee. I remember that the Polar Express was shown at the Emporium last year. I also recall we had some kind of discussion about some details (locomotive?) in that movie. Ron – Thanks for the congratulations! Feels good to finally have made it to the Golden Years! But I am not unemployed yet. Will work 20 hrs a week next year. Glad to hear that you are prepared and ready for Christmas! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!! We do also celebrate on Christmas eve. We went to IKEA a couple of weeks ago and got some good stuff to eat from the old country. Sorry to hear about your son’s problems with his truck. Hope he will have better luck next year!I'll be back Christmas eve.Eric siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Monday, December 24, 2007 7:33 AM <"Our" Place Christmas Holiday Train> A smile to begin the week! Its' never happened in World Series history, and it hasn't happened since.<A Yogi-ism!> G'day Gents!I've got the bar for this day - Ruth 'n the gang are off for the day! That magical day has arrived when kids of all ages can't get to sleep because of the excitement that has been building for soooooooo long. Then Christmas morning with presents under the tree - and so it goes. That's the way it was "back in the day" for me ‘n when helping to raise a family . . . good memories. Christmas Eve at "Our" Place means free breakfast - brunch - lunch ‘n specialty of the house tonite in the form of a buffet. Staff party begins at 8 PM . . . bar will remain open, but we're not expecting much of a crowd.Coffee's ready - pastries are fresh ‘n our breakfasts are ready for orderin' . . . Comments from the Proprietor: REMINDER: Drinks are on Jan Olov ‘til the New Year! So, don't be bashful - order away! Received an Email from Lars the Manager - he's planning to be back today - watch for it! Sez he finally had to "power down" to get over whatever has had him in its grip . . . <uh oh> Ruth, perhaps Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Sunday - Dec 23r: Ron (DD1) at 2:10 PM: Our Resident Southern Gentlemen down in Mississippi perhaps is using a different calendar than the rest of us <grin> - as we're CLOSED on Sundays. BUT, the message is appreciated . . . Drinks ARE on Jan ‘til the New Year - but we have to be OPEN to get ‘em! <uh oh>However - better to be thought of than not at all . . . so thanx for that! Eric (EricX2000) at 11:51 PM: X2000 in Canada <sweet!> A surprise, but most welcome Sunday nite visit 'n chat! Don't quite know how you or Pete will "take" the "news," BUT . . . Lars 'n are due to return to Can-Am City's Union Station on the afternoon Can-Am Railway's Trans-Mentor Limited. What's to say, OTHER than I think he <go Happy Railroading! Siberianmo JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Monday, December 24, 2007 7:52 AM Greetings Tom and gentlemen..... From me to all of you....*raises glass*Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhma mhath ur! (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!)May the best ye've ever seenBe the warst ye'll ever see.May the moose ne'er lea' yer aumrieWi' a tear-drap in his e'e.May ye aye keep hail an' hertieTill ye're auld eneuch tae dee.May ye aye be jist as happyAs we wiss ye noo tae be. All the best! Jan Fergmiester Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Out on the Briny Ocean Tossed 4,240 posts Posted by Fergmiester on Monday, December 24, 2007 7:52 AM Merry Christmas Captain Tom and crew! siberianmo wrote:...and I used to drink 20-25 mugs a day - that's right, 20-25. Put me on my <keester> and after an 8-day stint in the intensive care unit (ICU) ‘n recovery room for a suspected heart attack, became a believer. Do as you will - but you are only fooling yourself. And on that note I'll have a beer!I may have 2-3 a day as any more than that causes me to get the shakes and jitters. Water and wine is my forte.Speaking of which I'll have the Christmas Eve Brunch Special Poached, Canadian Back Bacon and Potato Pancakes.Anyway to-day is a train day as it's raining hard outside and the MESS is finally rolling once again!On behalf of Lisa and the boys I will wish you and yours a Very Merry Christmas. May it be safe, festive and enjoyed with friends and loved ones! (and remember too much eggnog will spoil your apetite! get rid of the eggs!!)Fergie http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959 If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007 siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Monday, December 24, 2007 9:08 AM A most warm Christmas greeting to all of our friends and their loved ones at this special time of year! Pete the Bar Chandler 'n traveling companion - Eric the Nocturnal Desert RETIRED Swede - CM3 Shane the all things railroad aficionado - Rob the trolleyMAN - Lars the Manager 'n 1st Mate - Mike the URLMeisterMonster - Sven the Cheesehead Swede - James the Milwauakee Road kid - Dan the UK rail ‘n pub man - Doug the barn weevil - Allan the downunder Kiwi - Nick the irrepressible in Wales - Ron the Southern Gentleman transplant - Fergie the not so ancient mariner - Dave the west coast disappearing act - Jan the most generous Swede in Scotland - ‘n Per the Cowboy Swede! Many thanx for making "Our" Place YOUR place in 2007! A most heartfelt greeting to Bud Karr in memory of his beloved Lydia. Only the BEST of health and happiness for you and yours!Tom - Juneau - Cindy - Ruth - Boris - Leon - Awk - Tex - Frostbite ‘n Artie! <All Christmas images courtesy of: http://www.geocities.com/~bug_hut/Christmas1997/contents.html> Happy Railroading! Siberianmo LoveDomes Member sinceJanuary 2006 From: northeast U.S. 1,225 posts Posted by LoveDomes on Monday, December 24, 2007 12:15 PM Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!Drinks on JAN!! My JINTS are IN - my JINTS are IN!! <phew> Bring on the playoffs - but maybe a week or two of recharging is needed, huh Just stopped by to check on last minute arrangements for the Staff Gala event tonight! Looks like Da Bossman beat me to it, as everything is set up ‘n at the READY! Been feeling like crap with the EXCEPTION of a memorable trip aboard the Can-Am Ltd with Ru . . . my "friend." <oooooooops> Finally "cashed in" my prize ‘n it came at the right time. I'll tell ya this, they do it right aboard the Cam-Am Railways passenger trains - a hot tub in the drawing room suite! Can you imagine THAT?!?!?! Had all I could "do" but to drag myself out of it ‘n up to the DOME! Two wonderful days ‘n nights with all the "trimmings" <and then some!> - What a prize! I'm NOT sorry that Eric ‘n Pete didn't accompany us. They thought I was falling for their "line o' crap," HA! Not so, mateys! <grin> That will be THE DAY when I willingly let either of you <much less both> "intrude" on my PERSONAL life! HA! With the staff having the day off, things ‘round here are pretty quiet I note. Boris has fed the crittAHs ‘n devoured a couple of LARGE jars of PPF I see. Hmmmmmm. <grin> Leave for a couple of days ‘n things CHANGE . . . happens every time, huh Looking at all the wonderful material provided just in the past few days, a 5- to those who demonstrate ovAH 'n ovAH their support for OUR Watering Hole by the Wayside! Nice Christmas greetings 'n wishes from several, along with the "extra effort" <as usual> from Da Bossman! Also a nice "family" message from Fergie . . . In reviewing all of those names our Cap'n put in his Christmas card it just amazes me how many have stuck it out. Many have fallen by the wayside - the worst of 'em couldn't find it within themselves to even tell us WHY and some continue to appear elsewhere . . . ok, ok - control myself! <phew> But again - MY best wishes are extended to those who demonstrate ovAH 'n ovAH how much support they give to this bar of OURS! You ARE the guyz that COUNT in my book! Thought I'd simply add a few images to the "list" of Christmas trains - all from the Larsman Mobile- Toy 'n Model Train Annex of course . . . 1955 AF catalog1955 AF catalog (2nd one)1956 AF catalog1956 AF catalog (2nd one)1957 AF catalog1958 AF catalog Once again - as mentioned in my Christmas ‘card' on Friday - have the Merriest of wanswheel Member sinceNovember 2005 4,190 posts Posted by wanswheel on Monday, December 24, 2007 12:51 PM Hi Tom and everyone, a round for the house Safe travels, friends, and go easy on the eggnog!'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the housenot a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds,while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap. When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.Away to the window I flew like a flash,tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash. The moon on the brest of the new-fallen snowgave the lustre of midday to objects below,when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. With a little old driver, so lively and quick,I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.More rapid than eagles, his coursers they came,and he whistled and shouted and called them by name: "Now Dasher! Now Dancer!Now, Prancer and Vixen!On, Comet! On, Cupid!On, Donner and Blitzen!To the top of the porch!To the top of the wall!Now dash away! Dash away!Dash away all!" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the skyso up to the house-top the coursers they flew,with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roofthe prancing and pawing of each little hoof.As I drew in my head and was turning around,down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes--how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.He had a broad face and a little round belly,that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.A wink of his eye and a twist of his headsoon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.And laying his finger aside of his nose,and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,"Happy Christmas to all..." Mike siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Monday, December 24, 2007 1:55 PM Reminder: "Our" Place is CLOSED on CHRISTMAS! G'day Gents!Always a suprise or three 'round the Bar by the Ballast as we've been visited by Jan - Fergie - Lars 'n Mike on this day before THE DAY! Here's another installment of my new series - Classic Drumheads by the Dozen - to keep the "flavor" of Classic REAL Trains alive 'n well here at the Saloon by the Siding! Now Arriving on Track #2Classic Drumheads by the Dozen - #2 (1) DRG&W - California Zephyr(2) Erie - Pacific Express(3) GN - The Cascadian(4) IC - Panama Limited(5) KCS - The Flying Crow(6) L&N - The Pan-American(7) NH - The Yankee Clipper(8) NYC - The Pacemaker(9) NP - North Coast Ltd(10) PRR - The Broadway Ltd(11) CRI&P - Twin Star Rocket(12) Soo - Twin Cities - Seattle* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Enjoy! Tom Happy Railroading! Siberianmo siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Monday, December 24, 2007 3:02 PM Reminder: "Our" Place is CLOSED on CHRISTMAS! G'day Gents!My finale for this day . . . <inspired by wanswheel Mike> See y'all on Wednesday! Tom Happy Railroading! Siberianmo pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Monday, December 24, 2007 4:33 PM Hi Tom and all.I see you are tending bar Tom as the staff are relaxing and getting ready for the staff party, I hope it is in the navy tradition where the officers serve the men so Manager Lars will wait on his humble chandler, with pitchers of Bathams etc. We have had a most generous year with the tip jar so the mascots and staff have lots of gifts under the tree; yes I did notice BORIS's present said, "Air pump included".ROB Thanks for the kind words on the photos, yes it was great that you were allowed to visit the inside of some exhibits. They had steps so you could go through the corridor tender of the A4 Dominion of Canada into the cab of the locomotive.I do not know how they came up with the British system of money, although it seemed natural to us at the time, but doing math with the old money in pounds, shillings and pence, especially long division, was tricky. A thought occurred to me that there would have to be special calculators for the UK. I can still remember ‘Farthings' which were a quarter of an old penny. Nowadays the smallest coin is 1 penny, which is equal to two and a half old pence. The lowest bank note now in the UK is 5 pounds, with 2pounds and1 pound being coins. I still call the 5 pence coin a shilling and the 10pence one 2 bob.The car is painted in a brown livery with Canadian National just below the roof. I have put the film in for developing so hopefully should have it back soon.ERIC Well what do you think Manager Lars done the dirty on us and went on his trip on the Can-Am leaving us behind. I thought I saw someone in a tuxedo the other night,but I put it down to a trick of the light and the Bathams XXXs making FROSTBITE seem 6 feet tall.HA! I bet the ‘Hot Tub' was really the Dunk tank with a bit of silver foil wrapped round it, not that I am bitter or anything.Yes it seems the doctors don't want us to have any fun at all, but Tom says some wise words.On the quiz I see we are going to have to make the questions a lot harder.Many thanks for those great photos of the older and more modern cabs; they really show how they have changed over the years. Love the brass controller on the Hg, what is the badge on the hat, and I noticed the coffee cup in the Class F cab Thanks for sharing.RON Great to see you in the bar before Christmas, it sounds you are all ready to have a great time. I do hope your sons truck is OK soon, I am sure when the new items are fitted it will be like new and hopefully give years of trouble free service.Many thanks for thinking of us at the bar with the toast.JAN Many thanks for the Scottish Toast and the wishes. I have never had the pleasure of seeing in the New Year in Scotland I have heard it is very special.FERGIE What a great thing to do when it is raining hard to have the MESS running. Many thanks for the Christmas Wishes.LARS I can't believe you would not want to take a couple of such as ERIC and I along with you but seeing as it is Christmas I am glad you had such a great time on The Can-Am.Many thanks for the best wishes, as Tom's list shows we still have some great people at the bar, may I say the bar is looking far healthier now than at this same time last year, if my memory serves.Many thanks for those great AF covers; I wonder how many kids woke up on Christmas morning, with delight, to find som EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Monday, December 24, 2007 10:40 PM Merry Christmas from all of us in the (cold) desert to all guests at "Our" Place and their families!!! After Christmas we have 2008 waiting behind Boris’ shed so I also wish you all a Very Happy New Year!!! So, finally, all we have to do is wait for Santa to show up! Tom – I can hear the staff party is really going wild tonight! One of the track gangs is here as well and they are all dressed as Santas. I think at least half of them are more or less knocked out. Too much to eat??? At least Lars proved one thing, one can’t trust a manager! But the fun part of his trip has been documented. Ruth borrowed a little camera that she took along on the trip. She said she wanted some memories! Nice drumheads! The Flying Crow, that is a strange name for a train! I’ll pick GN’s The Cascadian! I like those old Christmas cards/ads! With trains and Santa! A perfect addition to Mike’s post!Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours. Of course including Juneau. JanOlov – Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too! Fergie – Glad to hear that the MESS is up and running again! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!Lars – That was a dirty trick, leaving on your trip without Pete and me! We wanted to make your trip perfect and now see what you got. Oh, BTW, Ru... your friend was very happy she were able to use the camera she borrowed during the trip. “Wanted some memories,” she said. Boris was looking at all the photos tonight. He’s sitting behind the bar, looking and looking.But since it is Christmas time we’ll forgive you, maybe. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Very nice model trains catalogs! Mike – The perfect post for a perfect Christmas! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Pete – Don’t be too upset about Manager Lars dirty trick. Just ask Ruth to see her photos from the trip! I lost that camera she borrowed but it was worth it. I don’t mind if every quiz is easy. Makes me look smart! The badge on my hat is the railroad’s logo, a wheel with wings and three crowns on top of them. Some very nice photos! That Jones train is really different. Check the trucks! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!!!And here is Santa himself! Ho, Ho, Ho!Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Eric Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 1:16 PM Merry Christmas to all of you my fellow patrons!Good Afternoon' Ruth! No Ruth here! And the door closed! I am so sad to find your door closed today, when I finally have some time to visit. Thank you Boris for letting me in. No I won't tell anybody what you did, and that you tend bar, fix food, and drinks today.Ja, ja, I hear you Awk. Just be patient until I have ordered and gotten something to share.(Pete thank you for warning me about Awk. Little too late though. I already have bandages on two fingers and on my nose. Not a pretty sight). Yes, I would like a cup of strong Gevalia coffee. I like it served in a cup on a saucer. Sorry if I sound demanding, but I know that this place really goes all the way out for its patrons. I have even heard rumors that Boris is going to dig through his shed, to find parts to put together a donut machine to be set up in the Rats Patoot Room. I see Tom has good connections, and found donut machine at the Mentor Village Bakery. Really nice of the Grundelinks to let it go. The Galley is OK with me. But before that is accomplished, I'll take two of your Danish. One with yellow gook in the middle, and one with that dark blue that is supposed to be blueberries. Bossman Tom mentioned I should elaborate some about Gevalia the other day. Here is a link for some information:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GevaliaThere you can see that Gevalia holds the Royal Warrant for coffee roasters from the H.M. the King of Sweden. Thus Gevalia is fit both for the King and I. We actually subscribe, and get a package Gevalia in the mail ever so often.During our travel as tourists by train in the US in the 70ies, my wife and I had a layover in Seattle, WA. There I remember we found a restaurant in which the food was brought out from the kitchen on a model train. The train stopped at the table, and you unloaded your plate. There were tracks around the restaurant, and I think there was a lift bridge at the door. I think the restaurant was name the Iron Horse or something similar. I do not know if it still exists. Maybe I should talk to the proprietor of this establishment to lay out some tracks and then you can order your food or drink on a named train. "I need a Roth beer on the Southern Pacific to arrive at table 11", or "a Belgian Waffle on Burlington Northern to arrive at table 3, at 9.37 AM".Enough rambling. Allan. I did not see nay wolves, but a lot of reindeer and a bobcat from time to time while working up in Northern Sweden. The deer were a nuisance as the frequently walked in the tracks and were un over by the trains. Coalminer I also go with N. I had a fairly nice layout in Sweden. Now all are in boxes in the garage. I know of a Swede who had a desk with an oversize drawer with a N-layout in.Erik, and many more. I enjoy greatly all photos. Weather it is exteriors, interiors or environment. Photos and other pictures brings an extra dimension to the chat the bar. One day I might get a new scanner again, and learn how to share from my collection. Time will tell.Time will also tell when we meet here again. I'll be back, and hope to see Ruth again behind the bar. No, NO , no offence Boris. The coffee was strong enough. Sorry I broke the spoon while stirring it.Sven Edit JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 3:57 AM Greetings Tom and gentlemen....Just thought that I'd stop to see what's going on..... Nice and quiet in here I see, I'll just make myself a cup of hot Gevalia and some sandwiches to go with it. Will be nice to have some taste of the good ol' country in the east.See you soon again....Season Greetings to you all! All the best! 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Scrooge was a 1970 musical film adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic 1843 story, A Christmas Carol. It was filmed in London, directed by Ronald Neame, and starred Albert Finney in the title role. The film's musical score was composed by Leslie Bricusse and Ian Fraser. With eleven musical arrangements interspersed throughout (all retaining a traditional British air about them), the award-winning motion picture is a <close> musical retelling of the original.Overall, the film was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award in the UK, one Golden Laurel award, four Oscars, and five Golden Globes in the U.S.A., in which Albert Finney won as The Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical/Comedy in 1971. Finney was only 34 years old at the time he was chosen to play both the old miser and the young man Scrooge of fla Happy Railroading! Siberianmo JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Saturday, December 22, 2007 4:59 PM Greetings Tom and gentlemen....May I please have something STRONG to get rid this annoying cough that I've been handed...SP Cab Forwards....Cab Forward #4146 with train #14, Pacific Ltd, near Cisco, Cal., August 3, 1935. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4138 with train #621 a 95 car westbound freight train, near Klamath Falls, Ore., July 26, 1938. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4135 with a westbound freight train coming out of a snowshed, at Norden, Cal., August 4, 1935. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4001 with an eastbound freight train, with Mt. Shasta in the background, near Cougar, Cal., July 26, 1938. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4144 at Dunsmuir, Cal., July 25, 1938. Photo by Otto PerryCab Forward #4111 at Norden, Cal., August 4, 1935. Photo by Otto PerryCredit: Photoswest All the best! Jan pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Saturday, December 22, 2007 6:41 PM HI Tom and all.Another Bathams XXX please LEON thanks to JAN's generosity.Back a bit later than expected, as a trip to the grocery store was needed but the upside was I found a six-bottle pack of Winter's Bourbon Ale..TOM I got the photobucket up and I decided I would do a mixed bag of photos, called in at the bar a saw 'great minds think alike'. Really enjoyed your selection. I'm sure Eric will like the Hooters calender, alough March and December look like a couple of mean birds.Not surprised some of your favorite photos are from your train travels in Canada. Marvellous scenery and travel in a dome car, it does not come much better.Great selection of films for Christmas Week. I think the Polar Express deserves to be listed among the all time great Christmas films and it will be great to see the musical Scrooge again. Last night we stayed up later than planned, as the version of 'A Christmas Carol' starring Patrick Stewart was showing on TV, we though it was very good. It sounds like a good one from the Stooges as well.JAN Many thanks for those great photos of the SP cab-forwards.They certainly were impressive locomotives.. Thanks for sharingNow for some photos.0-4-0 Saddle tank 'GUINNESS' in Ireland Engineers seat of a F Unit at ExpoRail Canada.Loco at the Essex Valley Railroad CONN.A class 91 Electric loco in Newcastle on Tyne Central station A dome on a dome.An old Streetcar in San FranciscoA San Francisco Cable CarA diesel from the NetherlandsA switcher at the Sacromento Railroad Museum.As it is Christmas, an easy quiz question for ERIC. What type of locomotive is this.A RDC at ExpoRail.TOM at ExpoRail.These should enlarge.Well LEON another Bathams and the Steakplease, then I will make sure the bar is well stocked.Pete. trolleyboy Member sinceMay 2014 3,727 posts Posted by trolleyboy on Saturday, December 22, 2007 11:13 PM evening Leon I think a Keith's for me and thanks again Jan your one heckava nice fella Tom-Ah some wonderfull memories from train travels past 5x for them sir.Sorry I keep forgetting that Cindy's lap is your lap still that little santa numeber was well extra speacial unlike the elf suits that left nothing to the imagination that H&H were prancing around in.Jan-Some mighty fine shots from you this afternoon as well thank-you Pete-Wow some great shots from you today as well all good ones to be sure. i'm supprised that you were able to get inside the F unit at exporail , alot of museum's are look only no touch certainly no go inside. I still find English money confusing but 240 pennies to a pound that's just wierd sorry !I bet that you have as much fun figuring out the where and the how espeacially now that you are in the US and the old pounds etc are again the measurments of the day. I've just about wrapped my head around the metrification , I don't think I'd survive going back againThere are places that they would send people that talk to Buffalo heads mounted on walls <uh oh >I'm not familiar with that car name , so I look forward to the pictures. Was it painted in Amtrak livery or is it still in CN or IC colours I wonder if it was maybe an IC car and that's why I don't remember or recognize the name. I know that CN got rid of most of the IC exec train when they took them over.Rob EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Sunday, December 23, 2007 1:40 AM Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!Leon, still awake? It is time for my Filet Mignon with mushrooms! The usual side orders and a cold Keith's! A pretty cold Saturday here in the desert! 57° for high! Freeze warning for Sunday morning! Turned on the heat in the dog house. Tom – Maybe it was a record for late/early appearances at the bar for me. But I am retired now and don’t care what time it is! I am concentrating on having fun now!You are right. It isn’t easy to find the right words quickly when you are in the center of things. But the lady to the far left in the photo mentioned our adventures in Mexico several years ago, when we were stopped by the customs and arrested for trying to smuggle a contakt press into Mexico. Everybody wanted to hear more. That might be a story for the Rendezvous (144 days from now!). That Globe Models A unit looks kind of short! Is that your own model? I guess Mentor Village Public Works Dept. is closed for the Holidays since they did not have time to finish that sidewalk. Wrong kind of Hooters! Parking for Drive-Thru makes sense!I love those photos from Canada! Good looking trains in a beautiful part of the country!The Polar Express at the Emporium! Didn’t that happen last year too? Maybe the beginning of a tradition at the Emporium!? Good choice!Rob – No sleeping in this first morning. Too many chores to get done before Christmas. I am sure those books you mentioned are expensive if I find them. Pete – You have to be firm when you talk to your doctor. If you feel you need a prescription for the Train Wreck then you should have it! My heart doctor told me I should only drink decaf coffee after my surgery. I told him that would kill me, I need the regular coffee to stay alive. After some negotiations he agreed to two cups of regular coffee/day. I have now increased that number to five. I am sure Manager Lars is delaying the release of the departure date of the trip until Ru..., oooops, I mean his special guest has decided when she is available. The cake was very delicious! A nice mix of photos from a number of different countries! UK, Canada, USA, and Holland. Another quiz for me!?! Hmmm, it looks like a Shay. I would guess it is Sierra Ry No. 2 Lima 1922 3T Shay at California State Railroad Museum. A photo of Captain Tom arriving to next Rendezvous!JanOlov – Some very nice pictures of SP’s Cab Forward locomotives! You better get rid of that cough.Thanks for the free drinks! Finally some photos. I apologize for a few oversized photos. MARC Cab Car. Swedish Electric Class F. X2000. Amtrak's RTL. Amtrak's F40. Swedish EMU Class X1. Swedish Electric Class Hg. Swedish Electric Class Ma. Eric siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Sunday, December 23, 2007 10:45 AM <"Our" Place Christmas Holiday Train> "Our" Place is CLOSED on SUNDAYs - and - CHRISTMAS! G'day Gents!A rare SUNDAY round of ACKNOWLDGEMENTS from the Proprietor . . . thought I'd get to ‘em while getting the place squared away for the Staff Christmas Eve Party! <Where's all the help when needed the most > Spoke with our Resident Canadian Maritime Mariner - Fergie - yesterday for well over an hour. He's great about maintaining fone comms ‘n it was good to hear from him! Sez all's well, but he's up to his <keester> in trying to catch up on the things he was supposed to do during the time of his last <surprise> deployment. Set him back a month . . . Anyway, passes regards to the crew ‘n hopes to at least "pop" in soon! Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Saturday - Dec 22nd:Rob (trolleyboy) at 9:30 AM: Saturday "quickie," with NO orderin' of anything! <uh oh> Fortunately, for YOU, the <tweeter> is being refitted for a new reed . . . Pete (pwolfe) at 12:25 PM: As you know, I'm not "big" on steam locos, but getting to know far more than I ever thought possible from the info being passed ‘round at the bar. Those cab forwards were something else ‘n perhaps one day we'll get someone to explain ‘em to the gang. Yeah, I understand that one of the reasons was to avoid the smoke from obscuring the view for the Engineer while going through those mountain tunnels <or at least that's what I had read "somewhere." Any amplifying "stuff" out there No sweat on the Rx for the TrainWreck Saloon - Dr. Gundlefinger <staff doc for "Our" Place> will put one in your mail box <next to the time clock>. I think that's a fine idea ‘n wonder why I haven't asked my doc for the same thing! <grin>Anytime a system of measurement is based on <ten> it seems far easier to do the "mental math," donchathink 240 seems rather weird to me for a "base number," but what do I know, eh I mean here we are still using the track gauge based on the width of carriage wheels in the UK . . . And here I thought you WERE speaking with the buffalo . . . <uh oh> Sorry if I ignored you - but then again, I'm only picking up every 3rd word again. Another fine Post from our Bar Chandler ‘n friend, Wolfman Pete! Jan (JanOlov) at 4:59 PM: Back with all kinds of great looking OPP <other people's photos> in the form of majestic ‘n awesome cab-forward steamers! I like the one with Mt. Shasta in the background . . . Hope you soon get over what's ailing ya - perhaps a "fifth" of JD might be a good start to healing! Thanx for the visit ‘n fotos! Pete (pwolfe) at 6:41 PM: Back as promised with a potpourri of fotos from his archives! I think that "dome on dome" is a sure-fire <keeper> and should be eligible for a prize of sorts. What a great shot! A five- fer sure! Happy Railroading! Siberianmo Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 23, 2007 2:10 PM Hi y'all at Our place. When I heard the drinks were on Jan, I couldn't stay away, so I'll have a Guinness please. I haven't been able to view all the posts, but of the ones I saw, they were outstanding pictures. Christmas presents are all bought, wrapped and under the tree. We celebrate on Christmas eve. Can't wait another day. All the family will be over along with a few friends. We are cooking a big dinner, roast beef, pork loin, stuffed mushrooms and all the trimmings. If there's anything left over, I'll be sure to drop them by on my next visit, if it's not too far off. My son hasn't made much money with his truck yet. It keeps breaking down, so the down time is spent fixing it. He has already replaced the trailers dump ram, the air compressor, generator and a few other smaller items. Eric: Congratulations on joining the ranks of the unemployed. You will find out that retirement is a lot of work. Maybe that's why so many people return to work after a brief spell. I had to buy a new laser printer, as the cost of a replacement drum for my old one was twice the cost of a new printer. Anyway, a Merry Christmas to all. My first toast on Christmas eve will be to all of you at Our place. Edit EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Sunday, December 23, 2007 11:51 PM Sunday night again! Seems like there has been some activities here today even though it is closed. Busy today preparing for Christmas. Almost done, saved some things for tomorrow morning. Tom – The main reasons for SP’s cab forward was to make it possible for the crew to breath (reason #1) and to see forward (reason #2) when the locomotive was running through the snowsheds and tunnels.Read and understood your opinion about coffee. I remember that the Polar Express was shown at the Emporium last year. I also recall we had some kind of discussion about some details (locomotive?) in that movie. Ron – Thanks for the congratulations! Feels good to finally have made it to the Golden Years! But I am not unemployed yet. Will work 20 hrs a week next year. Glad to hear that you are prepared and ready for Christmas! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!! We do also celebrate on Christmas eve. We went to IKEA a couple of weeks ago and got some good stuff to eat from the old country. Sorry to hear about your son’s problems with his truck. Hope he will have better luck next year!I'll be back Christmas eve.Eric siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Monday, December 24, 2007 7:33 AM <"Our" Place Christmas Holiday Train> A smile to begin the week! Its' never happened in World Series history, and it hasn't happened since.<A Yogi-ism!> G'day Gents!I've got the bar for this day - Ruth 'n the gang are off for the day! That magical day has arrived when kids of all ages can't get to sleep because of the excitement that has been building for soooooooo long. Then Christmas morning with presents under the tree - and so it goes. That's the way it was "back in the day" for me ‘n when helping to raise a family . . . good memories. Christmas Eve at "Our" Place means free breakfast - brunch - lunch ‘n specialty of the house tonite in the form of a buffet. Staff party begins at 8 PM . . . bar will remain open, but we're not expecting much of a crowd.Coffee's ready - pastries are fresh ‘n our breakfasts are ready for orderin' . . . Comments from the Proprietor: REMINDER: Drinks are on Jan Olov ‘til the New Year! So, don't be bashful - order away! Received an Email from Lars the Manager - he's planning to be back today - watch for it! Sez he finally had to "power down" to get over whatever has had him in its grip . . . <uh oh> Ruth, perhaps Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative) Sunday - Dec 23r: Ron (DD1) at 2:10 PM: Our Resident Southern Gentlemen down in Mississippi perhaps is using a different calendar than the rest of us <grin> - as we're CLOSED on Sundays. BUT, the message is appreciated . . . Drinks ARE on Jan ‘til the New Year - but we have to be OPEN to get ‘em! <uh oh>However - better to be thought of than not at all . . . so thanx for that! Eric (EricX2000) at 11:51 PM: X2000 in Canada <sweet!> A surprise, but most welcome Sunday nite visit 'n chat! Don't quite know how you or Pete will "take" the "news," BUT . . . Lars 'n are due to return to Can-Am City's Union Station on the afternoon Can-Am Railway's Trans-Mentor Limited. What's to say, OTHER than I think he <go Happy Railroading! Siberianmo JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Monday, December 24, 2007 7:52 AM Greetings Tom and gentlemen..... From me to all of you....*raises glass*Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhma mhath ur! (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!)May the best ye've ever seenBe the warst ye'll ever see.May the moose ne'er lea' yer aumrieWi' a tear-drap in his e'e.May ye aye keep hail an' hertieTill ye're auld eneuch tae dee.May ye aye be jist as happyAs we wiss ye noo tae be. All the best! Jan Fergmiester Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Out on the Briny Ocean Tossed 4,240 posts Posted by Fergmiester on Monday, December 24, 2007 7:52 AM Merry Christmas Captain Tom and crew! siberianmo wrote:...and I used to drink 20-25 mugs a day - that's right, 20-25. Put me on my <keester> and after an 8-day stint in the intensive care unit (ICU) ‘n recovery room for a suspected heart attack, became a believer. Do as you will - but you are only fooling yourself. And on that note I'll have a beer!I may have 2-3 a day as any more than that causes me to get the shakes and jitters. Water and wine is my forte.Speaking of which I'll have the Christmas Eve Brunch Special Poached, Canadian Back Bacon and Potato Pancakes.Anyway to-day is a train day as it's raining hard outside and the MESS is finally rolling once again!On behalf of Lisa and the boys I will wish you and yours a Very Merry Christmas. May it be safe, festive and enjoyed with friends and loved ones! (and remember too much eggnog will spoil your apetite! get rid of the eggs!!)Fergie http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959 If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007 siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Monday, December 24, 2007 9:08 AM A most warm Christmas greeting to all of our friends and their loved ones at this special time of year! Pete the Bar Chandler 'n traveling companion - Eric the Nocturnal Desert RETIRED Swede - CM3 Shane the all things railroad aficionado - Rob the trolleyMAN - Lars the Manager 'n 1st Mate - Mike the URLMeisterMonster - Sven the Cheesehead Swede - James the Milwauakee Road kid - Dan the UK rail ‘n pub man - Doug the barn weevil - Allan the downunder Kiwi - Nick the irrepressible in Wales - Ron the Southern Gentleman transplant - Fergie the not so ancient mariner - Dave the west coast disappearing act - Jan the most generous Swede in Scotland - ‘n Per the Cowboy Swede! Many thanx for making "Our" Place YOUR place in 2007! A most heartfelt greeting to Bud Karr in memory of his beloved Lydia. Only the BEST of health and happiness for you and yours!Tom - Juneau - Cindy - Ruth - Boris - Leon - Awk - Tex - Frostbite ‘n Artie! <All Christmas images courtesy of: http://www.geocities.com/~bug_hut/Christmas1997/contents.html> Happy Railroading! Siberianmo LoveDomes Member sinceJanuary 2006 From: northeast U.S. 1,225 posts Posted by LoveDomes on Monday, December 24, 2007 12:15 PM Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!Drinks on JAN!! My JINTS are IN - my JINTS are IN!! <phew> Bring on the playoffs - but maybe a week or two of recharging is needed, huh Just stopped by to check on last minute arrangements for the Staff Gala event tonight! Looks like Da Bossman beat me to it, as everything is set up ‘n at the READY! Been feeling like crap with the EXCEPTION of a memorable trip aboard the Can-Am Ltd with Ru . . . my "friend." <oooooooops> Finally "cashed in" my prize ‘n it came at the right time. I'll tell ya this, they do it right aboard the Cam-Am Railways passenger trains - a hot tub in the drawing room suite! Can you imagine THAT?!?!?! Had all I could "do" but to drag myself out of it ‘n up to the DOME! Two wonderful days ‘n nights with all the "trimmings" <and then some!> - What a prize! I'm NOT sorry that Eric ‘n Pete didn't accompany us. They thought I was falling for their "line o' crap," HA! Not so, mateys! <grin> That will be THE DAY when I willingly let either of you <much less both> "intrude" on my PERSONAL life! HA! With the staff having the day off, things ‘round here are pretty quiet I note. Boris has fed the crittAHs ‘n devoured a couple of LARGE jars of PPF I see. Hmmmmmm. <grin> Leave for a couple of days ‘n things CHANGE . . . happens every time, huh Looking at all the wonderful material provided just in the past few days, a 5- to those who demonstrate ovAH 'n ovAH their support for OUR Watering Hole by the Wayside! Nice Christmas greetings 'n wishes from several, along with the "extra effort" <as usual> from Da Bossman! Also a nice "family" message from Fergie . . . In reviewing all of those names our Cap'n put in his Christmas card it just amazes me how many have stuck it out. Many have fallen by the wayside - the worst of 'em couldn't find it within themselves to even tell us WHY and some continue to appear elsewhere . . . ok, ok - control myself! <phew> But again - MY best wishes are extended to those who demonstrate ovAH 'n ovAH how much support they give to this bar of OURS! You ARE the guyz that COUNT in my book! Thought I'd simply add a few images to the "list" of Christmas trains - all from the Larsman Mobile- Toy 'n Model Train Annex of course . . . 1955 AF catalog1955 AF catalog (2nd one)1956 AF catalog1956 AF catalog (2nd one)1957 AF catalog1958 AF catalog Once again - as mentioned in my Christmas ‘card' on Friday - have the Merriest of wanswheel Member sinceNovember 2005 4,190 posts Posted by wanswheel on Monday, December 24, 2007 12:51 PM Hi Tom and everyone, a round for the house Safe travels, friends, and go easy on the eggnog!'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the housenot a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds,while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap. When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.Away to the window I flew like a flash,tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash. The moon on the brest of the new-fallen snowgave the lustre of midday to objects below,when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. With a little old driver, so lively and quick,I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.More rapid than eagles, his coursers they came,and he whistled and shouted and called them by name: "Now Dasher! Now Dancer!Now, Prancer and Vixen!On, Comet! On, Cupid!On, Donner and Blitzen!To the top of the porch!To the top of the wall!Now dash away! Dash away!Dash away all!" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the skyso up to the house-top the coursers they flew,with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roofthe prancing and pawing of each little hoof.As I drew in my head and was turning around,down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes--how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.He had a broad face and a little round belly,that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.A wink of his eye and a twist of his headsoon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.And laying his finger aside of his nose,and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,"Happy Christmas to all..." Mike siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Monday, December 24, 2007 1:55 PM Reminder: "Our" Place is CLOSED on CHRISTMAS! G'day Gents!Always a suprise or three 'round the Bar by the Ballast as we've been visited by Jan - Fergie - Lars 'n Mike on this day before THE DAY! Here's another installment of my new series - Classic Drumheads by the Dozen - to keep the "flavor" of Classic REAL Trains alive 'n well here at the Saloon by the Siding! Now Arriving on Track #2Classic Drumheads by the Dozen - #2 (1) DRG&W - California Zephyr(2) Erie - Pacific Express(3) GN - The Cascadian(4) IC - Panama Limited(5) KCS - The Flying Crow(6) L&N - The Pan-American(7) NH - The Yankee Clipper(8) NYC - The Pacemaker(9) NP - North Coast Ltd(10) PRR - The Broadway Ltd(11) CRI&P - Twin Star Rocket(12) Soo - Twin Cities - Seattle* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Enjoy! Tom Happy Railroading! Siberianmo siberianmo Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Chesterfield, Missouri, USA 7,214 posts "Our" Place reborn! An adult bar 'n grill for the discussion of Classic Trains! Posted by siberianmo on Monday, December 24, 2007 3:02 PM Reminder: "Our" Place is CLOSED on CHRISTMAS! G'day Gents!My finale for this day . . . <inspired by wanswheel Mike> See y'all on Wednesday! Tom Happy Railroading! Siberianmo pwolfe Member sinceFebruary 2005 From: mid mo 1,054 posts Posted by pwolfe on Monday, December 24, 2007 4:33 PM Hi Tom and all.I see you are tending bar Tom as the staff are relaxing and getting ready for the staff party, I hope it is in the navy tradition where the officers serve the men so Manager Lars will wait on his humble chandler, with pitchers of Bathams etc. We have had a most generous year with the tip jar so the mascots and staff have lots of gifts under the tree; yes I did notice BORIS's present said, "Air pump included".ROB Thanks for the kind words on the photos, yes it was great that you were allowed to visit the inside of some exhibits. They had steps so you could go through the corridor tender of the A4 Dominion of Canada into the cab of the locomotive.I do not know how they came up with the British system of money, although it seemed natural to us at the time, but doing math with the old money in pounds, shillings and pence, especially long division, was tricky. A thought occurred to me that there would have to be special calculators for the UK. I can still remember ‘Farthings' which were a quarter of an old penny. Nowadays the smallest coin is 1 penny, which is equal to two and a half old pence. The lowest bank note now in the UK is 5 pounds, with 2pounds and1 pound being coins. I still call the 5 pence coin a shilling and the 10pence one 2 bob.The car is painted in a brown livery with Canadian National just below the roof. I have put the film in for developing so hopefully should have it back soon.ERIC Well what do you think Manager Lars done the dirty on us and went on his trip on the Can-Am leaving us behind. I thought I saw someone in a tuxedo the other night,but I put it down to a trick of the light and the Bathams XXXs making FROSTBITE seem 6 feet tall.HA! I bet the ‘Hot Tub' was really the Dunk tank with a bit of silver foil wrapped round it, not that I am bitter or anything.Yes it seems the doctors don't want us to have any fun at all, but Tom says some wise words.On the quiz I see we are going to have to make the questions a lot harder.Many thanks for those great photos of the older and more modern cabs; they really show how they have changed over the years. Love the brass controller on the Hg, what is the badge on the hat, and I noticed the coffee cup in the Class F cab Thanks for sharing.RON Great to see you in the bar before Christmas, it sounds you are all ready to have a great time. I do hope your sons truck is OK soon, I am sure when the new items are fitted it will be like new and hopefully give years of trouble free service.Many thanks for thinking of us at the bar with the toast.JAN Many thanks for the Scottish Toast and the wishes. I have never had the pleasure of seeing in the New Year in Scotland I have heard it is very special.FERGIE What a great thing to do when it is raining hard to have the MESS running. Many thanks for the Christmas Wishes.LARS I can't believe you would not want to take a couple of such as ERIC and I along with you but seeing as it is Christmas I am glad you had such a great time on The Can-Am.Many thanks for the best wishes, as Tom's list shows we still have some great people at the bar, may I say the bar is looking far healthier now than at this same time last year, if my memory serves.Many thanks for those great AF covers; I wonder how many kids woke up on Christmas morning, with delight, to find som EricX2000 Member sinceDecember 2002 From: Phoenix, AZ 683 posts Posted by EricX2000 on Monday, December 24, 2007 10:40 PM Merry Christmas from all of us in the (cold) desert to all guests at "Our" Place and their families!!! After Christmas we have 2008 waiting behind Boris’ shed so I also wish you all a Very Happy New Year!!! So, finally, all we have to do is wait for Santa to show up! Tom – I can hear the staff party is really going wild tonight! One of the track gangs is here as well and they are all dressed as Santas. I think at least half of them are more or less knocked out. Too much to eat??? At least Lars proved one thing, one can’t trust a manager! But the fun part of his trip has been documented. Ruth borrowed a little camera that she took along on the trip. She said she wanted some memories! Nice drumheads! The Flying Crow, that is a strange name for a train! I’ll pick GN’s The Cascadian! I like those old Christmas cards/ads! With trains and Santa! A perfect addition to Mike’s post!Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours. Of course including Juneau. JanOlov – Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too! Fergie – Glad to hear that the MESS is up and running again! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!Lars – That was a dirty trick, leaving on your trip without Pete and me! We wanted to make your trip perfect and now see what you got. Oh, BTW, Ru... your friend was very happy she were able to use the camera she borrowed during the trip. “Wanted some memories,” she said. Boris was looking at all the photos tonight. He’s sitting behind the bar, looking and looking.But since it is Christmas time we’ll forgive you, maybe. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Very nice model trains catalogs! Mike – The perfect post for a perfect Christmas! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Pete – Don’t be too upset about Manager Lars dirty trick. Just ask Ruth to see her photos from the trip! I lost that camera she borrowed but it was worth it. I don’t mind if every quiz is easy. Makes me look smart! The badge on my hat is the railroad’s logo, a wheel with wings and three crowns on top of them. Some very nice photos! That Jones train is really different. Check the trucks! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!!!And here is Santa himself! Ho, Ho, Ho!Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Eric Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 1:16 PM Merry Christmas to all of you my fellow patrons!Good Afternoon' Ruth! No Ruth here! And the door closed! I am so sad to find your door closed today, when I finally have some time to visit. Thank you Boris for letting me in. No I won't tell anybody what you did, and that you tend bar, fix food, and drinks today.Ja, ja, I hear you Awk. Just be patient until I have ordered and gotten something to share.(Pete thank you for warning me about Awk. Little too late though. I already have bandages on two fingers and on my nose. Not a pretty sight). Yes, I would like a cup of strong Gevalia coffee. I like it served in a cup on a saucer. Sorry if I sound demanding, but I know that this place really goes all the way out for its patrons. I have even heard rumors that Boris is going to dig through his shed, to find parts to put together a donut machine to be set up in the Rats Patoot Room. I see Tom has good connections, and found donut machine at the Mentor Village Bakery. Really nice of the Grundelinks to let it go. The Galley is OK with me. But before that is accomplished, I'll take two of your Danish. One with yellow gook in the middle, and one with that dark blue that is supposed to be blueberries. Bossman Tom mentioned I should elaborate some about Gevalia the other day. Here is a link for some information:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GevaliaThere you can see that Gevalia holds the Royal Warrant for coffee roasters from the H.M. the King of Sweden. Thus Gevalia is fit both for the King and I. We actually subscribe, and get a package Gevalia in the mail ever so often.During our travel as tourists by train in the US in the 70ies, my wife and I had a layover in Seattle, WA. There I remember we found a restaurant in which the food was brought out from the kitchen on a model train. The train stopped at the table, and you unloaded your plate. There were tracks around the restaurant, and I think there was a lift bridge at the door. I think the restaurant was name the Iron Horse or something similar. I do not know if it still exists. Maybe I should talk to the proprietor of this establishment to lay out some tracks and then you can order your food or drink on a named train. "I need a Roth beer on the Southern Pacific to arrive at table 11", or "a Belgian Waffle on Burlington Northern to arrive at table 3, at 9.37 AM".Enough rambling. Allan. I did not see nay wolves, but a lot of reindeer and a bobcat from time to time while working up in Northern Sweden. The deer were a nuisance as the frequently walked in the tracks and were un over by the trains. Coalminer I also go with N. I had a fairly nice layout in Sweden. Now all are in boxes in the garage. I know of a Swede who had a desk with an oversize drawer with a N-layout in.Erik, and many more. I enjoy greatly all photos. Weather it is exteriors, interiors or environment. Photos and other pictures brings an extra dimension to the chat the bar. One day I might get a new scanner again, and learn how to share from my collection. Time will tell.Time will also tell when we meet here again. I'll be back, and hope to see Ruth again behind the bar. No, NO , no offence Boris. The coffee was strong enough. Sorry I broke the spoon while stirring it.Sven Edit JanOlov Member sinceDecember 2001 From: GB 376 posts Posted by JanOlov on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 3:57 AM Greetings Tom and gentlemen....Just thought that I'd stop to see what's going on..... Nice and quiet in here I see, I'll just make myself a cup of hot Gevalia and some sandwiches to go with it. Will be nice to have some taste of the good ol' country in the east.See you soon again....Season Greetings to you all! All the best! Jan « First«102103104105106107108»Last » SUBSCRIBER & MEMBER LOGIN Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more! Login Register FREE NEWSLETTER SIGNUP Get the Classic Trains twice-monthly newsletter Submit More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Overall, the film was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award in the UK, one Golden Laurel award, four Oscars, and five Golden Globes in the U.S.A., in which Albert Finney won as The Best Motion Picture Actor in a Musical/Comedy in 1971. Finney was only 34 years old at the time he was chosen to play both the old miser and the young man Scrooge of fla Happy Railroading! Siberianmo
Greetings Tom and gentlemen....
May I please have something STRONG to get rid this annoying cough that I've been handed...
SP Cab Forwards....
Cab Forward #4146 with train #14, Pacific Ltd, near Cisco, Cal., August 3, 1935. Photo by Otto Perry
Cab Forward #4138 with train #621 a 95 car westbound freight train, near Klamath Falls, Ore., July 26, 1938. Photo by Otto Perry
Cab Forward #4135 with a westbound freight train coming out of a snowshed, at Norden, Cal., August 4, 1935. Photo by Otto Perry
Cab Forward #4001 with an eastbound freight train, with Mt. Shasta in the background, near Cougar, Cal., July 26, 1938. Photo by Otto Perry
Cab Forward #4144 at Dunsmuir, Cal., July 25, 1938. Photo by Otto Perry
Cab Forward #4111 at Norden, Cal., August 4, 1935. Photo by Otto Perry
Credit: Photoswest
Another Bathams XXX please LEON thanks to JAN's generosity.
Back a bit later than expected, as a trip to the grocery store was needed but the upside was I found a six-bottle pack of Winter's Bourbon Ale..
TOM I got the photobucket up and I decided I would do a mixed bag of photos, called in at the bar a saw 'great minds think alike'. Really enjoyed your selection. I'm sure Eric will like the Hooters calender, alough March and December look like a couple of mean birds.
Not surprised some of your favorite photos are from your train travels in Canada. Marvellous scenery and travel in a dome car, it does not come much better.
Great selection of films for Christmas Week. I think the Polar Express deserves to be listed among the all time great Christmas films and it will be great to see the musical Scrooge again. Last night we stayed up later than planned, as the version of 'A Christmas Carol' starring Patrick Stewart was showing on TV, we though it was very good. It sounds like a good one from the Stooges as well.
JAN Many thanks for those great photos of the SP cab-forwards.They certainly were impressive locomotives.. Thanks for sharing
Now for some photos.
0-4-0 Saddle tank 'GUINNESS' in Ireland
Engineers seat of a F Unit at ExpoRail Canada.
Loco at the Essex Valley Railroad CONN.
A class 91 Electric loco in Newcastle on Tyne Central station
A dome on a dome.
An old Streetcar in San Francisco
A San Francisco Cable Car
A diesel from the Netherlands
A switcher at the Sacromento Railroad Museum.
As it is Christmas, an easy quiz question for ERIC. What type of locomotive is this.
A RDC at ExpoRail.
TOM at ExpoRail.
These should enlarge.
Well LEON another Bathams and the Steakplease, then I will make sure the bar is well stocked.
Pete.
evening Leon I think a Keith's for me and thanks again Jan your one heckava nice fella
Tom-Ah some wonderfull memories from train travels past 5x for them sir.Sorry I keep forgetting that Cindy's lap is your lap still that little santa numeber was well extra speacial unlike the elf suits that left nothing to the imagination that H&H were prancing around in.
Jan-Some mighty fine shots from you this afternoon as well thank-you
Pete-Wow some great shots from you today as well all good ones to be sure. i'm supprised that you were able to get inside the F unit at exporail , alot of museum's are look only no touch certainly no go inside.
I still find English money confusing but 240 pennies to a pound that's just wierd sorry !I bet that you have as much fun figuring out the where and the how espeacially now that you are in the US and the old pounds etc are again the measurments of the day. I've just about wrapped my head around the metrification , I don't think I'd survive going back again
There are places that they would send people that talk to Buffalo heads mounted on walls <uh oh >
I'm not familiar with that car name , so I look forward to the pictures. Was it painted in Amtrak livery or is it still in CN or IC colours I wonder if it was maybe an IC car and that's why I don't remember or recognize the name. I know that CN got rid of most of the IC exec train when they took them over.
Leon, still awake? It is time for my Filet Mignon with mushrooms! The usual side orders and a cold Keith's!
A pretty cold Saturday here in the desert! 57° for high! Freeze warning for Sunday morning! Turned on the heat in the dog house. Tom – Maybe it was a record for late/early appearances at the bar for me. But I am retired now and don’t care what time it is! I am concentrating on having fun now!You are right. It isn’t easy to find the right words quickly when you are in the center of things. But the lady to the far left in the photo mentioned our adventures in Mexico several years ago, when we were stopped by the customs and arrested for trying to smuggle a contakt press into Mexico. Everybody wanted to hear more. That might be a story for the Rendezvous (144 days from now!). That Globe Models A unit looks kind of short! Is that your own model? I guess Mentor Village Public Works Dept. is closed for the Holidays since they did not have time to finish that sidewalk. Wrong kind of Hooters! Parking for Drive-Thru makes sense!I love those photos from Canada! Good looking trains in a beautiful part of the country!The Polar Express at the Emporium! Didn’t that happen last year too? Maybe the beginning of a tradition at the Emporium!? Good choice!Rob – No sleeping in this first morning. Too many chores to get done before Christmas. I am sure those books you mentioned are expensive if I find them. Pete – You have to be firm when you talk to your doctor. If you feel you need a prescription for the Train Wreck then you should have it! My heart doctor told me I should only drink decaf coffee after my surgery. I told him that would kill me, I need the regular coffee to stay alive. After some negotiations he agreed to two cups of regular coffee/day. I have now increased that number to five. I am sure Manager Lars is delaying the release of the departure date of the trip until Ru..., oooops, I mean his special guest has decided when she is available. The cake was very delicious! A nice mix of photos from a number of different countries! UK, Canada, USA, and Holland. Another quiz for me!?! Hmmm, it looks like a Shay. I would guess it is Sierra Ry No. 2 Lima 1922 3T Shay at California State Railroad Museum. A photo of Captain Tom arriving to next Rendezvous!JanOlov – Some very nice pictures of SP’s Cab Forward locomotives! You better get rid of that cough.
Thanks for the free drinks!
Finally some photos. I apologize for a few oversized photos.
MARC Cab Car.
Swedish Electric Class F.
X2000.
Amtrak's RTL.
Amtrak's F40.
Swedish EMU Class X1.
Swedish Electric Class Hg.
Swedish Electric Class Ma.
Eric
"Our" Place is CLOSED on SUNDAYs - and - CHRISTMAS!
A rare SUNDAY round of ACKNOWLDGEMENTS from the Proprietor . . . thought I'd get to ‘em while getting the place squared away for the Staff Christmas Eve Party! <Where's all the help when needed the most >
Spoke with our Resident Canadian Maritime Mariner - Fergie - yesterday for well over an hour. He's great about maintaining fone comms ‘n it was good to hear from him! Sez all's well, but he's up to his <keester> in trying to catch up on the things he was supposed to do during the time of his last <surprise> deployment. Set him back a month . . . Anyway, passes regards to the crew ‘n hopes to at least "pop" in soon!
Customer Acknowledgments (since my last narrative)
Rob (trolleyboy) at 9:30 AM: Saturday "quickie," with NO orderin' of anything! <uh oh> Fortunately, for YOU, the <tweeter> is being refitted for a new reed . . .
Pete (pwolfe) at 12:25 PM: As you know, I'm not "big" on steam locos, but getting to know far more than I ever thought possible from the info being passed ‘round at the bar. Those cab forwards were something else ‘n perhaps one day we'll get someone to explain ‘em to the gang. Yeah, I understand that one of the reasons was to avoid the smoke from obscuring the view for the Engineer while going through those mountain tunnels <or at least that's what I had read "somewhere." Any amplifying "stuff" out there
No sweat on the Rx for the TrainWreck Saloon - Dr. Gundlefinger <staff doc for "Our" Place> will put one in your mail box <next to the time clock>. I think that's a fine idea ‘n wonder why I haven't asked my doc for the same thing! <grin>
Anytime a system of measurement is based on <ten> it seems far easier to do the "mental math," donchathink 240 seems rather weird to me for a "base number," but what do I know, eh I mean here we are still using the track gauge based on the width of carriage wheels in the UK . . .
And here I thought you WERE speaking with the buffalo . . . <uh oh> Sorry if I ignored you - but then again, I'm only picking up every 3rd word again.
Another fine Post from our Bar Chandler ‘n friend, Wolfman Pete!
Jan (JanOlov) at 4:59 PM: Back with all kinds of great looking OPP <other people's photos> in the form of majestic ‘n awesome cab-forward steamers! I like the one with Mt. Shasta in the background . . .
Hope you soon get over what's ailing ya - perhaps a "fifth" of JD might be a good start to healing!
Thanx for the visit ‘n fotos!
Pete (pwolfe) at 6:41 PM: Back as promised with a potpourri of fotos from his archives!
I think that "dome on dome" is a sure-fire <keeper> and should be eligible for a prize of sorts. What a great shot! A five- fer sure!
Hi y'all at Our place. When I heard the drinks were on Jan, I couldn't stay away, so I'll have a Guinness please. I haven't been able to view all the posts, but of the ones I saw, they were outstanding pictures. Christmas presents are all bought, wrapped and under the tree. We celebrate on Christmas eve. Can't wait another day. All the family will be over along with a few friends. We are cooking a big dinner, roast beef, pork loin, stuffed mushrooms and all the trimmings. If there's anything left over, I'll be sure to drop them by on my next visit, if it's not too far off.
My son hasn't made much money with his truck yet. It keeps breaking down, so the down time is spent fixing it. He has already replaced the trailers dump ram, the air compressor, generator and a few other smaller items.
Eric: Congratulations on joining the ranks of the unemployed. You will find out that retirement is a lot of work. Maybe that's why so many people return to work after a brief spell.
I had to buy a new laser printer, as the cost of a replacement drum for my old one was twice the cost of a new printer.
Anyway, a Merry Christmas to all. My first toast on Christmas eve will be to all of you at Our place.
Sunday night again! Seems like there has been some activities here today even though it is closed.
Busy today preparing for Christmas. Almost done, saved some things for tomorrow morning.
Tom – The main reasons for SP’s cab forward was to make it possible for the crew to breath (reason #1) and to see forward (reason #2) when the locomotive was running through the snowsheds and tunnels.Read and understood your opinion about coffee. I remember that the Polar Express was shown at the Emporium last year. I also recall we had some kind of discussion about some details (locomotive?) in that movie. Ron – Thanks for the congratulations! Feels good to finally have made it to the Golden Years! But I am not unemployed yet. Will work 20 hrs a week next year. Glad to hear that you are prepared and ready for Christmas! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!! We do also celebrate on Christmas eve. We went to IKEA a couple of weeks ago and got some good stuff to eat from the old country. Sorry to hear about your son’s problems with his truck. Hope he will have better luck next year!I'll be back Christmas eve.Eric
A smile to begin the week!
Its' never happened in World Series history, and it hasn't happened since.
<A Yogi-ism!>
I've got the bar for this day - Ruth 'n the gang are off for the day!
That magical day has arrived when kids of all ages can't get to sleep because of the excitement that has been building for soooooooo long. Then Christmas morning with presents under the tree - and so it goes. That's the way it was "back in the day" for me ‘n when helping to raise a family . . . good memories.
Staff party begins at 8 PM . . . bar will remain open, but we're not expecting much of a crowd.
Coffee's ready - pastries are fresh ‘n our breakfasts are ready for orderin' . . .
Comments from the Proprietor:
REMINDER: Drinks are on Jan Olov ‘til the New Year! So, don't be bashful - order away!
Received an Email from Lars the Manager - he's planning to be back today - watch for it! Sez he finally had to "power down" to get over whatever has had him in its grip . . . <uh oh> Ruth, perhaps
Sunday - Dec 23r:
Ron (DD1) at 2:10 PM: Our Resident Southern Gentlemen down in Mississippi perhaps is using a different calendar than the rest of us <grin> - as we're CLOSED on Sundays. BUT, the message is appreciated . . .
Drinks ARE on Jan ‘til the New Year - but we have to be OPEN to get ‘em! <uh oh>
However - better to be thought of than not at all . . . so thanx for that!
Eric (EricX2000) at 11:51 PM: X2000 in Canada <sweet!>
A surprise, but most welcome Sunday nite visit 'n chat!
Don't quite know how you or Pete will "take" the "news," BUT . . . Lars 'n are due to return to Can-Am City's Union Station on the afternoon Can-Am Railway's Trans-Mentor Limited. What's to say, OTHER than I think he <go
Greetings Tom and gentlemen.....
From me to all of you....*raises glass*
Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhma mhath ur!
(Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!)
May the best ye've ever seenBe the warst ye'll ever see.May the moose ne'er lea' yer aumrieWi' a tear-drap in his e'e.May ye aye keep hail an' hertieTill ye're auld eneuch tae dee.May ye aye be jist as happyAs we wiss ye noo tae be.
Merry Christmas Captain Tom and crew!
siberianmo wrote:...and I used to drink 20-25 mugs a day - that's right, 20-25. Put me on my <keester> and after an 8-day stint in the intensive care unit (ICU) ‘n recovery room for a suspected heart attack, became a believer. Do as you will - but you are only fooling yourself.
...and I used to drink 20-25 mugs a day - that's right, 20-25. Put me on my <keester> and after an 8-day stint in the intensive care unit (ICU) ‘n recovery room for a suspected heart attack, became a believer. Do as you will - but you are only fooling yourself.
And on that note I'll have a beer!
I may have 2-3 a day as any more than that causes me to get the shakes and jitters. Water and wine is my forte.
Speaking of which I'll have the Christmas Eve Brunch Special Poached, Canadian Back Bacon and Potato Pancakes.
Anyway to-day is a train day as it's raining hard outside and the MESS is finally rolling once again!
On behalf of Lisa and the boys I will wish you and yours a Very Merry Christmas. May it be safe, festive and enjoyed with friends and loved ones!
(and remember too much eggnog will spoil your apetite! get rid of the eggs!!)
Fergie
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
A most warm Christmas greeting to all of our friends and their loved ones at this special time of year!
Pete the Bar Chandler 'n traveling companion - Eric the Nocturnal Desert RETIRED Swede - CM3 Shane the all things railroad aficionado - Rob the trolleyMAN - Lars the Manager 'n 1st Mate - Mike the URLMeisterMonster - Sven the Cheesehead Swede - James the Milwauakee Road kid - Dan the UK rail ‘n pub man - Doug the barn weevil - Allan the downunder Kiwi - Nick the irrepressible in Wales - Ron the Southern Gentleman transplant - Fergie the not so ancient mariner - Dave the west coast disappearing act - Jan the most generous Swede in Scotland - ‘n Per the Cowboy Swede!
Many thanx for making "Our" Place YOUR place in 2007!
A most heartfelt greeting to Bud Karr in memory of his beloved Lydia.
Only the BEST of health and happiness for you and yours!
Tom - Juneau - Cindy - Ruth - Boris - Leon - Awk - Tex - Frostbite ‘n Artie!
<All Christmas images courtesy of:
http://www.geocities.com/~bug_hut/Christmas1997/contents.html>
Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!
Drinks on JAN!!
My JINTS are IN - my JINTS are IN!! <phew> Bring on the playoffs - but maybe a week or two of recharging is needed, huh
Just stopped by to check on last minute arrangements for the Staff Gala event tonight! Looks like Da Bossman beat me to it, as everything is set up ‘n at the READY!
Been feeling like crap with the EXCEPTION of a memorable trip aboard the Can-Am Ltd with Ru . . . my "friend." <oooooooops> Finally "cashed in" my prize ‘n it came at the right time.
I'll tell ya this, they do it right aboard the Cam-Am Railways passenger trains - a hot tub in the drawing room suite! Can you imagine THAT?!?!?! Had all I could "do" but to drag myself out of it ‘n up to the DOME! Two wonderful days ‘n nights with all the "trimmings" <and then some!> - What a prize!
I'm NOT sorry that Eric ‘n Pete didn't accompany us. They thought I was falling for their "line o' crap," HA! Not so, mateys! <grin> That will be THE DAY when I willingly let either of you <much less both> "intrude" on my PERSONAL life! HA!
With the staff having the day off, things ‘round here are pretty quiet I note. Boris has fed the crittAHs ‘n devoured a couple of LARGE jars of PPF I see. Hmmmmmm. <grin> Leave for a couple of days ‘n things CHANGE . . . happens every time, huh
Looking at all the wonderful material provided just in the past few days, a 5- to those who demonstrate ovAH 'n ovAH their support for OUR Watering Hole by the Wayside!
Nice Christmas greetings 'n wishes from several, along with the "extra effort" <as usual> from Da Bossman! Also a nice "family" message from Fergie . . .
In reviewing all of those names our Cap'n put in his Christmas card it just amazes me how many have stuck it out. Many have fallen by the wayside - the worst of 'em couldn't find it within themselves to even tell us WHY and some continue to appear elsewhere . . . ok, ok - control myself! <phew> But again - MY best wishes are extended to those who demonstrate ovAH 'n ovAH how much support they give to this bar of OURS! You ARE the guyz that COUNT in my book!
Thought I'd simply add a few images to the "list" of Christmas trains - all from the Larsman Mobile- Toy 'n Model Train Annex of course . . .
1955 AF catalog
1955 AF catalog (2nd one)
1956 AF catalog
1956 AF catalog (2nd one)
1957 AF catalog
1958 AF catalog
Once again - as mentioned in my Christmas ‘card' on Friday - have the Merriest of
Hi Tom and everyone, a round for the house
Safe travels, friends, and go easy on the eggnog!
'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the housenot a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap.
When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.Away to the window I flew like a flash,tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash.
The moon on the brest of the new-fallen snowgave the lustre of midday to objects below,when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.More rapid than eagles, his coursers they came,and he whistled and shouted and called them by name:
"Now Dasher! Now Dancer!Now, Prancer and Vixen!On, Comet! On, Cupid!On, Donner and Blitzen!To the top of the porch!To the top of the wall!Now dash away! Dash away!Dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the skyso up to the house-top the coursers they flew,with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roofthe prancing and pawing of each little hoof.As I drew in my head and was turning around,down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes--how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.He had a broad face and a little round belly,that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.A wink of his eye and a twist of his headsoon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.And laying his finger aside of his nose,and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,"Happy Christmas to all..."
Mike
Reminder: "Our" Place is CLOSED on CHRISTMAS!
Always a suprise or three 'round the Bar by the Ballast as we've been visited by Jan - Fergie - Lars 'n Mike on this day before THE DAY!
Now Arriving on Track #2
Classic Drumheads by the Dozen - #2
(1) DRG&W - California Zephyr
(2) Erie - Pacific Express
(3) GN - The Cascadian
(4) IC - Panama Limited
(5) KCS - The Flying Crow
(6) L&N - The Pan-American
(7) NH - The Yankee Clipper
(8) NYC - The Pacemaker
(9) NP - North Coast Ltd
(10) PRR - The Broadway Ltd
(11) CRI&P - Twin Star Rocket
(12) Soo - Twin Cities - Seattle
My finale for this day . . .
<inspired by wanswheel Mike>
See y'all on Wednesday!
Hi Tom and all.
I see you are tending bar Tom as the staff are relaxing and getting ready for the staff party, I hope it is in the navy tradition where the officers serve the men so Manager Lars will wait on his humble chandler, with pitchers of Bathams etc. We have had a most generous year with the tip jar so the mascots and staff have lots of gifts under the tree; yes I did notice BORIS's present said, "Air pump included".
ROB Thanks for the kind words on the photos, yes it was great that you were allowed to visit the inside of some exhibits. They had steps so you could go through the corridor tender of the A4 Dominion of Canada into the cab of the locomotive.
I do not know how they came up with the British system of money, although it seemed natural to us at the time, but doing math with the old money in pounds, shillings and pence, especially long division, was tricky. A thought occurred to me that there would have to be special calculators for the UK. I can still remember ‘Farthings' which were a quarter of an old penny. Nowadays the smallest coin is 1 penny, which is equal to two and a half old pence. The lowest bank note now in the UK is 5 pounds, with 2pounds and1 pound being coins. I still call the 5 pence coin a shilling and the 10pence one 2 bob.
The car is painted in a brown livery with Canadian National just below the roof. I have put the film in for developing so hopefully should have it back soon.
ERIC Well what do you think Manager Lars done the dirty on us and went on his trip on the Can-Am leaving us behind. I thought I saw someone in a tuxedo the other night,but I put it down to a trick of the light and the Bathams XXXs making FROSTBITE seem 6 feet tall.
HA! I bet the ‘Hot Tub' was really the Dunk tank with a bit of silver foil wrapped round it, not that I am bitter or anything.
Yes it seems the doctors don't want us to have any fun at all, but Tom says some wise words.
On the quiz I see we are going to have to make the questions a lot harder.
Many thanks for those great photos of the older and more modern cabs; they really show how they have changed over the years. Love the brass controller on the Hg, what is the badge on the hat, and I noticed the coffee cup in the Class F cab Thanks for sharing.
RON Great to see you in the bar before Christmas, it sounds you are all ready to have a great time. I do hope your sons truck is OK soon, I am sure when the new items are fitted it will be like new and hopefully give years of trouble free service.
Many thanks for thinking of us at the bar with the toast.
JAN Many thanks for the Scottish Toast and the wishes. I have never had the pleasure of seeing in the New Year in Scotland I have heard it is very special.
FERGIE What a great thing to do when it is raining hard to have the MESS running. Many thanks for the Christmas Wishes.
LARS I can't believe you would not want to take a couple of such as ERIC and I along with you but seeing as it is Christmas I am glad you had such a great time on The Can-Am.
Many thanks for the best wishes, as Tom's list shows we still have some great people at the bar, may I say the bar is looking far healthier now than at this same time last year, if my memory serves.
Many thanks for those great AF covers; I wonder how many kids woke up on Christmas morning, with delight, to find som
Merry Christmas from all of us in the (cold) desert to all guests at "Our" Place and their families!!! After Christmas we have 2008 waiting behind Boris’ shed so I also wish you all a Very Happy New Year!!! So, finally, all we have to do is wait for Santa to show up! Tom – I can hear the staff party is really going wild tonight! One of the track gangs is here as well and they are all dressed as Santas. I think at least half of them are more or less knocked out. Too much to eat??? At least Lars proved one thing, one can’t trust a manager! But the fun part of his trip has been documented. Ruth borrowed a little camera that she took along on the trip. She said she wanted some memories! Nice drumheads! The Flying Crow, that is a strange name for a train! I’ll pick GN’s The Cascadian! I like those old Christmas cards/ads! With trains and Santa! A perfect addition to Mike’s post!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours. Of course including Juneau. JanOlov – Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too! Fergie – Glad to hear that the MESS is up and running again! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!Lars – That was a dirty trick, leaving on your trip without Pete and me! We wanted to make your trip perfect and now see what you got. Oh, BTW, Ru... your friend was very happy she were able to use the camera she borrowed during the trip. “Wanted some memories,” she said. Boris was looking at all the photos tonight. He’s sitting behind the bar, looking and looking.But since it is Christmas time we’ll forgive you, maybe. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Very nice model trains catalogs! Mike – The perfect post for a perfect Christmas! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Pete – Don’t be too upset about Manager Lars dirty trick. Just ask Ruth to see her photos from the trip! I lost that camera she borrowed but it was worth it. I don’t mind if every quiz is easy. Makes me look smart! The badge on my hat is the railroad’s logo, a wheel with wings and three crowns on top of them. Some very nice photos! That Jones train is really different. Check the trucks! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!!!And here is Santa himself! Ho, Ho, Ho!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Eric
Merry Christmas to all of you my fellow patrons!
Good Afternoon' Ruth! No Ruth here! And the door closed! I am so sad to find your door closed today, when I finally have some time to visit.
Thank you Boris for letting me in. No I won't tell anybody what you did, and that you tend bar, fix food, and drinks today.
Ja, ja, I hear you Awk. Just be patient until I have ordered and gotten something to share.
(Pete thank you for warning me about Awk. Little too late though. I already have bandages on two fingers and on my nose. Not a pretty sight).
Yes, I would like a cup of strong Gevalia coffee. I like it served in a cup on a saucer. Sorry if I sound demanding, but I know that this place really goes all the way out for its patrons. I have even heard rumors that Boris is going to dig through his shed, to find parts to put together a donut machine to be set up in the Rats Patoot Room.
I see Tom has good connections, and found donut machine at the Mentor Village Bakery. Really nice of the Grundelinks to let it go. The Galley is OK with me. But before that is accomplished, I'll take two of your Danish. One with yellow gook in the middle, and one with that dark blue that is supposed to be blueberries. Bossman Tom mentioned I should elaborate some about Gevalia the other day. Here is a link for some information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gevalia
There you can see that Gevalia holds the Royal Warrant for coffee roasters from the H.M. the King of Sweden. Thus Gevalia is fit both for the King and I. We actually subscribe, and get a package Gevalia in the mail ever so often.
During our travel as tourists by train in the US in the 70ies, my wife and I had a layover in Seattle, WA. There I remember we found a restaurant in which the food was brought out from the kitchen on a model train. The train stopped at the table, and you unloaded your plate. There were tracks around the restaurant, and I think there was a lift bridge at the door. I think the restaurant was name the Iron Horse or something similar. I do not know if it still exists.
Maybe I should talk to the proprietor of this establishment to lay out some tracks and then you can order your food or drink on a named train. "I need a Roth beer on the Southern Pacific to arrive at table 11", or "a Belgian Waffle on Burlington Northern to arrive at table 3, at 9.37 AM".
Enough rambling. Allan. I did not see nay wolves, but a lot of reindeer and a bobcat from time to time while working up in Northern Sweden. The deer were a nuisance as the frequently walked in the tracks and were un over by the trains. Coalminer I also go with N. I had a fairly nice layout in Sweden. Now all are in boxes in the garage. I know of a Swede who had a desk with an oversize drawer with a N-layout in.
Erik, and many more. I enjoy greatly all photos. Weather it is exteriors, interiors or environment. Photos and other pictures brings an extra dimension to the chat the bar. One day I might get a new scanner again, and learn how to share from my collection. Time will tell.
Time will also tell when we meet here again. I'll be back, and hope to see Ruth again behind the bar. No, NO , no offence Boris. The coffee was strong enough. Sorry I broke the spoon while stirring it.
Sven
Just thought that I'd stop to see what's going on..... Nice and quiet in here I see, I'll just make myself a cup of hot Gevalia and some sandwiches to go with it. Will be nice to have some taste of the good ol' country in the east.
See you soon again....
Season Greetings to you all!
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