This is ENCORE! Saturday - and - Photo Posting Day!
Remember: "Our" Place is CLOSED on Sundays.
G'day Gents!
Good to see Manager Lars "in" on Saturday with some chat 'n two great ENCORE! submissions! Those two guys used to "own" the weekends with their contributions - but that was then, and here we are.
Nice to see Ron (DD1) stop by as well! Appears you weathered the lunch with your son quite well!
More specifics in the Monday AM summary . . . Thanx guys!
Last week I began some ENCORE! Pix Posting from our 2006 Alaskan Rail Adventure - here's another segment, previously Posted on Page 352 of the Original Thread back on 11 Jun 2006 . . .
Even though "Our" Place is CLOSED on SUNDAY's - We do observe Sunday Photo Posting Day!Here are some more Pix from our Alaska Rail Adventure!Click to enlarge!(13) ARR Anchorage Depot(14) upper level interior of car #651 en route Denali(15) ARR lower level dining area of car #651 en route Denali(16) ARR Denali Star en route DenaliConsist of train: 2 loco's - 1 baggage - 1 double-deck full length dome for Gold Star Service (1st class) - 1 conventional diner - 1 coach - 2 conventional domes - 1 coach - 5 Holland-America cruise line double-deck cars - 5 Princess cruise lines double-deck cars(17)ARR Denali Star en route Denali(18) ARR Denali Star at Talkeetna(19) ARR Denali Star - reflections at Talkeetna(20) ARR Denali Star at Talkeetna(21) North to Alaska! at Talkeetna(22) ARR Denali Star in the Alaska Range en route Denali(23) ARR Denali Star in the Alaska Range en route Denali(24) ARR Denali Star in the Alaska Range en route DenaliThat's IT for this fine day . . . . more next Sunday Photo Posting Day!
(22) ARR Denali Star in the Alaska Range en route Denali(23) ARR Denali Star in the Alaska Range en route Denali(24) ARR Denali Star in the Alaska Range en route DenaliThat's IT for this fine day . . . . more next Sunday Photo Posting Day!
Tom
ENCORE! Saturday ‘n Photo Posting Day!
at "Our" Place!
We are CLOSED on SUNDAYs!Starting Sunday at the Mentor Village Emporium Theatre!
. . . July 29th thru August 4th: The Guardian (2006) Starring: Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, Sela Ward, Melissa Sagemiller & Clancy Brown, - and - Men of Honor (2000) Starring: Robert De Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis & Hal Holbrook. SHORT: The Three Stooges - Cactus Makes Perfect (1942).
The Guardian (2006)
PLOT SUMMARY:
The US Coast Guard version of "Top Gun" with a little "An Officer and A Gentleman" thrown in: an aging USCG rescue swimmer's team is killed in a horrific rescue mission. Immediately prior to this terrible event, his wife also announced that she cannot take anymore. His first love is always the rescue mission. This leaves him an obviously emotional wreck. His Commander gives him a choice - quit or take a position as an instructor at the USCG training facility in Louisiana. Reluctantly he takes the position. Moving into the school, he immediately increases the 18 week curriculum that routinely fails half of the people that attend. Here he meets a young man with unlimited potential, but with some secret that seems to hold him back as a team player. Delving into his past, links are found that make him a psychic twin to the older man. Thrown into the midst of the story is a romance with a local girl. Rescue missions punctuate the beginning and end of the story with the training sessions the center of the film.
from: amazon.com
Men of Honor (2000)
Men of Honor presents a great role model for younger viewers, yet it's rated R due to abundant use of the F word. With appropriate discretion, parents should allow their preteen and teenaged children to see this rousing if altogether conventional biopic inspired by the life of Carl Brashear. Played with gravity and gumption by Cuba Gooding Jr., Brashear was the first African American to become a master diver in the U.S. Navy, despite the lingering effects of segregation, opposition from Navy brass, and the amputation of his left leg following a tragic on-duty accident. Robert De Niro adds marquee value and salty bluster as Billy Sunday, the drunken, redneck (and fictionalized) Master Chief who watches, with gradual admiration, as Brashear attains his ultimate goal through sheer force of will.
SHORT: Cactus Makes Perfect (1942)PLOT SUMMARY:
Curly has invented a gold collar-button finder, and the Stooges immediately try their luck prospecting using their new invention. As they do so they run afoul of some grizzled desert rats, and discover the Lost Mine. After taking refuge in a ghost town hotel, they lock themselves and the gold in the safe, where the villainous prospectors immediately try to dynamite them out.
from: threestooges.net
Special note: The month of August (starting on the 5th) will be Three Stooges FEATURE Films month! Watch for the double features!
Enjoy! See y'all on Monday . . . Tom
Hi Tom and all.
A cup of coffee and one of the bacon butties please CINDY.
ERIC That was indeed a bad helicopter accident in Phoenix but so lucky that no one on the ground was hurt or worse.
As Tom as said we did tell VIA rail about our experience and we did stress that most of the train crews were excellent but it just needs one to leave a very bad impression, not surely a good idea when a service it trying to attract tourists as opposed to people who have to use the service.
I guess the Beaver tails had the normal frames to protect against a collision.
Glad you liked the A4 and the class 76 photos.
Just a how do you know that RUTH doesn't like the cold.
Received your e-mail, thanks.
LARS Thanks for saving the Fish ‘N' Chips. Although the note taped to the bottom of the plate which read "Think what might have been in the fish if the tapes had not come back" was a bit of a
I just wondered if Maritime Canada was the same in the atlas. I have looked it up and it is, I should have got one before our trip, although they have not done one yet that covers Quebec.
Many thanks for the great Encore photos from ROB and DOUG. I really miss seeing those Trolley pics and Doug's have great info on the equipment in the photos, which, I guess is from the IRM.
When you think about Our Place not only have we had really great writings we also have had some really wonderful photos as well.
RON. Thanks for the beer. The shed sounds a great place with that excellent Barbecue and the imported beers.
The Bus scene in the UK changed dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a great variety of buses from different manufacturers, in fact the local bus company used to build their own buses up to the late 1960s, but it all changed and the buses and coaches all started to look very much the same. There are preservation societies who have saved old buses and renovated them. They are often shown at rallies across the UK.
TOM Elton John is due to do a concert in Kansas City later this year.
As you say I am really glad we did take the bus in the end. I have not heard anymore about that the proposed abandonment of the line from New Carlisle towards Gaspe, after that piece in Trains mag about it a couple of months ago, I guess if that does happen it will always be a bus.
The A4 photo came out well the ‘auto- fix' cleaned it up well, of course the bride took it not me thats why it looks good.
It is annoying when you see a magazine in the shops but you have not received your subscription copy, it used to happen a few times to my mag in the UK, but I think this issue is worth waiting for.
Many thanks for The Alaskan Rail Adventure Encore. That is a fine looking train both on the outside and on board, I really like how they have done the dining car and of course that simply wonderful scenery.
Good movies again at the Emporium. I see The Guardian is a recent film, I have not seen it but it sounds a good story line, I would like to hear your opinion on it. Men of Honor is playing on the TV this afternoon, I have seen it and thought it a very good movie, and of course the Stooges. What a great title ‘Cactus Makes Perfect'. And August is to be the Stooges feature film month.
This weeks photos from Alan are from,as CM3 put it, Drake's Drum country.LMS class 5 No 45407 ran a trip to the preserved South D
Good evening Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Leon, after that good breakfast early in the morning I think it is time for a juicy Filet Mignon with lots of mushrooms and all the other delicious sidings you serve here at the bar by the siding!
Kind of quiet here for the moment. Gives me plenty of time to enjoy my meal and relax. I brought some randomly picked pictures.
The first one is another bus, but this is a bus replacing a train. St. Louis in May 2007, a Prevost. For Ron! Kind of blurry (too dark), but I think you can see what it looks like.
The next is a picture of man at work to keep the trains running.
This picture is showing a retired steam engine, Class E10, in the old country in 1968.
A picture from 1976, the train in the rearview mirror of the locomotive. I may have shown this before, I am not sure.
A picture for Captain Tom and Manager Lars. Boston, January 1993.
Finally a picture for the rest of us. For a moment I was temped to show a pix of me horseback riding, but that would have been too much fun for one day. After my recent surgery it still hurts when I am laughing so we better keep on the boring side.
Have a nice weekend!
Eric
Hi Tom and all,
Leon, a round of Tui`s for all the crew please!
Tom. You were right about the SF Warbonnet paint scheme "It`s simply the Best" as Tina Turner would say! The GC1`s are great looking machines, I saw a pic of one last year in "Trains" magazine, it was painted in the Penn green, the consist of coaches was the same colour, I think it was a Conrail directors special lash up? Once again many thanks for your very interesting pics and travelogue, great reading and your choice of flicks bring back some happy memories.
Thanks for the round.
Eric. Great to see you on board again so quickly, we were on the page at the same time the day before yesterday. Good to see you are enjoying thr Brit connection, and thank for your pics and posts. As the old saying goes, "Keep on keeping on".
Pete. Enjoyed your LNER entries, great pics of "Dwight" and the 76. In the black and white pic I have of 6701 in it`s original form it looks as if it`s in LNER green, it`s got the LNER plates under the cab sides. Now you and Dan mentioned it I do remember the name "Tommy" the Dutch gave her. The 76 and 77`s looked very much the same but the 77`s were Co-Co`s were`nt they?
DL. You were correct about the 76`s and Gresley not giving them the same streamlined looks of his A4`s and P2`s, it looks as if he followed the Raven electric loco No13 of the 1920`s that were supposed to run on the York to Newcastle electrification that never took off in those days. Thanks for the Coronation links, Stanier was a great designer as well, a beavertail coach would have looked great on the Coronation Scot!
Lars. The movie "The Harvey Girls" is what got me into the SF, Judy Garland singing "On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe' clicked somehow, that was in 1947 when I was 12, which is 60yrs ago this year, GEEZ!, time flies when your enjoying yourself! Enjoyed all your book covers and info.
DD1. Must agree with you about the English language, here in NZ the vowel sounds are very different as well. We Geordies from Tyneside have a very strong dialect, as other Brits will confirm, I had 14yrs in the army and lost a lot of my dialect during that time.
Shane. Enjoyed all your posts, some interesting info, thanks.
See ya , Allan
Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers waiting for the bar to open!
Yeah, I know it's Sunday ‘n the joint is CLOSED! But, I'm the Manager ‘n figured I'd come in to straighten things up a bit after last night's ruckus in the pool room. The "traditional" Friday night pool tournament amongst the track gangs spilled over to Saturday ‘n what's to say, other than - what a mess!! <groan>
Boris is up ‘n about the decks, so it's time to feed the crittAHs there "due," go for it man <?> tray o' seeds for Awk, bucket o' ice cubes for Frostbite, saucer o' brine for Tex, chewbone for Juneau ‘n take Artie out back for his field mouse! <ugh>
For Cap'n Tom: Nice selection of military flicks from Da Boss. As an old Navy man, there's a good one there on Navy divers. The Coast Guard flick is a keeper too, we saw it shortly after coming out. The Mrs. has a "thing" about Kevin Costner. <golly gee> <grin>
Couldn't agree more with you regarding the written word. So many times I would've been bitten in the stern tube had I not been able to come up with documentation regarding something gone wrong. When dealing with customer service people these days, it's most unusual to get anything in writing from them - even email. They seem to prefer the phone call response, which of course become very cloudy should the situation persist on a back ‘n forth basis. Nope - I'm for the letter every time, and sending it to the top guy always gets to those responsible. Just have to be patient, which apparently you were with that Via rail fiasco. When it's MY money, you betchaboots I'm going to document my concerns. <grrrrrrrrrr>
So, how was "The Full Monty" last night? We saw it on Broadway about 6 or 7 years ago ‘n must admit it was quite clever how they "fit" that movie into live theater, and a musical at that. Didn't think I'd like it, for I'm "old fashioned" about certain "things." But once I settled in to the fantasy of musical theater, I found it very entertaining.
Those Alaska scenery pix are FANTASTIC! The Mrs. says they look like they're from paintings! Really nice stuff!!
For Allan: The Harvey Girls goes back a few decades, eh Wouldn't it have been a <hoot> to have been able to travel aboard those Santa Fe trains with perhaps a "Harvey gal" or two!
Nice to know that the book covers are appreciated! And oh yeah, check out "the other thread' run by the Cap'n - been putting up some fine steamers you may find of interest.
For Eric: Diversity rules! Nice selection of photos for the gang. That guy working at the rails is doing his "thing" to ensure the flanges "flange"!! <grin>
For Pete: You blew my feeble mind with that comment regarding whether the "maritime" would be the same in the atlas (compared to what I said). Huh??? Why wouldn't it?? Oh well, best to move on . . .
You're very perceptive that the fish would've been a bit "tainted" had those tapes not shown up. Now the question is - how do we know they weren't COPIED??? <arrrrggghhh>
Good shots from you friend, Alan!
I leave you with these ‘n wish y'all a most pleasant Sunday!
New Zealand steam . . .
Class Ka 945 4-8-4 restored and owned by Steam Incorporated (photo credit) - trainweb.org
Ka 969 4-8-4 (photo credit: Steam Incorporated - trainweb.org)
Ka 4-8-4 (photo credit: Steam Incorporated - trainweb.org)
Class G 4-6-2 (New Zealand Steam/trainweb.org)
Until the next time!
Lars
<w/permission: http://www.scenic-railroads.com/>
A smile to begin the week!
"Dad, the guy is here for the Venetian blinds." "Look in my pants pocket and give him five bucks."
<A Yogi-ism!>
End of the month is in sight. Summer is still with us 'n petrol has dropped a bit to $2.69 (rounded) up at "Collusion Corner." All's well here in mid-continent USA . . .
And nooooooooooooow, it's MONDAY! Settle in with a mug of freshly ground ‘n brewed special Colombian blend coffee - pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery ‘n a <light> or <traditional> breakfast from our Menu Board!
This definitely should be the week where the wind down to the weekly Postings of Pix from the Canadian Railway Adventure occurs. Hope those of you who've taken the time to check ‘em out are using the "ENLARGE" feature - otherwise you're really missing out on the details. Just "click" the foto . . .
Watched the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies for perhaps two of the finest ‘n greatest modern day ballplayers ‘n gentlemen - Tony Gwynn & Cal Ripken, Jr. Really something special ‘n thanx to the MLB site, they had streaming video of it, otherwise wouldn't have see it on our cable or regular TV outlets. Thanx to MLB!
Being observant: Saw West Coast S (Dave) signed-in on the Forums Saturday afternoon - but no visit at the bar!?!?
Customer ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (since my last narrative):
Lars (LoveDomes) at 9:57 AM Saturday - July 28th: You know it's gonna be a good day when our Manager is on board! A day at the bar without Lars - Pete ‘n Eric just isn't complete. This place doesn't run itself, and you three are our most stalwart of regulars with CM3 Shane our Monday thru Friday morning anchor!
Excellent choices for ENCOREs - ‘n my guess is neither of those UTBs will EVER know they were chosen!
Cards took a day-nite doubleheader from the Brewers on Saturday. Go figger! The first game was a real comeback story, having been down 6-zip only to wind up pulling it out in the 9th inning, 7-6. Then they came back from a 5 run deficit yesterday to pull out another victory. But it is really far too little, far too late - as I see it. They are not a good team, in spite of being in a lousy division 'n all the King's horses, 'n all the King's men aren't going to enable them to repeat as WS Champs again.
So when does the NFL begin??
Nice "lesson" in there for our Bar Chandler - and to think that he was IN Maritime Canada!! <grin> Québec - New Brunswick - Nova Scotia - Prince Edward Island ‘n Newfoundland-Labrador, that sums it up nicely.
Thanx for the visit, ENCOREs, chat, round ‘n continuing support!
Ron (DD1) at 11:45 AM Saturday - July 28th: Good that you've found a place to hoist a few, partake in the eats ‘n spend a bit of time with your son.
Figure I'll be carried out of where I'm at too. No plans to relocate, ever again. Been there done that far too many times over my career. Now the anchor is firmly in place ‘n for the most part, it's fine with me.
Regarding the photos - we NEED to "talk," as there's nothing really difficult about this. So, here's what I'd like you to do: You've got my Email address (no need to send anything via the Forums) - tell me what your operating system (Win XP, etc.) is on your computer - I'd like to know what kind of software you use for word processing (MS Word, etc.)- and what kind of computer you have (Dell, etc.) along with the way you hook up to the internet (hi-speed, etc.)
Once that's "in," then tell me exactly what you've tried to do in order to Post Pix. Need to know what "service" you're trying to use (PhotoBucket, etc.) Take your time ‘n document it. We'll figure it out!!
I wouldn't cross the street to look at that POS (you figger it out!). What a joke to call her anything other than what she is.
Round, visit ‘n chat appreciated!
Pete (pwolfe) at 6:46 PM Saturday - July 28th: Love the music, can't stand the "man." ‘Nuf said about Elton . . .
Point of clarification on the Alaska RR Pix I've been Posting: The dining area shown is on the lower level of the bi-level car (UltraDome) used for the Gold Star passengers. It isn't the dining
Time once more for a monthly feature at "Our" Place called Significant Events in Canadian RR History . . .
This was initially Posted on Page 371 on the Original Thread back on 06 July 2006:
Significant events in Canadian RR History during the month of July.
Caveat: Much of the information appearing was gathered from internet sources, with credit to "Colin Churcher's Railway Pages" at http://www.railways.incanada.net/ * July 21st, 1836: - Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad opened. This was Canada's first public railroad. The inaugural train was pulled by the locomotive the "Dorchester". In 1857 the Champlain and St. Lawrence became part of the Montreal and Champlain Railroad which was leased to the Grand Trunk in 1864 and now forms part of the Canadian National system. * July, 1847: - Incorporation, by the Legislature of the Province of Canada, of La Compagnie du Chemin à Rails du Saint-Laurent et du Village d'Industrie, to build from Lanoraie, on the Saint Lawrence downstream from Montreal, to Village d'Industrie, 12 miles. Village d'Industrie was later renamed Joliette after its founder, Barthelemy Joliette. This railway originally had wooden rails surmounted by iron straps. It was taken over by the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway in 1878 and acquired by CP in 1884. * July 31st, 1851: - The 5'6" gauge, broad gauge, is adopted as the standard gauge for Ontario and Quebec. The broad gauge was used until about 1870 after which time there was a gradual change to the now standard 4' 8 1/2" gauge. * July 15th, 1853: - Grand Trunk Railway is formed by the amalgamation of the following companies: Grand Trunk Railway of Canada Grand Junction Railway Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada East Quebec and Richmond Railway St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway Toronto and Guelph Railway The Grand Trunk also leased the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railway giving access to Portland, Maine. * July, 1856: - first section of the Grand Trunk Railway west of Toronto is opened between Toronto and Guelph. * July 1st, 1867: - Dominion of Canada is formed by Confederation of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. One of the conditions of Confederation was the building of a railway by the newly constituted Dominion Government to connect Halifax with the St. Lawrence at or near Quebec. Sir Sandford Fleming directed the surveying and construction of the trackage to fill in the gap in the railway system between Rivière du Loup and Truro, the Grand Trunk having previously constructed eastwards as far as Rivière du Loup and the Province of Nova Scotia having built a line between Halifax and Truro. The Canadian Government Railway, also known as the Intercolonial Railway, was formed to take over the lines in Nova Scotia and to construct the trackage between Rivière du Loup and Truro. * July 12th, 1871: - North America's first public narrow gauge railway, the Toronto and Nipissing, is opened for traffic between Toronto and Uxbridge. The 3'6" gauge line was converted to standard by 1884. * July 20th, 1871: - British Columbia is admitted to the Dominion of Canada. One of the conditions of entry is that the Dominion Government should, within two years from the date of union, commence the construction of a railway from the Pacific towards the Rocky Mountains and from a point east of the Rocky Mountains towards the Pacific to connect the seaboard of British Columbia with the railway system of Canada. * July 1st, 1873: - Prince Edward Island joins Confederation. One of the conditions was that the Dominion Government take over and complete the Prince Edward Island Railway which had been commenced in 1871. The Intercolonial Railway became responsible for the Prince Edward Island Railway and opened the line between Charlottetown and Tignish for traffic on January 4, 1875. * July 1st, 1876: - Through rail travel between Halifax, Quebec and the rest of the Canadian rail system is made possible. * July 3rd, 1904: - First run of the Ocean Limited passenger train between Montreal, Que. and Halifax. N.S. This is the longest running train in Canada having operated continuously over the same 840 mile route. * July 22nd, 1906: - The Grand Trunk Railway changes from left to right hand running on double track sections. The change involved considerable alteration in crossovers, switches and semaphore signals. * July 1st, 1912: - Canadian Pacific leases the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company, Vancouver Island. * July 31st, 1916: - through service commences on the CPR Kettle Valley line between Nelson and Vancouver, BC., the first regular passenger train having run between Midway and Merritt on 31 May 1915. * July 15th, 1932: - The Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway is opened throughout between North Bay and Moosonee, Ont. Construction was started on May 10, 1902. The name was subsequently changed to Ontario Northland Transportation. * July 14th, 1943: - Central Station, Montreal is opened by Canadian National. This completed a project originally begun in 1929. * July 16th, 1945: - Canadian National opens the high ore dock at Port Arthur whch was built to handle ore from the Steep Rock Iron Mines near Atikokan, ON. The first shipment left the dock on July 20 on the vessel Marquette. * July, 1950: - Canadian Pacific opens the first retarder hump yard in Canada at St. Luc, Montreal. * July 8th,, 1955: - Canadian National officially opens its line from Terrace to Kitimat, BC, with a "last spike" ceremony, the spike was made from aluminum produced at the Kitimat plant. * July 27th, 1955: - Canadian National opens a branch line from Hillsport to Manitowadge, ON.
Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox.
Lots to read and look at today, so here goes!
Pete sent some interesting material. I enjoyed the pictures, especially the one of 26020 at the York Museum. Also, folks, check out the size of the drivers on 45407 - truly a beast! To answer your other question, all railroad operated passenger services (except for Rock Island, D&RGW, and Southern) ceased on May 1, 1971. I did participate by riding the last L&N-operated "Pan American" and the first Amtrak-operated "South Wind." The "Wind" was an all-SCL stainless consist. The diner featured SCL menu as I had dinner on the way back from Louisville.
Eric - Hope you are continuing your recovery. We saw a lot of coverage of the helicopters on CNN over here. The Boston picture was a good one (dampest place in the world in the winter). IIRC, that's about track 12 at South Station. Coaches in the background belong to MBTA and operate in commuter service. Also appreciated the Calumet and Hecla 0-6-0T.
Lars has been busy running the Bookmobile, encore posts and commentary I agree with your comments re documentation as I would have, as you say, taken one in the engine room. My notes saved me from having to deal with a lot of lawyers who reversed themselves. The steam pictures were most welcome.
DD1 visited - much to be said for BBQ in that part of the world. Every so often, when I was traveling a lot more than now, I got to go to Alabama. There are, of course, many places like that down there. One I remember had pictures of Auburn football players on one wall, and pictures of Alabama players on the other. Where you sat determined your allegiance. I generally sat in the middle of the place because, although I did go to an SEC school, it was neither of the ones that were pictured. Anyway, the food was excellent. We have several operations like that around there which have the smoker out front.
Allan visited with comments and observations.
OSP continues with his travelogue. The shot from the front of the dome is a good one. The countryside there reminds me of parts of Wisconsin as viewed from the Empire Builder. Regarding your Rock Island post, I hit ‘refresh" b4 I submitted my last post, and "there it be." I know, "Why is the rum always gone?"
I have Guardian on DVD but have not looked at it yet-my son recommended it. BTW, the Mentor Theatuh might want to host a viewing of "Fly Boys." Check it out if you haven't seen it already. Men of Honor is a good offering as well. Also thanks for your Canadian history material.
Over the weekend, I was a guest speaker retirement party for "the oldest" person on the railroad in the area. He had seniority with C&O and with Amtrak going back to about 1965. It was a bittersweet occasion as many of these are, but it was really great to see approx. 125 people there. We told a lot of stories, told lies, shared pictures, ate like pigs, etc. Everyone at the bar would have enjoyed it. I am going to try and write some of this material up as it is worth sharing. One story that stuck in my mind went back a few years when the guest of honor went from working on the C&O to working on the NF&G. The NF&G folks recalled that, "He treated us like we wanted to be treated - like human beings." Something to think about, for sure.
Now a little something from the Only in America file:
A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, fire. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued and WON! (Stay with me.) Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable, and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable "fire" and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars lost in the "fires". NOW FOR THE BEST PART.. After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine. (Gotta love it!)
Work safe
Hello Tom
Well, Leon, I'll have a Traditional Breakfast please. Good to see some good recent posts.
Tom, your mention of the Park Car on the Ocean rtn consist made me look at the VIA website - now - what do you think of the following? When I travelled on the Ocean last year I got a sneak preview in the Park Car bedrooms thanks to a friendly and helpful attendant - she explained that they were being used as crew rooms because the software VIA used could not sell the bedrooms to passengers in the mixed Ren / Park car consist. However, running a journey through their on line booking system today shows an offering of Easterly Class triple or quadruple bedrooms (for double occupancy) - well - am I right in thinking there are no triple or quad bedrooms in the Ren stock? - so do you think I am right to conclude that they are now offering the bedrooms in the Park Car? Allowing Budd overnight accommodation on this train.
CM3 - The LNER had a reputations for use of the more Avant Garde artists for their graphic design work - esp. in the art deco style. Original posters etc from this period fetch a good price when sold here these days.
Ron - one of the words I'm told has been Americanized here is railway station being changed to ‘train station'. I do find the latter annoying and inappropriate.
Pete - I think the weekend close down for engineering work is increasingly becoming a problem here - they are also closing whole stretches of line for weeks to do large work quickly - they seem to have lost the skill of managing the 24 hour railway.
Good point about the Devon Belle observation cars. It is good to know that the LNER observation cars are being restored, and the ex Devon Belle car that has been brought back from San Francisco too.
Eric - as you pointed out cars in those days did not offer strong crash worthiness - in the UK the wooden frame was still standard until the late 1940s I think.
Lars - nice to see those pics from Trolley Boy Rob being revived.
Allan - you make an interesting point about the NER proposed electrification - I'd forgotten all about that - it would have been amazing if the east coast main line had been wired up in those days - as I recall the north east was quite a pioneering area for electric traction in that period - I suppose it reflects the value of the industrial work on offer there in those days.
Well - to finish off with here are some links - I have bemoaned not being able to find colour pics of the quality Mike finds for the US in the classic era - but there are a few here that are good - I particularly like the Gas Turbine loco GT3:
http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/getobjectstory.php?rnum=L3522&enum=LE130&maxp=18&pnum=11
and here is a particulry good pic of a Class 76 Bo Bo in action on a freight (sadly not colour):
http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/getobjectstory.php?rnum=L2535&enum=LE130&pnum=11&maxp=18
Pete - here's one of the LT electic locos on the four rail system
http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/getobjectstory.php?rnum=L2642&enum=LE130&pnum=16&maxp=18
Here's another nice colour pic - steam this time
http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/stories/getobjectstory.php?rnum=L3523&enum=LE130&pnum=8&maxp=18
Regards
DL
Ahoy Cap'n Tom ‘n fellow travelers at the bar!
Ruth my deAH, you are the major reason why Monday is a good day! A mug of Colombian with a jolt if you please. Boris, I see the crittAHs are lined up, so get with it - feeding time! And yes, that small jar of pickled pig's feet has your name on it! A round on the Larsman ‘n the change is yours, my deAH! <grin>
Really humid on "the island" but the temperatures are tolerable considering we're almost into August. Pretty decent forecast for the rest of the week with only a slight chance of precip today . . . Gasoline prices? Well that's ‘nother story! <ugh?> Lowest I've seen at our "favorite" Gulf station was $3.05, which has dropped quite a bit lately. Dropped?!?!? Can you believe three bucks ‘n we're apparently "ok" with it . . . crap!
For Cap'n Tom: Cardinals are looking more like they should have all year. Then again, your pitching isn't what I'd call "top shelf." But, youse guys are still in the hunt for the division crown - such as that is. My Mets are still on top ‘n I give ‘em one more month to prove that they can "do it" again this year.
Canadian RR history is a feature that I look forward to ‘round this joint. Lots of good material found in those feature articles. A shame that we haven't got some north-of-the-border people to chime in on the info. So, what's happened to Fergie???? Never thought he'd be a regular or even engage in routine dialogue, but . . . No Canadians out there??? Bet there are, but wondAH why they're so reluctant to join this international crew?!?!
For Ron (DD1): Looks like you've gotten confused with which site is the bar! Ruth, pass whatever he's been drinking over here, wudja?!?! <grin>
Yeah, those NZ steamers are really quite similar in appearance to not only the PRR, but others too.
Since I've pretty much covered the bases on Sunday with my version of recognizing the others, I'll get right to some ‘stuff,' then I'm outta here . . . AFTER catching up on some <ahem> admin matters! Ready my deAH??
For Shane (CM3): That story involving the cigars, insurance company, law suit, etc. is poetic justice "in the flesh." WHERE do we find judges like that, huh
Sounds to me like you live in area where there's all kinds of railroading interests ‘n activities. Sounds like a plausible location for a Rendezvous!! Good tales, good brew, good company - sounds like a winnAH to me!
For Dan (DL): Good to see ya, mate! Appreciate the Urls . . .
Ruth, one more while we check out the "stuff" . . . A potpouri of covers from the "misc" files . . .
Nice morning activity with appearances by CM3 Shane - Dan (DL-UK) 'n Lars (LoveDomes) - always makes for a good day, especially Monday, when you three show up!
The VIA Rail journey from Gaspé, Quebéc aboard the "Chaleur" continues:
The views from the dome on the final day of our Canadian Railway Adventure couldn't have been better. Blue skies brought out the best of the scenery passing us by as the combined "Chaleur-Ocean" headed west for the final segment to Montréal.
As always is the case, a good sized crowd of people awaited boarding at one of my favorite stops - Drummondville. Seemed like the more knowledgeable of the group always seemed to find their way to the Park Car dome (while traveling the "Ocean") same thing with the "Chaleur" - as the dome car suddenly got a bit crowded. Smart people!
An always bittersweet feeling comes over me at this point, for the trip from Drummondville to downtown Montréal's Central Station seems to pass by quickly.
Got just a tad perturbed over seeing the Park Car observation dome trailing at the far end of the "Ocean." VIA Rail's "info" had repeatedly stated that those cars were not going to be assigned until June 1st. That "tid bit" of misinformation factored into the planning for our trip. Had I known they were to be put in service at the end of May - even just a few days earlier than the "reported date" - it would have altered my thinking for the planning of our trip. I surely wanted to ride the Park Car one more time - and Pete would've loved it. Oh well . . . such are the turns of events when out of one's control, eh VIA Rail strikes again . . . <gloom>
For whatever the reason, we seemed to be a bit behind the scheduled 08:30 arrival - but no problem - we had all day to catch our plane! <gee golly gosh>
So then, these are the FINAL fotos from the rail portion of our adventure - enjoy!
There's more to this story, but it will be told in segments, as the fotos progress on!
Oh yes, if you haven't been "clicking" on the Pix to enlarge them - you've really missed out!! Of course you can always go back - they now "reside" in the Ether for your enjoyment - all at no expense in labor or money to those viewing ‘em. My compliments!
Pix from Day Six: Tuesday - May 29th, 2007 - aboard VIA Rail's CHALEUR in Quebéc, Canada en route Montréal.
Views from the Skyline dome <fotos taken from 07:00 on . . .>
All aboard at Drummondville!
(1)
(2)
Adieu Drummondville!
(3)
Views from the dome!
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
To be continued . . .
Enjoy!
A pint of Bathams please RUTH
ERIC Many thanks for the photos, quite a selection, from the only bus in Missouri to the X2000 in the snow, with a couple of interesting steam locomotives as well.
ALLAN Glad you enjoyed the pics of Dwight and 26020.
The class 77s were indeed Co-Cos, they were a fair bit heavier than the 76s with the 77s weighing in at 102 tons against the 76s 87 tons 18 cwt and they were more powerful as the 77s were rated at 2,490 HP and the 76s 1,868HP. A note for TOM looking at my book I see that a 76 No 26051 was named ‘Mentor'. The 7 class 77s were named after Roman Gods and 12 class76s were named after Ancient Greek scholars and from Greek Legend. Those last 12 76s were fitted with steam heat boilers for working passenger trains, as the 77s were.
Talking of electric locomotives did you see the two locomotives that worked the North Tyneside line that ran to the Quayside I believe that the two electrics were withdrawn in 1964. I remember the first locomotive No 26500 turn up at a local works in Rugby and was stored there for quite a while it was in a faded red livery, if my memory serves. I think the reason it was there was that the factory it was originally the BTH works and they built the traction motors for the locomotives in 1904.No 26500 is happily now in the National Railway Museum in York in pristine condition as N.E.R. No1. There was quite an extensive railway system inside the BTH works.
I worked with a ‘Geordie' for a few years, to me; it is a unique and great accent.
If I recall correct Newcastle Brown Ale used to have beer mats with sayings in Geordie and a translation.
Photos of the main hall at the N.R.M. YORK. I think NER no 1 electric is hidden in this view, but there are some some great East Coast Main Line of Britain locomotives from over the years with Stirling No 1 to a 'Deltic' and HST
LARS The reason I wondered about the Maritime Canada was, on the atlas, by the same company, I have that is for Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas it is titled Prairies East and I was told that they have not heard this area called that. I thought the atlas might have been using a bit of artistic license. It is a good atlas though showing the abandon lines and who owned the lines.
There are no worries about the tapes being copied. I had a rather ‘interesting' conversation with VITO THE HIT. He said the tapes were duff as they would not play in Amsterdam (he did not know it is a different system over there) so after paying up what I had left of my meager wages, he handed them back. I don't suppose there is any chance of you overlooking my bar tab this month.
Thanks for the photos of the New Zealand steam locomotives. The semi- streamlined Class G is an interesting engine. They all look impressive, and large locos, especially as I think Allan said the gauge is 3" 6'.
Different and interesting set of book and video covers today.
CM3 Thanks for the info on the railroad operated passenger services. It must have been bittersweet to travel on the last L&N Pan-American.
45407 has 6 feet driving wheels and were capable of a good turn of speed.
It would be great if you do write up the stories from that retirement party as you say everyone at the bar will enjoy them. It is marvelous and a privilege to be in the company of old railwaymen.
That really is ‘truth is stranger than fiction' with the lawyer and the cigars, thanks for sharing.
DL Many thanks for the links. It was a shame that the GT3 had such a short life; I guess it was built too late. I see that great photo of the class 76 on the Woodhead route as caught one of the few named 76s as I have said in my reply to Allan.
That is an interesting coach behind the Metropolitan No11, with the electric pickup on the front bogie; I guess the pickup was connected to the locomotive to ensure supply while the locomotives pick-up was running over a gap in the conductor rail. Also this class of locomotives must have been one of the very few to run on British rails with a rear view mirror.
Good to see that colour photo of that Thompson rebuild of a GCR O4. Thanks for sharing.
TOM That is very good advice about enlarging the photos at the bar, without enlarging there so much missed in clarity and detail.
Thanks for the kind words for me, and the photos from Alan
Leon, a ham sandwich this Monday night would be perfect! With an ice cold Tui!
Missed this place last night/this early morning because of not feeling too well. After my first sneeze (Wow, that was painful) since my surgery this morning I would say I have now recovered! So back to work!
Tom – I am glad to learn that you wrote to VIA about the incident! Things like what happened to you is very damaging to a railroad and they should know about all those incidents so they (including some people) can be corrected. The discontiunace of passenger service through Phoenix can be blamed on the cities here in the Valley. The line Amtrak used from close to Yuma to Phoenix was in a bad need of maintenance and Amtrak asked for money to fix that problem but got absolutely nothing. Not one penny. So, since Amtrak did not have enough money to fix the track, they rerouted the trains and skipped Phoenix altogether and I don’t blame them. Phoenix is probably the largest city in the world without any form av rail passenger service!Some very nice pictures from Alaska! That is the place to be in the summer time! With an old truck marking the Arctic Circle! Two powerful movies at the Emporium this week! The Guardian and Men of Honor. I haven’t seen any of them so I better get some tickets soon! Cactus Makes Perfect, hmmm, can I smell some desert connection here? You are right, one Cowboy Swede is enough and I leave that to Per! Thanks for the list of Significant events in Canadian RR History during the month of July! Comparing with other months it seems like July has been a litte bit more quiet month. Thanks for the pictures of your and Pete’s trip! You certainly had a real nice one even though there was a mishap or two (VIA). Lars – That locomotive on the book cover is a very nice looking locomotive! That is why I would like to know more about it. I am still trying.I’ll send you some sympathy next winter while you are down in the Keys shoveling sand. Thank you for re-posting trolleyboy Rob’s post from last year with all those streetcars! And also barndad Doug’s post from last year, including the UP Rotary Snow Plow #900075. It’s sibling is at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation, #900081. I guess all Doug's pictures are from IRM.
12' of snow in the Keys? Manager Lars doesn't take any chances.
Glad to see the Manager spending some time here at the Bar even on Sundays! Did I see Ruth’s car outside too? No, I didn’t think so. Or did I?You are right about the guy working with that “thing” to make the flanges “flange”! How many years did you work on the railroad?Thanks for the pictures of the NZ steam locos!! Class G looks kind of different, a little bit of stream-lined!More nice book covers! I would like the top one, Metro-North’s Hudson Line. It’s on my list now.Pete – It’s the top part of the Beaver Tails I don’t like when it comes to protection. But the chance I’ll ever ride any of them at 100 mph is probably less than slim. How do I know about Ruth? Well, I am afraid I am way to shy to tell how I know. I just saw what I saw! Some very nice pictures from Alan! There is a sign on one of the locomotives reading “Past Time Rail”. Is that just a slogan or a name?Only one bus in Missouri? No, sir, you are wrong. The very same day I (we) saw three more buses outside Union Station!! So there must be at least four of them in MO! How about that?
Outside Union Station!
Nice pictures from York! I can see one electric in the top picture, #26020. Is that the one? Allan – I also noticed that we were at the bar at the same time last Friday, but then it was time to move on. And you looked kind of busy talking to those girls. Never time enough for anything any more. CM3 – Thank you! I actually feel better for each day. I am surprised it goes so fast and with so little of set backs. So far, that is.
I believe yoy when you say Boston is the dampest place in the world in the winter. It was very damp that winter when I took that and other pictures. That is a good one, the story about that lawyer and his cigars!
Final day of the month has arrived ‘n is it just me, or is this year zooming by
It's Tuesday once again - another day another day to excel at the work place <for many>!! Check out our Menu Board for a <light> or <traditional> breakfast - fill up your mug with our freshly ground ‘n brewed coffee, ‘n of course grab a few pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery case!!
CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 9:40 AM Monday - July 30th: But I also used "Refresh/Reload"!!! Now that particular Post is no longer in the place where you saw it, but AFTER yours ‘n I didn't delete it!! Go figger that ‘un . . . Strange things are happening <Red Buttons>!
A hard to believe story, but if it's true - I love it! A judge with something we used to call common sense with a SENSE of justice too. Great story. [tup ]
He writes, he reports (no, not THAT!! But then again, don't we all? <grin>), he speaks in public ‘n he knows about RRs! You, Sir are a "natural" for this joint. Glad we have you as our weekday AM anchor!
Many thanx for the round, quarters, visit ‘n remarks!
Dan (DL-UK) at 10:05 AM Monday - July 30th: Most interesting observation ‘n commentary regarding those VIA Rail Park Car bedrooms on the "Ocean."
Here's what I had been told by the "top" people way back when those cars were going to be relegated for use with the Renaissance equipment during "tourist season." The bedrooms were not being offered to the public because the crew was going to be assigned to them, with the triple bedroom (drawing room) assigned to the newly created "Learning Coordinator" - another moniker for "Tour Guide." Further, as you already know, access to the Park Car was to be restricted to those paying the higher fares for the upgraded Easterly Class bedrooms.
Over time, my "sources" have told me that the Park Car wasn't getting the use anticipated ‘n that many runs were rather absent dome passengers for most of the trip. The "Learning Coordinator" wound up doing crossword puzzles on "the clock." It got so bad that the crew began letting all of the bedroom passengers have access - quietly of course - just to ensure that there were people back there! That of course is anecdotal info, ‘n one shouldn't take it to the proverbial bank. But it does make one wonder . . .
The VIA Rail web site is a contradictory experience, in that you can find variations of the information being sought. Whoever is maintaining this site needs a remedial course in clarity!
I too have seen the reference to triple bedroom availability for consists thought to be all Renaissance. I wondered whether this meant the removal of a wall between two doubles in order to create a larger space. VIA said "yes," but they hadn't yet done so. Your reference to QUADRUPLE supports this procedure, because only 3 were assigned to the triples - no more.
Again, this is dated info, so I really cannot comment with authenticity regarding the happenings of today. Perhaps what you've conjectured is indeed true. Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to the mismanagement going on these days . . .
Then I found reference to triple in the Renaissance, whereby 2 adults and 1 child, or 2 children and 1 adult could be booked into a Renaissance double, thereby making it a triple! Get it?? <nuts>
It did bother me greatly to see the Park Car on our return run to Montréal only because of the insistence of VIA Rail's customer service people that those cars would NOT be in service ‘til June 1st - in spite of the web site indicating mid-June in one place!! Had I known the truth, our trip would've been adjusted to provide that experience. Then, following this further, perhaps the entire mess with the Gaspé bus could've ‘n would've been avoided. We'll never know.
I'm wondering whether that female car attendant you mentioned could've been my dear friend, JoAnne who was a "fixture" in the Park Car going back to the days of the now-defucnt Atlantic. She's a sweetheart of a person ‘n always extended that "extra" to ensure a pleasant trip for one ‘n all. Again, she was a Park Car attendant - determined by seniority of course. In fact, I spoke with her in Montréal when we arrived for our last leg. She was indeed assigned to the Park Car that "wasn't"!!
Appreciate the dialogue, visit ‘n links!
Lars (LoveDomes) at 11:01 AM Monday - July 30th: A nice morning here at the Bar by the Ballast with three fine Posts from three most respected customers!
Interesting mix ‘n match of covers from you! That traction cover is from the Bay Area in California, correct??
If my memory is correct, trolleyMAN Rob ‘n his bride should be aboard the train heading to Halifax. They were planning a round trip rail trip from Brantford, ON. Once in Halifax, they were going to drive up to northern Cape Breton to take the ferry over to Newfoundland. Something about "Mrs. trolleyMAN" wanting to visit family heritage places, etc. Wish ‘em well . .
Can'
Good Morning Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Warmish weather here today, with enough humidity to make you break a sweat just walking out of the house. Gas is at $2.89 - and holding, but Labor Day draws nigh.
Lars visited. I heard the bookmobile tires crunching on the gravel in the driveway. Today we have books from both coasts. The Key System Gallery book looks like a good one. BTW, I have mentioned the possibility of a rendezvous here sometime to OSP. Who knows - not only that, you can get here by train (from east or west).
Pete - On the site somewhere is a piece I wrote up about the last Pan American and the last George Washington. For the life of me I can't remember where it is.
Eric - Liked the picture of Tom and Pete's train. We have all been on trips like that at one time or another; often on the NEC, but I do recall one on the Lake Shore where we got rerouted from Toledo up to Detroit and then across Michigan to around Michigan City where we rejoined the old NYC; of course, most of the other trackage was old NYC as well. We did, however, play tag with the GT.
OSP sent more travelogue and photos. I see where the signals are still intact at Drummondville. We are losing lots of the old style signals around here which is a shame. The CPLs are vanishing on the B&O side as well as the old PRR style signals are disappearing on the N&W. I enjoyed looking at the farm scenes and also the pictures of the stack train from the dome car - very similar to riding the Sightseer cars on Amtrak. Incidentally, stack trains are higher than Viewliners of course, so you wind up looking up at them. Learning Coordinator? Egad, whatever happened to "guide" or "commentator?" Reminds me of a class I took at George Mason back awhile ago. We were learning all about online training, authorship, etc. I was duly impressed because much of the content was provided by a self-proclaimed "knowledge engineer." He did great until some of us started to ask him about trouble shooting, problem solving, etc. It got awful quiet.
Have no idea why the "ether" as you put it does what it does. My editor was trying to make book covers for me yesterday (glad that project is ready to go to the printer) and she was getting single lines on the screen and double lines on the printer. That's right Boris, "It's alive, I tell you! It's alive."
I forgot to mention that our Saturday session was punctuated by the passage of three trains: eastbound grain loads, eastbound unit coal, and a westbound empty grain train. So everything I saw was either a covered hopper or a coal car. All power was big GEs including one lettered "Spirit of Nashville." The only exotic unit was a leased SD40-2. They are beginning to fade away, too.
A Blast from the Past! A form of this was initially provided on Page 130 of the Original Thread . . .
The Passenger Railroad Fallen Flags of "Our" Place #18
SOO LINE
Here's another Fallen Flag for the gang from Classic American Railroads:
Caveat: The information provided is NOT all inclusive and is reflective only of the periods mentioned.
Soo Line Headquarters: Minneapolis, MN Mileage: 1954: 3,159 1961 (before 1985 acquisition of Milwaukee Road): 4,719 Locomotives in 1954: Steam: 47 Diesel: 76 Rolling stock in 1954: Freight cars: 8,035 Passenger cars: 128 Principal routes (w/Wisconsin Central) in 1954: Chicago-Minneapolis/St. Paul Minneapolis-Portal, ND Minneapolis-Sault Ste. Marie, MI Dresser, WI-Duluth, MN Owen, WI-Duluth, MN Glenwood-Noyes, MN Passenger trains of note: Atlantic Limited (Minneapolis-Boston, with CP and B&M east of Sault Ste. Marie) Copper Country Limited (Chicago-Calumet, MI with CMStP&P Chicago-Champion, MI, thence DSS&A/Soo to Calumet) Duluth-Superior Limited (Minneapolis-Duluth) Laker (Chicago-Duluth & Minneapolis &Ashland, WI; rerouted to Superior, WI from Duluth in 1961) Mountaineer (St. Paul-Vancouver, BC, with CP from Portal to Vancouver) Soo Dominion (St. Paul-Vancouver with CP from Portal to Vancouver) Winnipeger (St. Paul-Winnipeg, MB, with CP from Noyes to Winnipeg)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Some drumheads of the Soo Line
Enjoy! Tom
Ruth my deAH, a mugga Joe with a jolt ‘n a #3 from the menu if you please. My oh my, you are lookin' mighty fine to these old eyes ‘n I surely don't need the caffeine to begin my day!
Boris, feeding time for the crittAHs, then you can have that small jar of pickled pig's feet. And by the way, there's another shipment of field mice out back for Artie! <ugh>
While a far cry from a couple of weeks ago, we seem to be holding our own ‘round here thanks to our steady customers. Good to see Shane, Dan, Pete ‘n Eric providing the material along with the anchoring provided by our Cap'n.
Curious about the whereabouts of Nick <again> - Per <again> - a puzzling thing. Nick's last appearance was July 4th ‘n Per was seen on July 14th. And of course, Dave hasn't been "in" since July 14th too. He was seen "browsing" but no visit.
For Da Boss: Really like the shots from the dome car, for they provide as close to the "real thing" as possible. Takes me back to many a trip on the rails, just taking it all in . . . just like your pix show. Nicely done!
Soo Line material for today is top shelf "stuff"! So many Fallen Flags, huh What it must've been like to have been able to take advantage of all that train travel . . .
By the way, I checked out the latest edition of Classic Trains (bought a copy) and it is really a good issue with that St. Louis Union Station pix spread. Nicely done - a bit shy on the narrative, but the captions on the pix tell a great story! In the FWIW dept. (for what it's worth) I gave up magazine subscriptions long ago. Once I became a land lubber, I found that I no longer had the same desire to read ‘em as when aboard ship. Being a basic "string saver," I had boxes of ‘em in the basement from Reader's Digest to Popular Mechanics to National Geographic, but that flooding disaster of over a year back took care of most. Anyway, now I purchase what I'm interested in ‘n let the others go. The "boys" get ‘em when I'm done, but I think they take ‘em just to keep me happy. <grin>
Definitely going to get that RRs 'n WWII issue coming up . . . also, what didja think of that RDC 'n PRR steam pix on the last page Looks like an Atlantic sitting across from the RDC!
For Pete: You've got to be kidding! Forgive your bar tab after what you tried to do??!! You're lucky that we didn't fit you for some cement boondockers! <geesh> Now, back to work! <snap> <crack>
Those pix at the RR museum of those locomotives are in a word - great!
Yes, the New Zealand locomotives are narrow gauge.
For Eric: When there's 12 ft of snow in the Keys is when I'll pack up ‘n relocate to Phoenix! Yeah, right . . . I'll find "use" for that rotary snow plow, though - wouldn't be bad to remove the sand that piles up during storms I suppose. <grin>
Amtrak used to operate trains to many areas in this country. The route you spoke of was just one that got altered. In other cases they were completely discontinued. In 1997 the "Desert Wind" (Chicago to Los Angeles) comes to mind as now Las Vegas is without long distance train service. Then the same year the "Pioneer" (Chicago to Seattle/Portland) dropped off the map leaving Boise, Idaho out of the mix. It was reported that the "Pioneer" bit the dust to make more equipment available for the more successful "California Zephyr." No money in the budget to repair damaged equipment or to purchase replacements. <sad>
Me, work for the RR?? Nope, my father ‘n grandfather were career B&O people. I'm the below decks sailor (Merchie).
Ruth on Sunday? Me? Us? Is there NO privacy ‘round here! <arrrrrgggggghhhhhh>
Stay away from red pepper! <grin>
For Shane: All those books ‘n videos would be terrific to own. Now with two houses to support, I suppose there could be room . . .
I think a get together where you are would be fantastic! Trains running east ‘n west, huh?? If only they could be depended on for arrival times within let's say 4 hours! <geesh> Having put up with all the nonsense with Amtrak for the remainder of my life, I'd probably fly to whatever location you recommend. Really would be an enjoyable, ‘n scenic place. You don't suppose there'd be at least ONE watering hole where guys could be guys, do ya??
Just a couple of supportive covers for the Cap'n & crew!
I'll have a pint of Mild please.
Thanks for your comments regarding my observations on The Ocean. Given what you say I think the likelihood is that those are Ren bedrooms joined up (not Park Car bedrooms) - I must agree with you the VIA website is a good effort in trying to give people lots of information (which is very helpful) - but in doing so it is completely lacking in clarity (and sometimes out of date) !! In order to attempt to get some clarity I have dropped VIA an e-mail, I shall see what they say.
The ‘Learning Co-ordinator', was, I think, a lady whose name began with ‘L' - possibly Lynn - she was very good and struck the right note - welcoming but not over the top - informative but not too much so. I can see that on some occasions the car might not be over used - on the journey I took there were whole group of people travelling together as part of a pre planned tour - they kind of crowded out the dome at times I must say - since they had all got to know each other on other parts of their tour.
Pete - interesting to read your comments on the Class 76 and 77 locomotives. That was very sharp picture and shows what a good B&W picture can be like. I'd noticed the name plate too but did not know of the naming policy you outlined. Thanks.
Worth a look for pics is the website of the Dutch preservation group that owns one (I see 2 are preserved in England too - one at Butterley!) - it has a nice colour pic of one in 1966 in BR Green and also scrolling down showing it repainted into BR Black - looking smart - you have to click on the icon of 1501 on the LHS to get to that page.
http://www.klassieke-locs.nl/
All the script is in Dutch but the pics are good - at the base are some interior shots - It looks like these guys have preserved some interesting classic era Electric locos so others interested in that might want to look (esp Ron?).
If you can make this link work (the world's longest link???) there is more info on the one preserved in Manchester:
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/NS_1500_Class_at_Manchester_Museum_of_Science_and_Industry.JPG/300px-NS_1500_Class_at_Manchester_Museum_of_Science_and_Industry.JPG&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_Class_1500&h=200&w=300&sz=43&hl=en&start=20&tbnid=HSPfczPLIBXSjM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dclass%2B77%2Blocomotive%2Bdiana%26start%3D20%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
Pete - you are sharp eyed about that Metropolitan Coach and Loco - I'd not noticed the wing mirror or the collector shoe - I guess the loco was deemed too short to deal with pick up rail gaps so by fitting the gear to the cars that could be over come. I have ridden in the Metropolitan Railway carriages they have at the KWVR (I think, unless I mean The Bluebell) which are of that design.
Eric - take it easy as they say! I agree with you about the look of the GT3 - clearly influenced by steam lines and it looks good for it - I understand there were problem with this loco halting under wooden structures like footbridges and setting fire to them such was the level of heat the gas turbine gave off.
Those pics Tom posted of Phoenix station look good - sad it is no longer used - it seems that the building is quite well maintained. Is this near you?
CM3 - good to see you in.
Lars - just seen your post - sad to read of so many Amtrak route reductions so recently - galling to see the situation such - esp when air transit is so useless and uncomfortable
Regards all
Our dependable threesome of CM3 Shane - Lars 'n Dan have come through for us this morning! Got that wide page pheonom again from our UK Connection . . . definitely the "long" URL did it . . . Also pleased to see Ron made it in for lunch <albiet, liquid!>
Commentary in tomorrow's AM summary . . .
The views from and in the dome on the final day of our Canadian Railway Adventure couldn't have been better. Blue skies brought out the best of the scenery passing us by as the combined "Chaleur-Ocean" headed west for the final segment to Montréal.
St. Hyacinthe VIA Rail station
Sonia, our bedroom car attendant! She was looking for Pete . . .
Who, me
The lonely mountain - now we're really getting close to our destination!
(7 )
AMT commuter train
AMT commuter station
A pint of Bathams please RUTH.
ERIC That was a good spot, the foot measurements on 900081; I had not noticed them before.
Yes the Beaver Tails will run a lot more sedately now on preserved lines where 25 MPH will be the norm. I dare say when they were in service on the LNER's Coronation speed in the high 80s and low 90s would have been the norm, no doubt the cars have traveled at 100 MPH, especially if the Coronation had been delayed, the A4s were well capable of speeds over 100 MPH.
Past Time Rail is a company that organizes rail tours both steam and diesel. I believe Andy Staite and his family run it, his father Bernard was very influential in running steam tours after the BR steam ban was lifted in 1971. They are, in my opinion, one of the best tour company to travel with.. Here is a link to Past Time Rail
http://www.past-timerail.co.uk/
The electric locomotive I was referring to is numbered NER No1.
http://www.lner-info.com/locos/Electric/es1.shtml
Here is a link to NER No 1, I think the locomotive has a look of the early North Amercan electrics. The loco is 103 years old now
4 buses in Missouri, don't tell Amtrak, but wait a minute are you sure those buses aren't interlopers from Illinois.
A bit more on the ‘Breaking News'. The train was returned from the wilderness after there was only Coors Light left in the buffet car. Great photo.
Take it easy with the sneezes and look after yourself.
CM3 I can remember your piece on the Pan American and the George Washington, it seems fairly recent but as Tom says time seems to be flying by lately.
There are still a few pockets of semaphore signaling in Britain, but they are steadily disappearing as money becomes available for modernization. I believe a tri-angle junction at Larbert, Scotland controlled by semaphore signals, including the last splitting distant signal, is to be converted to colour lights soon.
LARS That WWII special looks as though it should be a good one. I do wish they would send it through the post in an envelope though. I got their Steam Glory 2 special and I thought that was very good too.
I must admit I did not think my bar tab would be forgiven.
Glad you liked the photos of the NRM at York it really is, like Exporail, a great museum. I took the photos with the same digital camera I used in Canada, but the photos at York came out a lot better.
Thanks for the Soo Line steam and diesel book covers.
DL Unfortunately I could not get the first link to work but was able to see the 77 in Manchester museum. I seem to recall seeing a preserved 77 painted in BR electric blue but I cannot recall which one it was. I am sure you recall that BR painted some of their class 31s 37s and 47s into a version of the NS livery when they were allocated to Civil Engineer's duties.
I am sure they have those old Metropolitan carriages on the Keighly and Worth Valley and the Bluebell railways. It is easy to imagine Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson traveling to an adventure in them, as they seem very 19th century to me.
RON. Thanks for the drink.
It was great to read of your trip to Ireland, it really is a great place. The local Irish pub here runs a tour to Ireland every year, they will be going there soon. The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland run a 3-day steam tour each May, as well as other day steam tours. They go to a different town in Eire for an overnight stay each year then a run from Dublin to Belfast and their base in Whitehead
TOM I see with the new Amtrak schedule the turn round time in Kansas City is now 1 hour 50 minutes, but the turn round in Kirkwood is a scheduled 4 hours, UMMMM TrainWreck Saloon anyone.
There was a great deal of ‘mickey taking' of people interested in trains especially in the 1970s and 1980s, calling railway enthusiasts ‘Anoraks' I think it is not as bad today, perhaps DL can tell us. They even done a TV documentary on it, but ran into problems trying to film some enthusiasts on a platform end as when they wanted to film them with a train passing the enthusiasts politely stepped out of camera range thinking they wanted to film the train. When we had been on a steam tour and when we got back t our local pub, there where a small group who would make CHOO- CHOO noises, not wishing to be banned from the pub, my mate termed them the ‘Empty Vessels' a singularly apt phrase for them. As you say when you ask the ones who are poking the fun what there interests are you are usually met with a blank stare, says it all.
Yes we certainly have had and are
Drinks all round please Leon,a choice of Tui or Speights if you so wish. Tom watch out for the Speights as it has a reputation for setting you free like prune juice does!
Tom. Did see your`s and Lars`s pics of the Ka`s on the other thread, they are fine looking machines, they have one streamlined Ka942 which was in steam, but now undergoing a rebuild at;
http://www.mainlinesteam.co.nz/
Enjoyed all your posts, pics, travelogue and historical info, some really interesting reading.
Did you see the Harvey Girls flick at all That movie had a great impression on me and my interest in the SF and probably the fair sex as well.
Thanks for the round, easy on the Speights tho!
Lars. Great pic of Ka945 on the other thread, I saw her on a trip through here in the early 90`s, got a few pics of her with a lot of steam around, she is currently having a rebuild like 942, you will find the info at;
http://steaminc.co.nz/
As you say, the Harvey Girls made a big impression on me at such a tender age, I also think it was the theme song as well. All your posts made great reading and viewing, great bookcovers.
Pete. I saw those Quayside electrics when I was a kid way back when, thanks for your link to the NRM NE section, very interesting. Those G class NZ Pacifics were rebuilds from three Garratts they had here in the 20`s, they had six G`s, they certainly looked different at the front end, they have a SAR Garratt at Mainline Steam in Auckland. As they say in Geordie land "Why aye man"! A page about the NZ Garratts is;
http://www.trainweb.org/nzsteam/garratts/g_4-6-2.html
Thanks for all the interesting pics and links and your continuing journey.
Dan. Many thanks for all your links and info, as you say it would have been great to have seen the stretch of ECML under wires in those days like now, they were still running Deltics on the main trains when we left in 69. The NE were very progressive in the early 1900`s, the North Tyneside electric system was the first in operation in the UK by ONE week. Found a site about it at
http://www.emus.co.uk/zone/tyneside/tyneside.htm
Enjoyed all your links and the Beavertail discussion thats going on on the thread.
Eric. As they say, "Like Minds" eh! Pity there was`nt a voice link on the site! Thanks for the pics and posts.
DD1. The loco`s over here really are big when you consider they are on 3ft 6in gauge, and they looked modern too, with some having streamlining and Vanderbilt tenders as on your roads back home.
Shane. Enjoyed your posts, great jokes.
Mike. Where are you mate?
See ya, Allan
Hi Leon, same again please.
Lars. Sorry error on site address if you Google Steam Incorporated New Zealand you should get there OK.
Pete. Sorry mate, the same has occured with the Garratt address, can`t seem to get it down right so try New Zealand Railway`s Garratts on Google.
For my next trick!
Good morning Captain Tom and Gentlemen!!
Leon, I'll pass tonight, my stomach is kind of upset. let me try a blck cup of coffee!
Kind of lost day today. Had some strong storms passing over here tonight but they did not produce much rain, just lightning.
Tom – The info on the site about the rerouting of the Sunset Limited is not entirley correct. It says that UP abandoned the line, but they did not and still hasn’t. Now there are some rumours about opening that line again. Shoot, I missed the Arctic Circle! I should have known better but missed it. I would love to ride the train from Anchorage to Denali and back. Maybe, one day!Soo Line, one of too many roads I dont know very much about! I like the Mountaineer drumhead!I never have any problems with a wide page from our UK Connection or anyone else. I think this site/forum needs more work though. I still don’t understand why they changed format about a year ago. Nice pictures from your trip! I wonder what Stealthy Pete is looking at? The landscape is just flat outside. Hmmm. Sonia, hmm? The lonely mountain. Is that cut out on the side a mine or what? CM3 – Getting lost on trips? Yeah, I guess it happens. Hmm. Lars – That is a good use for the Rotary Plow, blow the sand over to the neigbor’s yard after the storms! I know you are an old Merchie, I just tried to be a little bit mean! But nothing works anymore. OK, I’ll stay away from the red pepper. I actually asked Boris to throw it away. Two nice Soo Line book covers! Ooh, hi Ruth! I didn't see you!
DL – Setting footbridges on fire? Sounds like a locomotive you had to be careful operating. Ron – I’ve been to England three times in the 70’s but never to Ireland. I guess a lot of things have chnaged since then, except the left hand traffic!Pete – Thanks for the info on the Beaver Tails and Past Time Rail! I guess I can’t find NER No 1 in those pictures. Probably hiding behind an old steam loco. Thanks for the links! At least now I know what NER No 1 looks like!Those buses? Two of them are coming from Illinois, one from Ohio and one from Missouri!!! A special locomotive to haul the directors around the system? Wow, that’s neat! The steam locomotive looks newer than from 1869 to me. Thanks for the picture!Allan – Question about the NZ gauge of 3ft, 6in, did they ever build any wider gauge line? Thanks for the link to the Tyneside Electrics! Sorry to say I couldn’t open the other links. Address could not be found.
Good morning anyone, no one in - place still locked up?
I'll just leave this note for Tom through the letter box. Via Rail customer services replied to my e-mail (they are efficient in that regard). Triple and Quad bedrooms ARE (according to them) "indeed located in our Park car" - and I specifically checked that this was for The Ocean train.
Well, I'm sure the Customer Services Section is a way from the operating department - but this is info worth knowing assuming it is in fact correct. Apart from Dining in the microwave/convection car it suggests you can still do a Budd trip on The Ocean at least in the summer. Worth bearing in mind although I'd believe it when you saw the car number on your booking slip!
<courtesy: www.viarail.ca>
Wednesday's Witticism
If you have to prove you are right, you are probably wrong.
Mid-week in mid-continent USA ‘n hotter ‘n I like it. Figured summer would fully arrive by August - and here it is!! Juneau has proclaimed this the start of the Dog Days of Summer - he should know, eh <grin>
Took the bride out to lunch yesterday - man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do, eh She winds up her summer teaching tomorrow - then not quite 2 weeks off ‘n back she goes for the beginning of the fall semester. FALL in mid-August?? What's in a name, eh <barf> Nice thing about the summer course is that she only had to go in twice a week. Saved on the wear ‘n tear on the vehicle, that's fer sure, not to mention petrol!
New month, but same-ol, same-ol for the eats this morning - draw a mugga Joe, some pastries from The Mentor Village Bakery, ‘n begin the day on the right foot with us!
Observation: West Coast S - Dave was again sighted browsing the Forums - but no visit to the bar. Happened just around the time I posted my Canadian RR Adventure fotos . . . Hmmmmmmmm.
And from the Legion of the Lost! Finally heard from barndad - Doug regarding some questions I've had for him. He's saying that he expects to be back with us in September. Let's hope so.
CM3 Shane (coalminer3) at 8:09 AM Tuesday - July 31st: This talk of a WVA Rendezvous site has me thinking . . . Watch for an Email!
So what's in a title, eh Garbage man or sanitation engineer, still equates to the same thing! Way back in the early 70s, the USCG got inundated with "facilitators" - all civilians - who were conducting "You shall attend or else" seminars on a host of social issues . . . "Facilitators" my sweet stern section! I believe we came away with more "issues" than existed prior to their "enlightenment" exercises . . . But that's ‘nother topic for ‘nother time ‘n place . . .
Yeah, VIA Rail came up with that Learning Coordinator moniker when they decided to put the "Ocean" in a tourist category of trains, but only for those willing to up the ante for the privilege of using the Park Car. But, we've been there before . . . Anyway, I've not used the Renaissance consists with the Park Car since they decided to mess with what used to work so well. So, I haven't met a real live, in the flesh Learning Coordinator person! <barf>
Oh how I WISH one could get due east ‘n due west from here for long distance train travel. Furthest west I can go is KCity, MO ‘n east is just across the Mississippi River to Illinois. Everything else must connect in Chicago for the east-west travels. A six hour plus train ride to Chicago to connect. Heck, I could be well over halfway to where you live, by car!! <double barf> And that says a lot about why our Union Station ISN'T!!
Superliner Sightseer cars are fine and in fact give a "different" view. I prefer the Budd domes, with the forward seating. However, I recall that some Superliner Sighteseer cars had seats that swiveled to provide that 180 view missing from the fixed configuration experienced today. Haven't seen those type seats in ages . . .
Glad you're enjoying the final fotos of the trip back to Montréal . . . should all be over by week's end. <phew>
Check out this link for your George Washington ‘n Pan American references:
http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/51/1181195/ShowPost.aspx#1181195
Round, quarters, visit ‘n chat appreciated!
Lars (LoveDomes) at 10:15 AM Tuesday - July 31st: It's amazing how it seems that almost right after we both "blew kisses" in the direction of those who provided that flurry of activity here at the bar, so many have checked out! Another "phenom" experienced at the Hit ‘n Miss Bar ‘n Grill! <grin> But, "we takes what we gets," eh Youbetcha!
I've taken stock in many of the guys who used to be (UTB) regulars ‘round here - several are still active on the Forums. Anyway, we've got quite an alumni building. I don't hold it against anyone who, for whatever the reason, has decided to move along. BUT when it is done without so much as a fair-thee-well, then I draw the line. Rude ‘n ignorant behavior just isn't something I can look over. Don't like it anymore than wet toilet paper or warm beer! <grin>
I caught that final Page foto of the RDC ‘n Pennsy steamer. Yes, it surely looks like an Atlantic - would love to see a side view. But, the 4-4-2 kinda gives it away, eh Cape May, NJ - now THAT brings home some memories for me.
When I enlisted in 1956, we were placed on a Pennsy train at NY Penn Station bound for Philadelphia. I was "in charge" of the group of over 100 new enlistees heading off to 13 weeks of boot camp at Cape May. Upon arrival in Philly, we were put aboard another train, then met at the Cape May station by a "grey bus." Arrived
Pete visited with comments and observations. A 2-2-4T - yikes! The last (or near to the last) semaphore installation in the Chicago area (Brighton Park) is no more. The new signals were cut in while I was on vacation. Pictures I have seen, well let's just say, "It don't look the same!"
Allan stopped by - good to hear from you. I am learning all sorts of stuff from your posts - keep the cards and letters coming!
Eric - The morning "Nitwitness News" programs had lots of pictures of Arizona weather this morning - has Scottsdale arrived in your back yard yet?
One U.S. road that had at least one inspection engine was the New York Central. It kind of looked like a house with cylinders and wheels. I must go to the east wing and see if I can find pictures. I know I have some somewhere.
OSP sent along comments, observations, and wry reflections.
"Spekn' about titles," I got a letter in the mail the other day from a "TeleService Suppression Manager." This came about because I crossed swords with a telemarketer. They apologized for bothering me - how about that? Anyway, I like the title, even though the job is probably outsourced somewhere - Unhand me Boris! That's all I'm going to say!
US Navy boxcars - they're either full of gray paint or lines. Anyway, back in the day, the Navy had tank cars that carried helium. I always wondered which was heavier - an mty or a loaded helium car? I know, too much time on my hands. This brings me to the trivia question for the day - "Who ran the government helium program?" Hint - It was not the Navy.
Mail rec'd and you should have a response by now.
Here's something on a road we haven't talked too much about lately.
Today we turn our attention to the Gulf Mobile and Ohio Railroad, a road which some of you may remember from the excellent opening scene in the movie, "In the Heat of the Night."
Headquartered at Mobile, Alabama, the GM&O ran from Chicago south to New Orleans and Mobile. A single main line operated between Chicago and Jackson, Tennessee. A second main line ran from Dyersburg, Tennessee to Jackson. There were two main lines south of Jackson. One ran to Mobile via Union, Mississippi, and the other to Mobile via Meridian, Mississippi. To the north, another main line ran across Illinois to Kansas City.
The line to New Orleans split at Meridian, Mississippi and headed west to Jackson, MS before turning south. Branch lines reached from the main line east to Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama. A third branch handled traffic between Memphis, Tennessee and Corinth, Mississippi.
For a midsize regional carrier, the GM&O had a good size network of passenger trains in the late 1960s. Their through trains operated between Chicago and St. Louis. A short piece of track connected St. Louis to the GM&O main line at East St. Louis.
We'll begin with southbound service.
Train 5, the coach only "Midnight Special" operated between Chicago and St. Louis. It departed Chicago Union Station at 11:25 p.m. with a 7:10 a.m. arrival in St Louis.
Train 3 was the "Abraham Lincoln," which left Chicago at 5:10 p.m. and reached St. Louis at 10:40 p.m. The Abraham Lincoln's consist included coaches, a diner lounge, and a 44 seat/1 drawing room parlor car.
Train1, "The Limited" was a daylight run from Chicago to St. Louis. It left Chicago at 1110 a.m. and arrived in St. Louis at 4:43 p.m. It carried a parlor car, diner lounge, and coaches.
The GM&O operated a commuter train from Chicago to Joliet. Train 17 left at 5:25 p.m. and got to Joliet at 6:15 p.m.
Train 1 connected with the Missouri Pacific at St. Louis. MP train 1 ("Texas Eagle") departed St. Louis at 5:30 p.m. and arrived in Little Rock six hours later.
Northbound, train 2 carried the "Abraham Lincoln" name with a parlor car, diner lounge and coaches. It departed St. Louis at 8:58 a.m. and pulled into Chicago at 2:18 p.m.
MP train 2 connected with GM&O 2 at St. Louis. The MP train left Little Rock at 2:05 a.m. and arrived in St. Louis at 8:30 a.m.
Train 4 was the northbound "Limited" which handled parlor car, diner lounge, and coaches. The "Limited" departed St. Louis at 4:00 p.m. and arrived in Chicago at 9:30 p.m.
Train 6 was the northbound "Midnight Special." It left St. Louis at 10:30 p.m., carried coaches, and arrived in Chicago at 5:30 p.m.
Joliet-Chicago commuters rode train 16 which departed at 6:30 a.m. and arrived in Chicago 65 minutes later.
The GM&O noted that all "parlor lounge cars trains 1-2-3-4 are owned and operated by the GM&O R.R."
All trains were "air conditioned and diesel-electric powered."
2007 BIRTHDAY WATCH LIST [bday]
(rev. Aug 1st)
January 14th (Eric - 64)
OKRA (Dec 22 - Jan 20) Are tough on the outside but tender on the inside. Okras have tremendous influence. An older Okra can look back over his life and see the seeds of his influence everywhere. You can do something good each day if you try. You go well with most anyone.
March 5th (Nick - 47)
March 13th (Doug - 51) Legion of the Lost (almost!)
BOLL WEEVIL (Feb 20 - March 20) You have an overwhelming curiosity. You're unsatisfied with the surface of things, and you feel the need to bore deep into the interior of everything. Needless to say, you are very intense and driven as if you had some inner hunger. You love to stay busy and tend to work too much. Nobody in their right mind is going to marry you, so don't worry about it.
March 31st (Lars - 67)
MOON PIE (March 21 - April 20) You're the type that spends a lot of time on the front porch. A cinch to recognize the physical appearance of Moon Pies. Big and round are the key words here. You should marry anybody who you can get remotely interested in the idea. A Chitlin would be a good mate but it's not going to be easy. You always have a big smile and are happy. This might be the year to think about aerobics. Maybe not.
May 18th (Tom - 69)
POSSUM (April 21 - May 21) When confronted with life's difficulties, possums have a marked tendency to withdraw and develop a don't-bother-me-about- it attitude. Sometimes you become so withdrawn, people actually think you're dead. This strategy is probably not psychologically healthy but seems to work for you. You are a rare breed. Most folks love to watch you work and play. You are a night person and mind your own business. You should definitely marry an Armadillo.
May 27th (Dave - 48)
CRAWFISH (May 22 - June 21) Crawfish is a water sign. If you work in an office, you're hanging around the water cooler. Crawfish prefer the beach to the mountains, the pool to the golf course, and the bathtub to the living room. You tend not to be particularly attractive physically but have a good heart.
August 11th (Pete - 56)
August 14th (Allan - 72)
CATFISH (July 24 - Aug 23) Catfish are traditionalists in matters of the heart, although one's whiskers may cause problems for loved ones. You Catfish are never easy people to understand. You run fast. You work and play hard. Even though you prefer the muddy bottoms to the clear surface of life, you are liked by most. Above all else, Catfish should stay away from Moon Pies.
September 11th (Per - 62)
GRITS (Aug 24 - Sept 23) Your highest aim is to be with others like yourself. You like to huddle together with a big crowd of other Grits. You love to travel though, so maybe you should think about joining a club. Where do you like to go? Anywhere they have cheese, gravy, bacon, butter, or eggs and a good time. If you can go somewhere where they have all these things, that serves you well. You are pure in heart.
October 9th (Ron - 73)
BOILED PEANUTS (Sept 24 - Oct 23) You have a passionate desire to help your fellow man. Unfortunately, those who know you best, your friends and loved ones, may find that your personality is much too salty, and their criticism will affect you deeply because you are really much softer than you appear. You should go right ahead and marry anybody you want to because in a certain way, yours is a charmed life. On the road of life, you can be sure that people will always pull over and stop for you.
December 29th (CM3 - 61)
The age reflected is what you will be on your 2007 B'day!
Not on the list Send me an Email with your birth date (month-day-year) Corrections too!
Tom (Siberianmo)
Proprietor of "Our" Place, an adult eating & drinking establishment!
Ruth my deAH if there's a word for "you light up my life" it must be - RUTH! <blush> Just a mugga Joe with a jolt if you please, ‘n maybe a couple of crullers from the bakery case. Ah yes, the crittAHs have lined up for feeding time. Hop to it Boris, Awk - Tex - Frostbite - Artie ‘n Juneau are waiting! And yes, you may have that small jar of pickled pig's feet when you finished. Don't forget, Artie ‘n the field mice go out on the back porch! <yikes>
A round for the house ‘n the change is yours, my deAH!
Appears that we're continuing on with the business of keeping the bar on course. Many thanks to our stalwarts ‘n others who've found this joint to their liking!
For Da Boss: Surely don't "get" the wide-page thing - seems that every time someone puts up a Url that is lengthy, I get that "phenom" on my screen too. Especially shows up from our guy in the UK - Dan. What's annoying about the situation is that if the post is a bit lengthy, I have to not only go back ‘n forth across the page, but up ‘n down as well to get to where I can make those moves. Takes far too much time . . . <barf>
I can only WISH that Sonia was lookin' for ME! Things couldn't have been all that bad aboard your Chaleur train! <grin> Oooooooops, sorry Ruth! <uh oh> Nice continuing pix from your trip with perhaps other than the one of stealthy Pete! He does look somewhat "guilty" to me . . . Hmmmmmmmmm.
I've experienced that annoyance when encountering tour groups aboard a train. At times those who are in charge of ‘em seem to revel in their "power" by taking over the car they're in. One trip aboard the California Zephyr (Amtrak version) I got into "it" with a dweeb who decided that his group "needed" the seats on a particular side of the sightseer car so that THEY could see whatever was coming up. We didn't relinguish the seats we had ‘n got those "stares" that in another place ‘n time would've led to a punch square in the snot locker. <barf>
Some fine nostalgia dredged up with that Cape May reference. Yeah, who can forget boot camp, huh Did mine at NTC Bainbridge, MD - Skin heads rule! <grin>
Don't know what it is with some guys who take the time to log in, but won't stop in. Hey, I like our Left Coast guy ‘n wish he'd at least drop a few words on us. Guess he's doing the best he can with the time allotted. Most we can hope for is that he won't become a UTB ‘round here.
By the time Doug gets back here on a regular basis, I'm wonderin' WHO will know him. Only kidding, but there are guys who have no connection with all he's been for this joint. Same for Rob, if he were ever to return . . . almost like, oh well . . . Never, ever thought these two would go the way they have, especially given the effort put forth last year at this time.
Revised B'day Watch List shows Nick as the "kid" at 47! Makes me feel REALLY old! <groan> Got TWO B'days comin' up!!
Looks like your Cards are on a roll, whereas my Mets have found a bumpy road as of late. A couple of injuries hasn't helped, but no excuses. All teams suffer those things ‘n it's the one's still standing in October who have that shot at the brass ring.
Didja catch the Yanks hitting 8 homers last night - none from A-Rod though. Eight is enough, someone said.
For Dan: Problem with Amtrak is and has been appropriations (subsidy) from Congress. The amount is pitiful when compared to the big bucks shelled out to highways, airports ‘n so on. It's amazing to me that they've been able to keep this sad semblance of a system together given the obstacles along the way. They don't own the track (exception: NE Corridor and I believe just a bit near Union Station in Chicago (anyone who knows, jump right in!!) - they are at the mercy of the freight outfits (even though the "rules" say passenger rail gets priority - yeah, sure) and they haven't got the equipment to keep up with situational demand (holidays, inclement weather, etc.) To my way of thinking IF Amtrak could come through when the public expects them to "be there," things would be far, far better for their future. But it just seems to me that this notion of poor service, late arrivals ‘n the like will keep ‘em in low esteem, which of course factors in when subsidies are being discussed. Not fair, but life isn't.
For Ron: That's quite a description you provided for your former Mrs. In fact, I'm still smiling . . . <grin> Swedish, huh Perhaps a conspiracy IS underway ‘round here. <uh oh>
For Pete: From what I'm picking up, appears that your Kalmbach magazines are coming without being in an envelope. I used to get mine in clear plastic envelopes. No more, huh?? Guess they're trying to save bucks wherever they can. I think the Cap'n hit it on the head with any that are received in damaged condition. Tell Kalmbach about it ‘n my guess is you'll get a replacement.
The prices of the mags are outta sight, but then what isn't? Checked the price of a gallon of milk lately?? When a gallon of gasoline is cheaper than a gallon of milk, there's something definitely WRONG!
Forgiving your bar tab would be like telling Jack the Ripper he was just a misunderstood crazy. Nope, you drank ‘em, you pay for ‘em! <grin>
For Allan: Appreciate the kind word
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