The pot of coffee is always on [even after 2 years have passed]. Come on in. Sweet ice tea too.

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys , Been working a lot lately , and late. Building a large horse barn near Sandpoint Id.Hope to be finished in a couple weeks. Been hot here , in the 90's. But nice at night 55-60. Looking forward to fall............Tim

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Packing for the trip to Charlotte [3 hours] to the Bass Masters Classic. Hope all have a great day and great weekend. Do not know if the Hampton has a computer center. If so, I'll check on you guys. Really had the rain yesterday PM and into the night. Some around us had lots more [which caused flash flooding]. God bless all.

[Anonymous]

Going to a Brewer game today! YIPPIE!!

[FJ and G]

Eating rib eye steaks tonight, writing screenplay, lifting weights, working on layout. Weather in July was extremely nice, mostly in 80s instead of usual 90s.

Have a nice weekend.

[cnw1995]

Well, Jerry, I watched that Brewers game - looks like the Cubs pulled one out. Hope you enjoyed it.. Yum, rib eye steaks sounds tasty. I'm having left-over Chinese food for lunch, then cleaning out our disgusting refrigerator here at work. Hope to revisit my home-grown working airplane pylon this weekend, and experiment with ways to reduce the 'cat-lateral' damage to my foam stone walls dotting the layout's newest pasture. It's spitting out today - not quite raining, but cool and damp. First time in a while, I'm the only fool in the neighborhood that doesn't water the lawn this time of year, so this helps.

[Anonymous]

Dave, when do you sleep:-)

Mike

[spankybird]

Hi all,

Well its TGIF night. We had a very busy week at work, and sure am glad for the weekend. Looks like we are going to get wet tonight with some


Trainfest is about 2.5 hour away, don’t think we can make it this year.

Till latter

tom

[dougdagrump]

Tim, Doesn't fall start in a couple of weeks up there. [(-D]
Followed very quickly thereafter by snow, kinda like where we used to live in Colorado.
Three seasons: summer, winter, mud.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

It’s a wet morning in NE Ohio, temp at 70 with 100% Humidity, so it fell really warm out. We still have plenty of summer to go yet.

Gee Dave, you didn’t invite us for those Ribeye Stakes[dinner]. Were they good[?][:P]

Don’t forget Sunday Photo Fun. Take some pics and post them.



tom

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dougdagrump

Tim, Doesn't fall start in a couple of weeks up there. [(-D]
Followed very quickly thereafter by snow, kinda like where we used to live in Colorado.
Three seasons: summer, winter, mud.

Yes Doug, Fall is just a few weeks away. Will have snow on the ground by Nov. 10th. It will continue to accumulate ( with very little melting) until late April. During the winter ..Jan and Feb we will have about 3 ft on the ground at all times. We actually have 4 seasons. Early winter, winter, late winter, and road construction. Beautiful and 48 this morning......Tim

[cnw1995]

I'm posting from a lab computer where I'm monitoring my class take their final exam this morning. It was a good class (adults so they are motivated learners for the most part who are pursuing their undergraduate degrees) but I'm happy it's over. It was foggy and drizzly this morn - made it good to be in class but now everything's burned off and it's a pleasant day out. Cannot believe it hasn't been really warm for a while here. Probably means a cold winter...

[spankybird]

Good Morning All

It’s a great Blue Clear Sky morning in NE Ohio with 82 deg at 8:30am.

Dough, years ago, I taught at our local collage part time, but never did a Saturday class. Of course, this was before the day of laptops and internet being everywhere (1981 to 1994).

All have a great day.


tom

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cnw1995

looks like the Cubs pulled one out.

huh? Cubbies? I saw the Pirates![:p][;)]

[cnw1995]

I must've had the wrong series of games, Jerry. I stumbled across something interesting this morning. While waiting for Toys R Us to open (don't ask...), I took a stroll along the bike trail that parallels what's left of the former C&NW line from Crystal Lake (IL) south to Elgin. I noticed a tell-tale swath of tall grass and found a long tangent of track still extant in a pretty broad bed of 'pink lady' ballast. I dug out a piece to check. When I looked carefully, I could see the telegraph poles in the tall weeds alongside the track - some still with the glass insulators - and in one dense group of brush, there was a concrete square with a tall metal pole jutting out of it under the scrub trees with the remnants of a semaphore signal on it. The semaphore blade was gone as was the lense, but the wiring for the light and the brackets and rods for moving the blade were still there - less than 20 yards from a busy road I travel down regularly. Made my day. This bike trail (and the line itself) runs pretty far south. The UP still calls a weekly Crystal Lake job that runs north along this line to Ringwood - used to be biweekly. Anyway, enjoy your evenings.

[FJ and G]

It was a very strange weekend.

First, went walking with BB in the woods when a storm broke. To make a long story short, we got separated and spent several hours trying to locate her. Got back home to get my truck and go find her and there she was inside my nextdoor neighbor's porch, eating the neighbor's dog food.

THen yesterday, a couple from church took me to lunch in Haymarket, 10 miles up the road. It's a rural Virginia town, as yet untouched by D.C. crowding. Near the NS tracks they took me to a restaurant called the Rail Stop. Very fine couisin, served from a wooden kitchen labeled Railway Express Agency. During the course of the meal, a girl behind the counter flipped a switch on the wall and a N&W Y6b started up on the ceiling, steaming around the restaurant with about 8 freight cars and 2 cabeese in tow. There actually was some hi-rail scenery in the corners where space was available. What a treat!

When I got home, I sat down to type my screenplay on my new computer. Actually, the computer was thrown out in the trash near my work. Had Windows 98 on it and runs good. After looking at and erasing all the private photos and stuff, I was ready to type.

In 3 hours, I got 18 pages of screenplay typed, in a spurt of energy and adreneline. Wish I could share w/you but there are some nasty people in cyberspace who actually make a living stealing ideas and screenplays.

I'm still thinking about moving to South Dakota, where the fishing is fine and the weather is cold.

dav

[FJ and G]

oh, one other item: number counters.

I just don’t get the thrill and excitement. Along comes a CSX or NS train past the Alexandria station. Seated on the bench are a group of males, ranging from about 15 to 60 years old, notebooks and pencils out along with scanners. No cameras.

Along comes the train. They rapidly write down the locomotive numbers and then count the cars and log those numbers into the notebook. They do this for hours on end. Very nice people they are. I chat with them nearly every day. I discuss the locomotive types, weathering on some of the freight cars, and details about the type of freight. But many of them know nothing about the type engines and have no real interest in the freight cars. They are more interested in counting the cars and taking down the locomotive numbers.

Also, they have no interest in Metro, VRE, and Amtrak, all of which can be seen from the platform. They don’t write down those at all. As a matter of fact, a very long Amtrak train the other day blocked their view of a Tropicana train. Pulled in just as half the train had passed. Screwed up their counting bad. Should have seen the frustrated looks.

The other day, I asked one of them what they plan to do with all the numbers. “Just keep logging them in,” he said. Ask any of them what trains came in between 6 and 8 p.m. on July 31 and they can give you the numbers. May come in handy someday, but I don’t know for what.

[cnw1995]

Trainspotters. I saw them on a trip to England a few years back. It used to be something seemingly done by all school boys 'over there.' There's a few blogs out there with lists. I've also stumbled across a group of guys a few years ago (whose hobby is pretty proscribed nowadays) who sit under approach runways jotting down tail numbers on commercial airliners.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Showers I guess. Storm off the coast. Back from the Bass Masters Clasic. David, they are selling the info on trains to the terriost. Better call the SS [Homeland Security]. [;)] Got to get things done here. Hope all have a great day and God bless. Jim Duda is out of hospital and going back to work but sore from surgery. Everyone send him a message and flood his email. [:D] He is in no shape to MOW GRASS [he says]. [:D]

[Jim Duda]

...just so you all know, I had a sex change operation and am currently wearing a teen training bra...itches like hell under my arms! Doc says I can try walking in heels in a couple o' weeks and I'm already lookin' at a Donna Karan slit dress size 5/6. Bikinis will go on sale at Saks in a few weeks and I should be ready to do some serious grass cuttin' by then.

For now, I'm just ordering some necessary undergarments from the Victoria Secret catalog...gotta look nice for those horny bass fishermen...

[FJ and G]

Jim,

That sex change op ought to spell relief for the hubby of the mini-skirted lawn mowing neighbor chick that you have sometimes observed.

[Anonymous]

Hey, Why dont you guys put on your high heels and miniskirts and come help me. I have 10 tons ..about 270 bales of hay to put in the barn loft today, or maybe tonight. Sad weekend.. On of my Arabian horses colicked this Sunday and had to be put down . It is always very sad whenever you lose a member of the family. Any of you that have lost a pet will know what I mean. Her name was Rorbecka Highlite (Becka) and in the last 10 years I have shown her all over the country, in numerous horse shows. We always had a good time , even on the rare occasion when we did not win. She will be missed by us all. The only good thing is that I still have her Daughter, a seven year old mare that looks exactly like her mother..............Tim

[spankybird]

But Jimbo - you have to look out, Dave has been looking for a date.

Its a great summer Blue Clear Sky in NE Ohio with temps at 88 deg and a light breeze.

Tim - sorry to here of your loose. It's alwas hard to lose a pet.

[ChiefEagles]

Sorry Tim. Had big rain come through. Two counties NW of us are under flash flood warnings. Need to go run trains. They have been sitting patiently while I was gone. Ever think that they might just start themselves up and play when no one is around??????? [:D] Hey that is a "combo". Jimbolina and David. [;)]

[spankybird]

And think half the battle is won, they both like trains.

[Dr. John]

Back home in lower Alabama after a week visiting the wife's relatives in Arkansas. We enjoyed some nice cool weather last week in the Ouachita mountains. Now back home in the heat and humidity!

While in Arkansas, we saw quite a few shortline railroads - The Delta Southern as we went up highway 65 with a few CF-7s and light rail with a lot of weeds! My son and I came across a railroad trestle while four-wheeling on Uncle Gerald's 80 acres outside of Conway. Turned out to be part of the Little Rock and Western. Then we drove along the Caddo Valley railroad as we traveled to Wilhemina Mountain (Rich Mountain to the locals). Looks like about half of the railroad has been abandoned. Of course, we also saw a lot of the Union Pacific and KCS as well. Arkansas is a beautiful state and we enjoyed our visit.

[ChiefEagles]

Welcome back Dr. John. Got Jim Duda back too. Now if we could find Buckeye. Got emails from him tonight. Maybe he'll show up here. Got to run.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

It’s a warm morning with light rain in NE Ohio, temp 74 deg at 6:00 am.

Dr John, no mater how far you go, it seems like there is no place like home.

Looks like Chief is going to have some rain for the next few days.

All take care

tom

[FJ and G]

Morning to ya. See Spankybird is up bright and early.

Dr. John,

I lived for 7 years near the LR&W RR. A great little shortline, once part of the Choctaw. Used to kayak in the bayous that meander along the line, passing under the trestles and photographing the trains; hi-cab GP-9s, I'm guessing.

Lots of abandoned timber lines in the woods west of LR, even an old roundhouse & turntable deep in the forest that has decayed down to the ground.

Had an interesting evening yesterday. Got a video of The General, which I plan to watch this weekend; research for my screenplay. I'd like to get a copy of an obscure video also done by Buster, but 40 years later about 1965 called The Rail Rodders. Anyone ever heard of that?

Waiting for my train at Alexandria yesterday evening, a 128-car mixed CSX freight pulled in (how do I know how many cars? The RR counters on the platform informed me).

The train stopped so the young engineer (looked early 20s!) could pick up some junk food. Got back in and fired up the four engines. What a show it was too! Lead was GP60, second a Dash-8, followed by two GP-40-2s (which never seem to go away).

Off she went with the Dash-8, of all engines, belching smoke like a steam locomotive or an Alco. Fire poured out from the stack as it rumbled away to the south. Concerned passengers on the platform executed an eyes-right, watching with concern and awe.

I've seen the afterburners on jets, but trains?!

dav

[FJ and G]

Know what? I forgot to mention yesterday that the restaurant , The Rail Stop, was owned by Robert Duvall, (actor), who set up the Lionel layout.

[Dr. John]

Good morning!

Dave,

I wish we had seen some trains on the LR&W. My son and I waited near the trestle for a while, but it was starting to get dark and we had to follow a trail for a couple of miles to get back to the house. The right of way looked in good shape for a shortline - well maintained with a good covering of ballast. The trestle had a concrete center pier and concrete retaining walls. I did pick up an old spike and tie plate out of the weeds. I read that Arkansas has lost nearly 25% of their rail lines since 1992 due to abandonment. From the look of most of the shortlines I saw, a lot more will be abandoned soon. I guess the cost of upgrading track, etc. is too expensive. Most of the abandonments followed major derailments, often involving old bridges.

Well enough of my commentary on Arkansas short lines. Y'all have a good day!