Good morning
I'll have the waffles with extra Pelican brand butter and syrup in the Pullman dining car please.
Happy Taco Tuesday! Hopefully tacos are on the menu in the dining car this evening
Crazy Minnesota again. It was almost 50° on Saturday, hovering near 20° Sunday and Monday. Today it will be near or exceed 50° again. I'll take it Finally spring is on its way in the Klondike
NorthBrit Cats and dogs. Some days he would lift the lid off the fish tank and started 'plodging up and down'. He never tried to catch any fish. Just loved the water.
Cats and dogs.
Some days he would lift the lid off the fish tank and started 'plodging up and down'. He never tried to catch any fish. Just loved the water.
Nellie was our favorite dog that had characteristics of a cat. We had a pond in the backyard. In the fall we would take the koi and put them in a hog feeding bin in the basement for the winter. Nellie loved the water as well and would paw her foot in the water. Both her and Magnum would get all the way into the pond in the summer to cool off. I don't think the koi minded but I never asked them She would sit and watch the fish in the basement just as she did in the backyard.
One day she came upstairs whimpering nervously and repeatedly doing an about-face towards the stairs. It was almost like one of those Lassie movies where she tried to get us to follow her right away. The one yellow koi that liked to jump was out of the hog bin flopping on the floor. Nellie had saved the fish. I think she liked fish just like she liked frogs but that is another story.
Thanks for all the pictures, history and information you have provided on the thread so far this month Dave. Great job Thank you as well Ed, for your contributions and the welcome back
My contribution to the Pullmans.
A little contribution as they come in small Micro-Trains boxes. Interesting How Great Northern called thier color Pullman green. I see Pullman green as almost black unless it's right next to black. It shows a greenish but almost a more brown Hue in certain lighting. It's a tricky color and almost impossible to duplicate. A lot of the MR manufacturer's screw it up. These cars certainly look great behind my Northern Pacific Challenger, .....Well, It could have happened!
Have a great day gentleman
TF
Good morning, diners! I hope the regular waitresses are enjoying their month off as our food is served by dining car waiters. I'll have my regular -- bacon, eggs, and black coffee.
Herrinchoker, that's a hilarious story of your puppy. Good luck looking at piles of **** on the lawn looking for train parts. Hope your body recovers through all of this.
Dave, I am loving all the passenger train stuff. Passenger trains are my favorite on layouts. If I had to pick a time to live besides the present, I think I would go back as a rich man to the 1940s-1950s and ride all of the name trains we rode the past two months.
I have to go to a funeral this morning, so that's all from the Great Plains.
York1 John
Good evening all. Back from the Hospice. Dawn is progressing well with her walking. Still a long way to go, but much better than five years ago when Doctors' said she would never walk again.
Chermoula Prawns with Spiced Giant Couscous is on the menu.
A Fruit Salad with a Banana Sauce to follow.
Stay Safe Everyone
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
York1If I had to pick a time to live besides the present, I think I would go back as a rich man to the 1940s-1950s and ride all of the name trains we rode the past two months.
Mike
PM RailfanKevin) So you decided on a lil Histler instead of the Brass bummer? Or are you still teetering on the decision?
I am absolutely not buying the brass model. Unless someone makes one, I will never have the Cummins Diesel Locomotive.
I have enough material for three or four center cab diesel projects that will exist in the SGAU.
York1Dave, I am loving all the passenger train stuff.
I know very little about real trains, and almost nothing about passenger cars. Thanks to Dave, my knowledge of passenger cars has probably doubled in just a couple of days.
Water Level RouteAgreed. I'll forever be jealous of those who got to ride at least one of them.
I have never had any desire to ride a passenger train. I have ridden a few excursion and tourist trains, and they don't do much for me.
My middle daughter has ridden a passenger train all the way across Canada and loved it. She has also taken rail tours of Japan and France/Germany. She loves passenger trains, but hates Amtrak.
My oldest daughter has taken one Amtrak trip from Chicago to New York City, and said it was the best way to do that journey.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Howdy.
David North Brit ...... Sorry to hear about Dawn. Hope she recovers soon. Praying for her.
Kevin ..... Regarding your thread about a brass locomotive. The CB&Q had several, unique, one-of-a-kind, small switching locomotives with center cabs in the late 1930's. Eventually, General Electric produced its 44 ton center cab switcher, and Burlington acquired a few of them.
Below is a photo of my DIner/Parlor/Obsevation car which I kitbashed from a Walthers Budd observation car.
Everybody: .... Have a good afternoon.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Garry, that is one of the most realistic scenes. It's difficult to tell if it's a model or an actual train.
York1 Garry, that is one of the most realistic scenes. It's difficult to tell if it's a model or an actual train.
John York 1 .... Thank you.
Heartland Division CB&QEventually, General Electric produced its 44 ton center cab switcher, and Burlington acquired a few of them.
Evenin'!
Let's see how many of you know the difference between the 44 tonner and a 45 Tonner. Below is GE 45 Tonner Beebee Station which we have at the R&GV RR Museum in Rush, NY. I'll buy virtual dinner in the dining car of your choice to the first person who knows the difference...
You know, I haven't seen our 45 tonner up and running in quite a while. Hope she gets some use this summer and fall!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Went to Home Depot today to find a piece of plywood to use as gussets. I found a 1 x 6 x3/8" in the cut wood cart, with a 70% off sign.
They had 6 self service registers and the Pro register. The girl at self service could only tell me it was 70% off but didn't know what to do. I was behind a guy who was maybe 4' 6" with two carts of lumber and one of cement blocks.
Another employee opened up a register but she was clueless too. She called someone who didn't answer, then called another guy who had to come to the register and go back and get a number. The number didn't work. We repeated the process and the number still didn't work. i got the piece for free.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
What could be more fun than a Bobcat bucket full of Bob Cats?
Bob-Cats by Edmund, on Flickr
My son takes care of these strays at his w**k. His wife is a vet tech and they all have been spayed and vaccinated.
I had some visitors yesterday:
Doe-a-deer by Edmund, on Flickr
I like this video. It shows how a berth is made up and a few other highlights of a vintage B&O ride.
I like the attendant in the EA unit. Even through the later cab-unit years, EMD was still putting an attendant call button on the engineer's controls.
Engineer Schroder sure is tired! Ran that train from Washington DC to Lamy, New Mexico without a wink of sleep!
Thanks again for hosting this months' great Diner episode, Dave
Regards, Ed
Good Evening,
Nice job on the March Diner Dave.
If I had the space I would have a layout with predominately passenger trains. I like large driver steam engines.
I have riden on passenger trains a few times. In 1960 I travelled on CN's Continental from Winnipeg to Vancouver and back. Then in 1971 I went from Winnipeg to Toronto. I remember a wonderful roast beef dinner in the dining car. In March of 1977 I went to Toronto again to pick up a new car, a Buick Skylark S/R . The drive home started out wih a blizzard from Toronto to London. It was dark and I got behind a truck as visibility was terrible. In fact it was better with just parking lights on. Cars passed but usually I wound up later passing them in the ditch. I was on the 401. I stayed in London for 3 days waiting for them to dig out the highways.
My most memorable passenger train ride was from Pretoria to Cape Town on Rovos Rail in 2015.
Tea time,
CN Charlie
gmpullmanI like this video. It shows how a berth is made up and a few other highlights of a vintage B&O ride.
Hi Ed,
The video was very interesting. Nice shiny new engines. Pardon my lack of knowledge, but was that an E6 A&B?
Thanks,
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hi, Dave
Good question worthy of discussion.
Those are EMC EA units: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMC_EA/EB
Essentially the first in the legion of E units.
Sitting Pretty by The Mastadon, on Flickr
Neat Stuff!
Ed
Since we are in Chicago, how about some pictures of the place.
Here is an excellent transition era photo:
Downtown circa 1950:
Lake Michigan in the background. Freight terminal on the right:
End of the line on the 'L':
Elevated tracks:
An icon:
Englewood Station:
The Chicago stockyards. Ah, the smell of money!!:
Not sure of the date. Things seem to have gotten a bit warm:
PRR:
More soon.
Heartland Division CB&QThe CB&Q had several, unique, one-of-a-kind, small switching locomotives with center cabs in the late 1930's.
Garry, Thank you for the information on the CB&Q switchers.
howmusLet's see how many of you know the difference between the 44 tonner and a 45 Tonner.
I would say the difference is 2,000 pounds.
There is a great clip that shows up on discussion boards from time to time where a news crew thought they were interviewing the director of the animated movie 102 Dalmations. The man they were interviewing had the same name, but was not the director. They asked what was the difference between the movie 101 Dalmations, and the sequel 102 Dalmations. The man look right into the camera and very seriously replies "umm... one dalmation". It is completely hilarious.
Seriously, I believe the 45 ton locomotive had slopier hoods and siderods.
The World Is A Beautiful Place.
howmusLet's see how many of you know the difference between the 44 tonner and a 45 Tonner.... ...I'll buy virtual dinner in the dining car of your choice to the first person who knows the difference...
1 ton!
Cheers the Bear.
Edit. Was the 45 tonner designed specifically as an industrial switcher?
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
gmpullmanThose are EMC EA units: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMC_EA/EB
Thanks for clarifying that. I think that the sloped noses are absolutely beautiful! Have there been any accurate models made of them that a normal person might be able to afford? Edit: BLI made a Paragon EA.
Good morning all. A cold day with snow forecast later.
Garry. Thanks for your concern. Five years ago Dawn was in intensive care for a month and a further four months in hospital. Some Doctors said she would never walk again. Eighteen steps she can do now. (Twenty on a good day.) The bad days she is knocked sideways (never back). The good days are really good.
Coffee time.
Baking a Cherry Pie this afternoon.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require.
A high of 48° yesterday was nice. I got done with my woodworking in the Boiler Room early enough in the day so I could go out in the afternoon to enjoy it. Mid to upper 40's for the rest of the week with a high of 55 on Sunday I hope it rains good once inbetween, so I can Fire Up the Stang and go out for a good romp
Looks like it may be an early spring up here after all. I won't be holding my breath though. There's always that one last surprise show storm in April up here in Minnesota.
Thanks for all your continued efforts of being such a great host Dave! Enjoyed
howmus
NorthBrit Five years ago Dawn was in intensive care for a month and a further four months in hospital. Some Doctors said she would never walk again. Eighteen steps she can do now. (Twenty on a good day.) The bad days she is knocked sideways (never back). The good days are really good.
Hi David,
I can only imagine how hard Dawn is working to try to recover. You are a truly dedicated husband and deserve to be recognized for how hard you must be working to take care of her and help her recover. You are a good person!
My wife Dianne has helped me through three medical crisis. I would have been lost without her. In fact right now she has had to take on all of the household chores because of my broken Achilles tendon. We have a very comfortable lifestyle thanks to the pension that she earned through many years of hard work. I am truly grateful.
Best wishes for Dawn's continued recovery!
Cheers!!
By the way, cherry pie is my favourite!
I'm not sure what we're exactly looking for in the designation of the GE 44 tonner. One reason it is "44 ton" is that there was the 1937 "90,000 pound rule" that stated the weight of a locomotive 45 tons or over required a fireman on the crew.
The 44 tonner skirted this by reducing the weight on axles, much the way the drawbar between the FT-A and FT-B made it one locomotive only requiring one crew.
Diner_Erie8 by Edmund, on Flickr
Dining on the Erie Limited
Cheers, Ed
gmpullman The 44 tonner skirted this by reducing the weight on axles, much the way the drawbar between the FT-A and FT-B made it one locomotive only requiring one crew.
SeeYou190Seriously, I believe the 45 ton locomotive had slopier hoods and siderods.
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winnah....! The hood may be a difference of when the loco was built, Im not sure, but the 1,000 lb. siderod on each side was the main difference. (together that made a 2,000lb, 1 ton difference. IIRC the reason for GE removing the siderods had to do with the FRA not requiring two people on board with the lighter loco. Just got under the weight limit. edit: Ed beat me to it! The 45 tonners and the 44 tonners were mainly industrial switchers and were liked well by their crews.
You can read all about the old girl here: http://www.rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/rge1941/
Elkhart_Valley by Edmund, on Flickr
BandO_4-24-66_service by Edmund, on Flickr
NYC_menu_1927 by Edmund, on Flickr
Good morning again
I'll have the fresh lake trout broiled in parsley butter, sauteed potatoes and string beans for .95 cents Ed, Thanks
I got up really early today and I'm all coffeed out. Usually when I do that I have coffee crash around noon
I have to go put the stain on my layout cabinet doors I finished. I better go do that before the coffee crash happens
It's off to the Boiler Room Batman
Good morning .....
David ... You are welcome. Prayers continue.
Kevin ... You are welcome reguarding info on CB&Q center cab switchers.
Speaking of the Chicago area, EMD had its huge plant in LaGrange. That was about 10 miles from where I grew up.
Here is an EMD builders photo of a Santa Fe F7 ABB taken at LaGrange. If you like F-units and E-units, that is where they were born.
........
Cheers.
Heartland Division CB&QSanta Fe F7
Good morning.
I have to head out to do some work, so just a quick photo of a neat Rock Island train station in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska. It is now a bank. It was a great use for a building that otherwise would have probably been torn down.
Garry & John: Thank you for both of those beautiful photographs.
Santa Fe F units are truly iconic.
That station is a beauty.
On the F unit photo the warbonnet paint is visible behind the stainless steel grille. I did not know it was painted back there.