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Old Peculier for everyone.
IMG_5730 by David Harrison, on Flickr
Good morning Diners. A coffee and blueberry muffin please, Brunhilda.
A sunny day ahead.
The Llanberis Lake Railway and Snowdon Mountain Railway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x7RrS15Fkk&ab_channel=volvoRman
Enjoy!
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good morning, everyone. Bacon, eggs, and black coffee, please.
Finally I have a day with nothing on the schedule. While that is nice, I assume the phone will ring and that will change.
I'm not sure how things are in the rest of the country, but in our little town, we continue to struggle with a labor shortage. Restaurants, stores, businesses -- they all have help-wanted signs. I mentioned before that fast food places at the Interstate are offering $15.00 an hour, with signing bonuses of $500 and college scholarships of $2,000 just to sign up. Before covid, we had plenty of workers. No one seems to know what is causing it and what to do about it.
This shortline, the Nebraska Northeastern Railroad, is a little strange. In the early 90s, Burlington Northern quit using the 120 mile section of track and sold it to a group who made this railroad. The shortline was fairly successful. In 2012, BNSF bought it back. Why they sold it in the first place is a mystery. This track hauls a lot of ethanol from three large ethanol plants.
Have a good day.
York1 John
NorthBritTop of the Page Old Peculier for everyone.
Thanks David! A dark brew sure sounds like it will be a good choice today.
Cheers!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Howdy gents. Looks like Brother Lion is offering up frog legs for lunch. I'll pass.
York1I'm not sure how things are in the rest of the country, but in our little town, we continue to struggle with a labor shortage.
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2022/07/badly-behaving-tourists-push-charlevoix-restaurant-to-close-early.html
Mike
Water Level Route My oldest works for a restaurant in town that just can't seem to get enough help, and some they get aren't worth a hill of beans, but they are so desperate the can't really afford to fire them.
Same here. No where near enough workers to fill open positions.
My resume is still floating around, and at least once a week I get an unsolicited job offer letter. That is crazy.
The most recent one was from a Senior Assisted Living Community. Nothing in my resume suggests I am even partially the correct person for that position.
Every restaurant and retail outlet is short-staffed. The situation is terrible.
Afternoon folks!
Brother Lion appears to be hoppy today!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
howmus Brother Lion appears to be hoppy today!
Will anyone that shakes hands with him today get warts? Oops, maybe that's just with toads.
John
That animal *IS* a toad!
And I was thinking this would be about India Pale Ale.....
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
BroadwayLion That animal *IS* a toad!
SeeYou190My resume is still floating around, and at least once a week I get an unsolicited job offer letter. That is crazy.
Back in 2014-2015 I took voluntary layoffs from GE that would help the younger guys so that they wouldn't get laid off and it didn't affect me all that much financially since I was better positioned in that regard and I certainly appreciated the time off.
Part of the process was having to sign up with the "Ohio Means Jobs" program in order to receive unemployment benefits. This also required posting an online resume. It turned out to be an excruciatingly painful process.
Fast forward to 2022 and, yes, I'm still getting an average of maybe a dozen job offers a month. Not a single one of them has been for a job in Ohio other than an occasional offer from Chrysler in Toledo, Ohio. Some are from as far away as Wyoming and Alaska.
While I was on layoff I had to seek work by physically applying to at least two potential employers per week. When I told them that I was age 59 and months away from retirement from GE they sometimes got angry and implied that I was wasting their time. I told them it wasn't MY idea but I had to comply with the silly state unemployment rules which, as it happens, was no longer facilitated by the state but had been contracted out to some outfit named Glass Ceiling or something like that. Some have mentioned that the governor was a big investor in this company Ohio closed all its unemployment offices and laid off all the workers.
After being denied benefits several times a corporate human resources person had to argue with the state on my behalf, more than once unsuccessfully. I wasn't on the public dole. This was money that I had paid into over forty years of steady employment
Hey! Who scratched up that numberboard?
Roll by at milepost 1409 by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
4 Chicago Short Line Photos by Marty Bernard, on Flickr
Border Crossing by Craig Sanders, on Flickr
Regards, Ed
I have been busy in the kitchen tonight.
I made roast pork pressed sandwiches, macaroni & cheese, and broccoli for dinner. Then I baked a cake, and now I have ten pounds of russet potatoes in the oven for the next few days.
The house probably smells amazing, but I still can't tell.
Good morning Diners. A coffee on the go please, Chloe.
That's annoying, Kevin when you cannot smell anything; especially things you like.
Dartmouth Steam Railway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_Steam_Railway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAP4_elpwR0&ab_channel=RailsWithEthan
Good morning
BroadwayLion
And a very fine amphibious animal at that.
If handled correctly, one could get those warts on their hands that are spoken of here...
https://www.sheddaquarium.org/stories/amphibian-or-reptile-here-s-the-difference#:~:text=Reptiles%20have%20scales%2C%20and%20their,keeps%20them%20from%20drying%20up.
[Amusing quote from the article ("Reptiles hiss, grunt and even roar")]
...At that point, if one gets In Too Deep of Water in life, they can just throw their hands up in the air above their head and breathe through their warts
Unless one is lucky enough to have a good enough friend to hold them above water during those times
Have a great day gentlemen
TF
Good Morning Diners. Brunhilda, bacon and eggs with a black coffee.
Had to go watch my nephew play soccer last night. High school in Michigan has a mercy rule that ends the game when a team gets ahead by 8 goals. His team mercied the other team about 10 minutes into the second half. Club soccer doesn't have this rule, and my daughter's high school team never mercied (or got mercied by) anybody this spring, so this was a new experience for us.
No such rule here either, Mike.
Soccer mad grandson number 2.
Here with his Leeds United top behind. He wants to play for Leeds when he is older.
FIXH5162 by David Harrison, on Flickr
Footballer of the Year Award
James. Footballer of the Year 2022 by David Harrison, on Flickr
This bad boy has a larger deck gun than any of the new destroyers. mut be a 5 or 6" diameter. And there is no need to find a fire hydrant!
Hey! who said you could park there! ??? On street parking is at your own risk.
Good morning everyone, Chloe, just bring me some coffee, thank you.
It is a beautiful day down here in Florida, at least for right now. I am sure the rains are coming... again... just like every day.
My poor old truck is starting to show its age. I need it to last a couple more years. I am installing a new battery in it this weekend. That might be its last new battery ever.
Today's lesson: Don't park in front of a fire hydrant!
Another busy day. Retirement is going to wear me out.
I don't have time to comment on everyone's posts, but it's been interesting seeing the comments. Hope everyone continues to do well.
The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway (BAP) operates a total of 63 miles (including 26 main line miles) of rail line running from Anaconda, Montana, to Butte, Montana. The BAP interchanges with Class I carriers BNSF at Butte and Silver Bow, Montana, and Union Pacific at Silver Bow, Montana. BAP also operates a well-equipped 20-bay locomotive roundhouse, wheel shop and machine shop in Anaconda.
Good evening
I've always loved my favorite Canadian band. Too bad they don't have a better live version of this song as it's one of my favorites. I have all of their albums eh.
It was that one night when I was 22 and we went to the old Met Center to see if we could pick up some tickets from a scalper the night of. As luck had it, $60 for Front Row Center! That was kinda a lot of money back then but worth every penny.
Long story short, Geddy Lee got down on his knee and reached over the stage and shook my hand before he went on break
https://youtu.be/7xNaqZcwQQ4
That 22-year-old responded to that rather well that evening with no hype that I'm sure he appreciated and I will never forget it.
Memories are priceless
My Grandmother told me if you have one true friend before you die, you did done good!
Good evening diners.
Flo - A nice RBF please. Thanks.
Some very nice shortlines presented so far. My next presentation - Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad, headquartered in Titusville Pa.
https://octrr.org/
This little line, only 13.5 miles long, packs a pretty hefty punch. They operate an April-October, plus a couple holiday's themed late in the year, passenger exursion train through Oil Creek State Park, using either one of two Alco S2's or a MLW M420 locomotive, and handle local freight for all of Titusville Pa year-round.
Here is S2 #75.
OC&T 75 by Richard Woodworth, on Flickr
They also boast an operating RPO - The one and only operating RPO in the USA.
They have a restored, original "Wabash Cannonball" car, along with an open-air gondola, and 7 older heavyweight cars, painted Tuscan red with gold lettering, all named for PA oil region pioneers.
They interchange with the WNY&P at a location known as Rynd, outside of Oil City PA near the southern end of Oil Creek State Park.
They also have a Caboose Motel, where guests can stay in an actual (remodeled inside) caboose. (They have 21, mixed roadnames, and mixed bay window or cupola style.) That is only available from April-October however.
They do run special trains, such as a fall foiliage tour, a murder-mystery dinner train, a "Brew-Choo" brewery train (now called "Taps on Tracks"), a pair of wine trains, and holiday themed trains. You can also do a "one-way" from the state park back to Titusville after traveling south by Canoe, Kayak, or Bike. (And they bring your canoe/kayak or bike back!) They have, on occasion, even hosted special locomotives.
One such event, they hosted two operating tank steam locomotives. The day I was on board, was supposed to be a 1.5 hour trip. The local VFD was asked to refill the water at the Rynd stop, and that is where the adventure began....
See, I noticed the first steam locomotive started sounding different, and then, shortly, everyone saw why....
Steam Foam 1 by Richard Woodworth, on Flickr
Yes, the local VFD accidentally used the FOAM output side for filling the locomotive!
So, they had to flush it all out. Now, this caused the fire truck to run out of water before either locomotive could be filled. So, to stay even close to "on time", we started back north towards Titusville, at very slow speed, before meeting the VFD again at a grade crossing.
Then, the other steam locomotive developed a bearing/oil issue, and had to be cut off the train. The 1.5 hour trip turned into a almost 3.5 hour ordeal! Did I mention it was the middle of July, and hot as could be? The return trip averaged less than 5MPH, so there was little (almost no) air movement. That return trip got super hot. I've never seen so many on the open-air gondola car as I did that day.
Con-Cor at one time, offered HO Scale excursion passenger cars similar to the real OC&T ones, painted as OC&T cars, correctly named and numbered, but "layout-sized".
Here is one of the 3 in my roster.
OC&T 65 HO Scale Project 1 by Richard Woodworth, on Flickr
CMR offers decals in multiple scales for the OC&T, and Rapido has done the M420 for OC&T in the "old" yellow/black scheme and announced the "new" Tuscan/black scheme as a upcoming release.
So this very short (13.5 miles long) short-line in rural NW PA, offers a lot for both railfans, train riders, and modelers.
Hope all are well, and all enjoy the day!
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
gmpullman Let's see if I can get this figured out. Black Hills 2-6-6-2T by Jim S, on Flickr Progressive RR gp7 by Jim S, on Flickr Cheers, Ed
Let's see if I can get this figured out.
Black Hills 2-6-6-2T by Jim S, on Flickr
Progressive RR gp7 by Jim S, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Manly yes, but I like it too...
Pictures in the neighborhood, near and far by Track Fiddler
I'd have to say I liked them both. Thanks Jim, ...Ed...
So, today I learned something.
I was helping out, and I did a load of dishes. Normally my wife does the dishes, but she was sleeping, so I took care of it.
It seems... that you cannot put the cat-food dishes in the dishwasher with the people-food dishes. I guess this causes some sort of terrible cross-contamination issue.
"What's wrong with you? You put the cat-food dishes in the dishwasher?"
"Yes, they were dirty."
"Now we have cat food particles on our dishes!"
"I think the dishwasher cleans everything and washes it away."
"Now I need to redo this load of dishes!"
"I don't think cat food is made from arsenic or cyanide."
"This is why you are not allowed to do the dishes!"
"I was just trying to help, sorry."
SeeYou190"Now we have cat food particles on our dishes!"
I've never heard my cats complain about people food particles on their dishes. Seems only fair.
—not to mention that while you are sleeping the cat is scratching its butt with your toothbrush...
Penelope by Edmund, on Flickr
Meow... Ed
Kevin,
Well, you really have put yourself in the dog house, or perhaps more accurately, the litter box!!
I have given up trying to do the laundry all by myself. Invariably when I try I get one or more of the following responses:
".....you shrunk my favourite sweater!!!...."
or, ".... you put my delicates in with your jeans!!!...."
or, ".... you can't dry cotton shirts on high heat!!!...."
or, "....you forgot the fabric softener!!!...."
or, ".... you used too much fabric softener!!!...."
Actually Dianne's biggest complaint is that I totally ignore the washer and dryer. They are located in the same room where I have my computer and my workbench. I have learned to totally tune them out. Unfortunately, that also includes the times where Dianne asks me to tell her when the washer or dryer has finished a cycle. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I say "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention...."!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good morning diners. Chloe, an order of biscuits and gravy, with a big glass of pineapple-orange juice please.
Ricky, you had to feel bad both for people who had plans later that day and for the VFD. I'm sure their day turned out much longer than they expected too, although self inflicted.
Kevin, no good deed goes unpunished! You can let your wife know (if you dare) that our dog dishes end up in our dishwasher on occasion, and as of right now I'm still alive. Oh, and my best friend growing up used to snack on cat food When we would be playing at his house, and heading out the door to do something outside, he would routinely stop and grab a handful of kibble out of the container they kept it in by their back door. He survived too.
Dave, our washer and dryer are in the basement with the trains. When my wife asks me the same thing I always tell her "set a timer". I've been guilty of missing it too.
David, you never know, he could play for Leeds someday. Somebody has to. Why not him?
Thursday already. (Yay!) Dare I say, it's been a relatively good week at work. *I can't believe I just wrote that. Hope I didn't jinx myself.* I was looking at the pile of stuff my daughter wants to take with her this weekend when she moves into her dorm. It will be a challenge to get it all in the bed of my truck. I can't help but think "Its a dorm. Where does she think this stuff will go?!" My only hope for her is that all the totes she has packed up are "organized" by what the various items are for, and aren't actually full. I'll find out tomorrow as that's when I plan on loading everything up.
Have a great day guys!
It's always good to see Kids involved in sports in high school Mike, David. You know they're on the right path and hanging with the right crowd when you see that.
My Grandson played baseball, football and soccer when he was in high school. Certainly kept him and my Son busy, that's for sure.
He's on a scholarship in his second year of college now. I don't know where the time went but I remember bringing him down to the Home Depot on a Saturday to do the wood projects down there. Seems like yesterday. After the project he always asked to go across the street to get the square hamburgers (White Castle). Sure enjoyed spending more time with the Kids when they lived here and wish they still did.
His College football team has a game over in Wisconsin about an hour from my brother-in-law's house. We spend so much time in our next door State, we should darn near move over there. Ain't too far out of the question.
So it's back to Wisconsin for Labor Day weekend. Judy's sister is getting us all team t-shirts so we look supportive of my Grandson's team.
Hopefully I'll be showing you guys a picture of the winning scoreboard after the game two weekends from now.
Good morning. Bacon, eggs, and coffee, Chloe.
Kevin, I'm the designated dishwasher loader in our house. When my wife does it, she gets about three plates in and says it's full. I always wash our dog's plates in with ours. Of course, our dog eats with us, travels with us, watches TV with us, so I guess dog germs on our plates that survive the dishwasher probably won't matter to us either.
Ricky, when I first saw that photo, I thought someone put dishwashing liquid in the water.
Mike, your trips to your daughter's dorm will be memorable. I had three daughters who took everything they owned to college. My issue wasn't so much how much they took, it was all the stuff they got while they lived there that had to be packed and brought home. It helped when they got into houses instead of dorms -- a lot of the stuff could be left during the summer.
We're leaving town tomorrow morning for more visits with grandkids. It's nice to go, but it will be nice to get back home, too.
This locomotive is on the Vicksburg Southern Railroad, but I believe it's marked as Watco, the parent company. Kind of a neat logo:
Have a good weekend, everyone.