SeeYou190 Well, I am in Chicago, still not sure how this happened. I woke up to news that we were getting "Lake Effect Snow", what is that? It looks just as awful as any other snow I have ever been exposed to.
Well, I am in Chicago, still not sure how this happened.
I woke up to news that we were getting "Lake Effect Snow", what is that?
It looks just as awful as any other snow I have ever been exposed to.
Since the lake is a huge reservoir of heat, early in the winter, the air over the lake remains above freezing, even when the air temperature over land is below freezing. This creates a mini-front between the lake air and the land air. When the wind blows off the lake, the evaporation from the lake hits the much colder air over land, and you get lake-effect snow. It usually falls no more than a few miles inland.
Here, this should warm you up.
Edit: Top of the page, so French toast all around, on my tab. And keep the coffee coming for those who take it and the hot cocoa for those who don't.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Steven OtteHere, this should warm you up
.
Thanks Steve.
That sure looks a lot better than the "Waffle" and "Pork Patties" they had for breakfast in the hotel lobby.
Amazingly, I am not cold. They have this hotel lobby and hallways heated up to about 95 degrees! I had to uncover and turn off the heater in my room last night.
I need to find something to do... this is going to be a BORING week if I don't get out.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190 I need to find something to do... this is going to be a BORING week if I don't get out.
You still haven't said... why are you there?
If you have the time, try this:
The Great Train Story at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry
They also have a CB&Q Pioneer Zephyr.
If you have a lot of free time, you could rent a car, drive up to Waukesha, and tour the MR offices. (Or take the Amtrak Hiawatha, and Uber from there.)
Howdy ...
Stranded at home because our road is being paved right now. Canceled plans .
Kevin ... I’m sure you can survive winter weather . You should visit the museum suggested by Steve O. ... I recall going there as a kid growing up near Chicago. Back then, the big model railroad was provided by Santa Fe Railway. O scale. They had both passenger and freight trains in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s era. All Santa Fe. ... In recent years , I have seen the current HO layout provided by BNSF which is fabulous.
We go to Florida in two days.
Hopefully, we see a lot of posts in the Diner pertaining to railroads (real and model) in eastern PA in the days ahead.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Go to Portillios Hot Dogs ( they have more than just hot dogs. )
moelarrycurly4Go to Portillios Hot Dogs ( they have more than just hot dogs. )
We have a Portillo's in Tampa, been there several times. There is one right around the corner from my hotel that looks exactly like the one in Tampa.
Is there an original one to go to? Kind of like going to the first Hooters in Clearwater, FL., the first Zaxby's in Statesboro, GA., or the first Sonny's in Gainesville, FL? I have been to all those. I would not mind adding another "first" to my list.
The Original was a trailer so I doubt it is still around. Not sure which "new" onw would be the original "new" ones.
Speaking of hot dogs, an authentic Chicago style hot dog is outstanding .
Got it. None of the other "originals" are still around either.
The Hooters "1" in Clearwater received a major remodel a few years ago. The Sonny's "1" on Waldo Road in Gainesville was torn town and replaced with a new building. The Zaxby's "1" is also gone now. I made it to all of them when they were still original.
I also ate at the original 4 Rivers Smokehouse in Orlando. It has been closed now since the are expanding into the whole South. I ate at what I was told was the original location of Shane's Rib Shack, but I am not sure.
About Hot Dogs... Not wanting to start a fight about this since I am in Chicago... but I am not a fan of Portillos hot dogs.
Garry: There are three places in Florida that make a Fantastic Chicago Style Hotdog that are worth checking out if you are nearby in Florida:
1) Heavenly Hot Dogs on Colonial BLVD in Orlando.
2) Joey D's Chicago Eatery on Bee Ridge RD in Sarasota.
3) Mel's Hot Dogs on Busch BLVD in Tampa.
The best Chicago Dog I ever had was at a place called "UB" on Franklin ST in Chicago.
Nice to see a picture of the Bethlehem station in better days. In 1968-70 while I was a freshman and sophomore at Lehigh with no car I spent a lot of weekends riding the Reading commuter train (an RDC) to Glenside and back to visit my GF. Some weekends she would return the favor. At that point the station was falling into ruin and decay. The ticket office and waiting room were usually locked up. You bought your ticket from the conductor. Really a shame the way these buildings were allowed to deteriorate.
Southest of Bethlehem is Hanover, home of Utz potato chips, the best in the US, and formerly called Hanover Junction. Lincoln, traveling to Gettysburg traveled on several railroads from Washington, to Baltimore, to Hanover and to Gettysburg.
This photo maybe fake history. There is a Lincoln appearing figure, and it is Hanover, but there are conflicting accounts as to whether he got out of the train, the size of the crowd and it may have been dark by the time he arrived in Hanover. This could be a recreation of his trip from the 1880's. Nevertheless we get to see really old trains in Pennsylvania.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
moelarrycurly4Go to Portillios Hot Dogs
OK... just to be fair I did stop in Portillos just now and ate a Chicago Style Hot Dog.
I must say... the Chicago Dogs at Portillos in Chicago are much better than the Chicago Dogs at Portillos in Tampa.
Evenin' Folks!
Chloe, just a cup of decaf for me right now please. Nothing more to eat for the day as I will get a blood draw tomorrow morning (fasting) as per usual a week before I see the Doc for my semiannual visit with him.
This morning four of our Division Members drove over to a guys house in Kendall, NY to judge/evaluate five structures for the NMRA Structures Certificate. I was one of two that did the judging. The guy has done some excellent work and 4 out of the 5 recieved Merit Awards. The next time we go over, I can be certain he will complete the requirements for the Structures Certificate.
I just got home from and MLK committee meeting. We were meeting with the group from the church that will be hosting the January MLK Service and Dinner. Looks like everything is going well for the event.
Tonight I will show you the train we rode on back in 2004 for our excursion from Steamtown to the Ice House near Moscow, PA.
Here is the Loco, CN Mikado #3254. Beautiful and powerfull!
Picking up the passenger cars....
Coupling and Brake test:
To the loading platform:
Ready to load passengers:
Being put to bed for the night in the roundhouse.....
Have a good one!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
BigDaddySouthest of Bethlehem is Hanover, home of Utz potato chips, the best in the US
I agree with you on the Utz potato chips. There are hollow pretzels from over by Reading, too, called Unique Pretzel Shells:
https://www.uniquepretzels.com/pretzel-shells.html
That area has dozens of snack food plants. Snyder's, Hanovers and Hanover of Berlin. All the folks must have brought their good pretzel recipes with them from Germany.
http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/pa-heritage/snackin-pennsylvania-style.html
Let's not forget the great Chocolate works of Hershey. Although, I don't especially find the Hershey taste all that remarkable. As a kid I was always a Nestlé fan. My tastes have been further refined since.
I made several treks to East Broad Top for their Winter Rambles throughout the late 1960s and '70s. Got snowed in for a couple days at Breezewood, PA when all the roads were closed.
In 1976 I recall riding the M-1 for a night-time trip. Must have been near zero outside and I was riding right alongside the engine, looking over the engineer's shoulder. The exhaust manifold was glowing red. Toasty warm.
EBT_M1 by Edmund, on Flickr
When I got home from the 1976 trip the weekend of February 13-15th, my brother-in-law wrote "It's a Boy" on the snow over my windshield. That was the birth of my nephew, Tom. Great memories.
I have some decent stereo sound recordings made that weekend. There's no easy way to post them here. Maybe I'll dub them to a Youtube video sometime.
Glad you are enjoying your new toys, Ken! Don't know how the coupler box got lost! The Post Office can perform some pretty good tricks... At least there wasn't any major damage.
Cheers, Ed
It´s in the middle of the night here. I am up for a couple of hours and just can´t go back to sleep. A bad case of insomnia
I have always wondered why pretzels are spelled pretzel in the English language while the German word is "Bretzel"- Outside of Bavaria, where they wolfe down dozens of them with their beer, they are not that popular any longer. Around Christmas time, you´ll find pretzel-shaped cookies, but that´s about it - again, outside of Bavaria.
Talking of chocolate, I find Hersheys chocolate no match for Swiss, Belgian or German chocolate. I actually was quite disappointed when I first had a Hershey bar. Milka, Alpia, Cailler, Toblerone, even the "brand" you buy at Aldi´s - any time, but Hershey, I´d rather not.
Pantherphil - ! I can relate to your feelings of sadness about letting the old station buildings decay. The station building of my home town is a beautiful brick building built in the 1870s, which was taken out of service when the line was revamped for high speed service in excess of 125mph in 1970. It was stripped of its freight shed and the old canopy over the platform. Later on, it was sold to someone genuinely neglecting. People arriving by train are now greeted by a sad looking building in desperate need for repairs. The modern (ugly) single-stoty, flatroofed replacement is in an equally sad state by now. The ticket office and waiting room are closed, as you now buy your ticket at a vending machine. The rest of the station, i.e. platforms, overpass etc. were renewed recently, as ridership figures have gone up quite a bit.
Well, I´ll give it one more try to get some sleep!
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the video of the P-51. I wish I had a surround sound theater!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
SeeYou190 Is there an original one to go to? Kind of like going to the first Hooters in Clearwater, FL., the first Zaxby's in Statesboro, GA., or the first Sonny's in Gainesville, FL? I have been to all those. I would not mind adding another "first" to my list.
My first visit to Sonny's #1 in Hogtown would have been in September 1970. They served what was at the time an outrageously large glass of ice tea (sweet, of course). Nowadays, given modern food portions, those would be called 'medium'.
Nostalgia.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
Evening all,
Thanks for the drink and pie Bear!
Some new faces here in the diner, welcome everybody!
Well not much going on.
Kevin, perhaps try some authentic "Chicago Deep Dish Pizza" I'm personally biased to NYC Style thin crust wood or coal fired (coal is better BTW) cheese pizza, but Chicago pizza is supposedly alright.
You still haven't said why you're in Chicago? Matter of national security, need to know basis, or something!?
Did you guys know that GHWs last words to GW were "I love you too", thought that was a nice piece of info.
Well I'll be around.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Howdy
we used to have the date Jeff passed away when we did the RIP Track. I don’t know when we stopped doing that.
it was this time of the year maybe four years ago. I still miss his posts in the Diner.
SeeYou190 moelarrycurly4 Go to Portillios Hot Dogs . OK... just to be fair I did stop in Portillos just now and ate a Chicago Style Hot Dog. . I must say... the Chicago Dogs at Portillos in Chicago are much better than the Chicago Dogs at Portillos in Tampa. . -Kevin .
moelarrycurly4 Go to Portillios Hot Dogs
I mainly lurk here at the diner- but had to chime in on the Chicago food- try Portillo's Italian beef- Gotta get one of those in Chicago as well as either Giordano's or Lou Malnati's pizza. If you get over on Montrose in Ravenswood there is a great little hole in the wall called Slims that has a burger with Italian beef on it- really good.
Jim
NWP SWPDid you guys know that GHWs last words to GW were "I love you too", thought that was a nice piece of info.
MY last words...
"Hey! Is that a headlight?"
Eveing Diners
Flo, the gang and I will have a
Lack Luster Day Not much to post about.
Blood Surger is high but I think it is more of the strips I am using. My normal range had been 80 to 90's when I get up. Now it is in the 154 to 180 range? Then it dawned on me the gas heater in the garage is dead! I store the meter and test strips in the garage on a outside wall cabinet, with out the gas heater going it does get cold. So maybe that has effect the test strips?
To darn bad I had to get a brake job this month or the gas heater would have been replaced by now!
gmpullman Don't know how the coupler box got lost!
Ed Coupler box did not get lost, it got broken in half? I will find a doner so it won't be a problem. I was going to use a coupler box of a RIP Rio Grand SD but it's coupler box is held on with screws? Like the idea better but not sure if it will fit.
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Heartland Division CB&Q Howdy we used to have the date Jeff passed away when we did the RIP Track. I don’t know when we stopped doing that. it was this time of the year maybe four years ago. I still miss his posts in the Diner.
December 15th, 2014
Tinplate Toddler Heartland Division CB&Q Howdy we used to have the date Jeff passed away when we did the RIP Track. I don’t know when we stopped doing that. it was this time of the year maybe four years ago. I still miss his posts in the Diner. December 15th, 2014
Ulrich ... Thank you. I think we should try to remember Jeffrey on the 15th.
Heartland Division CB&QUlrich ... Thank you. I think we should try to remember Jeffrey on the 15th.
I will, Garry.
I miss him very much. Jeff was like the heart and soul of this place, always helpful and friendly, while life played more than just one trick on him.
NeO6874I always liked the "Americanized" Merlins in the P51-D made by (I think) Packard. Not that the P51-C's Rolls-Royce was bad by any means, just a slightly different timbre that didn't tug at the ear in quite the same way.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
mornin' everyone. Flo, just leave the coffee pot right here... was up far too late last night (er, well, for me) helping my inlaws pack up a u-haul to take my SIL's stuff over to Philadelphia. So, maybe I'll eventually be seeing all this PA stuff in person, heh.
Glad you guys liked the P51 . And now for something completely different:
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
Well, ill be in here for a bit this morning. As of today, I'll officially be a homeowner-I sign the deed today. UnfortunatelyI can't move in yet, since construction is still being undertaken. Plus I meet thr company doing my windows Today for measurements, so I took the day off. The original windows are the old single pane aluminim windows that constantly fog up no matter what you'd do. Hopefully by feb, I'll be in there and starting to make it my own. Hopefully, and working on the train layout downstairs to.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
drgwcsItalian beef-
Mike
Jimmy_BraumAs of today, I'll officially be a homeowner-I sign the deed today.
Congratulation, Jimmy! From now on, you will always know, where to spend yor time and money!
Is it April already? We have a mix of sunshine and rain showers here, with temperatures around 45F and climbing well over 50 by the end of the week! Christmas is in 3 weeks from today and we should be getting snow!