My motion sensor security cameras keep alerting in my back yard tonight. They captured images of these trespassing intruders.
I have some scary looking spooky little bunnies running around back there.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
BroadwayLion Our Hindsight is now 2020 Praise the Lord!
Our Hindsight is now 2020
Praise the Lord!
That's the one I will go with!!!
Done!!!
Very well put Lion! And I will have mine done rare, lightly done so it's still pink in the middle!
TF
Welcome to Chicago —
Overnight we traversed the "Water Level Route and skirted the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, passed through the fertile and beautiful upstate New York, passed Buffalo and followed along the southern edge of the Great Lakes.
NYC_Map_8-45 by Edmund, on Flickr
We passed the eastbound Century just west of Buffalo at 12:45 AM:
NYC_25-Ani_0004 by Edmund, on Flickr
Today we will have most of the day to see the sights, the famous Loop, perhaps lunch at The Berghoff until it is time to find the diner, now coupled behind the RPO car on the City Of New Orleans ready to depart Central Station Sunday morning.
The Illinois Central is a real stickler for maintaining their image and the Diner had to be repainted in their chocolate brown and I-C orange.
Lawrence and David Barera, CC BY-SA 2.0
Enjoy the day in Chicago and be sure to tip your hat and say Hi to Garry
Cheers, Ed
gmpullmanThe Diner had to be repainted in their chocolate brown and I-C orange.
Chloe, I am up late, and would like a glass of unseetened iced tea and two slices of whole wheat toast please.
The diner sure looks handsome in the new colors scheme!
How many times will it be repainted this month?
SeeYou190How many times will it be repainted this month?
Perhaps twice. From what I gather, the Illinois Central and the Northern Pacific were the two primary railroads that were adamant about the cars in their premiere trains all being in the same color scheme. Amtrak tried this folly in their early days but the preservationists and railroad office car owners finally won out.
We could have taken a lesser train and got away with keeping the dingy M-R blue on the Diner but the folks here insisted it be "THE" City Of New Orleans.
Regards, Ed
gmpullmanPerhaps twice. From what I gather, the Illinois Central and the Northern Pacific were the two primary railroads that were adamant about the cars in their premiere trains all being in the same color scheme.
I am stepping way outside my knowledge zone here... I heard Union Pacific was also strict about the armour yellow scheme always matching.
Good morning all. Snow! Toast and tea with marmalade is eaten.
I am a stranger in Chicago. I only know Miss Mitzis Dance Hall in the film Shall We Dance. So I shall follow you around.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Hello all!!
Flo, I'll have a large cup of high octane and a sausage, egg and cheese on a plain bagal. Thanks!!
I love this time of of season. I get a few extra days off from the "5 axis world" so I can spend it on my wintertime hobby of TRAINS and layout design, building, and modeling. I always have big ideas but they never seem to play out as well as I thought they would.
Back in the mid 2000's I attended a train show and purchased a DC reverser device which I brought home and pretty much lost it. Last year after we moved into our new place, I was digging thru my old N scale stash and guess what turned up. It still had the instructions wrapped around it with a rubber band. I spent last night installing it on my test track and watching locos go up and back. I went to bed with a smile on my face!
Flo, I'll have a second cup of high octane to go. It's off to my LHS with some gift cards I got from Santa.
Happy motoring, Rich
Good Morning All,
A regular and blueberry pancakes with a side of link sausage please Chloe. 32F today though it seems much warmer than that.
Ed, Jerry (Cox47?) would be proud we are taking the IC anywhere as that is what he modeled IIRC. Nothing in my opinion is as impressive as a consist of matching shiny passenger cars and power.
Still sorting/cleaning in the shop and I will get back to it. No luck yet on the house hunting front. It's like looking for unicorns right now.
2021 by J.R. Mitchell, on Flickr" alt="unicorn at Road America" />
Ciao, J.R.
Good Morning,
We are having a heat wave here with a hiigh of 34F today and 36 tomorrow!
I apologize for the many typos lately butcI'm posting from my tablet.
I had only been to Chicago once before this. It was in '95 on a business trip. I was invited to attend the dealer show the owners put on for all the US dealers so there really wasn't any work involved. A fellow was tasked with showing us a good time and took us(6 or so ) to many famous resturants. I remember going to Lawreys and a deep dish pizza joint. At that time my employer was a sub of the Chicago owners, True Value Hardware.
I did run trains for a bit yesterday. The CP Hudson is running smoother all the time and I think will be in the swiss watch category soon. It was a NIB brass engine. It is also very quiet. I plan on running it more today. It sure is a beauty. I like the black handrails which was the colour before the royal designation.
We have many East Enders episodes clogging up th PVR so a binge watch is in order.
CN Charlie
Hi Ed,
Great tour so far. What's the story of the twisted donut route segment between Ashtabula and Youngstown on the NYC map?
Tim
Late to the model railroad party but playing catch-up.....
GMTRacing Good Morning All, A regular and blueberry pancakes with a side of link sausage please Chloe. 32F today though it seems much warmer than that. Ed, Jerry (Cox47?) would be proud we are taking the IC anywhere as that is what he modeled IIRC. Nothing in my opinion is as impressive as a consist of matching shiny passenger cars and power. Still sorting/cleaning in the shop and I will get back to it. No luck yet on the house hunting front. It's like looking for unicorns right now. 2021 by J.R. Mitchell, on Flickr" alt="unicorn at Road America" /> Ciao, J.R.
Happy new years eveyone! Hopfully this year goes back to normal and I can finally go to another train show!
While were in chicago we should check out the MSI's train layout! Also their transportation section. How do you guys add youtube videos in here? theres a good one on how they built the layout. Its called " The Great Train Story" I used to rent it from the library when I was a kid at least once a month!
Say whats a unicorn doing up at road america? Do you race up there? I want to go this year ( if I can LOL) as Elkheart lake is only about an hour and a half from me. I have over 1000 laps on that track in Forza!
While in Chicago be sure to take a ride up to Evanston and if you get a chance Palatine in the Nortwest. I have a lot of famil history in the Chicagoland burbs
Joe Staten Island West
Good late morning!
Thanks for starting Jeffrey's Trackside Diner Ed
I'm enjoying the ride!
I'll be hanging out in the dining car towards the back of the train as I am hungry this year.
If any of you want to come back and join me
I will buy you lunch
Good morning, diners! I'll have bacon, eggs, and black coffee. Same as everyday.
For Christmas, 1989, I took my family from New Orleans to Nebraska. We rode the City of New Orleans to Chicago, then caught the City of Los Angeles to the middle of Nebraska.
We arrived in Chicago so late that we missed the City of LA by several hours. It was 12° below zero, and there was no heat in Union Station during remodeling. Bathrooms weren't working -- it was miserable.
Amtrak put us up in a downtown hotel, paid for cab fare, and paid for meals. We took advantage of the time by visiting the Museum of Science and Industry. A lot of fun.
https://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/great-train-story/video/
Wife and youngest daughter on the City of NO, somewhere in Mississippi:
Our return trip to New Orleans a week later was a nightmare that convinced my wife and kids never to ride Amtrak again. I'll try to tell about it later.
Not much going on today. I walked this morning on the ice and snow. It was slow-going, but I got my two miles in. It is 18°F out, so it was a cold walk, but I needed to get outside.
York1 John
Good evening Diners (Well it is here in UK).
Making dinner in half hour; not sure what.
I spent a few hours working on building a class 5 LMS locomotive. (Nicknamed Black 5).
I hope everyone is enjoying their day in Chicago! Lots to see and do here. I'm going out to Canal Street to watch trains along the Union Station approach tracks. Always a beehive of activity.
CapnCrunchWhat's the story of the twisted donut route segment between Ashtabula and Youngstown on the NYC map?
Hi, Tim
This is the result of re-engineering a better right-of-way for heavy coal and ore trains to and from the Ashtabula docks. There are some good background stories here:
https://hawkinsrails.net/preservation/acjr/acjr.htm
and here:
https://www.abandonedrails.com/franklin-division
These lines are pretty much in my back yard. I have followed them, rode my bike on the R-of-W and, back in the day, watched trains on them. The Low-grade is still in use.
The Jefferson, Ohio depot located on what's left of the High Grade line, is still in nice shape and is part of the local historical society:
RR_Prints_0001 (2016_08_17 08_08_12 UTC) by Edmund, on Flickr
Last night we passed over the site of the tragic Ashtabula Bridge disaster:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_River_railroad_disaster
Ashtabula1 by Edmund, on Flickr
The president of the railroad designed the bridge himself, maybe to save a buck? Well, that really wasn't such a good idea, ya' think?
LS&MS Book-14 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
Here's what it looks like today:
NYC Main over Ashtabula River by Edmund, on Flickr
I love Chicago!
ATSF_16-Chi by Edmund, on Flickr
I'm off to our local "closeout" store. I saw some LED undercabinet lights there the other day and neglected to buy any. Last night I found a great place in my RR shop where I "need" them so now have to make another trip into town
Good afternoon
Is that a beautiful Viaduct Bridge or what?
My little brother just contacted me who has some time off of work through the rest of this weekend.
Seems he went down to Candyland and Bruce has some more brand new releases of the Atlas T C & W locomotives that has never been available in N-Scale until now
I guess he bought a few and told me I should go down there before they're all sold out!
I've been known to spend a little money when the money spending is well spent
gmpullman Heartland Division CB&Q Everybody: ..... Who is thinking of projects on their model railroads to work on during the new year ? One of the "big ones" I hope to soon get into is a replacement "head-house" for my present Union Station building: Walthers_Everett-Station-open by Edmund, on Flickr
Heartland Division CB&Q Everybody: ..... Who is thinking of projects on their model railroads to work on during the new year ?
One of the "big ones" I hope to soon get into is a replacement "head-house" for my present Union Station building:
Walthers_Everett-Station-open by Edmund, on Flickr
Alton Junction
Ringo 58
So this year, the first big race we went to after everything hit the fan was the Weathertech at Road America after lots of cancellations. We normally do about 30 weekends a year with our customers and managed 12 weekends this season. We field usually around a dozen cars for the big race in July and they range from pre-war Alfas to LMP1's from around 2005 up.
The unicorn is the lady who does food for us at the track who had said having an event at all was as rare as finding a unicorn. She got the suit after reading of grandparents using similar to be able to see their grandkids and still be semi safe. Long answer, short story. J.R.
The nice thing after talking to my little brother is he only got one.
Three locomotives is always better than one to carry a more heavier load.
Tomorrow is Sunday and two more will be bought!
Sticking a stamp is easily sent through the mail but the Box will have those styrofoam popcorn balls in it and have to be taken to the post office so nothing breaks
richhotrainEd, you are simply going to love that big downtown passenger station, It is a focal point on my layout.
Thanks, Rich Looking forward to it. I love building structure kits.
Since the City Of New Orleans doesn't leave until tomorrow morning we will be spending the night in the 12th St. Coach yard one car ahead of this L&N observation car Royal Street.
P1090006 by Edmund, on Flickr
Then in the middle of the night we will be switched over to Central Station.
Sometimes things go BUMP in the night Hope that doesn't happen to us!
PRR_5805_CUS by Edmund, on Flickr
Flo and Brunhilda have the diner all fixed up for a nice evening meal
ATSF_placesetting_72 by Edmund, on Flickr
Room accommodations are tight so we may have to double up in the Pullman tonight. We will be on our best behavior, right?
pih27328 by Edmund, on Flickr
Love the photos, Ed. You are the perfect guy to open the Diner in a new month. Will the Diners be travelling to L.A. ? If so, I will be looking forward to photos of the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT).
Rich
Hello Railfans!
Happy New Years to ya! And now that we are two days in, is it any better for you, as opposed to last year?
Things are going pretty normal around here for a slow Saturday. Prolly take it easy today and do NOTHING! Nothing should be a something to do, shouldnt it?
I printed trucks yesterday like the mint prints money. Until i finally clogged the nozzle on my printer. Not looking forward to cleaning this up. But, cant do any more printing until i do. This would be a great opportunity to change the tip size down now that i have the new tips to do that with. Ugh its 2 hr PIMA either way. The upside? I got some really nice Bettondorfs to go under that 42' flat im working on.
Ed) Man what a great idea for this month. I was realy looking forward to this being an excuse to see alot of shots of your layout and some NYC stuff. Really loved the electric shifting the station. You see so few of those!
Loved the Warbonnet shot too. Love that paint scheme. Id have to say your a natural at this stuff. Keep this up and you may get an office next to Vinny's.
(just dont forget us lil peoples when ya do! )
Have a great day folks!
Cheers!
Douglas
richhotrainWill the Diners be travelling to L.A. ?
You bet, Rich. Pretty sure we will be leaving New Orleans on the Sunset Limited to L.A. then, if I read the itenerary correctly, south into Mexico for a few days. We will have time to explore L.A. for sure.
Green Frog has a pretty good promo of Chicago railroading taken by Emery Goulash:
PM RailfanEd) Man what a great idea for this month.
I can't take the credit, Douglas. I believe it was HOn3 Dave and seconded by Garry that hatched the idea Somebody poked me in the butt with a bayonet when the time came to find a host so I volunteered
Speaking of Illinois Central, heres a photo of the only I-C car on my roster, a lowly coach
I-C_coach2 by Edmund, on Flickr
I actually "worked" an ex-I-C Pullman known as "Cynthia" which was the former Nickel Plate "City of Lima" a 10-6. It was sold to the Michigan Railroad Club and I was the "Porter" on the car for a few trips.
Well then a big pat on the back to those two rapscallions. Though Ed, i think id volunteer BEFORE the bayonette part. Gonna have to keep my eyes on those two.
Green Lights,
Howdy ...
Ed .... You are doing a fantastic job with the January Diner so far.
In the 1950's USA had the best passneger trains in the world, and many of them served Chicago.
This picture was taken in the Chicago suburban town where I grew up. (Clarendon Hills, IL) ..... I could watch Burlington trains all day long. This train had 4 F3's and one GP7.
Here is the Denver Zephyr which operated from Chicago.
Here is a typical Burlington commuter train which ran between Chicago Union Station and Aurora, IL. It stopped at numerous suburbs.
This picture shows a CB&Q train and a PRR train arriving in Chicago Union Station with similar locomotive consists.
Burlington celebrated 100 years of Chicago suburban service in a big way. 5632, a Northern type steam locomotive, was painted gold to haul a special train for the event.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good evening fellow diners, Chloe, I would just like a glass I ice water to finish off the day.
Garry, I had never seen the picture of the locomotive painted gold. That looks like a real prototype brass locomotive!
My wife and I spent the whole day just playing board games. It was a blast.
I made another pork roast for dinner tonight which was delicious again. We have enough for pulled pork sandwiched for the next two days.
Nothing really going on to talk about, but it sure was a great day.
The world is a beautiful place.
Good Morning, folks —
I trust you had a pleasant rest while the I-C switcher hauled us over to Central Station:
I-C_Switcher by Edmund, on Flickr
I didn't feel a thing. That crew was gentle handling occupied cars! On the other hand the "ladies" I had to share my room with were anything but! I may have to send a letter to the Pullman Company.
We're all set for our 8 AM departure. Breakfast will be en-route
Panama_4027 by Edmund, on Flickr
On our way to sunnier climes, say good bye to that unsightly snow!
Panama_4036 by Edmund, on Flickr
We'll certainly be returning again to Chicago on our way back east.
TOP of page three already! Breakfast is on me
C'mon in and take a seat!
Diner by Edmund, on Flickr
Enjoy the ride, Cheers, Ed
Good morning all. We slept well even though we could hear snow falling.
Ed. You are doing a great job. The hash browns and eggs over easy look good.
Will be running some trains today. Services have been cancelled because of the holidays.