Happy Fourth of July to all our friends south of the border!
Cheers!!
Dave
Edit:
Top of the page! Cold beer and ballpark hotdogs all round!
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good evening everybody.
It sounds like my neighborhood has finally begun to calm down after a couple of hours of complete craziness. There were no shortages of home fireworks displays around here.
I hope all are safe.
The World Is A Beautiful Place.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good morning Diners. Tea and toast please, Chloe.
The overnight stormy weather has stopped, but more rain is forecast. Yesterday, the Americans in the village (we have a few) 'put on a good show'.
A busy day with arrival of deliveries for the week. Then collect younger granddaughter from school. Whether we go to 'Rainbows' depends on the weather.
Two cruise ships that are part of Carnival Corporation.
P & O cruise ship Britannia heading back to Southampton. May 2019
Costa Line Costa Favolosa departing from Lisbon May 2019. Picture taken from the bridge of TUI Marella Dream.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Good morning, diners. Bacon, eggs, and black coffee, Flo.
I'm a little tired from this morning's workout at the gym. Then I walked the trail before it gets too hot. After breakfast, I'll cut the grass. Then I will crash in my recliner and watch Perry Mason reruns for a while.
I saw an unusual train this morning -- a BNSF coal train being pulled by a single locomotive. Coming through our town, they almost always have two locomotives pulling and one at the end pushing.
At Dairy Queen last night, I saw a car in the lot that had a bumper sticker that said, "I'm a Ferroequinologist". It turns out the car belongs to the teenager working the drive-thru, and he is train nerd like me. I thought I was the only one in our small town. We need to have a secret handshake or something to identify each other.
Have a good holiday Monday.
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
York1 We need to have a secret handshake or something to identify each other.
I walk around with this clipped to a belt loop.
So far it has not worked.
SeeYou190 York1 We need to have a secret handshake or something to identify each other. So far it has not worked. -Kevin
That's pretty neat! I am going to have to try to make something like that.
Good morning, everybody.
There were plenty of home fireworks here at the lake. We sat at the dock for a while watching them. The state parks here have very impressive fireworks, but we did not go this year.
Our nephew made a lot of money for his college funds selling fireworks. A company set up a temporay sales location in Tennessee, and he stayed there continuously for two weeks. His pay was 25% of the total sales amount which was substantial.
Everybody: Have a good monday.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Heartland Division CB&QThere were plenty of home fireworks here at the lake. We sat at the dock for a while watching them.
That sounds like it was a great evening.
Heartland Division CB&QThe state parks here have very impressive fireworks, but we did not go this year.
I also did not go to the City Of Cape Coral's "Red White And Boom" celebration this year. There were several groups planning conflicting protests/demonstrations at the event, and I opted out. I don't need all that nonsense.
Apparently nothing happened at the event, and the people that went had a great time, which is good.
Kevin, is your area planning on a lot of rain and some wind? I don't watch the news, so I didn't know where Elsa was headed.
York1Kevin, is your area planning on a lot of rain and some wind? I don't watch the news, so I didn't know where Elsa was headed.
We are expecting some wind and rain, but no one is doing any preparations. This is not news down here.
Generally, only storms of category 3 or higher get our attention. A tropical storm just gets shrugged off.
With my new garage door, roof, and windows, I have virtually no worries, and I do not need to do anything for storm preparation anymore.
They just had the noon update. We are expecting sustained winds in the 20 MPH range with gusts up to 35 MPH as feeder bands pass through. 1"-4" of rain, and the possibility of an isolated tornado.
The local news reported that there was a drainage system failure in Estero today and caused some street flooding in two neighborhoods with just the small amount of rain we had today.
I am going to make a prediction... after Elsa moves through, and all the national news crews are in town, those will be the neighborhoods you will see on the evening news tomorrow.
I also learned a new term on the news tonight, "Flushing Event Rain." As in... the rainfall from Tropical Storm Elsa will be the first Flushing Event Rain we have experienced in 2021.
Just in case, I walked around and took all the "before" pictures of my house.
Good evening ....
Kevin..... I'm glad you don't expect Elsa will have too much impct to you. Let us know if your prediction comes true.
I hope those who had a three day weekend break from work enjoyed it.
I enjoyed receiving August MR because my friend, Dan Lewis, has a two-page picture in Trackside Photos.
Steve O ..... Your work and that of other MR editors deserves a lot of praise. Keep up the good stuff.
Everybody ..... Have a nice evening.
Gusty cool winds have started. The next 24 hours will be the effect of Tropical Storm Elsa for me.
They will probably shut down the electrical service if winds are predicted to gust over 50 MPH, but that is not anticipated to be necessary.
Here we go...
Good morning Diners. Tea and toast please, Janie.
A wet & miserable looking day today. A good day to run trains.
6th July 1785 U.S. Congress unanimously resolve the name of the U.S. currency to the 'dollar' and adopts decimal currency.
A few jobs around the house to do then run some trains.
I hope those MIA return soon (if they wish). Meanwhile, Thoughts & Peace to All who Require.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good Morning All,
A regular to go please Zoe. Still thrashing at w..k as well as both houses. Nearly empty house will need a second dumpster (tip) for all the treasures we can actually live without.
Dave, its a long hot summer here and I think a lot of missing people are just not around their trains. I suppose you could always get yourself tangled up with Bears thread about missing people - oh wait I see you already got tangled in that web. Asking if we've made provision to have someone let people know if we're no longer here has merit. Although I'm reminded of a line in a country song where Earl turned out to be a missing person that nobody missed at all.
Ciao, J.R.
Good morning, diners. It's a beautiful day outside.
When we moved from Louisiana, we left behind many friends, and over the years, we lost track of most of them. My wife is pretty good at regularly checking online. Every-so-often she finds someone we knew very well is no longer with us.
When we talk to our kids, I often think of our ancestors who moved to different parts of the world. My own came from Germany to North America. Can you imagine the parents saying goodbye to their child leaving home, knowing they would probably never see them again, and with the primitive communications, probably never getting a letter or anything else? I'm not sure I could handle that.
Very thankful that I live today where seeing daughters living far away is possible with modern tech. Remember how outlandish Dick Tracy's picture phone seemed back then?
BNSF has a double mainline through my small town. This is the old Burlington station. It is still used by BNSF.
Fifteen years ago, we had 110 trains per day coming through. With the decline in the use of coal, we now have about 50 trains per day. It's unusual to see any train except coal hoppers on this set of tracks.
It's good to hear from everybody. Have a great day.
So far all we have experienced from Else is a light rain and no wind.
The local news is not cutting in with updates, so I am waiting for the noon news weather report for more information.
EDIT: We just had the noon update. The previous prediction for the "worst of the storm" was today from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. They have revised this to the worst will be here from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM. We still have had no wind, and very little rain.
Good Morning,
Not much going for me right now. Our drought continues. We haven't had rain since early June. At least the temps are lower but today there is smoke in the air from forest fires up north. The southern quarter of my province is prairie where Winnipeg is located but the northern 3/4 is mostly forest and lakes.
Winnipeg was and still is a railway city. CN had major shops here doing major steam loco overhauls and even constructing a few consolidations. Car shops were here too and operated until the '80's. These facilities were located in Transcona on the edge of the city. I visited the roundhouse when I was about 4 with my grandfather who was in the CN police. I remember it vaguely as it was 69 years ago. CN and CP had the only armed private police forces in Canada and that is still true today. CN built a new rail yard here in the '60s called Symington that has a hump. It also has a diesel shop where overhauls are done.
CP had/has a very large yard that is right in the city. Local politicians want it moved but it won't happen as the cost would be staggering. Besides that land is contaminated after 150 years use by the railway. Anyway, CP also have major shops here called Weston.
Think I'll stay in unless the smoke smell clears a bit. Good chance to run a train. I still have the Northern on passenger duties. CN had more Notherns than any other N.A. road at 200, they didn't use them in western Canada. Here the big passeger power was Mountain class. For freight it was Sanre Fe class.
And so endeth the lesson.
CN Charlie
Ulrich has sent me an update with some really good news about his new home:
Hi Dave,today I have received good news! Our architect got things moving again regarding the building permit. Things look promising, but there will be a delay. However, that delay is a welcomed one, as it turned out, that our house will not only fulfill, but also exceed the latest energy conservation requirements, which makes us eligible for a substantial, non-refundable government grant, amountig to a third of the total cost of the house! We will gain twice through this, not only by cutting down on the cost of the build, but also saving on the monthly energy bill, as the house will actually make more power than we will be using. Great! It will take a while to process the application for the grant, but that´s been started.Cheers,Ulrich
As I go through my photos from the vacation, every so often I find a real gem.
Dave ...... Tell Ulrich, I am pleased to hear his good news.
Good for Ulrich. Saving 1/3 and having an architech is quite a savings.
We are supposedly getting smoke from Canadian fires. It doesn't smell like smoke, at least not yet.
The Blue Ridge mountains are going to block any rain from Elsa and our drought continues as well.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good afternoon diners.
Chloe - A nice big Coke float please. Thanks.
Great to hear Ulrich has a bit of good news for a change!
Hopefully the storm isn't too bad for Kevin.
I really like how many are supplying info on their areas, this months idea was a really good one!
I will continue with my area - This time B&P.
The Buffalo & Pittsburgh in my area runs on a former PRR line, that went to CR, then to Allegheny Railroad, before going to B&P. They connect in Erie with CSX & NS, in Corry with WNY&P, and connect to their own lines to the east of me.
The Warren Erie turn operates almost daily through my area, as train WAER.
Some pics -
B&P WAER 121 lead by Richard W, on Flickr
Typical power of late for train WAER is this slug and motor set. 121 was formerly a ALY GP35 before becoming a B&P Slug. They are pictured at Corry Diamond, and had been delayed there that day due to a signalling issue. The interlocking usually clears for the first train to arrive, but this day the WAER crew was faced with a stop signal, though there was no WNY&P crew. So, after contacting dispatchers, and getting a signal guy on scene, they finally received permission to manually flag the diamond (set flares inside guage of WNY&P line) and proceed at restricted speed.
Yes, the diamond is located in downtown Corry. (Don't blink while driving... You might miss the entire downtown area. )
Man Down! by Richard W, on Flickr
Here, train WAER is headed towards Erie, just west of Corry Diamond, and I could not resist capturing the knocked down WNY&P Crossing signal. Seems the city plow was a wee bit too close and clipped it. (There is a intersection just south of the crossing, I think they had tried to turn around and simply pushed over the signal.) Here the train was led by a former ALY unit.
Transformer Load by Richard W, on Flickr
This line often hosts High & Wide moves, as B&P seves a paper mill southeast of here, but the former ALY line has better clearance, so H&W moves for the mill get routed through Erie and onto the former ALY line.
Kinda neat to see a short line local have H&W loads often.
Next installment will cover the lines along Lake Erie, and the Lakeshore Railway Museum.
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.
ricktrains4824Hopefully the storm isn't too bad for Kevin.
Not bad at all.
My neighbor has some water in the ditch... a lot less than after a normal afternoon thundershower.
My window sill gnome did not get disturbed at all.
The national news crew all highballed out of town to get to Tampa for the landfall tomorrow. No rainfall more than normal, no high winds any more than 1/2 mile from the coast, no storm surge, no damage.
Now the news says we might get severe storm conditions overnight.
This was a total non-event for us.
I hope Tampa does well tomorrow.
A few months ago we were talking about how hard it is to buy just a normal flashlight.
My local Home Depot has these back in stock. Simple 3 D cell LED flashlights with no "tactical" functions. Push the button and it turns on, press it again and it turns off... perfect.
I bought five more of them today.
They hang perfectly in one of those 99 cent u-shaped threaded garage hangers.
Good afternoon Diners. A large coffee please, Flo.
A sunny day today.
A busy day with jobs around the house to do. Younger granddaughter wants to stay at our house this weekend, but there is a scare over Covid in the area, so we shall see.
In the train room later.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require.
What a great photo!
'Northwestern F7 by NAPM Model Railroad Club, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
That is a great photo Ed. At first I thought it was a real locomotive scene.
As Kevin says 'It looks real'
SeeYou190That is a great photo Ed. At first I thought it was a real locomotive scene.
These folks have a truly inspiring layout.
Worthwhile looking at all the photos in their Flickr album
Night Owls by NAPM Model Railroad Club, on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/napmltd/
https://www.napmltd.org/