Evening Guys
I strolled back into town late this afternoon from what almost seemed like a permanent vacation for a while there.
It's always good to get back home again but I almost would have rather stayed up there in the Northern Wisconsin Woods.
I had a blast and amongst my favorite things besides fishing was shooting my Granddad's 22 antique Winchester that is sighted in so well you can take an aspirin off a horizontal 2x4 at a hundred yards.
That's the rifle I left up there and now Steve has a new modern one with a scope and that was fun too. $2.00 per shot!
I missed you guys and I just had to drop in and say hi. I'm Back in Black
Good to see you guys!, ...It's been awhile
TF
Track fiddlerGood to see you guys!, ...It's been awhile
Great to have you back, TF!
How about a little splash O' Green for ya'?
U-Boat beneath Dayton’s Bluff by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
How about a train crossing the Mississippi on the Huey Long Bridge -- for a welcome back!
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."
Last I remember, ...Splash O' Green is better than the Tides of Red, even on Saint Patrick's Day, ....Especially when it comes to Green Machines!!
And the Long Bridge is always the best in my book! I always did like the longer bridges
Thanks for the welcome back Ed! , ...John!
One always does appreciate their Good Friends over here in Minnesota
Thanks
Track fiddlerOne always does appreciate their Good Friends over here in Minnesota
Good freinds are important everywhere!
Glad to have you back. I am pleased you made it home safely.
I let the diners know you were OK, but did not share any details.
The World Is A Beautiful Place.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
So in the mid-late 1800s some railway executive told his chief engineer "I've got a little project for you. I found a perfect place to lay a little track".
403 in Black Canyon by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Just bring a little TNT and a pick axe.
SeeYou190 Track fiddler One always does appreciate their Good Friends over here in Minnesota Good freinds are important everywhere! -Kevin
Track fiddler One always does appreciate their Good Friends over here in Minnesota
Yes they are Kevin and great friends think alike.
It seems you stopped at the same resting place in North Dakota that I did!
Kevin's ND road trip picture
My North Dakota road trip picture a year before the drought
A bit ironic and Kind of Cool, Isn't it Kevin?
Post Hog! Post Hog!
It took a long time for Pink Floyd to record Seamus the dog song, but with a lot of patients it turned out really good!
I knew you all would all like it
The diner feels good again. The space-time continuum has returned to normal.
Welcome back TF!
Royal Hudson just North of Vancouver.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
TF ... I am sincerely glad to see you here again . We missed you. The Diner needs a real post hog. If you have not yet seen August Trains Magazine, I suggest you get a copy. The entire edition is about railroads in Minnesota.
Everybody ... Have a nice night.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Welcome back TF! Glad you had a good vacation.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I'm going to have to check that out Garry.
And I will!
Tired tired tired and I'm going to have to hit the rack but I will leave you with one of my favorites
Grantchester Meadows
Enjoy kids and I will talk to you tomorrow
And then as they got a bit more talented the good song sounded much more better thanks to David
Here you go!
Much better!
Here's one for you Brent, Dave and Garry
Cheers
I only wish I could have sat around a campfire with Gordon
Hey TF!
Great Lightfoot song!
We listen to him all the time on our Google speaker thing-a-magig (can't remember the proper name). What I really like is that they play the old songs as well as the new ones. I grew up listening to Gordon Lightfoot and I can still listen to him all day long.
When I was in university I wrote and studied late at night because all of the partiers had crashed by then. I had the type of record player that you could stack up to eight albums on the spindle and it would drop each record after the previous one had played. I'm sure most of you older guys know what I'm talking about. I would put a stack of Lightfoot LPs on the record player and when they had all played the first side I would flip them over. Some nights I could go through the whole stack twice.
We were supposed to see Lightfoot in 2020 but the concert was cancelled because of Covid. We hope to see him again, but he is 80 years old. If he decides to call it quits we are fine with that, but my gut says that he isn't done yet.
Good morning all. Tea & Toast please, Flo.
A day of rain and more rain.
TF Welcome back.
https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/science-and-technology/forth-bridge-paint-mixer/
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Hello, Monday!
All during my "growing-up" years, my dad and I would spend hours on the wooden stairs leading down to this yard office from the road overpass above. This was the view with the New York Central main line to Buffalo on the right:
Collinwood_shanty by Edmund, on Flickr
One time, when I was about seven or eight, a switcher, looking a lot like this Alco, below, and in the same spot, stopped alongside the stairs and the engineer hollered up to me "Hey, Kid — you wanna run a train?"
Collinwood_shop by Edmund, on Flickr
I was down those steps in a flash! I got to sit in that cherished seat and work the throttle as he instructed, grinning ear-to-ear .
"OK, you better slow her down a bit there, fella" Panic set in! He never told me how to "slow 'er down a bit"!!!
He and my dad got a good laugh out of that one. Still, that day lived on in my memory for ever. It was an ex- Ontario & Western (#127) EMD NW-2 #9512.
Today, all those shops in the distance are gone. There's only a few tracks left and the CSX runs what's left of the old New York Central.
This was Collinwood in better times:
Collinwood_looking east by Edmund, on Flickr
That's my overpass in the distance.
Regards, Ed
hon30critterWe were supposed to see Lightfoot in 2020 but the concert was cancelled because of Covid. We hope to see him again, but he is 80 years old.
Dave... I saw both Frank Sinatra and John Prine when they were in their 70s. I really wish I had not gone to those concerts. Both performers were far past the point where they should have called it quits.
I saw George Burns in the late 1970s when he performed at the University Of Florida's Homecoming Celebration. He was in his 80s by then, and he was trying to have a new career as a country singer for some reason. I think he was the oldest performer I ever saw live.
SeeYou190 hon30critter We were supposed to see Lightfoot in 2020 but the concert was cancelled because of Covid. We hope to see him again, but he is 80 years old. Dave... I saw both Frank Sinatra and John Prine when they were in their 70s. I really wish I had not gone to those concerts. Both performers were far past the point where they should have called it quits. -Kevin
hon30critter We were supposed to see Lightfoot in 2020 but the concert was cancelled because of Covid. We hope to see him again, but he is 80 years old.
Good morning, everyone. Just black coffee this morning.
It's a busy week before a trip. We had some tree damage during a storm, so I will try to clean that up and haul it away.
Laying track across western Nebraska into Wyoming in 1866 on the Transcontinental RR.
The first train about to get to Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1886:
Have a good day, everyone.
Good morning
A clear blue sunny sky in Minnesota this morning, or at least it's supposed to be.
We have a thick haze in the sky from the Canadian wildfires so it's only going to get up to 84 degrees here today from the haze filtering out the sun.
I grew up in the Kabetogama State Forest. My concerns and thoughts are with my Canadian friends. The ones I know face-to-face and the ones that I just talk to, I'm concerned for just as well.
I remember when I was a teenager, my dad volunteered and went to help fight a Canadian wildfire while I tended to the resort. That was the last time I remember seeing this thick haze.
It's just been too darn hot, too long, too early this year with the lack of rain. I pray all my nearby neighbors will be safe.
I'm not much of a concert go-er anymore. But if I did see one of the musicians well liked through my years, I could still appreciate their music, even if it was a bit sub-par. Being that they could be a little too old to perform anymore, they would still be appreciated. I seen those talented people in their prime and could fill in the blanks, dot the i's and cross the t's in my mind. It would probably be even funner at this point. I hope I will still have the chance to see and listen to the great ones that I haven't seen yet.
I bet that slowed you down a bit Ed. A life lesson learned that day. What a wonderful experience you had. I wish I could have walked down the stairs leading to the yard office near the NYC line to Buffalo with ya. I'm trying to picture the overpass in the distance the way it looked to you that day but only you will cherish that Fond Memory
I remember that turntable Dave! I had a Panasonic Techniques that you could scan the record and stack them. It would play your one song and then drop the next record and do the same. For inferior technology back then, that sure was an incredible piece of equipment. And if you happened to own one, you were the envy of all your friends
Well I'm going to try to enjoy outside today at 84°. Tomorrow it's back to 90 and hot!
Thanks for always making me feel so welcome here Have a great day gentlemen
1976
Not their best performance but somehow that song helps me hold on to a thread of my youth
Track fiddlerI'm not much of a concert go-er anymore. But if I did see one of the musicians well liked through my years, I could still appreciate their music, even if it was a bit sub-par. Being that they could be a little too old to play perfectly, They would still be appreciated.
I saw so many performers in their prime that seeing a bad show is unbearable for me.
The worst was when I saw Kid Rock in 2013 right after Rebel Soul came out.
The auditorium was packed full of old people! Kid Rock did none of his music from Devil Without A Cause or earlier, but did a lot of covers of classic rocks songs. It was awful from beginning to end. It was like seeing a second rate Bob Seger cover band in a local bar. He definitely peaked in 1998.
As a couple of exceptions, I saw Martina McBride in 2010, well past her peak, but she was amazing. I also saw Hanson in 2007, ten years after MMMBop (but they were still very young), and they were incredible, completely unexpected.
I saw AC/DC in 1982 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on the For Those About To Rock tour, and there is NO WAY I would go see those geezers now.
Hi gang!
I've never had much desire to see most bands perform live. The recorded work isn't set until they think it's perfect. Why settle for less than that? Not that I haven't enjoyed some live performances. Just not normally my thing. And for bands past their prime? No way.
I supposed you could say the same thing about sporting events, but those I will go to. I love a good college football game. Even a bad game if the team I'm rooting for wins. Never regretted the pro football, soccer, or hockey games I've been to.
Cheers fellas!
Mike
Track fiddlerI remember when I was a teenager,
When I was a teenager, I thought this looked good.
No socks, blue jeans, plaid shirt, dress shoes, and a tie. This was 1986, and I had just discovered the Seattle-Grunge sound, and apparently I was trying to make it formal.
Actually quite dashing Kevin!
I remember the phaze when I had the green and grey checkered plaid pants with a plain shirt was in style then. It was like a 100% negative image of the picture you just provided. I wish I had a picture for you
Actually I was watching Barnaby Jones in the middle of the night the other night and he had the same pair of pants on I had to wake Judy up and show her She wasn't too happy about that, let me tell you
I can honestly say I love your hairstyle in that picture as mine has stayed somewhat the same, only a little tighter on the sides for over 50 years
The good thing is I haven't been told I have a mallet or been called a hesher lately
Good stuff Kevin! Thanks! Never stop keeping them coming! That old picture stuff is "All Good"
Perfect!
Good Afternoon,
TF, great to see you back in the diner!
We finally had a few showers today which are welcome .
I finally won a ebay auction. It was for a Spectrum combine nicely done in CN colours. I have wanted a combine for some time but they are hard to find in CN colours. I paid $50 cdn for it which is reasonable.
I have been listening to some old rock music on youtube recently. When I moved to Barrie in June of 1971 to start my first job after Uni, Riders on the Storm by the Doors was popular. I always liked that song. I find it haunting.
CN Charlie
.
Oh!
I like that one too Charlie!
It's good to hear from you as well And I'm not going to screw up the good studio version with an offset video. The most successful musicians had a slow and simple beat
Good one Charlie
Congrats on your eBay score
It is high noon out here in fire land. We have 306 fires currently burning in B.C.
Just got off the bike so please excuse the sweat, feelin great for an old man full of arthritis.
Gordon Lightfoot has been my hero for 55years and even though he is really old and does not sound as he once did, it is all about the journey for me and I will continue to go see him when he wanders into town. I just won't sit in the front row anymore in case his teeth should launch out of his mouth trying to hit a high note.
I can sit and play Gord tunes for a good three and a half hours, that's how many I have down. I rotate through them every week or so.
The wife was watching a show on sitcoms last night and the only two I had watched were All In The Family and Mash. Sitting in front of the TV was not something I did. Skiing and hockey in winter and Golf, sailing, and cycling in summer were my pastimes. You can golf, sail, and cycle all year out here on the coast, I just did not do as much in the off-season.
There was an event that use to be held in the winter called the sea to sky event. In one day we would play a round of golf, go sailing and then head up the mountain for a few hours of skiing. It would be nice to be that young again.
Went for lunch with the kid on Saturday morning. Went to a joint called the Flying Beaver. It is on the Fraser River at Vancouver International where all the floatplanes come and go from so it is non-stop action and the food is terrific.
The kid has been offered the CEO job where he is working. It is a nationwide company and last January he was brought in to do some consulting work while he was still going to school full time and was also working for the UN on the Covid response. He has quickly climbed the corporate ladder increasing the companies revenue stream significantly. His boss is retiring and has recommended him to the board to replace him. The kid is only 22 and is feeling a little shell shocked at the offer. It comes with a huge pay increase. He was phoning me a lot last week. Still nice that he turns to Dad for advice.
I remember in the mid-eighties I had a girlfriend that dressed me up in plaid shirts, all the rage back then. I had long hair way down my back and two of my buddies and I were walking down Hollywood Boulevard when this guy comes running out of a shop wanting to buy my hair. It was a wig shop. I was a fool and turned him down but he offered some good money for it. Girls loved that long hair and I was not going to give that up!
Time to hit the shower and get busy doing something. Maybe more yard work, I hate old age, Plummeting down a mountain on a mountain bike sounds much more fun though I would not survive at my age.