Good evening
We have a hanging petunia plant off the porch and would see hummingbirds come and go frequently through past seasons. But for some reason not anywhere near as much this year. Kinda strange.
Tom, I would love to see your 69 Camaro posted here sometime. We go to a lot of car shows every summer. I love looking at all the old classic muscle machines
BATMAN
Do you think the smoke stacks will clear the bridge this time Captain?
Well, I seen the bridge clearance sign said 181 feet-two inches, so I certainly hope so Mate
I know we all love trains but here's one for you dog lovers out there.
I don't think these people need a lock on their front door with Dane The Bruiser around
There is five things I have loved in this world besides women. Classic Trains Planes and Automobiles. Clipper Ships and an obedient pet
Make it a great evening gentlemen
TF
Rick, thanks for the Gauge War information. We had a member at the model RR club I once belonged to that was well versed in some of the stories. He told of how the Erie had changed gauge overnight in the town of Corning, N. Y.
This will interest some:
Your hummingbird photo is great. I've only seen two hummingbirds this summer (or the same bird twice?) Usually there are dozens by the feeders.
Now, Blue Jays! I have swarms of them. They will empty both my feeders in a matter of hours. Funny how bird sightings go in cycles like that.
Mr. B. Congrats on getting the kitten, if indeed she did follow you home. Let's see some photos soon
Regards, Ed
Good afternoon all.
Flo - A RBF please. Thanks.
Kevin - Sory to hear about your SisIL being ill. Hopefully she can fully recover.
Ed - I had seen something somewhere about the Ashtabula Train disaster. That occurred after the Erie PA "Gauge War" of December 1853.
Erie Gauge War - The "short" version of the story is this: In Erie PA, and vacinity, there were three seperate railroad companies who laid track, The Erie & North East Railroad, from Erie east to the NY border in North East Pa, where it became the Buffalo & State Line Railroad, and the Franklin Canal Company, from Erie west to the Ohio border.
The E&NE laid their tracks at a 6' guage, (1829mm for our metric friends) while both the Franklin Canal Co. and the B&SL used 4'10 "Ohio Guage" tracks. (1473mm)
This essentially made Erie PA a mandatory stop for all trains, freight and passenger, and a second mandatory stop at the PA/NY border. Passengers would frequently be forced to stay overnight due to missing the outbound trains.
When the B&SL bought up 2/3 the E&NE stock, it was announced that the 6' gauge would go away, in favor of the 4'10" "Ohio Gauge" rails. Erie city council passed an ordinance that barred any tracks not already in place from crossing any city streets.
This did not stop the railroad from attempting to relay the tracks, so the city swore in 150 "special police constables" with the city authorization to destroy the newly laid rails. This they did, by removing railroad bridges across two downtown streets.
The citezns of Harborcreek Pa (between Erie and North East) also took matters into their own hands, destroying trackage, bridges, and a level crossing. The railroad got a federal injunction granted, but the citizens and officials in Harborcreek ignored it.
On Decembr 27, 1853, a train of railroad officials was forced to stop outside of Harborcreek by a mob again ripping up tracks. One B&SL railroad official fired a shot, wounding and knocking out one in unruly crowd. The crowd, thinking their person was killed, attacked the train, which began a full speed retreat backwards before stopping on the NY side of the border. The stowaways from Harborcreek were forced off the train, and sent, on foot, back into PA.
The war was officially ended on Feb. 1, 1854, with the first successful run straight through, without stopping. But disruptions continued on, until the state finally sent law enforcement to Harborcreek in Jan. 1855, to stop further attempts to remove trackage.
So the line from Buffalo through Ashtabula had a very eventful handful of years back then... First the gauge war, then the Ashtabula bridge disaster in 1876, which was the deadliest train accident until 1918.
A lighter note - I caught this Hummer at one of our feeders this morning.
Hummingbird 1 by Richard W, on Flickr
Hope all are well, best wishes for those who are not, 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.
Morning all, the sunshine continues and so do the fires. A week of heavy rain would be nice about now. The trainroom awaits!
I hurt my back three days ago, probably an arthritis-related micro-fracture. I am going through withdrawal not being able to exercise. It is slowly getting better and in the meantime, I started selling more crap on FB-marketplace. I use to give all this stuff away to charity or take it to the transfer station as I couldn't be bothered putting in the time to sell it. When covid hit I had a lot of extra time all of a sudden. I am amazed at what people will buy. I figure I have made at least $2000.00 in the last year. I had a 10'H x 11'L piece of chain link that was at least 30years old. Put it on FB @ best offer and got $20.00 for it. I was going to drop it at the metal recycle place next time I was out that way.
David, I started reading about the Uganda after your post yesterday. I find ship history so fascinating. My Dad had a good friend that use to photograph ships that came into Vancouver, those guys would all gather in the middle of the Lions Gate Bridge and shoot away. I would ride my bike over the bridge to work and would have to dismount and push my way through the ship hounds as there would be so many.
The ship in the background of the James Bond movie Dr. No was called the Evangeline, a year later it was sold and renamed The Yarmouth Castle. Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song about its demise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4cAnMZc79U&ab_channel=GordonLightfoot-Topic
John, it is great to see you travelled with young kids. We did as well and our kids were well-seasoned travellers. My daughter at age 10 went to Toronto for a school competition all by herself and did not think anything of getting on the plane by herself for the first time. When I went to pick her up, she grabbed her bag off the carousel and walked over to me and said let's go like some well-travelled adult. It sure made me smile seeing such confidence.
Just sold the bar fridge my daughter had in her University dorm room for $30.00 more than we paid for it. We bought it used three years ago for $70.00 and I just got $100.00. Does anyone want to buy a bridge? Photo above.
The Norwegian Bliss has to leave at low tide to fit under The Lions Gate Bridge.
Here is another interesting photo.
https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/three-of-the-worlds-largest-super-post-panamax-cranes-pass-news-photo/52723075
We had a U.S. aircraft carrier come in once and they had to take an antenna off so it would fit under the bridge.
The first passenger train to lick the Pacific Ocean in Port Moody came from Montreal in 1886. The trip took a week. The line would eventually continue 33km down the inlet to Vancouver the following year.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Hi Everyone,
Brunhilda, large coffee with lots of cream, please.
Seeing some of the 1880s photos is kind of neat. It was a vastly different world then. Kevin: First, sorry to hear about your sister-in-law. I hope she gets better and recovers.
The picture of the Florida and Southern loco is kind of odd in that I don't see a sand dome on it anywhere. Is it possible that they didn't even use sand?
There were lots of train wrecks and disasters back then. Funny, no one has mentioned anything about the Johnstown, PA flood disaster. A dam upstream through negligence and poor engineering had collapsed and the man made lake drained sending a mountain of water downstream about 20 miles to Johnstown. The PRR went through the valley and rolling stock and trees were picked up in the cascading torrents. Imagine sitting comfortably in your chair at home and a boxcar in a wall of water crashes through the side of your house. The debris and over one hundred people were caught in the jam that piled up at the stone arch PRR bridge and caught fire because of the oils and things in the pile. It was a huge disaster. I think it was 189 victims that died that day. BTW, the dam that caused it all was never rebuilt. It's all now a national memorial. Just a tragedy.
I hope everybody's day is well.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
For York1John.
https://www.midshipcentury.com/bermuda-star
A lovely looking ship of her time.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Good morning, everyone. Bacon, eggs, and coffee please, Brunhilda.
Kevin, I haven't watched any Olympics this year, which is unusual for me. I tried a couple of times, but turned channels fairly quickly. I don't know why. I usually love watching them.
Track Fiddler, I thought the Batman Corvette was pretty neat. I would have loved to drive around in that when I was younger.
MisterBeasley, have fun with the new kitten.
Sparky Rail, I'm looking forward to seeing some of your photos.
Douglas, I agree. I don't mind someone using the sites I visit for advertising. I do mind someone listening in on me, in my own house, without my knowledge. I'm sure somewhere, back when my wife got the phone, that in the fine print we didn't read there's some form of legal permission.
Brent, and any others I've forgotten, I'm enjoying the photos of early railroading.
Ed, that's an interesting set of pictures of the train accident. Thanks!
Any other diners I haven't mentioned, I hope everything is going well with you.
David, I'm glad you were able to get out and have a good holiday. As far as cruises, our first was on an old ship about ready to be scrapped -- the Bermuda Star. In spite of that, I think it was actually our most enjoyable cruise. That old ship had large rooms, wide hallways, and comfortable lounges. Our room was actually larger than our home bedroom. You don't find that very much on newer ships. I don't have a good picture of it -- this photo is of the three daughters as we left the ship in Mexico for a tour:
Our state doesn't have much trackage left of the old Rock Island RR that came through the southern part of the state. This is near Lincoln:
Time to head outside and cut the grass.
York1 John
Good Morning All,
It's been a while between all the thrash here and track weekends. At this point, the layout is in pieces on the floor of the new (to us) unfinished basement while I unpack boxes, move stuff to where it is going to go and do the nitpicky stuff needed to make us happy. The new house is awesome and I like it and the area more each day. Better yet, we got moved out of the old house and after a few repairs and a thorough cleaning put it on the market. It sold in three days for more than we asked and the closing will be in September (they are getting an FHA mortgage so those take time).
Before the theme runs out this is the Lyman viaduct on the old Airline Railroad since incorporated into the New Haven now ConnDot system. The longest span in Connecticut at the time it was part of a Railroad that took a more direct route between New York and Boston that was substantially faster than the New Havens Shoreline route. J.P.Morgan the then owner of the New Haven bought it out and that was that. The viaduct started out in wood then was redone in iron and finally filled in before the whole line was abandoned in I think the 50's. Just a mile or so from the shop here in Newtown are a pair of short abandoned railroad tunnels for the old line and the Shepaug Railroad that went to Litchfield back in the 1800's.
All for now, we're still thrashing here in the shop as we get ready for another onslaught of race weekends with about 2 dozen cars in two weeks starting Labor Day then 4 races at different venues in one weekend Whew.
Hope you all are doing well as I haven't caught up posts in some time. Ciao,J.R.
Just makes the 1800s era. 'Bon Accord' of 1897
https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/works-no-807-aberdeen-corporation-gas-works-bon-accord-0-4-0st/
At Beamish Musum, County Durham
Before we leave the 1800s:
Ashtabula1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Not too far from me is (was) the Ashtabula depot and the site of this bridge disaster. The failed bridge was designed by the president of the Lakeshore & Michigan Southern. Guess he thought he could save a few dollars for the stock holders by "doing it yourself".
Ashtabula Howe Truss Bridge by Ashtabula Archive, on Flickr
Many of the trapped passengers perished by the fires caused by the coal stoves in the wooden cars.
Wreck Of the Lake Shore RR Bridge by Ashtabula Archive, on Flickr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_River_railroad_disaster
More recently it looks like this:
NYC Main over Ashtabula River by Edmund, on Flickr
The Lakeshore Limited and CSX still use the route today between Chicago and Albany and New York.
Here's another great video from a three-rail modeler:
I hope everyone is doing fine. My thoughts are with you and your wife, Kevin. Hoping for the best news.
[edit] How did I get to the top of the page? I wasn't here this morning??
I think a Hot Fudge or Tin Roof Sundae is in order.
hot-tin-roof-sundaes by Edmund, on Flickr
Good morning Diners. A full English please, Chloe.
Garry Thanks for the compliments on my pictures.
TF. We had a relaxing vacation in lovely scenery.
Brent. I traveled on SS Uganda way back in 1969. A short 8 day 'taster' to see if I would like cruising. I traveled on her again in 1974 and 1977; both Mediterranean fly cruises.
The picture you have posted must have been from around 1986 when she was renamed Triton and went to Taiwan to be scrapped. She did not go willingly. She keeled over before reaching the beach at Kaohsuing.
A picture (from a postcard) I bought in 1969.
A model of SS Uganda (and other memorabilia).
Mister Beasley. Some animals know where they are wanted; and want to go to.
Kevin. Continued prayers and thoughts for a speedy recovery of your SIL.
MisterBeasleyIt looks like we're getting another kitten tomorrow.
That sounds fun. Kittens are the best.
I watched the finals in the Men's Park Course Skateboarding. It was an excellent event. The top riders were incredible.
I have warmed up to skateboarding in the Olympic games. Maybe it will be better in 2024.
My Sister In Law had an MRI today. They said she had three strokes before she was brought into the hospital. I don't know if they determined that from the MRI or some other tests.
No changes in her condition.
The World Is A Beautiful Place.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
John York) Naw, not strange at all these days. Highly immoral and I personally would call it illegal and a total decimation of your right to privacy. But stealing from you (or anyone) via 'tech' is not even frowned upon BY ANYONE! In your case - 'eavesdropping', but thats still ok too.
Matter of fact, you can make a pretty darn good salary writing code that steals or listens covertly. Those kinda jobs are in high demand. Especially in places like DisgraceBook, Crapple, Microshaft, anything Google related, well heck, anyone running a website these days to be totally honest.
Even this site is running 'analytics' on you and everyone else here. Logged in or not. Its SOP in todays society.
I suspect your wifes phone. Take it and put it somewhere about a mile away. Then say something total oblivious like "Peaches with Snail sauce". Go retrieve the phone. Wait a bit and see if you get any clepto ads regarding fruit or seafood. If you do, it wasnt her phone (this time). If you dont....
Try same thing with your laptop. Try it with both a mile away. There could be a third culprit in your house. Your brand new IOT refridgerator for example. Your 60" widescreen CV possibly. Anything electronic made in the last 10-15 yrs would be suspect.
Good luck living in the limelight with everything you say..... heard!
Douglas
PS: just because you turn off a cell phone dont think for a second its really off! Even yanking the battery wont help. Remember, PC's have batterys too (incase you didnt know) so you CAN unplug them. But they still keep the time/date and BIOS settings. SO DO LAPTOPS and PHONES! Yank their main batteries, they still stealing!
Track fiddlerHey Tom, let me help you with that posting pictures thing because years ago I had a hard time with that.
Thanks for the hand TF, I'll give it a try soon. Fair warning, if I do figure it out, I might have to counter your next Stang picture with one of my 69 Camaro...
It looks like we're getting another kitten tomorrow. We dropped by the pet shop and there he was. He's been there a while, but he's friendly and happy to cuddle or play. I think he was just waiting for us to come along.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasleyGot one of those Alexa things? They are always on, always connected and always listening.
No, no Alexa or anything else like that. The only "tech" thing we have is my wife's cell phone and my laptop, both of which were not being used when we were talking.
Strange.
NorthBritNumber 1, being on SS Uganda (my favorite ship of all)
Looks like my kind of adventure!
When were you on her?
A smaller ship for us might be better. We only went on one cruise and were worn out by the end of it. We went on a dive at one-stop and it was the worst day trip dive I have ever done. I can't even remember where it was.
We found that getting on and off the ship was such an ordeal either with the tender or at the dock that cruising was not for us. Plus always keeping your eye on the time to be back to the ship before it left. We travel in a very relaxed fashion at our own speed leave a place when we are ready or stay longer than we thought we would. We like to go to Kaui and check into the Hyatt, sit in the Sun for a few days, eat some great meals and decide where we go from there. We might just get on a plane and go somewhere else or stay. Depends on our energy level, which is getting lower these days.
But like I said maybe we will give it another go as our adventurous side has wained a lot these last very few years due to health issues and a cruise ship may be fast enough.
BATMAN NorthBrit Dave, just wondering what your top three cruises were? I am willing to try cruising once more down the road long after this covid thing has dried up. Don't know what part of the world we should try one in. I know I would go on a two or three-week sailing trip on a 50' or 60' boat in a heartbeat, but the wife is not as keen at our age.
NorthBrit Dave, just wondering what your top three cruises were? I am willing to try cruising once more down the road long after this covid thing has dried up. Don't know what part of the world we should try one in. I know I would go on a two or three-week sailing trip on a 50' or 60' boat in a heartbeat, but the wife is not as keen at our age.
That is a hard question, Brent. I have enjoyed every cruise. If I had to choose three I suppose ----
Number 1, being on SS Uganda (my favorite ship of all) and visiting Israel (Haifa, Jerusalem and Bethlehem) and sailing into Venice, Italy.
Number 2 A World Voyage on Queen Mary 2
Number 3 On Queen Victoria sailing the Norwegian Fjords
The other 57 cruises were all memorable visiting some places many times.
Gibraltar is very special to us. As is Jamaica, New York, Dubai etc. etc.
As for yourselves, take the wife on a short cruise. If it is not for her the journey is short. If she likes it, I bet she books the next one and the next and ---
Once I managed to get Dawn on a cruise I have never booked another one since. Dawn is forever looking at 'the next cruise'.
Good morning from the beautiful West Coast. It has been over two months since we have had a drop of rain, sure could use some. We have actually started watering some of our vegetation as it is looking pretty grim. We have rarely ever watered anything in summers past.
TF, love the Corvette Batmobile, maybe it is a Hotwheels copy, or maybe Hotwheels might make it. Either way, it gave me an early morning smile.
Your phone has a tracking device in it (that you can turn off) and when it senses you are out of your usual stomping grounds it gives you hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions. We find it very convenient when we travel.
We have Alexa in the house and it is always listening. We do test by talking about really obscure things just to see how fast the ads come up on the computer. Pretty fast. I love Alexa and would never be without it and if a real person was listening they would find my life pretty boring. The Government knows how much I make, how much my house is worth, and all about my investments through my income tax. I do nothing illegal or dishonest so why do I care.
I read a lot of business publications online and because of the online snoops knowing that, I get a whole lot of additional information I did not know was available. So let them snoop. I have a separate Mac computer that is used for financial things only, banking and investment companies. I do not even click on the weather site never mind anything else with that computer. I have never had so much as a scrap of unsolicited info come up on that computers screen.
I use to golf every Sunday morning with two of my stockbroker friends and another friend that made a good living day trading. After our round of golf, we would have lunch and our toast when the beer arrived was always "may we have to pay lots of income tax this year". People sitting around us thought we were nuts and some would ask why we would ever want that? Our answer would be that it meant we made a lot of money that year. My tax dollars give me a very good quality of life and I don't mind paying taxes.
Vancouver in 1865. Amazing computer clean-up on these pics.
The first "passenger" train into Vancouvers new CPR station. May 23, 1887.
I am loving all the old pics you guys are posting. I think this will be my favourite week of this month as the older the better for me when it comes to trains.
I better shut up before you all nod off.
Kevin, hope your SIL is showing signs of winning her battle.
All the best to all.
York1 Is some computer in some dark basement listening in on the cell phone, even though it is not being used at the time?
Is some computer in some dark basement listening in on the cell phone, even though it is not being used at the time?
Got one of those Alexa things? They are always on, always connected and always listening.
Your phone does listen to you John. That sort of thing happens to Judy and I all the time. It's some sort of robotic artificial intelligence advertising scan thing.
Just the other day Judy and I were talking about going back to Branson Missouri because everything was closed around Christmas time when we were there. All of a sudden the Titanic and all the other tourist attractions started popping up on Judy's phone when she went to use it.
If you have a smart TV with internet connection someone can actually hack their way through and look at you in your living room while you're connected
Kinda spooky
I know this has been discussed before, but this scared us.
A while back I hurt my knee.
Neither my wife nor I looked up anything online about it -- we had merely talked about me making a doctor appointment.
Within several days, some ads appeared about knee braces.
SeeYou190 All morning my pop-up ads on this site have been for tattoo removal services. I do not have any tattoos. -Kevin
All morning my pop-up ads on this site have been for tattoo removal services.
I do not have any tattoos.
Probably seen a picture of you with your guitar.
How is this happening? Why can't the ads be for custom decals, undecorated freight cars, floor tile, landscaping, or any of the countless things that are actually in my search history?
This is so random.
Good morning.
Today is house cleaning day -- kids from out of state coming this weekend.
This is North Platte, Nebraska, in the 1870s. This developed into one of the largest train yards in the world:
Union Pacific #1 in Omaha. It was brought to Omaha on a barge up the Missouri River from St. Louis in the 1860s. The General Sherman:
Along the Transcontinental RR in the middle of Nebraska in the 1860s:
Have a good day, everyone.
Good morning
Welcome back David. Quite the bridge. I trust your Holiday was a good one A beautiful lake you were at.
Continued prayers for your sister-in-law Kevin. Keep the Faith.
Good morning all. Tea and toast please, Chloe.
A warm, sunny day ahead.
A quick visit has I have a busy schedule today.
Belah Viaduct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belah_Viaduct
A scene from our recent vacation.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require.
I just watched the finals for the Women's Park Style Skateboarding in the Olympics.
Park Skateboarding is much better than Street Style. They can drop Street from the Olympics and it would be OK with me.
I am not a fan of the scoring where each competitor gets three attempts and keeps the best score. I like the one-shot format most events have.
No change in the status of my sister-in-law. Thank you again for the kind thoughts, support, and concern.
Heres one for you Brent
Last night I found the Bat Mobile at the car show
The elaborate measures this guy took building his engine sticking up through the hood looked like a Hot Wheels car
This Corvette pops a wheely and we seen him do it! Incredible is all I had to say but it still made me laugh
What's so cool about Henderson Minnesota is it's almost like New Orleans You can legally walk up and down the street with a beer in hand and grab your favorite food of your choice at any Roach Coach you like
I found some other cool cars I took pictures of but there was just too many to take pictures of them all
With that I'm hitting the rack!
Nighty night Kids
Perfect, thanks! Even shows my favorite seat, right behind the tender.