Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good morning Diners. A large coffee on the go please, Brunhilda.
A busy day preparing to go on holiday. The call of the sea.
We are watching a crime thriller 'Capture' on television. This is the second series. In it is my daughter's nephew. (Our SiL,s brother's son.)
John King. Seventh picture down (with Charlie Murphy)
https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-capture-season-2-cast-no-callum-turner-but-meet-the-new-characters-here/
Back later (hopefully).
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Morning all. It was a great weekend. Both kids were here for son's 29th birthday on Sunday. Wife made him chicken fried steak with round steak from the local butcher shop; it was excellent. I grilled filets last night and I must admit that I did a decent job on them as well.
Not much new on the train front. I broke down and ordered new drills as I still haven't found my stash. Which means I'll find the stash sometime soon.
hon30critter Guess what?!? I have a colonoscopy scheduled for Friday morning!!! Oh joy!!! It's just a routine checkup. I'm not experiencing anything out of the ordinary. I'm hoping that they don't find anything. I think the worst part is not being able to eat for more than a day, but that will probably do me some good! Cheers!! Dave
Guess what?!? I have a colonoscopy scheduled for Friday morning!!! Oh joy!!!
It's just a routine checkup. I'm not experiencing anything out of the ordinary. I'm hoping that they don't find anything. I think the worst part is not being able to eat for more than a day, but that will probably do me some good!
Cheers!!
Dave
Good luck with that.
Maybe they’ll find the missing gerbil.
Good morning, diners. It's another cool morning for the morning walk.
Dave, hopefully you'll come out with a clean bill of health. When I couldn't eat, all day I thought of pizza or a hamburger.
That reminds me of my first colonoscopy, which was the first time I was ever 'put under'. I remember asking my wife when they were going to start, and she told me I was already through. It was amazing that being under was not like sleeping. With sleep, I always have sense of time that has passed, but being put under, there was not a sense of anything. One second awake, the next second awake, even though more than an hour had passed.
Kevin, it's nice to have a place of work that you enjoy the other people. I've been reading some posts on the 'grownup' side of this forum from railroad workers who hate their jobs. While I never really 'loved' my job, it was not unpleasant and I enjoyed going to work each day. I can't imagine going to work hating what I had to do.
David, another cruise? Please post some pictures when you return. I love travel photos, even when they're not train related.
Bear, thanks for the breakfast in the dining room of the Southern Belle. Memories of the dining car on UP's City of Portland always remind me why I love trains so much.
Tin Can, it's great you could all get together for your son's birthday. If you're like me, you're probably wondering where 29 years went.
Everyone not mentioned, I hope things are going well with you.
1974, the Amtrak's Southwest Limited between Dodge City and Garden City, Kansas. The train traveled between Chicago and Los Angeles.
York1 John
maxman hon30critter Guess what?!? I have a colonoscopy scheduled for Friday morning!!! Oh joy!!! It's just a routine checkup. I'm not experiencing anything out of the ordinary. I'm hoping that they don't find anything. I think the worst part is not being able to eat for more than a day, but that will probably do me some good! Cheers!! Dave Good luck with that. Maybe they’ll find the missing gerbil.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
York1John
Photographs on our cruises?
Most of my photographs are of cruise ships I have seen.
Nov 2018 we were on MSC Bellissima going to Dubai. At Iraklion, Crete I saw Marella Dream.
Marella Dream in Iraklion Nov 2018 by David Harrison, on Flickr
I received an invitation to visit Marella Dream. From on board there a photograph of MSC Bellissima
MSC Bellissima in Iraklion Nov 2018 by David Harrison, on Flickr
Our last cruise was on Enchanted Princess. Here are two pictures of her.
Anchored of Sardinia
Enchanted Princess at anchor Sardinia 10th July 22 by David Harrison, on Flickr
In Gibraltar.
Enchanted Princess in Gibraltar 12th July 22 by David Harrison, on Flickr
Hi Everyone,
Brunhilda, coffee with cream, please.
Had a nice weekend. Went to Ohio for a church function. I don't have a photo, but the number of trucks on I-80 thru northwest Indiana would bring into question supply chain issues. In fairness, most of the trucks were normal trailers and not containers, just sayin.'
Back before the 70's, grain was transported by boxcars. The boxcars were boarded up from the inside with 1x12s to about 2 ft from the top (so the grain can be directed and inspectors can have access to the grain).
18010987_10154552474261238_7880441445482920880_n by Jim S, on Flickr
Inspecting the grain.
172283730_10158085356686238_4876042223980035054_n by Jim S, on Flickr
When the 55' covered hoppers came along starting in the 70's it was a boom for grain ops. It made the process easier and faster.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
York1Kevin, it's nice to have a place of work that you enjoy the other people. I've been reading some posts on the 'grownup' side of this forum from railroad workers who hate their jobs.
I cannot imagine having a job I hated.
My previous employer of 31 years always was a great place to work. There were people I worked with that were constantly miserable. I don't know why they would not just go somewhere and get a job they liked.
Going all the way back to my job at a grocery store in high school, I have enjoyed all of my jobs.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Hi Again,
POST HOG!!
Bear: Thank you for the Kansas Pacific poster. I hint th second one that you posted said 9 months of summer, 3 months of spring and fall. Weeeeell, yeah, the winters are milder than say the northeast, Great Lakes, or North Dakota, but they still have winter and they do get snow. It just doesn't get as cold for as long. In Kansas, the cold comes, it snows, then the sun comes out, the wind comes back out of the Southwest, the snow melts, and you're talking 40's temps. So, yes winters are mild by comparison. Where I live now in the Chicago area, the cold comes, it snows, the sun comes out, and the temps drop below zeroF every time. I never have liked winter here.
John: I've never been to monument rocks, but you're right about the scene, flat and these rocks sticking up in nowhere. There's another formation like that called Castle Rock, which is in the same general area, maybe a county or two away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGqZn5s_q_Y
Here is a grain elevator documentary
Good morning Diners. A full English and a pot of tea please, Janie. That should 'set me up for the day'.
A few things to do before we head to Southampton and a fortnight in the Baltic Sea.
Stay Safe Everyone.
Good Morning Diners. Zoe, coffee and an English Muffin please.
Got a few freight car kits put together this weekend and ran a couple trains around. Did me good to do that. It had been too long.
My wife's birthday is this weekend and she wants pies instead of a cake. I usually cheat and just buy the premade pie crust, but was shocked when I went to grab them at a store last night and saw a $6 price tag for a box of two crusts. Guess I'm making crust from scratch again!
Mike
Water Level Route Guess I'm making crust from scratch again!
Good morning, diners. Bacon, eggs, and black coffee, Flo.
I'm getting spoiled by these cool mornings. We usually don't get weather like this until late September.
I haven't seen the blue heron on my morning walks lately. Even though there is water in the creek, it's been dry enough that I wonder if the heron moved on to a wetter area. I have seen a large number of vultures lately. As they circle in the sky above me, I start to wonder if they know something I don't.
Nothing planned for today, so I will be putting in a new road in the layout town. I should be building another bridge, but for some reason I can't get started on it.
In northern Kansas near a very small town named Lebanon, a marker sits at the geographic center of the 48 states. You have to drive on a country road for quite a ways to get to it. The town made a nice little wayside area for the marker.
As it was explained to me, if you took a map of the 48 states mounted on a surface, you could put a point under the place signified by the marker and the entire map would balance on that spot.
Several years ago I was traveling near there, and decided to take the time to see it. It is a lonely spot, but kind of neat to see.
Have a good day, everyone.
John: Thanks for pointing out the geographic center of the 48 states. I saw it when I was a young lad back in the 50's. If memory serves, it is lonely there. I don't think there's even a picnic table there, just the marker. It's still kinda neat.
BroadwayLion
Rhodium -- $460 per gram.
Those are expensive bricks. Nearly a half million dollars each? Someone check the math.
Not sure why, but my right leg is sore this morning. Maybe standing on a ladder for a couple of hours last night was more demanding than it felt.
Other than that, everything is great right now.
Bananas and coffee for breakfast again... then off to face the day.
Sometimes we think our model scenes are too cramped —
There's a prototype for everything:
The Squeeze by Northern Ohio Railfanning Productions, on Flickr
Regards, Ed
John / York1: Thanks for the picture of the SWC; it is rare to catch this train in daylight in Dodge City as it is scheduled through at 5:45 am westbound and 11:45 pm westbound.
I am going to try and get some local pictures posted as I now live in Kansas. Opened an imgur account (so i could post an avatar but that didn't work). Lots of grain elevators here. There is a grain elevator in Wright, KS (about 5 miles east) that has a couple of GP7(9)s. Saw them working last week, but was not able to take a picture. One of them is an ex BN B unit (no cab).
The Cimarron Valley RR is a short line that runs SW of Dodge City; it has at least a pair of rebuilt GE C40-8's that are painted in a Santa Fe-esque blue pinstripe scheme. Very nice, but I have only seen three trains on this line in a year and a half (although there may be many more; I live / work on the other side of town.)
York1Those are expensive bricks. Nearly a half million dollars each? Someone check the math.
That is why they are stealing catalytic converters!
Good Morning Diners. Chloe, I'll take a Bavarian Cream Long John with my coffee today please. Thanks.
The NFL regular season is set to begin tonight. While I'm ready for it, I still don't get the whole Thursday night game thing (except for holidays of course). Usually the games scheduled for Thursday aren't anything special unless you are a fan of one of the teams playing, but today's should be a really good game. Not sure how much of it I'll be able to stay awake for though. Big part of why I don't understand the concept. Oh I get the whole bit about the NFL trying to keep football in front of you all the time, but the only time I watch a Thursday game (unless its Thanksgiving or Christmas), is opening night. Maybe if I were retired so I didn't have to get up before dawn the next day I would watch it more often?
Have a good Thursday everyone.
There was a time when more people turned out for a good boiler explosion than any football game.
Locomotive Explosion by Ashtabula Archive, on Flickr
This would have been thirty years, to the day, before I was born.
This was in Ashtabula, Ohio, not too far from where I live, on the New York Central main line from Chicago to Buffalo and New York City.
Well, the throat sheet staybolts held pretty good, at least.
Many of us keep the impression that at least by the twenties the railroads were maintenance and safety conscience but that isn't always the case. This summary notes the problems reported on the particular locomotive involved in the explosion:
Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Locomotives by Ashtabula Archive, on Flickr
About a third of the way down at the NYC Lines-West heading.
That live steam can be powerful stuff!
Sorry, not related to corn but it's what I came across. I did have some delicious corn on the cob last night, though
Smoker_pork by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
DADDY-DAUGHTER DAY!
I am off to Orlando to spend the day with my youngest. Just me and her. These days are the best.
See you all tomorrow.
Good morning. No breakfast for me -- headed to another funeral. The good news is that it's not mine -- yet.
Kevin, have fun with your daughter. These times are priceless. Nice that she now lives closer.
Ed, that smoker food looks great. I wish I lived closer, I would have just dropped in unannounced and asked to stay for supper.
Mike, I'm also looking forward to the football season. For the time being, though, I have some baseball games I'll watch that will probably win out over watching the NFL games.
Bear, those Kansas ads make the place look like Garden of Eden. Not quite realistic. One of my daughters attended Kansas State University, and driving her there and back meant driving through some desolate countryside.
Lion, even out here in our nearly crime-free area, we've had some catalytic converter thefts. Almost all are by people looking to get drug money.
Wichita, Kansas, is an interesting city. It is the headquarters or major office city for a lot of airline manufacturers.
Today Airbus, Textron (Beechcraft & Cessna), Spirit Aerosystems (major subcontractor to Boeing), Bombardier, Learjet, GE Aviation, and Raytheon are just some of the aerospace companies that have plants in Wichita. It's pretty impressive for a town out in flyover country.
The B-29 aircraft were just one of the many types of planes built there:
Union Station in Wichita:
Have a good day, everyone. I'll check back when I get home from the funeral.
Elizabeth II has passed. The world has lost a great exemplar of grace and dignity. My condolences to all readers who treasure her memory, but especially our forum friends who grew up under her reign. May she rest in true peace.
John