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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, October 17, 2014 10:21 PM

Deggesty

Do you have any jackalopes there? I have never seen a live one, but I have seen several mounted for sale in Evanston, Wyoming. Several years ago, as I was on my way to Chicago, a coach attendant said that we should be on the lookout for herds of jackalopes (none showed; perhaps the train frightened them). The man sitting beside me had never heard of them, so I felt obliged to describe them--body like that of a jackrabbit with antlers like those of a pronghorn.

 

 The Jackalopes all seem to live out near Wall Drug. Wink

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Posted by Mookie on Saturday, October 18, 2014 5:51 AM

We had one wander into town many, many years ago.  It ended up mounted on the wall of a popular steak house.  Guess it scared all the rest into not wandering into our town! 

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Posted by Norm48327 on Saturday, October 18, 2014 7:44 AM

Murphy Siding

 

 
Deggesty

Do you have any jackalopes there? I have never seen a live one, but I have seen several mounted for sale in Evanston, Wyoming. Several years ago, as I was on my way to Chicago, a coach attendant said that we should be on the lookout for herds of jackalopes (none showed; perhaps the train frightened them). The man sitting beside me had never heard of them, so I felt obliged to describe them--body like that of a jackrabbit with antlers like those of a pronghorn.

 

 

 

 The Jackalopes all seem to live out near Wall Drug. Wink

 

 

And I'd bet some of the tourists believe they are real. Wink

Norm


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Posted by Mookie on Saturday, October 18, 2014 9:06 AM

Someone will need to tell Murphy what a tourist is...  Mischief

Moo....

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Saturday, October 18, 2014 9:53 AM

Mookie

Someone will need to tell Murphy what a tourist is...  Mischief

Moo....

 

 ZOOM!   Someone indeed!  That's the sound of that comment going right over my balding head.Stick out tongue

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Saturday, October 18, 2014 5:05 PM

Murphy Siding
[snipped - PDN] Is there a difference between an American woods type bison and a plains buffalo? . . .

Although I'm no kind of expert or even knowledgeable about this (nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night), I believe there is is a difference, though it might be pretty small - down at the genetic level.  My recollection is that there were 4 different species of buffalo/ bison in the US, but the "American plains' type was extirpated/ extinct by the late 1800's, having been used to feed railroad workers and amuse dudes from the east, etc.  General Trexler imported his from Canada - way up in the far reaches of Alberta, as I recall - and they were the woods buffalo type.  I have no knowledge about the provenance of the herd at Yellowstone National Park or elsewere, either.

For more info - apaprently better than mine or my memory - see: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_bison 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison 

http://www.hww.ca/en/species/mammals/north-american-bison.html 

http://www.canadianbison.ca/consumer/Nature/conservation_success.htm 

http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/bison/bison.htm 

http://www.fws.gov/alaska/fisheries/endangered/pdf/wood_bison/faq.pdf 

- Paul North.        

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Murphy Siding on Saturday, October 18, 2014 6:32 PM

     From that information, it seems we have plains bison.  We'll just call them buffalo, so no one gets them confused with their eastern cousins. Until now, I never knew there was a wood bison.

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Posted by JoeKoh on Saturday, October 18, 2014 6:32 PM

evening

was able to get out a bit today.Saw a rainbow in the west this morning.(we usually see them in the east after an afternoon thunderstorm). Ma nature might freeze us tonight. Heard csx dispatcher trying to get things moving again.Going to see if the Irish have any luck in Florida.Tomorrow it's church and Sunday school.

stay safe

Joe

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, October 18, 2014 6:59 PM

Gee  Spend the day in the pumpking patch and see all I missed!

It was a wet, miserable day.  At least it let up when the train arrived, for the most part, so the passengers didn't get soaked.  

Very glad for my enclosed canopy and propane heater  It was a balmy +70F inside as I listened to the raindrops fall.  It was when I had to go outside to greet the passengers and then restock the patch to replace the pumpkins they took that wasn't so much fun...

Got to meet the owner of the site  the former MOW buildings there  which have been in his family for three generations.  Pretty cool.

I'll be back in the patch tomorrow  and even more glad of my heater, as temps are supposed to drop here overnight.

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Posted by Mookie on Saturday, October 18, 2014 7:25 PM

Well Charlie Brown.  Don't step on Linus while he is sitting in the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin! 

What fun!  Except for the weather!  Smile, Wink & Grin

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Posted by edblysard on Saturday, October 18, 2014 9:43 PM
The thing with Jackalopes is ya can’t barbeque them or chicken fry them, ya have to stew them…

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, October 18, 2014 10:40 PM

edblysard
The thing with Jackalopes is ya can’t barbeque them or chicken fry them, ya have to stew them…
 

Ed, there are two BIG critters that like to relax in the shade between the building that I work in, and the parking lot. 

As I am walking to my car in the afternoon, he sees me...he says "howdy" and I say "howdy" I go on my way.  They don't even run away....

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Posted by mudchicken on Sunday, October 19, 2014 9:44 PM

Can't see the jackelopes because of the snipes migrating south. They saw that ski season started Friday morning up in the high country.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, October 19, 2014 10:34 PM

edblysard
The thing with Jackalopes is ya can’t barbeque them or chicken fry them, ya have to stew them…
 

Holy horned hossenffeffer Batman!

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, October 19, 2014 10:35 PM

Murray

 

 
edblysard
The thing with Jackalopes is ya can’t barbeque them or chicken fry them, ya have to stew them…
 

 

 

Ed, there are two BIG critters that like to relax in the shade between the building that I work in, and the parking lot. 

As I am walking to my car in the afternoon, he sees me...he says "howdy" and I say "howdy" I go on my way.  They don't even run away....

 

 Are they woozles, or hephalumps?

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, October 19, 2014 10:52 PM

mudchicken

Can't see the jackelopes because of the snipes migrating south. They saw that ski season started Friday morning up in the high country.

 

 A snipe story:

      I went to college in Springfield, SD, along the Missouri River.  One fall evening, during a conversation at Ye Olde Tap Club, a group of us college students convinced a student named Donovan that he would be a good candidate for a snipe hunt.

      Being typical college students, we packed up about 2 carloads of snipe hunt enthusiasts, Donovan and a pillow case, and headed down on the bottoms by the river, where the trees and undergrowth were thick.  Someone showed  Donovan the finer techniques of snipe calling and how to catch them with the pillowcase.  So off he heads into the darkness, calling the snipe, while the rest of us casually discuss his snipe hunting techniques.

     Then we lost Donovan.  We fanned out in groups and covered a lot of brushy forest in the dark trying to find him.  No luck.  We all made it back to the cars and panicked.  While discussing who was going to go find the town cop- who was usually pretty intoxicated this late at night- and who was going to have to call the sheriff, Donovan showed up out of the dark.

     He was all scratched up and dirty, and he was covered with bird poop and pine needles.   In the pillowcase he had a bird.  As he explained it, he had to climb up and pine tree, and pretty much ambush a group of birds on a branch.  When he jumped at the birds to get one in the pillowcase, he fell down into some juniper bushes, but he got his snipe to show the crowd.

     In front of car headlights, he slowly opened the bag to show us a very disgruntled  grackle.  Then we all went back to Ye Olde Tap Club for refreshments.

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Posted by Deggesty on Monday, October 20, 2014 11:45 AM

Murphy Siding
 
Murray

 

 
edblysard
The thing with Jackalopes is ya can’t barbeque them or chicken fry them, ya have to stew them…
 

 

 

Ed, there are two BIG critters that like to relax in the shade between the building that I work in, and the parking lot. 

As I am walking to my car in the afternoon, he sees me...he says "howdy" and I say "howdy" I go on my way.  They don't even run away....

 

 

 

 Are they woozles, or hephalumps?

 

 

We can be sure they are not boojums, or else he (and everybody else who comes by) would have vanished.

Remember, if you build a heffalump trap and bait it with honey, do not sample the bait before leaving it in the trap, for you may like it so much you get your head stuck in the jar and you will frighten your friends who come by to see if a heffalump has been trapped.

Johnny

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Posted by Deggesty on Monday, October 20, 2014 11:48 AM

Murphy Siding
 
mudchicken

Can't see the jackelopes because of the snipes migrating south. They saw that ski season started Friday morning up in the high country.

 

 

 

 A snipe story:

      I went to college in Springfield, SD, along the Missouri River.  One fall evening, during a conversation at Ye Olde Tap Club, a group of us college students convinced a student named Donovan that he would be a good candidate for a snipe hunt.

      Being typical college students, we packed up about 2 carloads of snipe hunt enthusiasts, Donovan and a pillow case, and headed down on the bottoms by the river, where the trees and undergrowth were thick.  Someone showed  Donovan the finer techniques of snipe calling and how to catch them with the pillowcase.  So off he heads into the darkness, calling the snipe, while the rest of us casually discuss his snipe hunting techniques.

     Then we lost Donovan.  We fanned out in groups and covered a lot of brushy forest in the dark trying to find him.  No luck.  We all made it back to the cars and panicked.  While discussing who was going to go find the town cop- who was usually pretty intoxicated this late at night- and who was going to have to call the sheriff, Donovan showed up out of the dark.

     He was all scratched up and dirty, and he was covered with bird poop and pine needles.   In the pillowcase he had a bird.  As he explained it, he had to climb up and pine tree, and pretty much ambush a group of birds on a branch.  When he jumped at the birds to get one in the pillowcase, he fell down into some juniper bushes, but he got his snipe to show the crowd.

     In front of car headlights, he slowly opened the bag to show us a very disgruntled  grackle.  Then we all went back to Ye Olde Tap Club for refreshments.

 

 

Murphy, you and your friends were cruel--I thought that when you hunted snipe, you simply told the inductee to stay where you leave him, thus he would not be tempted to climb a tree after the snipe.

No, I never had the pleasure of being taken snipe hunting.

Johnny

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Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, October 20, 2014 2:35 PM

afternoon

some sprinkles here in Nw ohio.They are working on the road to our front door at work so we have to go in the back way.I think the local was working uptown.Saw a westbound stack train as I left too.Chores to do and homework to check.

stay safe

Joe

 

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Posted by Mookie on Monday, October 20, 2014 2:43 PM

Joe - forgot to tell you we saw a DE heading west.  So at least they are still in business and preparing for winter?  Shy

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, October 20, 2014 2:57 PM

So, this was my Sunday morning:The Pumpkin Patch

It all melted shortly thereafter, but it was still a cold day.  By 4PM, however, it was all history, with nothing left but some random stalks of straw scattered here and there.

Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The red building in the background was the tool house, to go together with the section house that was behind me.  After the NYC quit using it, it was rented by an employee ($60 a year...) who eventually bought it from the railroad shortly before NYC went under.  Just to the left of the Punkin Patch was a passing siding that came up in the late 1930's.

We were the guests of the current owner (third generation), and they were kind enough to give me a "tour" of the section house and some of the history of the site.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Deggesty on Monday, October 20, 2014 3:32 PM

tree68

So, this was my Sunday morning:The Pumpkin Patch

It all melted shortly thereafter, but it was still a cold day.  By 4PM, however, it was all history, with nothing left but some random stalks of straw scattered here and there.

Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The red building in the background was the tool house, to go together with the section house that was behind me.  After the NYC quit using it, it was rented by an employee ($60 a year...) who eventually bought it from the railroad shortly before NYC went under.  Just to the left of the Punkin Patch was a passing siding that came up in the late 1930's.

We were the guests of the current owner (third generation), and they were kind enough to give me a "tour" of the section house and some of the history of the site.

 

Is that you in the foreground?

Johnny

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, October 20, 2014 3:54 PM

Deggesty
Is that you in the foreground? 

Nah - Gotta maintain my secret identity....

If I get the video I shot that day downloaded, edited, and posted, you might see me in that...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Mookie on Monday, October 20, 2014 5:31 PM

Tree - who supplied the "family" and the hay bales?  Does that all come from the railroad family?

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Posted by edblysard on Monday, October 20, 2014 5:40 PM

Murray
 
edblysard
The thing with Jackalopes is ya can’t barbeque them or chicken fry them, ya have to stew them…
 

 

 

Ed, there are two BIG critters that like to relax in the shade between the building that I work in, and the parking lot. 

As I am walking to my car in the afternoon, he sees me...he says "howdy" and I say "howdy" I go on my way.  They don't even run away....

 

When they get old, they get bold.....Wink

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, October 20, 2014 5:49 PM

The railroad supplies the hay and the pumpkins.  Most of the rest of it is donations from various volunteers over time.  The hay went to another Halloween celebration (at Remsen Station, with whom we frequently work), as did the leftover pumpkins.  The rest of the decorations are back in storage until next year.

I like to hit the seasonal Halloween stores right after Halloween, when they're trying to sell off what they've got left over at half price and better.  That's where a lot of the headstones came from.

We have to stick with non-powered items (unless they run on batteries), as neither of our sites have had power, and hauling a generator around is a pain (not to mention the sound).  I have a battery operated PA system which provides spooky sounds in the woods.  Between arrivals at the patch, I can (and do) serenade the woods with my favorite music from the MP3 player that holds the spooky sounds track.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Mookie on Monday, October 20, 2014 7:21 PM

tree68

The railroad supplies the hay and the pumpkins.  Most of the rest of it is donations from various volunteers over time.  The hay went to another Halloween celebration (at Remsen Station, with whom we frequently work), as did the leftover pumpkins.  The rest of the decorations are back in storage until next year.

I like to hit the seasonal Halloween stores right after Halloween, when they're trying to sell off what they've got left over at half price and better.  That's where a lot of the headstones came from.

We have to stick with non-powered items (unless they run on batteries), as neither of our sites have had power, and hauling a generator around is a pain (not to mention the sound).  I have a battery operated PA system which provides spooky sounds in the woods.  Between arrivals at the patch, I can (and do) serenade the woods with my favorite music from the MP3 player that holds the spooky sounds track.

 

Thumbs UpVery Cool.  You don't need elaborate to have fun! 

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Posted by rvos1979 on Monday, October 20, 2014 9:08 PM
Walt: did you or your friends order 45,000 lbs of Leinenkugels, because I'm headed your way with it..........

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Posted by locomutt on Monday, October 20, 2014 9:25 PM

Not to the best of my knowledge, unless they're headed to the "Germantown" section of the city for a late Octoberfest.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Monday, October 20, 2014 9:27 PM

rvos1979
Walt: did you or your friends order 45,000 lbs of Leinenkugels, because I'm headed your way with it..........
 

 Yes!  Yes!  Pick me!  Pick me! BeerStick out tongue

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