Comestibles are on the LION!
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good Morning Diners. Flo, I'll take the special this morning please.
Had an absolutely maddening day at work yesterday. To quote a friend of mine, "It's like everybody ate a big bowl of stupid for breakfast". To make matters worse, decisions were made yesterday that not only make zero sense, but will have lasting repercussions.
Kevin, it's ridiculous that northern Michigan was warmer than southern Florida yesterday. I had 78 degrees at the house with 75% humidity. This was after rain moved through that for some reason was followed by a temperature increase with only a 5% drop in humidity. It was crummy!
I forgot to tell you guys, I was sitting out on my backyard patio Tuesday night when I noticed a couple of large lumps up on my garage roof. "What the heck?" I thought as I went to investigate. Turns out there were the shredded remains of a mostly eaten rabbit and two large poops on the roof of my garage! Not owl pellets. Looked mostly like raccoon poop, and there are pine trees next to the garage one could have climbed to get up there, but still. Just bizarre! My oldest said her vote is to tell people it was a sasquatch!
Mike
hon30critterWorking the floor in a place like Home Depot is, for the most part, a lot of fun. You get to make people happy and help them solve their problems, and often save them from making costly mistakes.
And sometimes a customer will make the day of the floor associate (or is it "team member?). I was in the plumbing aisle a few weeks ago and had my trusty Lufkin folding rule with me. The guy in the orange vest asked me if I needed help with anything and I told him I had to make some runs of inch and a half DWV and also some inch and a quarter which is why I had my rule out.
He commented that he never saw a folding rule and that was a pretty neat thing. I mentioned that it was probably against corporate policy to offer gifts to the sales force but also mentioned that I've been absent-minded lately and that I might "forget" this rule right here in the box of DWV couplings here.
I have dozens of the "red-end" Lufkin 72" folding rules. Hope he was allowed to keep it and I hope I didn't commit corporate fraud for bribing the sales associate, or team member.
I cut down several trees yesterday including the one that was threatening the caboose. Got a leg-up on this winters' fire wood
Vacation photos:
P1090006 by Edmund, on Flickr
A ride on the private car "Royal Street" from Chicago to Kansas City back in 2003:
KC_UToutside2 by Edmund, on Flickr
P1090025 by Edmund, on Flickr
P1100028 by Edmund, on Flickr
"A private car is not an acquired taste — one takes to it immediately."
Mrs. August Belmont
A lucky grab shot:
Oriole_feeding by Edmund, on Flickr
T2i-EF300mm 157 by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Good morning, diners. Bacon, eggs, and black coffee, please.
Attuvian John, Orchard Oriole, that's it! Thanks.
MisterBeasley, we don't see any egrets in our part of Nebraska. We do have herons. When we lived in Louisiana, we had tons of egrets. Very pretty white birds against the dark green marsh background.
Charley, good luck with the fence. I got mine repaired, and I hope it lasts until I move into the nursing home or underground.
Kevin, I agree with Dave. The rat race isn't necessary. And I can't believe your temps! Yesterday, we were in the 90s with high humidity and the same today. Your weathermen need to take your advice and talk about the great weather you're having.
David, Majorca is another place I have always wanted to visit, but now realize I probably never will. That's a pretty neat wooden train. Is it mostly for tourists, or do the residents use it for transit?
Mike, I vote with your daughter. Telling everyone it was Sasquatch is whole lot more interesting than raccoon poop.
Ed, great photos of that private lounge car. That must have been a great trip.
Lion, before I eat, I want to know what it is.
While I didn't take this photo, this was the set of cars we rode through Alaska. The Princess cars were nicer than than the other cars on the train. The Princess ship was also very nice -- one of my favorite cruises.
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."
gmpullmanHe commented that he never saw a folding rule and that was a pretty neat thing.
He needs to walk around the store more. They do sell them:
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation #16
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
York1Kevin, I can't believe your temps!
The high 60s was when I got off work, at 11:00 and the sun was down. That was not our daytime high, but we did not reach 90 yesterday.
The outside nightime was wonderful.
Water Level RouteKevin, it's ridiculous that northern Michigan was warmer than southern Florida yesterday.
During the Summer, this happens with some frequency. Our temperatures are very steady all Summer (five months) long. We call them the 70/90s. Low of 70, high of 90, 70% chance of rain, 90% humidity... all Summer long. The prevailing breezes from the Gulf keep us very well regulated.
We almost never see temperatures above 100 degrees. When the rest of the country gets a heat wave, we will be "cooler".
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Glad to see there is still some class to be found in modern-day railroading!
CSX 1 by Todd Dillon, on Flickr
Berea, Ohio is just west of me on the old New York Central/Big Four route.
https://akronrrclub.wordpress.com/tag/csx-executive-train/
CSX P001 by Todd Dillon, on Flickr
Someone at the CSX shops has cleverly cast a beautiful, brass, Capitol Dome emblem for the nose!
SeeYou190The prevailing breezes from the Gulf keep us very well regulated
WOW, huge brain fart! Somehow I totally forgot about the railroad museum I visited in Madrid. I can participate again with these photos. Yay!
A Spanish 4-8-4:
114 by Michael, on Flickr
hon30critterYou are pretty much out of the rat race. I suggest that you keep it that way!
NorthBritI am with you Dave regardiing keeping away from the 'rat race'.
York1The rat race isn't necessary.
OK, you guys win. I will stay out of the Rat Race.
Anyway, it is rigged. The rats always win.
maxmanHe needs to walk around the store more. They do sell them:
We do not stock them in my store, they are special order only.
Anyway, no one could be expected to be familiar with all 60,000+ individual items in each store.
I have been working the service desk for six months now, and still almost everyday someone returns something I did not know we carried in the store.
I am sure you would be disapointed in my knowledge level if you visited my store. We do get the occassional customer that likes to play "stump the employee" with stupid questions. You get a good laugh and get some internal superiority for a moment, but it does not bother us. We know where that sort of behavior originates from.
Believe me, we spend plenty of time walking those aisles. Also, we get plenty of training on how to deal with all sorts of problematic customers.
BroadwayLionComestibles are on the LION!
I had to look that one up. Great new word. It is not pronounced the way I expected.
I guess I need to peruse the dictionary more.
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation #17
I am going to work on pouring concrete for the backyard patio for a while.
Be back later.
maxman York1 I know that depending on the railroad, some of the bridges had ballast and some did not. If you have plate girder bridge on your layout, did you ballast the track? Ballasted deck girder bridges get ballast. They have a trough to contain the ballast. Open deck girder bridges don't get ballasted. They don't have a trough to contain the ballast. Any applied ballast would fall through and rain on whatever is beneath. That said, railroads might have a preference as to the type of girder bridge they use.
York1 I know that depending on the railroad, some of the bridges had ballast and some did not. If you have plate girder bridge on your layout, did you ballast the track?
Ballasted deck girder bridges get ballast. They have a trough to contain the ballast.
Open deck girder bridges don't get ballasted. They don't have a trough to contain the ballast. Any applied ballast would fall through and rain on whatever is beneath.
That said, railroads might have a preference as to the type of girder bridge they use.
Thanks, Maxman! I think I will make a ballasted bridge, it seems it will be easier since the ballast will cover some of my sloppy work.
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation #18
Enough time inside cooling off... time to get back to moving dirt around.
York1Lion, before I eat, I want to know what it is.
What is to know. It *was* furry, and it *had* four legs.
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation #19:
I love the above photograph. The mountains in the background have a surreal look to them, and there was just enough haze in the air to enhance their look. This is one of those cases where I think the power lines kind of add to the mood of the scene rather than ruining the image. That does not happen very often.
The colors of the covered hopper cars compliment the colors of the mountains nicely. The little bit of greenery above the hopper car roofs creates a natural linear separation of the elements.
I was lucky with this one.
Thanks for looking.
Hi Everyone,
it was hot here today. How hot? To quote George Jones, "She was hotter than a two dollar pistol," which when you think about it, that's pretty hot. It was in the low 90's, which isn't that common in May. I was scrambling around for some fans and the flannel sheets are coming off, which we still used last week.
Ed: I like those CSX units painted in the old B&O scheme.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
The World Is A Beautiful Place
Well... I am of to bed. Calling this one an early evening (for me).
I will see all of you tomorrow.
Good morning Diners. A coffee on the go please, Brunhilda.
John. The Palma to Soller Railway is used by both locals and tourists.
Panama Canal Raillway
On the train to Panama City.
IMG_0873 by David Harrison, on Flickr
1861 at Panama City Station.
IMG_0876 by David Harrison, on Flickr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AXhD3V309w&ab_channel=StevenJBrown
Stay Safe Everyone.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Some people here may know that Dawn and I have been around Road Haulage most of our lives. 'Diesel fumes are in our blood'.
Our Number 1 Grandson, John has never really been interested in model railroading, but more interested in road haulage. As a young lad he played more with my old r. h. vehicles collection.
Off course his interest changed, Transformers, Superheroes etc..
Anyway, yesterday he visited us and lo and behold he got out the old road haulage vehicles to play with. He was in his element. He thought they were all lost. (No grandson. They are actually mine. )
He is visiting again this weekend. Will he run some trains?
Good morning, everyone. Bacon ...
We spend part of last evening in the basement again. We had 80 mph winds come through with so much dirt that it went from light to complete darkness in under 30 seconds. I think it was like those dust storms in the southwest U.S. The sirens sounded, so we took off to the basement.
Not a busy day, so I will get to have some layout time.
This isn't my photo, but it's a good one of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. It starts in Skagway, Alaska, and follows the route of the goldrush. It is a worthwhile trip, and we enjoyed it greatly.
Have a good day, everyone.
NorthBritSome people here may know that Dawn and I have been around Road Haulage most of our lives. 'Diesel fumes are in our blood'.
What! Not coal smoke?
I'd love to take a ride on this fascinating machine
My dad used to take me to the steam tractor shows that used to be popular around here. Maybe the boiler explosion that happened here back in 2001 helped put an end to those.
https://www.farmcollector.com/steam-traction/final-report-tragedy-medina-county-fairgrounds/
Regards, Ed
[quote user="gmpullman"]
What! Not coal
Regards, E
Good Afternoon,
A windy day here and only about 55F. However the strong south wind has blown the orioles our way. We had 4 at the oranges plus a couple of rose breasted grosbeaks. The starof the morning was a scarlet tanenger, our first and a rare bird for here. My wife had her camera out when it came and has some great photos. It was the 97th species we have recorded on our yard since we started in 2014.
Enjoying the train photos. My big train vacation was Rovos Rail from Pretoria to Cape Town in 2013. It is a 1000 mile trip that takes 2 nights. There is a lot of great video on their website that is far better than anything I recorded.
The fence saga progresses I think. Seems cedar is unobtainable despite what my contractor may think. I did some enquiries of my own. A very large independent yard here told me they only recieved a small part of their order and have no idea if the rest will be shipped. Same story with a couple of other yards. Looks like we will have to go with pressure treated even though my wife doesn't like the colour. I haven't told her yet. It will save us a lot though. Meantime I shored up the old fence on one side so it is a little straighter and now less likely to blow over.
If the weather improves next week I want to fire up the grill and do some of those prime rib burgers I get from that specialty shop. They were $12 each last year. My guess is $15 now, but still worth it. Best I have ever tasted.
CN Charlie
Seems the loco I bought from the UK is stuck in Canadian Customs.
CNCharlieEnjoying the train photos.
Glad to hear this. I have plenty, and will keep them coming all month long.
Here is another:
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation #20
gmpullmanMy dad used to take me to the steam tractor shows that used to be popular around here.
One of my early childhood memories is of my dad and I going on a road trip to visit the family property in Wisconsin.
We were driving through Mount Pleasent, Iowa, and there was a steam tractor show going on in the town. We stopped, and that was probably the first time I actually saw a steam powered piece of equipment in operation.
I wish I had pictures, but I will probably never find any.
CNCharlieSeems cedar is unobtainable.
We have plenty of cedar in 1 by 2, 3, and 4. It is in our "hobby wood" section, and probably not what is needed for a fence.
We can't get fir or premium clear pine right now, but we do have cedar.
The ride on that steam truck was facinating. I especially liked the sound of the bull gear. So much like the 1920s version of NYC subway trains.
CNCharlieThe fence saga progresses I think. Seems cedar is unobtainable despite what my contractor may think. I did some enquiries of my own. A very large independent yard here told me they only recieved a small part of their order and have no idea if the rest will be shipped. Same story with a couple of other yards. Looks like we will have to go with pressure treated even though my wife doesn't like the colour. I haven't told her yet. It will save us a lot though.
Charlie, I know it won't help in your situation of telling you wife about pressure-treated or cedar, but ...
We bought our house which had a 6-foot-tall cedar fence around the backyard. In the 1990s, a small tornado hit several hundred yards from our house, and several sections of the fence were gone. I replaced them with pressure-treated.
Within five years, there was no difference in the appearance. The pressure-treated went to a medium gray color that exactly matched the gray of the aged cedar.
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation #21
My second encounter with 611 undergoing repairs.
Kevin, the cedar I need is 4x4, 2x6 and hundreds of 1x6 fence boards in a 6' length. Not exactly hobby size.
I have never seen a steam tractor let alone a truck. Have seen many steam locos though mostly CNR.
Bought more plants today even though they won't get planted for 2 weeks. To keep them 'safe' I have to carry the trays down to the basement laundry. That means at least a dozen trips up and down stairs. Good thing my knees are still ok.
Soon time for tea and a slice of blueberry pie made with wild blueberries.