Rail travel that hits the heights with carbon footprint site The Independent Take a look at an interesting we found.
Trains in Gardens a Particular Hit at Holiday Time ABC News Take a look at something interesting we found.
‘Holiday Festival of Trains’ rolls into Nixon Presidential Library Los Angeles Times Take a look at something interesting we found.
Some consider "Detour", made on a shoestring by auteur director Edgar G. Ulmer, to be the greatest B movie ever made.
November 24, 2009
Vanderbilt. Stanford. James J. Hill. Morgan.
The great railroad builders.
Into that mix, you have to throw in Joshua L. Cowen.
He was your typical turn of the century inventor. Lots of harebrained ideas.
Some that worked, some didn't.
He designed a fuse to ignite magnesium-powered flashes to revolutionize photography.
The U.S.Navy bought 24,000 of them in 1898 to detonate underwater mines.
Next project was the development of little metal tubes that were designed to illuminate flowers in their pots.
He gave the idea away in 1898 to one of his salesmen, some guy named Conrad Hubert, who turned Cowen’s idea into a flashlight and the Eveready Company and made millions.
But was Cowen discouraged?
He was too busy coming up with a better idea.
Did I mention the "L" in Joshua L. Cowen's name stood for Lionel?
Probably forgot.
During the Victorian period, there were model trains with live steam engines, mainly for the wealthy.
Märklin, a German toy company, came out with the first complete system of trains.
But Cowen, from a small dingy office in New York City, invented the electric train.
The first one was a flatbed car that ran on batteries.
He sold them as eye-catching displays for shop windows.
Wasn't long before people wanted them for their homes, particularly for under the Christmas tree.
By 1906, he had introduced the transformer and famous three-rail track. In 1907, he introduced the first locomotive.
Lionel model trains were soon selling over 50 million train sets, more than all his competition combined.
Because Joshua was building something even more important.
Relationships.
Something that would help fathers and sons, fathers and daughters (sometimes) build something together, spending hours in the basement, or living room, adding more tracks and stations. Adding memories.
Maybe that's why we love trains so much. They remind us of things. They play with our imagination.
So tonight keep the club car open a little longer.
Invite Cowen. He'd be great company. Would have some wild stories to tell, like when he invented the electric doorbell. Who else would you have? You might relax the smoking rules. Twain liked a good pipe.
Have some canapés and keep the champagne cocktails flowing.
The Blue Train luxurytrainclub.com Take a look at something interesting we found.
Top Ten Train Rides gorp.away Take a look at something interesting we found.
Brief History of the U.S. Passenger Rail Industry duke.edu Take a look at something interesting we found.
When I was a boy I loved trains, as all children do. My maternal Grandpa had a recording of train...
Nov. 24, 2009 12:31 AM
Favorite train song?
33% 8% 8% 31% 8% 11%
When I was a boy I loved trains, as all children do. My maternal Grandpa had a recording of trains on a record that I insisted on playing very loudly whenever I visited. I would lie down on the floor, almost directly in front of the speakers and feel the vibrations run over me, almost if I was on the tracks as the train ran past. When my paternal Grandpa and I would pass locomotives in the car, I would pump my little fist and arm until the engineer blew the horn. Buhl Planeterium (later known as the Carnegie Science Center) has a large minature train village that to this day I am still fascinated with. I won't bore you with the details of my wearing Conductor;s Overalls in grade school. My dad had a lionel train set but we had nowhere to set it up, so I would sneak down to the storage area and play with the engines. I think my nephew may be getting the set, but I may have to argue that, and get the boy a more modern set that won't be too much of a heartbreaking disappointment if something were to happen to it. As I got older and started getting into art, I began to design my own train set, after viewing HR Giger's and deciding instead of following his bio-mechanical design, to take a more eclectic approach, creating a nightmarish vision of Jules Verne meets HG Wells. I've longed to experience train travel, in the old ways, rambling across the country, spending time in the Club Car, watching the world go by. The Orient Express was always calling me, but once I found out how it is nowadays, a piece of me died. I still may go on that train trip with Lady Red, but it will definitely be autumn in New England when we do.
more on the honor rollAfter 9/11 and in response to a little nervousness on the part of my wife, not to mention a long unsatisfied passion of my own, we rode the train from Chicago to New York City.
It was a twenty-four hour oddyssey, long enough to make friends or fall in love... again.
Half the passengers, and it was a full train by the time we got there, were like me: enjoying every minute and mile. The other half were persons who had never been able to tolerate flying and were impatient and churlish.
At that time, the snack car was open to smokers for short but not infrequent periods. My second best chum was a man, Walter, who generously shared the contents of his bottmless flask of a very nice single malt in exchange for an occasional charge of pipe tobacco.
The storage space on that train was relatively vast and indeed a couple of passengers looked to be moving. The leg room and adjustable padded footrests were a bonus as well.
Nighttime on a passenger train is quiet and dim:
"Mothers with their babes asleep. rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rythmn of the rails is all they feel." Arlo Guthrie
A stretch of track of about thirty miles east of Harrisburg, Pa., would have precluded any need for abortionists. I almost miscarried a kidney.
My reason for bringing this story up is: A kind of upscale furniture resale place downtown, hosted an impressive model train display as part of the monthly Art Walk an event that was a lot more congenial when they were permitted to offer restorative beverages to visitors.
As I stood before a large table tricked out in villages, farms, forests and fields through which wound several model trains, I noticed the persons at the other end of the tableau leaning into the turns before I noticed myself doing it. Magic.
HOT DAMN !!! SOME MORE TRAINS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gonna Be a Good Day !!!
That trains carry the freight of redolent romance, and remain a symbol of adventure, yet move along a firmly predetermined track to a known destination is a paradox.
Like the allure of the partially hidden view, the suggestion of what is at the destination along with the hormone fueled ride may be the underlying magic of trains.
Then there's their power, there vast range, to say nothing of their impromptu community. Somewhat like reading a really good catalog. There are a few that make us ask for a second round, or third. The great catalogs that get saved have writers who know something about the emotional lives of trains.
Strange thing....trains. They have always mystified men, whether natives watching one barrel through what was once home or a little kid watching one cruise the perimeter of the ice cream parlor in Bardstown, Kentucky. What fascinates me is their staying power, the list of 19th century necessities has shrunken to a tiny few items. The trains survival, conversion to diesel, electric, hybrid, and of course magnetic levitation to meet the demands of all users is astounding. I watched the Darjeeling limited yesterday, a recent movie about a few brothers feeble attempt at a spiritual journey across India on a train....it wasn't the train's fault...
My brother had a magnificent model train set. It was the focal poin of his bedroom for most of the year and the heart of the holiday decorations from Thankgsgiving to the Feast of the Kings. I wasn't allowed to touch it, but every year when he added new trains on his birthday, I was allowed to help paint part of the sceney for the little village around the track.
I was fascinated by the idea that rains could run out in the open air as my ony reference point was a NYC subway.
When I was five years old, I got my first train, Lionel. Both of my parents worked for Chicago & North Western Railroad, they met there as office employees. My grandfather on my mother's side was employed in Proviso Yards, where he got his hands dirty reconfiguring train cars for their next destinations, and making minor repairs.
At first my dad was a little disappointed, I pretended the big box was a fort. Eventually I got hooked on the trains, Santa Fe streamlner passenger trains, which I would one day ride to California to attend my grandfather's funeral. Another time my mother rode to Modesto, to be a guest in the home of Ernest & Julio Gallo, since she was chief cook & bottle washer for their fledgling Chicago office of the exclusive distributor. She told me that in prohibition the gangsters would stop by and visit, wine was still legal for special purposes such as its use in Catholic mass on Sundays. Seems Al Capone & John Dillinger siphoned off some for their own "spiritual" purposes.....in return, the thugs in the neighborhood protected that office as though it were the pope's personal residence. Salvatore Barbera and his wife were my godparents, with some "interesting " folks in the audience. It was mandatory that the office manager be a devout Catholic, since the managers knew that Frances felt that she risked going to hell, should she put her hand in the till, and money changed hands, on and off the books.
Now I have a Marklin Z scale {1:220} train in my office. Smallest commercial working gauge train. In a plexiglass enclosed case, I have my own little world to escape. It also entertains the occasional child visitor, but mainly it fascinates the men, whose faces turn magical as they see the trains proceed down the double main line, crossing fully operational gates and signal lights, with buildings detailed at tiny tolerances, since they were laser cut onto thin sheets of brass, folded with special tools, assembled, lit, and painted. The local hotel in the seedy part of town even has a woman of ill repute, only as tall as two large case letter Z's in this typeset, luring customers from the cupola window of her apartment. Working girls! Chasing lights surround the marquee of the local theatre, where Gone With the Wind is never out of fashion.
Ecccentric behavior can be therapy for some individuals, if kept in proper perspective. There are women who have elaborate doll houses, men whose scale power warships recreate famous WWII battles via remote control. For me, it reminds me of my favorite era, the time when I should have been born. Live steam was king, men wore double-breasted suits & fedoras, riing in open cars that had class, not merely functionality. America still could easily identify who her friends & enemies were. Families all seemed to have a nuclear core, with a working dad and a stay at home mom. Drugs & guns were confined to the inner city selected neighborhoods. Doors remained unlocked, and it was safe to walk to neighborhood schools. Milk was fresh, and came in bottles delivered to the door. The radio and the newspaper were sources of news. It was still aspirational for little boys to proudly wear the uniform of the United States. Rarely did women feel "cheated" by not working outside the home. Psychiatry was not part of pop culture. Nobody even knew the meaning of "angst." There's an expression "you can never go home again." I miss America. In MY small town under plexiglass, the courthouse proudly waves Old Glory in the center of the square. Neighborhood merchants sell everything we need to survive, and the owner personally will explain how everything works, standing behind his product. And at 5:45, just like cockwork, the whistle of the evening commuter train penetrates the serenity. If reincarnation turns out to be more than wishful thinking, I'm putting in my application to return to where I really belong....
My husband and I have been talking toying with the idea of a family train adventure. The Canadian Rockies and/or California Coast trips look just right!
My only experience with trains, as a child, was that of sitting in my parents' car at railroad crossings while 200 car "coal jacks" lumbered by, on their way to offload their cargo for export at Lamberts Point. I remember thinking how fun it would be to ride in the caboose, the club car for the "coal jack" crew. They were actually painted red and one could see the little trail of smoke from the stove in cold weather. I imagine pots of bean soup and coffee would be the offerings instead of champagne and canapés.
On the train ride from New Delhi to Agra, I discovered American style Corn Flakes served with hot milk for breakfast.
The Blue Train looks like a bargain!
Mr. Peterman, if you arrange a charter for a Blue train excursion, count me IN !!!
Who can resist the romance of trains? Certainly not me.
My experience on trains is limited to a few cities in America withrail transit - New York, Chicago, Atlanta; as well as trains in France. We did enjoy the TGV from Paris to Lyons and from Bordeaux to Paris. Tres Grande Vitesse.....very BIG speed! Good train service is definitely one thing that Europe has over us. It's the only way to travel.
One of my uncles was a railroad man in Chicago. I suspect he made management pretty quickly - he died with all fingers intact.
Miss Blue: While going from Green Bay to Spooner, Wisconsin on a retro train excursion, I met a chap who actually had rented a vintage caboose, together with half a dozen others. They heated & cooked with the pot belly stove, and could take turns sitting in the cupola window seats on each side, designed so the brakeman could detect smoke from a defective wheel bearing assembly early enough so that it would not disable the train. there also were platforms both front & back. I think this might be a little primative for your tastes, but there are retro former private cars for rent, complete with observation deck at the rear. These were how captains of industry got places before airline travel. They often resemble a British club inside, mahogony paneling, complete bar, luxury furniture, sleeping cabin, and table to plan strategies. Try Trains Magazine classifieds.
..............primitive................ need more dark roast.
morning all!!
i agree miss blue, the blue train does seem the bargain. i'd like the cape town round trip, with a few days before returning to explore, then cruise back out of cape town..........
No telling where today's topic will lead my train of thought today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7MiG2fe8lE
STONEY:
Here's ARLO just for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz4_25-Ovac
My nephew (who is now 4) was not even 24 hrs. old when my mom looked at me & said we're going to the toy store buying him his first train & then going to the hospital.
Trains are my mom's thing ~ she always has loved them & the year my father FINALLY bought her one to go around the Christmas Village, well it was like she was a 5 year old kid agian on Christmas Morning. Her Grandfather & father worked on the Railroad 1st in Chicago then up in the northern part of WI. She always rode it back to her hometown while she was in Nursing College in way it's a link to her childhood and a memory of a time & class that has seemingly vanished from society.
Titletown Brewing in Green Bay is the company that about 12 years ago remodeled the failing Train Depot in Green Bay, made it into a Brewery & Dining establishment. I LOVE that place becuase the guys who own it try to bring back the magic of that time & class. They do Valentines day dinners in dining cars, they have had Scotch & Cigar evenings in the Club Cars, One 4th of July they had one of the big black steam engines come & give about a 45 minmute train rides up the old tracks one of the cars was a restored pullman sleeping car.
When I was growning up, my dad had a sprawling HO scale train layout, in our basement. He felt it was a man's domain, where he and my brother could hang out together. I had some qualities, however, that my brother lacked...patience, an eye for detail, and small fingers! Those things slowly, albeit reluctantly, earned me a place in their world as a scenery maker. Recreating towns, mountains, tunnels, etc...in miniature, to scale, with all kinds of materials and imagination, was something I enjoyed doing. At the same time, I found myself falling in love with steam locomotives. I have enticed (maybe more like pushed) my husband and children into many road trips to see surviving steam locomotives, and ride the rails whenever possible, all across the country, especially in New England. My favorite place is probably North Conway, New Hampshire, where they have a 4 stall roundhouse and operating turntable.
I've travelled by train both here in the U.S. and in Europe...it has always been a worthwhile ride. Flying high in the clouds, defying gravity, can be very exciting in some circumstances, but not so much so when you are strapped into one freedom removing seat on a commercial airliner. It can almost seem like a form of torture when compared to the ease of movement on a train. Even when they are crowded, trains still give you a sense of openness, as they allow you to keep a certain amount of independence...and the train, itself, seems to possess those very same qualities as it seeks to convey you to your destination...
It's about time for the train set to be brought out, to wind its way around a part of the house, for the holidays. I look forward to the locomotive with it's wee wisps of smoke swirling, the cars (my favorite being the red-white-and blue "State of Maine Potatoes") and the little red caboose...chug, chug, chug...behind the train...coming around the track. I've always thought how wonderful it would be to try one of those outdoor garden model trains. Has anyone here given them a go? I can picture it now, crossing over my small pond on a homemade trestle bridge, startling the frogs and goldfish in the water below. Just what I need - another side track to follow!
Please ignore the spelling errors...must be the smoke in my eyes...
It started back when I was a just little guy when my Mom and Dad would take us kids for a ride way up to the Choo Choo diner in Des Plaines as a special treat. It still is a special treat destination for me today. I'm a sucker for traditions.
The Choo Choo has the best hand-made milkshakes, cheese burgers and fries, but the best part is having your order delivered to you on the back of a model train that would come out of the wall from the kitchen and make it's trip and many deliveries around the speckled Formica and chrome horse shoe counter. The Choo-Choo was a couple blocks away from the Des Plaines train station and right around the corner from ‘The Sugar Bowl' restaurant/candy shop. Unfortunately, all that remains of that restaurant is the giant Sugar Bowl shaped marquee in front.
http://www.thechoochoo.com/
I also still have the 8mm home movie, as well as the Lionel train from that Christmas so long ago when I received my first electric train set. Although the movie is silent, I can still hear the expletives coming from my Dad as he tried to get it set up and working that long ago Christmas Eve night.
Shortly after I retired, my son, grandson and I built an enormous train layout in my basement. It started out small but just kept on growing and growing until it virtually took up most of the basement. Working/playing/bonding with my son and grandson during that time was one of the richest and most gratifying experiences I ever had.
Peace out everyone.
Here's something you may not know about..... the healing power of model trains....
http://www.vintagerock.com/neil2.html
is a nice story of how Neil Young became involved with Lionel to develop special features that would enable his son, who suffers from cerebral palsy, to enjoy the hobby that he loved so much.
I have the Iron horse rolling through my head today. It's a good distraction from the cooking, polishing etc.
Johnny Cash recorded this early concept album. Great stuff!
http://www.amazon.com/Ride-This-Train-Johnny-Cash/dp/B0000636Y5
And who can forget the train scenes from "Some Like it Hot".
When we had the "biz", my area of expertise was logistics. I moved thousands of cases of beer and wine by rail. Some by "piggyback" some by railcar. A complicated and, at times risky, process ( I'll explain sometime) but the transportation cost savings were significant.
One of our suppliers even moved trains of giant "thermos bottle" -like cars full of unfinished beer to points east for finishing and bottling. I saw a similar train in Florida a few years back, moving orange juice.
The building of our Transcontinental Railroad ...oops, gotta take the sweets out of the oven.
Ahh, Lionel. I know thee well. In some ways, better than I should want.
My great-uncle was a great lover of trains. He worked for Union Pacific in Omaha, until he fell off a bridge and had to quit. His love was then confined to model trains. He had several sets, and whatever he couldn't buy for his line, he made. When he died, my dad got the whole lot. We set it up in the basement once when I was a kid. It filled the entire basement main room (about 20'x10'), and we still didn't get the whole set up. There was a farm stop, a city depot, a bridge with simulated water, some small hills, and enough different routes to keep you interested for quite a while. When it was taken down, the tracks filled 3 cardboard barrels. I don't remember how many cars there were.
Sadly, we had to sell the lot when my parents moved to a house that didn't have enough room to set it up. Dad did keep one smaller set, and sometimes puts it around the Christmas tree.
Michael: Union Pacific bought out Chicago & North Western in 1995, but there are still several locomotives adorned in original C & NW colors. C & NW Historical Society seems to know where every piece of former rolling stock is at any moment, I imagine they are allowed to access UP's trainfinder computer.
Rings90: The museum & restaurant complex at the former Green Bay Chicago & North Western Depot is quite nice. That's where our little excursion in vintage equipment to Spooner and back took place. Had a layover in Spooner, those otherwise virtually abandoned tracks don't allow breakneck speeds. Had to chance to spend the night with my uncle in Hayward. From the back of the motel, and right on Lake Hayward, there was a dead tree, with an active nest of American bald eagles. They looked at me as though they were assessing prey.....lol
Kindlee: There is only one thing better than Christmas & the holiday train set. Live steam excursions. And you have been privileged to experience both.
I remember crawling around my grandparents livingroom with my Grampa, putting together my Brio set. While not electric, it is a wooden Swedish train set that they gave me one pack of each Christmas. I remember one instance in particular when we were building a bridge that went up onto the couch. Now this was an undertaking as we only had so many bridge supports to elevate the track. reaching the end of our supply with only a few inches to go... and none to come back down with. Being the architect, engineer, and WWII Seabeethat he was, he cocked my engineer hat up and leaned back while pulling his from his head. He thought for a second then sent me for the Legos. After returning a few minutes later, we had the supports built, using unconventional methods, and the train could safely climb the mountain of couch and return to the station afterwards. Unfortunately, my Grampa passes away when I was 7 and we never moved on to larger trains, though I have taken a ride on the Hill Country Flyer, a steam drawn train with cars from the ages past. I look forward to the day when I hand my son the box of brio and find my father, myself, and my boy crawling around my living room and my parents living room, looking for the next challenge for us to overcome with only the tools at our disposal...
The low point in the history of the Lionel brand came fairly recently. Their only major "O" gauge competitor is MTH, which was founded by an American and which is produced in Korea. Lionel was caught using a "mole" in the Korean offices & factory, who was attempting to smuggle out a prototype of MTH's new advanced digital train control system. A lawsuit ensued, forcing Lionel to seek bankruptcy protection. I am assuming the risk of getting nothing forced MTH to lower it's settlement demand, Lionel is still up & running. This is one of those situations where it is wrong to blame the lawyers for stirring things up. Greed caused Lionel to attempt to steal intellectual property, and they got caught. A sad day, Lionel's founder must have rolled over in his grave.
MISS BLUE: Make the Trip ... If there is a Train Trip going anywhere that suits you, take it, take the entire family ... There will be bumps and spills, and a little swaying (tho' not so much as Narrow Gage) and a dozen moments where you will ask yourself, 'What the Hell did I do this for' ... But when the Trip is ended, you will know exactly why, and be eager to do it all over again ... It will be one of the Grandest Experiences of your life, it will be fun, it will be enjoyable, and during the adventure, a thousand moments of History and Literature will become completely clear to you ... You will find yourself smiling (thereby confusing everyone around you) and you will feel yourself smiling inside ... Good for Mind, Body, and Soul ....... It will be a little expensive, ... but ... Just Do It ....... You'll Be Glad You Did ...
Actually, that should be, NARROW GUAGE ... still working on my Second pot of coffee, and the overcast, misty drizzle is keeping me sleepy .......
Ivan - It's foggy/misty/drizzly and nap time in my neck of the woods too. I just had two double espressos and my eyes are still at half mast and getting heavier by the momen zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Miss Blue: Jalopkin's general advice is excellent, as usual. However there may be ONE tiny exception.....Italian trains. The they are NEVER on time, the employees seem to have Alfred E. Newman's "What, Me Worry?" attitude. In Summer of 2008 I left London, not realizing that we actually had been booked on an Italian train. London to Paris, something like 2.5 hours. Made it out precisely on time, the Brits are finicky that way. Made it under the English Channel. I am a light sleeper, however, and my daughter's friends that I in a moment of foolishness agreed to help chaperone were up, having pillow fights, and flirting with the train's young boys. Finally got settled in, then the train stopped, and Switzerland insists on physically inspecting every passport. Mine was interesting to them, lots of exotic visa stamps in places "normal" people never go. The Swiss police & the Italian crew decided to decide to "review matters" over a fresh pot of coffee, right outside our compartment. I kept trying to remember the appropriate translation for "idiots," cretins," and "passport Gestapo," to no avail. My kid slept like a log, the next day I was really really tired. But now I get to tell people that "We spent 3 hours in Switzerland."
BOO!
Wake up everybody!
Hey PeterLake, under that quilt, I can't blame your for hiding today, have you ever seen such a solidly medium dirty gray sky?
It's not very loverly outside today, we need a fire in the fireplace.
Badly.
forget what I wrote up there about the sky: I just meant the sky is a solid gray.
I don't know where all those other words came from, but they shouldn't be there.
gray. sky.
there!
Ivan, I would love to take one of the narrow gauge trains in North India like the Kalka-Shimla Railway.
My parents took us on the Tweetsie Railroad when we were kids on a trip through the Smokies. I am happy to see it's still in operation!
http://www.tweetsie.com/about_us/history.html
Bert, I doubt the conditions on one of your private cars for rent would put me off. I needed to use the loo on a train trip from Jaipur to Jodhpur , only to find it was a hole in a swaying and bouncing platform floor behind a curtain between two passenger cars. I, fortunately , honed my sharpshooter skills while camping and backpacking in my youth.
Hi everybody, I'm a new guy here. First, before I get to the topic, I want to admit something. I originally visited J.Peterman.com because of Seinfeld. Those of you who are familiar with the show should be well aware of the J. Peterman character on the show who I thought was hilarious. Anyhow, I finally visited the website to see what the deal is with the J. Peterman catalog which I found to be beautifully done. Then I stumbled upon the daily curiosities which I've been reading occasionally as I find that most of you are very interesting, even when I might not have a clue as to what you're talking about.:-) And now here I am, finally posting my own comment as I have a fond memory of a train set that I had as a child. I can't remember exactly what type of train set it was but the trains were rather small. I LOVED it when the train was inside the tunnel and I could see the headlight of the train appear and eventually make its way out of the tunnel. I thought it was the coolest thing! I would sit and watch the train make its way around the tracks for quite a while. I didn't particularly enjoy setting up the train, I prefered to simply watch it. Have a great holiday!
welcome Hmmm
I remember my brother's train came with some liquid that turned to smole when dripped into the stack of his train. Probably some sort of deadly poison !
Club Car Menu Thesepia Train
Salt Oysters on the half shell
Standing RibRoast
Baked Haymans
Turnip Greens
Sweet potato pie
And a bottle of old vines zin
Hmmm: Don't automatically assume that just because we post we automatically must know what we are talking about.....lol Welcome,
return often if you dare, it's fun & much cheaper than therapy.....
Miss Blue: Are any wines specifically recommended with tonight's selections?
and clam beer for sure..........
Haha! Thank you, Bert.
Bert, I'll let Ivan bring the Champaign for the oysters.
I think I will change tonight's red from the Seghesio Old Vines Zin to their Sangiovese in honor of today's topic and synchronicity.
Their Sangiovese label features the old winery Steam Locomotive .I just received ( not five minutes ago)2 bottles each of their Petite Syrah and Sangiovese in my wine club shipment for this month!
Peter....clam beer...barff, gag!
Favorite movie involving a toy train....A Holiday Affair with Robert Mitchum.
Second favorite moving involving a toy train...People Will Talk with Cary Grant.
My dad loves trains, he has a big table in his basement workshop that has the little tracks glued down and the controls wired in...but he's lost all the trains (I think mom secretly threw them away when he wasn't looking. Now the table is covered in other junk.
So a couple christmases ago we got him a simple model train set that he could put up for christmas and then pack neatly away for the rest of the year. Our favorite part is that you put oil in the stack and it puffs out little smoke rings as it goes around. The grandkids enjoy being "tunnels" over the train tracks.
Speaking of miniatures, my little sister had her baby today, that makes 3 for them and 12 grandkids for my parents. They still haven't picked a name yet so I'm calling him MidgetBritches until they decide, I think its motivating the parents.
Hmmmm now had a face
that's has....silver and brass polish fumes have gotten to me!
I think they should have mini food items on the sepia train today, to celebrate model trains. Baby carrots, baby corn, uhhhhh...I ran out of little foods.
Miss Blue .... it'll put hair on your chest for sure.
PARK4 - The next line of geese I hear heading south, I'm joining 'em.
nachista
marsh hen, petite syrah,baby bok choy,petite peas....
Peter, why would I want hair on my chest?
And was that you in that last fly over. The canadas are settling in for the night here.
and congrats on the nephew,nachista !
Welcome Hmmm Stick around you will see that none of ever knows what we are REALLY talking about ~ yet we all seem to become better people each day for coming here & sharing...
Peter Lake ~ Am still wondeirng about the Clam Beer, did you ever get to go with that strange women who rode in the big black car by offering here the Clam Beer & the Dance?...(and you thought I wasn't reading it weren't you?)
Congratulations to Nachista's family on the Additon of MidgetBritiches (altho I think Senor should be in it) are you going to buy him a Linonel Train for Christmas?
and now for the FINAL PSA of the day ~ I will be becoming a blonda again in a few hours ~ I want to apoligize in advance if it seems that some of my posts may have dropped by a few IQ pts. :)
As a child, my father was into HO slot cars, we never had trains. But I corrected that omission with my first IRS refund check after high school. I blew the whole thing on HO scale model trains. Since that time, I've added to the collection here and there, Ninety percent of it is passenger, unlike most model railroaders who seem to live and breath frieght. Some of the great names are there, Pioneer Zephyr, SP Daylight, NYC 20th Century Limited, NW J-Class. Even a few foreign representatives: the TGV Sud-Est, TGV Thalys PBKA, the JR Shinkansen 0 Series and The Orient Express.
My only problem has been no place to actually build a layout. All I could do was build some small ovals with various sidings and cutouts, mostly to keep the engines in working order. All temporary but soooo fun to play with.
Fortunately, my only problem is about to be rectfied. I'm closing on a house in the next 2 weeks. Its a modest, 2 bedroom house, with a full basement. In that basement are 2 rooms. One will be big enough for my weights and workout equipment.
The other? Hee-hee-hee-hee, oh boy.
Miss Blue - merely a figure of speech. I'm catching tonight's flight. Every evening it sounds like thousands are flying over the house. All the harvested corn fields are blanketed with geese.
champagne
brasso fumes.
My Christmas present from my Dad this year is a Märklin locomotive and a selection of passenger cars and associated track and transformer in HO scale. He said the only reason he hadn't given me model trains before was because I didn't have a place to set them up in my apartment. Now that I am living in a house, I can set up a layout and build a village like we did when I was a kid. My S.O. also collects HO scale model trains and I strongly suspect that a new hobby is going to take over our lives.
When I was staying at the Beverly-Wilshire hotel last November (I won a contest that got me three days in Los Angeles for the taping of Dancing Wit hteh Stars) the elevators in the Beverly Tower reminded me of the first class compartment I rode it when I took my first train ride in England back in September 1982. The polished oak paneling, the shining brass and even the red velvet upholstered stool for the operator looked as though they had taken bits of that compartment and reassembled them to make the elevator.
That train ride was the most fun and scariest I think I ever experienced. I also felt distinctly underdressed in my khaki trousers, jumper and jacket. I felt as though I should have been wearing a gown a la Polonnaise and stylish bonnet and been accompanied by a chaperone or lady's companion. Even the sconce lighting fixture was reminiscient of an oil lamp than an electric light.
A friend who spent most of hte past four years teaching English in northern China took the Trans-Siberian Express east to Moscow when his contract was up and then took various other trains to get to Prague where he was taking a re-certification course. He's now teaching English in Germany and France, taking hte train from teh farm where he's renting a cottage to the school in France three days a week and another train to the school in Germeny two days a week. He says he's never going drive a car again if he can possibly help it. I find myself envying him as I face another rush hour commute.
So, I'm sitting on this train & two guys come up. They sit down across from me. I say, "Wait a minute - you were both in the movies , weren't you? They just stared at me.
It was creepy...
Bebe: Were they really actors or did they just think that you you were trying to pick them up?
Beautiful menu, Miss Blue. Just lovely.
To compliment it, I offer my grandmother's tableware, a circa 1920 Reed and Barton art nouveau pattern. The patina was earned honestly, holding places at celebrations for almost 90 years now. The two silver candelabra with white candles, let's use them too. Gram would love this table-it's just as she did it.
And white flowers, one kind, but I can't decide on which. How about we just let them appear when we aren't looking, and then when we do look, there they'll be in the Lalique crystal vases, and they will be exquisite in every way.
Waterford stemware, "Lismore," will sparkle through many glasses of cheer, and lines the shelves behind the bar. No glass tonight, only crystal will do.
Too, I have nappery of Polish linen, that needs using. It's white, well-loved yet still pristine, and perfectly pressed, let's use it? It was made for me by my husband's Polish grandmother, who was a remarkable seamstress. You'll find my initials along the hemline of one corner.
And, finally, here's another bottle of wine for the "house" in keeping with the theme:
http:/www.mcnees.org/winesite/labels/labels_nw/lbl_Spirit_Of_Washington_Dinner_Train_Riesling.jpg
I don't know if a Riesling "goes" or not, but the label was so pretty and so perfect, I thought it must have been created just for us, so without a doubt, it will "go" with Miss Blue's menu.
Skål! to our Host, Mr. John Peterman, who suggested a fete tonight: Mr. Peterman, thank you for the excuse. And to the rest of you beautiful evening wanderers-thesepia train riders, if you close your eyes when you're at last settled in the club car, you'll know that it just doesn't get much better than this.
http://www.mcnees.org/winesite/labels/labels_nw/lbl_Spirit_Of_Washington_Dinner_Train_Riesling.jpg
Here's working link for the wine label.
Congratulations to nachista!
DancingKatz: Marklin is to toy trains what Mercedes Benz is to automobiles. You did the right thing going with the best. Properly maintained it will last forever. Their factory layout in their building in Germany is the biggest functional interactive train set in the world....I almost stayed in Germany.....lol
Nachista: Give the little critter a grin from your virtual friends, and congratulate your sibling for having the guts to bring children into today's world.
Park4: BLONDE????? OMG.......
Suggested clubcar performer: Boxcar Willie
Invite Twain?? Does Mr. Peterman refer to Mark or Lionel?
BERT: Was about to say, having endured the Trains all over India for a total of eightenn months, Italian Trains should be no bother ....... The only problem I ever had with Italian trains was Engineers who do not like to slow down an already over-loaded train on a curve ... The Mario Andretti Syndrome ... and if the train should wreck or jump the track, or become too eccentrically imbalanced ... the Engineer(if he survives) becomes extremely upset by the inconvenience caused him by the Train ... which of course, caused the entire episode by itself .......
some train videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc7wWOmEGGY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhOPQwa0sqY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbwEsu7z6Jw
Marklin trains are beautiful. Its too bad they aren't compatible with other trains systems.
CaptMatt: Once you get hooked on Marklin, there ARE NO other train systems. For the last dozen or so years, they have started and gradually expanded American prototype equipment, however. There is miniature camera technology allowing live broadcasting from the perspective of the Marklin engineer, or brakeman from the top of the caboose.
Daniel Zev: nice clips, my virtual friend.
Thanks all, the little squirt is cute squishy like all newborns are. Yes Rings, you are right, his current name is Senor MidgetBritches. The mom is definitely leaning towards the name Tate and we've let her no that if she picks it the kid will be known as Tater Tot for the rest of his life.
I think I'll wait and get him a train when he's old enough to play with it. I'd get his older brother one, but he is the single most destructive 2 year old I've ever met...and that's saying a lot since his cousin Megan (now 8) earned herself the nickname MAYHEM around that age. Trains are really just for the young at heart I think.
Since I've been inside all day ‘cos it's been so cold, wet and gray outside, I think I'll just hunker down on the back steps of the caboose with a thermos of coffee and watch the moon follow us while listening to the sounds of crystal glass toasts and the murmur of fine dinner conversation as it streams on by........
bert, if you even consider bringing Boxcar Willie into the club car tonight, you'll be in big trouble, my man.
who is boxcar willie, anyhow?
Dancingkatz: I'm jealous of your Christmas present. I always wanted trains.
Nachista: Congradulations. Why not suggest a train inspired name to your sister? How about Thomas? Or Charlie?
PARK4
orange blossoms...fill the club car with orange blossoms....in honor of the Orange Blossom Special
There is no more civilized way to move. Really, no other means of motivation can compare to the pleasure of trains, and it causes me real pain to have to forego the magic of surface travel for the horrors of flight, which is nasty, brutish and short. The comfort and space, the mobility, the camaraderie, and the DINING CAR!
I have sampled the rolling stock of Britain and the Continent (les Trains Grandes Vitesses are not to be missed!), and there is no comparison to flying.
And then there is Amtrak, which will rent you a quite comfortable little room complete with a valet every bit as accomplished as Jeeves for only a bit more than a plane ticket, and worth every penny. Mine was John, and he saw to it that none of his charges wanted for anything within his power to provide, even going so far as to loan me his cell phone upon approaching Washington's Union Station so that I could advise our Pam of my imminent arrival. He forgot that largesse in his zeal to assist one and all, so I slipped a fiver into the rubber jacket of the infernal device and returned it to him with my thanks.
There is no lovelier sleep than a bed on the train-it reminds me of dozing as a child in the sofa-sized back seat of our old '58 Pontiac station wagon, safe and secure and looked after. And what could be better than to be gently rocked along through wilderness and the backs of cities, enjoying vistas one would never otherwise encounter, while communing with a piece of fish that passeth all understanding and a good crisp, clean Pinot Grigio? Certainly not having oneself sealed into a flying syringe and injected through the ether in the company of crying babies and sneezing cohabitants from which one cannot escape, having to use a toilet that makes a phone booth (remember those?) seem capacious, and suffering an enforced fast reminiscent of the privations of Gandhi?
It will not stand, I say!
There are rumours that the current administration has given funding, actual MONIES, to Amtrak with the injunction to improve. One can only hope, for as pleasant as our passenger service might be, it is but a pale shadow of what it COULD be. I will leave the machinations of progress in that realm to those more expert than I, but fingers are crossed.
When my childer were wee, we visited friends in France and Switzerland, riding the Metro and trains wherever possible. I mind the time we stayed with good friends in an old presbytery a literal stone's throw from the Loire, outside of Orleans. Our Brendan could not be found one morning at breakfast, and he was finally discovered in the attic, stark naked, poring over a stack of Tintin comics, in French of course, which fazed him not a bit. He was only lured away by removing the graphic novels, for such indeed they are, to lower levels, and the promise of pain au chocolate from the patisserie just across the place.
But I digress...
We stopped next in Switzerland with Jacques and Antoinette, the parents of my good friend Andre the chef, bringer of fine cuisine to Little Rock, pastry chef extraordinaire, and possessor of the fiery heart of an artiste. Andre is no more: a fool with a gun made to rob his restaurant in the midst of a busy night. Andre, hotheaded Andre, outraged at this indignity and offense to his patrons, fought with him and was shot dead for $79. No worse bargain was ever made with Fate. His murderer has since met his fate, but it brings no comfort.
Jacques and the kids became instant comrades, for Jacques is that wonderful adult who can revert in a moment to the pleasures of immaturity. When he was told of Brendan's love of Tintin, their friendship was sealed. He produced his other son Lionel's collection for Brendan, and they discussed the merits of various adventures. Then mon Dieu! It was discovered that the local television station showed not one but two Tintin adventures during the day; all play stopped at those times, once in the morning, and once in the afternoon, and the boys sat enraptured. I was struck dumb once to see Jacques change the station from le futbol to Tintin, and it World Cup too! Wonder of wonders...
And then came the capper. When Jacques was certain that Brendan and Katie possessed the gravitas to enter the sanctum sanctorum, he took them up to the attic and showed them his pride and joy. The upper floor of the house was full of HO scale trains, all Swiss machines the spit and miniature image of those that really ran the lines just down the road. After that I rarely saw them. Jacques had them either upstairs in their imaginary world, or off in the car to watch the real ones thunder by. They were in their glory-all three of them. Antoinette and I gardened, talked, walked the wee lanes of the tiny town, or sat under the cherry tree in the garden and shared our lives. It was a great time.
And one night at dinner, Antoinette sadly recounted the misfortunes of their offspring: Andre's loss, their daughter Sybille, dead in her twenties of a rare heart condition, and Lionel who, while a loving son, became a doctor with an ascetic's devotion to his patients and his research that precluded any thought of a family. She stated plaintively that she had no hope of grandchildren. My wee ‘uns came to her and took her hands and told her in their wee children's voices that THEY would be their grandchildren, and never forget her and Grandpa Jacques.
I cried like a baby, just as I am wetting the keyboard relating this now.
And so it has come to pass, for they write to them at Christmas, they send and receive birthday cards, and I hope someday they will return, grown now, to amaze their Swiss grandparents with their hopes and dreams as they mature.
So yes, trains mean many things to me...
Peter Lake~ I had to go out today in that same cold, wet and gray...do you think I can just "hunker down on the back steps of the caboose with a thermos of coffee and watch the moon follow us while listening to the sounds of crystal glass toasts and the murmur of fine dinner conversation as it streams on by"........with you? But, I was wondering if, instead of coffee, it would be okay to bring a thermos (or two) of hot peppermint patties (hot chocolate laced with peppermint schnapps, creme de cacao, and creme de menthe); guaranteed to lift the spirits and warm the cockles of your heart on a chilly and stormy evening. I want to thank you so much for that Neil Young/Lionel train story. It warmed the cockles of my heart even more than the hot chocolate ever could.
We could also toast nachista's new nephew. Congratulations to the entire family!
Hmmm~ I will admit to Seinfeld being the impetus in my first visit to the "real" J. Peterman Catalog and Peterman's Eye. Welcome to you!
The most important thing I learned on Italian trains was to not use the toilet while the train was stopped at the station!
Olivia - Amazing!
Olivia~ What wonderful bonds and memories created, in your life and that of your children, by the magic of trains.
Miss Blue: orange blossoms! Of course, they're perfect. And oh the scent...
And Olivia: bien fait!
It is truly sad that, the Famous and fabulous Caboose ... has long since been replaced by a Gizwhicket called, an E O T D ... achronym for, END OF TRAIN DEVICE ... One lone Red Light, and a little white Flag (Metal) on an arm, bolted to a little box ... that is fastened to and plugged into, whatever the last Car on the Train happens to be ....... Not in the least Romantic .......
Park4: Boxcar Willie was an entertainer, somewhat akin to Grandpa Jones on the old Hee Haw Show of the 1970's. A combination of country, corny jokes, & Americana. Perhaps you never heard him live in concert at finishing school, but see here young lady many things in life are acquired tastes.......cigars, martinis, Boxcar Willie. He just may have a clip or two on YouTube, just about every other mammal does.....
Now about the blonde hair, do you intend to share why it is that you plan to reinvent yourself, not to mention w/o consulting with US first, or shall I mind my own business? Keep in mind, I'll have you know that I've been thrown out of classier places than our clubcar, so I am no stranger to rejection.
Boxcar Willie is all over MySpace.....Wabash Cannonball, Wreck of the Old 97, Hobo's Lullabye, etc.
Kindlee - It would be an honor and a privilege to sit on the back steps and make peppermint pattie toasts with you. Could we drink out brown paper bags...... I think that would fit in nicely with the back end of the caboose.
PARK4: Boxcar Willie is one of those characters like, C. Aubrey Smith, Donald Meek, Guy Kibbee, and others of that ilk ... Everybody has SEEN them, and knows them, but hardly anyone knows who they are ... His name is Travis Martin, he is a Veteran Pilot of WWII, a marvelous Country and Folk Music Balladeer, and if you Google him up, you will find a pleasantly amazing Story about him ....... Like Guy Kibbe, Martin is also a native of Texas...
Something wonderful was lost with the passing of the caboose. We all used to wait until the caboose went by, just to marvel at how cool it was...
Trains... models... Franklin Hoenikker....Cat's Cradle... Kurt Vonnegut..."Of Vonnegut's four adopted children, three are his nephews: James, Steven, and Kurt Adams; the fourth is Lily, a girl he adopted as an infant in 1982. James, Steven, and Kurt were adopted after a traumatic week in 1958, in which their father James Carmalt Adams was killed on September 15 in the Newark Bay rail crash when his commuter train went off the open Newark Bay bridge in New Jersey, and their mother-Kurt's sister Alice-died of cancer. In Slapstick, Vonnegut recounts that Alice's husband died two days before Alice herself, and her family tried to hide the knowledge from her, but she found out when an ambulatory patient gave her a copy of the New York Daily News a day before she herself died."
She caught the Katy, and left me a mule to ride
She caught the Katy, and left me a mule to ride
My baby caught the Katy, left me a mule to ride
The train pulled out, and I swung on behind
I'm crazy 'bout her, that hardheaded woman of mine
Peter Lake~ I would be pleased to clink our brown paper bags together, as the caboose clickity-clacks down the darkened tracks and the train's mournful whistle calls into the night...
Freight Train
Lyrics: Elizabeth Cotten
Music: Elizabeth Cotten
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMSYzFdloqY
OLIVIA- really beautiful post. What a story, what a memory...
Thank you for sharing that.
NACHISTA- Congratulations Miss Auntie...
BOXCAR WILLIE for y'all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSrEcPdA0hE
Best I can do today is copy and paste for everyone.
NACHISTA:
Blessings on your new baby boy family member Senor MidgetBritches.
RINGS- I think we switched personas- I went darker today!
We always waved at the caboose too.... and sometimes there would be a hand in the window waving back.
I went shinier today...... ‘cos after all, bald is beau...... just bald.
PL- go ahead & say it - bald is beautiful!! My sweetheart shaves his head- I love it!
Say it loud- I'm bald & I'm proud!!!
bebe - I'm more comfortable with "I yam what I yam"...... he shouts from the back of the train while go through a tunnel with shower-like accoustics. I shave my head too.
Daniekl how well I remember Buhl 's. I thought it was magic growing up. We were luchy Pittsburgh had a lot of wonderful adeventures for children growing up.
Bert: I'm afraid I need to stick to the conventional HO trains if I want to model my favorites. I doubt Marklin will ever do the CB&Q Pioneer Zephyr, the CNS&M Electroliner or the NYC Streamline Hudson of the 20th Century Limited.
When we lived with my grandparents for a season, in Lonoke, Arkansas, their little house was attached to the Railroad Hotel, directly across the street from the train station, always a busy place in small town America in the 1950s. No one thought a thing about me going over there and playing every day. The station house was small but neat and lovely, with the old wooden chairs one still finds in courtrooms and other government buildings-they look hard, but are very comfortable, like the big wooden pews in the larger stations. There were always nice people working there, and stuff to climb on, and if I was really brave I'd put a penny (big money!) on the track to be flattened, to marvel at.
Passenger service at that time was carried out by an extremely fast silver bullet, two cars long, that flew through the town but rarely stopped. I was in awe of it. My grandmother called it 'The Doodlebug', because it was rounded on both ends, and she always declared that it took two people to note its passing-one to say 'here it comes' and one to say 'there it goes', and it had best be done at the same time if accuracy is desired...
Lonoke was and is at the epicenter of Arkansas' rice growing delta, a region so vast and productive that we sell rice to the Chinese. The mosquitoes in the area grew to prodigious size and voracity, and there were legends aplenty. I would sit behind the screen door on warm summer nights, watching the trains across the way and the cars in the street by the blue glow of the television, listening to them pinging against the barrier, trying to get to me, and recall the grownups' warnings about the cows found sucked dry from time to time, and the apocryphal cautionary tale of the poor fellow working on the rice elevator, carried off by two especially large skeeters one awful night.
Wonders of childhood...
Olivia, I don't know about anyone else but I would like you to compile your short stories so that I can buy a copy of all of them off of you! I enjoy your stories so much and I know I've missed a few, I hate not reading every single word.
bert: Why are you talking about me and blonde hair and a transformation? I think you might have me confused with rings. Because I was too busy designing the club car table to color my hair...btw, it was gorgeous, just in case you peeked in, you and the Boxcar.
*I know bert won't see this because he doesn't look at the recent past, but I'll just put it down here 'for the record' -- as an attorney he'll appreciate that.
Olivia~ I will simply never tire of listening to and reading your stories - fact or fiction. You have an unsurpassed way with words, tremendous passion, the magical ability to spin a marvelous narrative, and a captivating imagination. Thank you for sharing everything, from your precious memories to your outlandish tall tales, with all of us.
Suz and Pam, and others...thank you for your kind words. Maybe I will get energetic and write more stuff down. This place inspires me.